Escapo by Paul Pope

Originally published as a trade paper back in May 1999, Paul Pope’s Escapo has been since difficult find. It's been out of print. As of last week it is back in print as a beautiful hard covered edition.  This is a fictional story about the world’s greatest escape artist, Escapo.  It has been defined as a mix between Warhol and Dali. I dunno if I agree with that necessarily. I can agree that much of movement and twisted perspectives in Pope’s work reminds me of some of Dali’s work. I'm not sure that I see a whole lot of Warhol. Pope himself describes the story as" my attempt at at making an incredible Fellini meets Jack Kirby mash-up comic book".  

Pope tells this story half in prose. Escapo must escape his ultimate fear, death. Okay well that's how I feel about the story. It is beautiful and this edition has coloring by Shay Plummer. There is also a lovely Escapo gallery at the end of the book and some notes from Paul Pope about the difficulty of working with mixed media and the lifespan of marker on paper. Much of the marker had bled and faded and needed to be re-done for this edition. 

If you're as big a fan of Pope's work as I am, then this is necessary purchase for your collection.

P.S. There's an hard cover version of Adventure Time coming out this Wednesday with Pope's work in it!! Eeeeeee!! Also on the purchase list.