Mad Cave Studios Announces ‘Escape from New York: Escape from Chicago’ Comic Series

He’s back, he’s still wearing the eyepatch, and no—he’s not dead.

Mad Cave Studios is bringing John Carpenter’s ultimate antihero back to the printed page this fall with Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago. Launching this September, the new continuation series officially expands the dystopian, synth-scored world of the 1981 cult-classic film.

Steering the escape pod for this adventure is writer Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black, No One), with artist Val Rodrigues (The Pale Knight). Together, they’re throwing Snake Plissken right back into the kind of high-stakes, maximum-violence chaos that defined ’80s sci-fi.

Sweet Home, Dystopian Chicago

You know the rules: once you go in, you don’t come out. Unless, of course, your name is Snake Plissken.

This time around, Snake is scraping by as a “coyote.” He’s smuggling desperate people and highly illegal contraband across the heavily armed dead zones between fractured prison territories. It’s a miserable, brutal gig. But when a high-paying client hires him to extract a woman wanted by Chicago’s reigning warlord, Snake spots a rare glimmer of redemption—or, more realistically, just another glorious opportunity for the universe to kick his ass.

The Team’s Take: Lean, Mean, and Absurd

Kyle Higgins (Writer) had this to say: “Escape From New York is one of the films that taught me what genre storytelling could be—lean, mean, and built on a world you can’t stop thinking about. Getting to write in Carpenter’s sandbox is the kind of thing my younger self wouldn’t have believed.”

Val Rodrigues (Artist) said this: “Having the chance to draw such an iconic character from a legendary director like John Carpenter is a fun and challenging task… Readers can expect a distinctively absurd ’80s action style skillfully adapted to the comics medium by Kyle’s writing.”

Variant Cover Mania

You can’t launch a major comic without a small army of variant covers. Good news, the debut issue boasts eight different options! Collectors can hunt down the main cover artwork from Stephen Mooney, Danica Brine, Dan Panosian, and Christian Ward. There’s also a 1:10 virgin incentive cover by Mooney, and a 1:20 incentive cover by Nick Bradshaw and Jim Charalampidis. There’s also a flashy foil variant, and a blank sketch cover for your favorite con artists.

Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago #1 hits comic shop shelves on September 23, 2026, with a Final Order Cutoff (FOC) date of August 24. Secure your preorder through your local comic shop or directly via Mad Cave Studios before the prison walls close in.

For those fans who can’t get enough Snake, you’ll be happy to learn that a reboot is on its way from Zach Snyder (learn more here).