The cover to Escape Magazine issue 3. Art by Chris Long

Escape Magazine was a landmark British comic strip magazine founded and edited by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. Nineteen issues were published between 1983 to 1989. Eddie Campbell, Phil Elliott and Glenn Dakin were amongst the many cartoonists published within its pages. Image File history File links Cover of Escape Magazine issue 3. ... Image File history File links Cover of Escape Magazine issue 3. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... Paul Gravett founded Escape magazine. ... 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Phil Elliott (1960-) is a comic book creator who was published in Escape Magazine. ... Glenn Dakin is a British cartoonist. ... A cartoonist at work. ...

Origins

Escape has it's origins in the explosion of small press or minicomics that occurred in the UK in the early 1980's. Paul Gravett was running a stall at the Westminster Comic Mart in London called Fast Fiction where he would sell other people's self published comics for a small cut. These would generally be short-run publications, usually photocopied and assembled by hand, by creators who couldn't find a professional outlet for their work with many coming from an art school background with unique approaches to comic art. A scattered but thriving community of Amateur and Professional creators, publishers and enthusiasts from the UK. More often these mainly self-published comics are done for the love of comics than money. ... A minicomic is a small, creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Paul Gravett founded Escape magazine. ... The Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, which contains Big Ben London is the capital city of the United Kingdom and of England. ... Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet relating to small press and self published comics in the UK. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent. ...

At the same time awareness was growing of international developments in the medium. Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly's RAW magazine had started pushing the boundaries in the USA while European anthologies such as Métal Hurlant, Charie Mensuel and PLG showed not only radically different styles of comic art to the usual UK/US variety but a more mature and analytical approach to the medium. Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist. ... RAW was a groundbreaking comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly. ... Métal Hurlant is the name of a French magazine of science fiction comics, created in December 1974 by Jean Giraud (aka MÅ“bius), Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Philippe Druillet. ... PLG may stand for: Parti Libéral Genevois (Liberal Party of Geneva) plasminogen This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Gravett brought his knowledge and enthusiasm while his partner Peter Stanbury, employed at the time at Harpers & Queen, brought experience in print design and production and together they decided to publish, from their flat, a magazine featuring this home-grown talent along with showcasing examples of new and interesting comics from around the world. Harpers & Queen is a British society magazine (i. ...

The Importance of BD

Short for Bande Dessinée, BD became the ideological anchor for Escape. Gravett wanted to apply the values of and respect attributed to French comics to his new breed of British artists. Visually this was reflected in the work of Phil Elliott and Rian Hughes, but it also infused the whole attitude of the magazine, that some comics at least deserved be taken seriously. By identifying with the relatively exotic and beautifully produced volumes from Europe, Escape distanced itself from the action-adventure style of 2000AD and the American superheroes of Marvel and DC and established itself not only as something new, but something important. Tintin, one of the most famous Belgian comics Franco-Belgian comics are comics or comic books written in Belgium and France. ... Phil Elliott (1960-) is a comic book creator who was published in Escape Magazine. ... Example of Rian Hughes art. ... 2000 AD logo 2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction oriented comic. ... A superhero is a fictional character who is noted for feats of courage and nobility and who usually has a colorful name and costume and abilities beyond those of normal human beings. ... Marvel Comics NYSE: MVL, sometimes called by the nickname The House of Ideas, is an American comic book company. ... The current DC Comics logo, adopted in May 2005. ...

Pssst!

In 1981, having passed the Fast Fiction stall and distribution to Phil Elliott and before starting Escape, Gravett was employed as promotions manager for Pssst!, an attempt to publish a British equivalent of the lavish French Bande Dessinée magazines. While disillusioned with the direction, or lack of, Pssst! was taking, his job brought him into contact with many more new and innovative cartoonists around the UK. To some of these, such as Glenn Dakin in Manchester, he introduced the concept of self publishing small press comics and sending them out to like minded souls, thus widening the net for Fast Fiction. Pssst! was forced to close after 10 issues leaving Gravet with a good idea of how not to run a magazine and a pool of talent. Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet relating to small press and self published comics in the UK. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent. ... Phil Elliott (1960-) is a comic book creator who was published in Escape Magazine. ... Tintin, one of the most famous Belgian comics Franco-Belgian comics are comics or comic books written in Belgium and France. ... Glenn Dakin is a British cartoonist. ... Manchester is a city in the north-west of England. ... Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet relating to small press and self published comics in the UK. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent. ...

The A5 years

The first seven issues of Escape were published between 1983 and 1985 as A5, or digest, sized booklets of between 56 and 84 pages in length with black and white interiors and colour covers. The covers were wrap-around and, for the first five issues, hand-separated by Stanbury until full-process colour became viable. The smaller size was chosen to physically differentiate it from other comics around at the time with a nod to the photocopied small press comics that usually came in this format. It was also easy to put in your pocket. The first issue had a print run of 2000 and had a disproportionate reaction from the music and style media bringing in subscribers and advertising, notably the NME and Time Out. Not the National Military Establishment (United States Department of Defense). ... ...

