Snake Plissken, the charismatic character played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's 1981 science fiction/adventure classic, Escape From New York, is about to star in a new comic book series entitled John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles. Hurricane Entertainment, the comic studio responsible for Violent Messiahs (published by Image) is teaming with director John Carpenter, producer Debra Hill, and actor Kurt Russell to create the new series. William O'Neill, co-creator of Violent Messiahs and Chassis, will write the Snake Plissken comic while Tone Rodriguez, penciller on Violent Messiahs will provide the art. The comic series will debut in spring of 2003 and a sneak preview issue will be available at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.
The launch of the Snake Plissken comic series will coincide with the release of the definitive Escape From New York DVD, which will include missing footage, lots of new commentaries, and interviews with the original 'Escapees.' Over the next two years Carpenter, Hill, and Russell will attempt to create a 'brand' identity for Snake Plissken with, in addition to the comic series, the release of a Japanese feature length Snake Plissken anime as well as a Snake Plissken video game. Retro comics with 80s backgrounds are super hot at the moment (see 'Retro Influence Grows On Top Comic Sellers'), but this will be the first one based on a movie property rather than on a cartoon series or toy line. Recently most properties have been moving from comic books into films, but given the fact that retro comics are booming and that most of the prime animation and toy properties have already been taken, a comic based on the cult-favorite 80s science fiction classic starts making sense. 
