Escape Committee Issue 1

Escape Committee

Issue 1 - published 1999

The main Escape Committee strip was written during a particularly misanthropic time in my life. That probably goes without saying once you’ve read it. Despite this, it was surprisingly well received… and though only two issues were ever published, people still ask me about it. It’s dated a little in places now – the danger of topical references (I miss Mark ‘n’ Lard!) and quoting lyrics from bands everyone’s forgotten (Mansun!?!)… but I like that it’s a product of its time. Anyone who’s read even the first chapter of ‘Imaginary Friends’ will recognise the setting, as well as the geese. Both stories grew out of the same emotions, though ‘Imaginary Friends’ is a much more optimistic response. Unlike ‘Imaginary Friends’ though, Escape Committee seems a little over-written in places now. But you can’t go back and edit comics later in life… once they’re drawn, you have to live with them, good or bad.

Escape Committee was the kind of story Davey Metcalfe was born to draw, as anyone who’s read any of his own, excellent, self-published comics (including ‘My Life Story’ and ‘Fast Broads’) will know. Davey drew this strip while he was at Uni in Sheffield. I’d go down there some weekends, we’d have a drink and go see a band at the Leadmill. That’s me and him in The Star on page 10, panel 2, probably talking about Morrissey or his weird fascination with DeGrassi Junior High or something. I hardly see him since he moved to Birmingham, but I do hope one day to persuade him to pick up a pen and get drawing again! Miss you, mate!

I did recently find a number of unpublished pages for Escape #3… and if I can work out what goes where, and remember exactly what was supposed to happen next, I might get around to finishing the story one day. In the meantime, enjoy the misery!

Escape Committee Part 1

Trust

(Originally published in ‘Escape Committee #1, 1999)

Art by Nigel Lowrey

I’ve read that all writers are natural hypochondriacs. With that in mind, ‘Trust’ needs little explanation. The story is semi-autobiographical in two ways. I wrote it back when I was going through a half-arsed attempt to diagnose a condition, which, depending on which doctor I talk to, might or might not be causing the symptoms the character describes in the story. (If it’s not, I’m told not to worry, it’s probably just a recurring ‘virus’… medical jargon for “we haven’t a clue”). Secondly, the flashback about stranger-danger actually happened to me when I was a kid. Really. Would you have got in that car?

Nigel is always hyper-critical of his own artwork, as soon as it’s published (sometimes even before). As usual though, I think he did an excellent job here, creating a real sense of unease in the last couple of pages, with very little to work from. Look out for a couple of classic Nige cameos in the waiting room too!