While the contents of each issue followed a pattern of running home grown talent alongside features on comics from around the world (with an emphasis on European BD and American "art comics") the roster of artists changed regularly with new creators being brought in every issue. Despite, or more likely, because of the wildly different styles and approaches embraced by the magazine Escape had a solid identity and loyal, if disparate, readership. As the landscape of the comics industry changed through the 1980s Escape was there to report it and try to influence where people should be looking.

The Titan Years

Example of the typography used for the Escape logo and interior headline text from issue eight. Designed by Peter Stanbury

In 1986 Escape changed to the larger industry standard American magazine format (8.25"x11") enabling them to reprint work by the international creators they'd previously only written about. Jaques Tardi and Gary Panter appear in issue eight and George Herriman's Krazy Kat became a regular feature. The logo also changed to a bold new design with extra prongs for the E and A and the magazine took on a more professional feel. Of the twelve issues published in this format eight had covers by non-British illustrators as Escape moved away from its small press origins and fully embraced a more international, Art-based ideology. Image File history File links Example of the typography used for Escape Magazine from 1986. ... Image File history File links Example of the typography used for Escape Magazine from 1986. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gary Panter is a post-underground cartoonist and is known to many as the father of punk comics. His comics originally appeared in underground punk publication Slash along with cartoons by future Simpsons creator Matt Groening. ... George Joseph Herriman (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist, best known for his comic strip Krazy Kat. ... Krazy Kat was a comic strip created by George Herriman, appearing in both weekday and Sunday U.S. newspapers published by William Randolph Hearst. ...

A year later, and after protracted negotiations, Escape became the first periodical to be published by Titan Books, a graphic novel repackaging house responsible for collections of Judge Dredd and American titles such as Swamp Thing. Gravett and Stanbury retained complete editorial control over the contents and direction of the magazine (despite some pressure from Titan). Despite a 60% sell through on predominately London-based newsstands Titan were reluctant to push for wider national distribution and after two years and ten issues they parted company. A third, more ambitious, incarnation was planned but failed to find a backer and Escape folded in 1989. Titan Books is a UK publisher of graphic novels. ... This article is about the comic-book character Judge Dredd. ... Swamp Thing (vol. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Escape Books

Alongside the magazine itself, Escape served as an imprint for self contained graphic novels. These included the following:

• Alec by Eddie Campbell
• Alec: Love and Beerglasses by Eddie Campbell
• Alec: Doggie in the Window by Eddie Campbell
• Doc Chaos 1 by Phil Elliott, Lawrence Gray and Dave Thorpe
• London's Dark by James Robinson and Paul Johnson (published through Titan Books)
• The Night Of The Busted Nose by Phil Laskey
• Violent Cases by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean (published through Titan Books)

Two exhibition booklets were also produced under the Escape banner: Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Phil Elliott (1960-) is a comic book creator who was published in Escape Magazine. ... James Dale Robinson is a writer of comic books and screenplays. ... Paul Johnson (born ) is a comic book artist. ... Titan Books is a UK publisher of graphic novels. ... Violent Cases, cover art by Dave McKean Violent Cases is a short graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Dave McKean. ... Neil Gaiman (November 2004) Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960 in Portchester, England) is the author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many comic books. ... Cages (1998) by Dave McKean Dave McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, filmmaker and musician. ... Titan Books is a UK publisher of graphic novels. ...

• Comic Iconoclasm for the "Swiped! Comics in Art" exhibition at the ICA in London. This was also printed in Escape issue eleven.
• The Black Island for the "Britain in Bande Dessinées" exhibition at the French Institute in London.

The ICA The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is a modern art centre on The Mall in London. ...

Legacy

The influence of Escape on subsequent publications and movements is not in doubt but somewhat hard to pin down.

Publications such as Deadline and Heartbreak Hotel shared the combination of comic strips by relative newcomers and lifestyle articles designed to reach a non-comics audience. Deadline #1 (Oct 1988), featuring an image of Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett. ...

There are notable influences too on Fleetway's experiments with comics for more mature audiences. Later issues of Crisis featured Paul Grist and reprinted European work while the short-lived Revolver employed Escape regulars Rian Hughes and Julie Hollings amongst others. Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a publishing company, mainly producing comic magazines for the U.K.. Fleetway began life as Amalgamated Press, the company owned by Alfred Harmsworth, who were based in Fleetway House. ... Crisis was a British comic published from 1988 to 1991 as an experiment by Fleetway Publications to see if intelligent, mature, politically and socially aware comics were saleable in the United Kingdom. ... Paul Grist (born 1960 in Sheffield, England) is a British comic book writer and artist, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff. ... Example of Rian Hughes art. ...

