From Alcatraz – A Crime Comic Straight Out of a Hitchcock Movie (Exclusive Preview)
Alcatraz has been a museum longer than it has ever been a prison, but remains the most famous prison in pop culture. The name Alcatraz itself connotes a prison from which there is no escape—except that three men escaped in 1962, a year before the prison closed.
It was Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin who tried to swim to freedom on shore. (A fourth inmate, Allen West, was part of the escape plan but was unable to escape his cell in time.) Ultimately, authorities concluded that the escapees’ raft had never made it to land and they had drowned, but without the bodies, imagination ran wild about their fates. The new Out Of Alcatraz comic from writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Tyler Crook will work with the premise that men did reach the ground, but will they ever find freedom? Oni Press has shared an exclusive preview of Out of Alcatraz #1 with /Film (via Superfan Promo ), including three never-before-seen pages. This may help shed some light on the matter.
Cantwell is best known for telecasting Halt and Catch Fire, a four-season Mad Men-style drama about the early days of the computer revolution in Silicon Valley. However, he also forged a prolific career as a comic book writer; his work includes a 10-issue Doctor Doom solo series at Marvel and Briar, a dark fantasy reimagining of Sleeping Beauty in Boom! Studios.
Crook is mostly known for drawing horror comics; he rose to fame by working on Hellboy spin-off BPRD Since then he has drawn the horror series County Harrow (written by Cullen Bunn) and has also written and image of the Lone Hunter series of monster hunters. His expertise in drawing dark shadows, gory violence, and ghostly faces lends itself perfectly to Exit Alcatraz.
Crook’s cover for Out of Alcatraz #1 is a beautiful piece, combining detailed illustrations and minimalist graphics while tying together form and narrative (ie the prison spotlight serving as dividing lines). The orange-black color scheme, the silhouettes of the figures and the uneven inscriptions are done in style Famous posters of Solo Bass for “Vertigo” and “Anatomy of a Murder” — beautiful and accurate!
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The 1962 Escape from Alcatraz was previously dramatized in a 1979 Clint Eastwood film, succinctly titled Escape from Alcatraz, with Eastwood playing Maurice. Directed by Eastwood’s previous Dirty Harry director, Don Siegel. Escape is often considered one of the best prison movies. From Alcatraz, however, skips the incarceration and deals with the imaginary consequences of the escape. Crook used to say he considers the comic to be similar to a “classic ’60s crime/road movie.”
Out Of Alcatraz will answer the unsolved mystery of history
The opening pages of Out of Alcatraz #1 (previously released in previews) feature the escape itself. The first page opens with a sweeping shot of an island prison with panels running down the page to show storm tides; there are no onomatopoeia sound effects, but you can hear the roar of the waves when you look at the art. If the images set the scene, the narrative explains the real story of the case; the last panel with the words “bodies not found” shows a close-up of Frank’s face floating.
In Cantwell and Crook’s version, it turns out that one of the prisoners did indeed drown swimming to shore: John Anglin. Clarence tries to swim back to save his brother, but Frank pulls him to shore, where they have no time to mourn.
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Once on land, the pair make their way to Modesto. There they meet their contact and the third role in the mini-series; an unnamed woman whom Frank and Clarence pay to smuggle them across the border into Canada. In a quote from /Film, Cantwell explained that she is a cornerstone of the series and its themes:
“The important character of this series is made of whole dramatic fabric. Yes, the escapees are at the center of the story, but I’ve researched successful prison escapes in history, and often they work best when someone from the outside helps. Enter our mysterious character, whom our fugitives must meet when they leave the Rock But our character is complex on the outside. And what would make someone run from Alcatraz? But this is still a mystery, the refugees themselves will unpack for some time.”
In the first issue of Out of Alcatraz, the question of who this woman is is left vague, but she seems to have a history with Frank. On three pages shared for an exclusive preview /Film, Frank and the woman discuss plans outside their safe house, from having two fewer prisoners than expected to whether or not Clarence should be kept around.
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The true fate of Frank Morris and Clarence Anglin may never be known, but From Alcatraz is poised to offer a compelling answer.
Out of Alcatraz #1 is scheduled for release on March 19, 2025.
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