Snake Plissken is a man who doesn’t know when to quit. He’s always one step away from punching society right in the old bread basket, and that’s why we love him, and always have since the first time he appeared in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York, which remains one of the great dystopian action movies of the 1980s and, indeed, of all time. It dropped us right into a broken America where Manhattan had been turned into a maximum-security prison, giving us one of the most wild plots imaginable. It’s been quiet for a while — despite chat of a Zack Snyder-helmed reboot — but now, nearly 30 years after Escape From L.A., the story is officially continuing in a new comic book sequel.
Mad Cave Studios will release Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago this fall, continuing the world of Carpenter’s original film. The new series is written by Kyle Higgins and drawn by Val Rodrigues, with Snake heading to the Midwest for another dangerous job in another ruined American city. The official synopsis states: “Once you go in, you don’t come out—unless your name is Snake Plissken! Plissken now survives as a coyote, smuggling people and contraband across the dangerous dead zones between prison territories like Chicago. It’s a hard and bitter job. But when he’s hired to extract a woman wanted by the city’s warlord, Snake sees one more chance at redemption—or one more chance for the universe to kick his ass.”
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
The Matrix
Mad Max
Blade Runner
Dune
Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
What’s ‘Escape from New York’ About?
Escape From New York was released in 1981 and followed Snake as he was sent into Manhattan to rescue the President after Air Force One crashed inside the prison city. The franchise later continued with Escape From L.A. in 1996, while Snake also lived on through comics from publishers including Marvel, CrossGen, and Boom Studios. Escape From Chicago now pushes the world into another major American city, giving fans a look at what happened beyond Manhattan and Los Angeles.
Higgins said in a statement, “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 Manhattan is the kind of thing my younger self wouldn’t have believed. I can’t wait for everyone to see Snake’s next adventure.”
Rodrigues added, “When I received the invitation to draw this project, I grabbed it with enthusiasm. Having the chance to draw such an iconic character from the movies by such a legendary movie director as John Carpenter is a fun and challenging task. Readers can expect the excitement of a Carpenter-style movie, with a distinctively absurd ’80s action skillfully adapted to the comics medium by Kyle’s writing, and that I’m doing my best to do justice with my linework.”
The original cast of Escape From New York included Kurt Russell (The Thing) as Snake Plissken, Lee Van Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) as Bob Hauk, Ernest Borgnine (Marty) as Cabbie, Donald Pleasence (Halloween) as the President, Isaac Hayes (Shaft) as the Duke of New York, Adrienne Barbeau (The Fog) as Maggie, and Harry Dean Stanton (Alien) as Brain.
Escape From New York: Escape From Chicago goes on sale September 23 from Mad Cave Studios, with final order cutoff set for August 24.