While, with the exception of Eddie Campbell, the core group of artists associated with Escape did not necessarily go on to great riches the magazine did publish early work by notable creators including Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean, Paul Johnson, James Robinson and Rian Hughes. Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Neil Gaiman (November 2004) Neil Richard Gaiman () (born November 10, 1960 in Portchester, England) is the author of numerous science fiction and fantasy works, including many comic books. ... Cages (1998) by Dave McKean Dave McKean (born 29 December 1963 in Maidenhead, England) is an illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, filmmaker and musician. ... Paul Johnson (born ) is a comic book artist. ... James Dale Robinson is a writer of comic books and screenplays. ... Example of Rian Hughes art. ...

For the British small press scene Escape, along with Fast Fiction, had been an important focal point both artistically and socially. This continued into the 1990s with the magazine holding a pivotal place in the history of the scene. A scattered but thriving community of Amateur and Professional creators, publishers and enthusiasts from the UK. More often these mainly self-published comics are done for the love of comics than money. ... Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet relating to small press and self published comics in the UK. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent. ...

International distribution brought Escape artists American exposure, most notably to the cartoonists informally known as the Highwater Books scene. Highwater publisher Tom Devlin and cartoonist Tom Hart both cite Escape, and Glenn Dakin in particular, as influential in forming their attitudes towards comic art. Canadian cartoonist Seth has recently written about the influence Chris Reynolds had on him. Glenn Dakin is a British cartoonist. ... Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant (born 1962), a Canadian comic book artist and writer. ...

It should, however, be remembered that Escape was part of a wider and at the time quite vibrant environment in British comics and that artists did move freely from publication to publication. While the magazine did carve out an important niche and break new ground, the work of Knockabout and Warrior and aspects of the Harrier comics line should be taken into account. A warrior is a person habitually engaged in combat. ...

The Escape Artists

The core group of artists featured in Escape came mainly from the British small press and Underground comics scenes of the late 70's and early 80's. A scattered but thriving community of Amateur and Professional creators, publishers and enthusiasts from the UK. More often these mainly self-published comics are done for the love of comics than money. ... The term underground comics or comix describes the self-published or small press comic books that sprang up in the US in the late 1960s. ...

• John Bagnall
• Eddie Campbell
• Glenn Dakin
• Phil Elliott
• Hunt Emerson
• Paul Grist
• Myra Hancock
• Rian Hughes
• Shaky Kane
• Woodrow Phoenix (aka Trevs Phoenix)
• Ed Pinsent
• Warren and Gary Pleece
• Chris Reynolds
• Savage Pencil
• Carol Swain

Born within hearing range of the river Merseys tugboat horns, John Bagnall first studied painting and drawing at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne University and began self-publishing comics in Liverpool during the late 80s to acclaim from influential magazines like NME. Early small press titles included TRASHCAN (with Frank... Alec: The King Canute Crowd by Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell is a Scottish-born comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. ... Glenn Dakin is a British cartoonist. ... Phil Elliott (1960-) is a comic book creator who was published in Escape Magazine. ... Hunt Emerson (1952-). Cartoonist. ... Paul Grist (born 1960 in Sheffield, England) is a British comic book writer and artist, noted for his hard-boiled police series Kane and his unorthodox superhero series Jack Staff. ... Example of Rian Hughes art. ... British comics artist, working mainly for DC Comics. ... Savage Pencil is a comic artist, and is the nom de plume of English music journalist Edwin Pouncey. ...

See Also

• List of Escape Magazine contents - detailed listings of contents for each issue.
• Fast Fiction

Escape Magazine was a landmark British comic strip magazine founded and edited by Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury. ... Fast Fiction was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet relating to small press and self published comics in the UK. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Gravett, Phil Elliott and Ed Pinsent. ...

References

• Campbell, Eddie (2001) Alec: How To Be An Artist. Eddie Campbell Comics. ISBN 0957789637.
• Gravett, Paul (2003) "The Great Escape" The Comics Journal Special Edition 3 46-61
• Gravett, Paul and Stanbury, Peter (eds) Escape Magazine 1 - 19
• Hart, Tom (2001) "The Scribbled Philosophy of Glenn Dakin" The Comics Journal 238 71-87
• "Missing The Deadline". Missing The Deadline by Andy Roberts (Winter 1995). URL accessed on May 01, 2005.
• Seth (2005) "Chris Reynolds: An Appreciation" The Comics Journal 265

The Comics Journal is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips. ... The Comics Journal is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ... The Comics Journal is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books and strips. ...

External Links

• Long interview with Dylan Horrocks - reprinted from The Comics Journal issue 244. His time with the Escape "gang" is about a third of the way down.
• Kingly Books - Publishers of recent works by Escape artists Ed Pinsent, John Bagnall and Chris Reynolds
• Interview with John Bagnall