Thank you Titan Books and Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. This is a graphic novel written By David Hasteda, and is about Frank Lee Morris breaking free from Alcatraz Prison. This graphic novel imagines what Frank did next, after he escaped. I was intrigued for most of the story, and loved the art style.

This was a brilliant graphic novel. I just had to read it all in one sitting as it was so good. It was a really interesting story that I couldn't put down. It's quite the page turner. I found the story exciting and quite shocking in places. Talk about edge of your seat. The Story was very well wrote and the pictures were brilliant. They were in great detail with a fantastic use of colour to create tension. 

I am so glad I found this novel because it was a brilliant way to learn some history. I knew about someone surving escaping alcatraz but I didn't know the story and was so engrossed in the amazing story of Frank Lee. If you love interesting graphic novels then this is for you. Plus it's a great way to learn history. It's definitely an 18 + novel. 

What I loved the most is how the emotions were brought out in the pictures these created such a wonderful sense of atmosphere and tension throughout. It was definitely an exciting story. I will definitely be looking out for more titles by this talented author and illustrator. 

I thought it was great that it had a shory history and story about alcatraz at the end.

Many thanks to the author, illustrator and publishing team for bringing this amazing story to life through a fantastic medium.

The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK where found and my blog today https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/frank-lee-after-alcatraz-by-david-hasteda-titan-comics-4-stars either under my name or ladyreading365

I read an advanced copy of graphic novel and some of the illustrations were blurry, so I cannot comment on the quality of the finished product.

Overall, the story was interesting and told well. I liked this alternate ending to Frank's escape from Alcatraz.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“I said earlier that Frank Lee was born in that prison. I was wrong…he died there.”

Publisher: Titan Comics

Release date: 12th July 2022.

Pages: 130

Representation: NA

Trigger warnings: Fire, Death of a child, Death, violence, stalking, domestic violence, drug use, hospitalisation.

Summary:Alcatraz was meant to be inescapable, that was until Frank Lee and his friends came along. They made it out, and disappeared into the ferocious ocean below. There’s no way they survived the swim, or did they? What happens next when you’ve done the impossible? Franks spent his whole life running, but never like this.

After Alcatraz shows us there’s more to every hardened criminal than anyone would ever tell us.

Despite being a technical historical fiction, this comic heavily relies on the movie as its basis. The art matches the style and atmosphere of the movie, and it was easy to distinguish between characters. The only issue I had with the art was that it had unrealistic female body proportions at times-it really focused on large boobs for all the females. This wouldn’t have been an issue if that was just the style, but it wasn’t. This only applied to women, whereas everything else was drawn to realistic dimensions.

I loved the use of colour to represent present reality; events happening in the past were in black and white, and when they were happening on screen they had a blue overlay. It really helped distinguish between scenes.

Frank surviving means he was alive when the movie escape from Alcatraz came out, and I like the fact that the comic didn’t side-step this. It used it as a great plot point, and it seemed very realistic to imagine something like that could happen.

It was nice to see a softer side to the hardened criminal, and I loved the story, no spoilers, but I was rooting for Frank. I was sad when he was, and happy when he found brief moments of peace. The story did have far less action and drama than I was expecting, but it wasn’t bad.

As a history and movie fan, it was a light and entertaining read. Definitely an interesting take on what could have happened if they survived.

Its shining glory: It offers a calmer, more humane side to the escape artist who’s famous for being nothing more than a common criminal. It’s a nice change of pace, and refreshing to read.

Its fatal flaw: It was extremely fast-paced and included multiple long-range time jumps, which made it hard to connect with the characters Frank connected with.

Read this if: You loved ‘escape from Alcatraz’ the movie, and love speculative fiction. You have an open mind about where characters can go after the original story ends.

Skip this if: You don’t want to think past the end of the movie. You don’t like fast moving fiction or speculative use of well-known figures.

Translated from the French, this graphic novel invents a life for one of three people who might have successfully busted out of Alcatraz in the years before it closed in the '60s. Apparently a gang of four were ready to leave, but one failed; a pair of brothers went one way on dry land, and as for our hero Frank, he got as far as Bolinas, shacked up with a couple running a small grocery story, and took to hiding in plain sight. This allows him to comment on the death of Marilyn and JFK, and to go all Gumpian and show us what hippie-dom and suchlike were like. But before he can present his version of the San Fran experience in full, life just has to get a bit darker once again...

I'm guessing some readers will know the character of Frank as being the one Clint Eastwood played in a movie once, although the creators here claim a bit more veracity in the escape – but pure fantasy beyond that. I didn't know the story myself, but this is interesting enough – a way of doing what Brubaker and co are trying for with their "Reckless" series but without all the pulpy style. It remains flawed, of course, for the simple fact it is seeking a way for us to be inspired by a career criminal – the man is to be lauded, we're told, for the way he escaped multiple prisons before Alcatraz, and that doesn't matter as long as he behaves himself and tidies the baked beans in the store OK. Yes, we can feel something for him with the dark side of the fiction here, and he comes across as a man who has gone through some redemptive experiences, but at the back of it all is the demand we cheer the violent crook on.

