Escape Can't Stay on Shelves as Issue 1 Gets Third Printing

Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña’s new series Escape is selling so fast that Image Comics can barely keep up. The debut issue has sold out at the distributor level yet again, and now it’s being fast-tracked for a third printing hitting stores on October 29th.

Escape is what happens when you mix Inglourious Basterds with Blacksad in a fully painted world of anthropomorphic animals. It’s brutal, gorgeous, and absolutely unrelenting. The story follows Milton Shaw, a bomber pilot who gets shot down over enemy territory in a war-torn world ruled by a fascist empire. The problem? He helped burn the city he’s now trapped in, and his own side is about to drop the big one to finish the job. He’s got less than 24 hours to get out.

Milton’s only hope comes from an unexpected source: a grieving father and his son who are also victims of the regime. Enemies by blood, allies by circumstance, they have to fight their way through hostile streets before everything gets erased. The narrative explores the violence we inflict, the people we try to save, and what it takes to crawl out of the fire.

Remender and Acuña previously worked together on Uncanny Avengers, and they’re firing on all cylinders here. Critics have praised it as everything from “a masterclass in gritty wartime storytelling” to “the best WWII comic this side of an Ennis joint.” Acuña’s fully painted artwork makes every page feel urgent and visceral. Remender noted that creating this book took everything they had, and reader response has been overwhelming.

The series is moving quickly with issue two already available, issues three and four both dropping on October 22nd, and issue five coming December 31st. The third printing of the first issue on October 29th offers another chance to jump in before it disappears again.

Escape proves there’s still huge demand for original, ambitious storytelling in comics. When something this intense and beautifully crafted arrives, people take notice.