That aside, we have a 'what if' kind of story, fantasising what existence might be like for someone fresh to having to make their way in life with no cell bars in the way. I dare say this has been done before, but the historical timeline seems well researched, the visual style is pretty decent, with a lack of showiness in keeping with the era, and if you put aside the problematic background of the character, the story arc is an engaging one. Just don't think this is a hardboiled book of criminality, for all the "Hard Case Crime" badge on the front. It's much more of a character study, and one that, conflictions aside, might deserve four stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books for an Arc of this book.

This is a fictional story of Frank Lee, who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962. This ended up being an incredible emotional story about this man who is trying to build a new life. The story starts with the escape and then it follows only Frank Lee over the years until he is old and the movie Escape from Alcatraz is released in 1979. Such a wonderful, unique idea to have the action in between these events!

In not many pages, the characters have grown on me and it got quite emotional. The way Frank's trauma is presented worked great. I feel like the graphic's colors were working in favor of showing these emotions and the trauma.

I highly recommend this book for the emotions, historical aspects and the characters! Wonderful.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Frank Lee, After Alcatraz tells a fictionalized story of what might have happened to one of the famous inmates who escaped Alcatraz in 1962, I like these kind of stories -- ones that take a real life event and real life people and then propose a story of what might have happened. And I think this book largely succeeds at telling a compelling "what if" story. For me the book dragged a little in the middle, which is forgivable because most of the book is a pleasure to read. I think Frank Lee was a good choice to try to tell this story. I don't think a lot is known about the real Frank, but he's believable as a criminal "with a heart of gold." There's a lot explored in this book on family and loss and what it really means to be free. I would highly recommend it.

There are so many wonderful, amazing stories that exist in the world based on real events: parts of history that are rarely learnt about because they don’t affect the larger fabric of society, yet contain some of the most unbelievable events around. Sometimes these stories grab hold of people, they capture their imaginations and demand more answers. People want to know what happens next, what the solution to the mysteries are, and how events would continue on. And when this happens to writers they can often be inspired to tell their own stories, their own ‘what if’ accounts of these very real, very amazing tales. Frank Lee: After Alcatraz is one of these stories.

This new Hard Case Crime title from Titan Comics begins by giving readers the very real story of the only people ever to escape from the world famous Alcatraz prison. On the night of June 11th, 1962, three men, John Anglin, Clarence Anglin, and Frank Lee Morris, performed a daring escape from the island prison. Fashioning heads from papier-mâché, they set up decoys in their cells, and escaped into the tunnel system behind the walls through holes they’d spent months digging out behind vent covers. Escaping onto the roof of the prison, where they’d stashed their homemade oars, they descended to the shore and boarded a raft they’d constructed out of old jackets, and escaped the island.

In real life no record of them was ever found after their escape. Some believe that the three of them drowned in the bay, whilst others believe that they made good on their escape. Small pieces of evidence have been brought forward over the years that suggest they did survive their trip across the water, but no real answer has ever been found. And this is the story that captured the imagination of writer David Hasteda. This book focuses on Frank Lee Morris, and posits a possible series of events that happened to him after escaping Alcatraz.

In Frank Lee: After Alcatraz we follow the newly escaped Frank as he leaves the Anglin brothers behind and begins to make his escape through Muir Woods. Followed by search parties, and chased by tracker dogs, an injured Frank takes shelter in an old building in the small town of Bolinas. Frank attempts to stitch up the gash in his arm, but falls unconscious. When he comes to it’s been a few days, and he’s in the home of Francisco and Pam Leonetti, who have been taking care of him.

Francisco talks to Frank about why he was in Alcatraz, why a non-violent thief would wind up in the worst prison in the country, and sees that despite his past Frank isn’t a bad man. He offers Frank the opportunity to stay with them for a short while, at least until the cops stop looking for him. But as that short while becomes a long while Frank begins to make a life for himself in Bolinas, and with the Leonettis. The Leonettis tell everyone that Frank is their nephew, and he begins to become a son to the couple, who lost their own son years before. This begins a tale of how Frank starts to build a new life for himself, a new family, and the events that begin to unfold that put that new life at risk.






Frank Lee: After Alcatraz ended up being a rather delightful drama story about a man with a troubled past learning to start afresh. Despite being part of the Hard Case Crime label there’s very little crime that really happens in this book. I know that pretending to be someone you’re not to hide out from the authorities because you escaped from the most secure prison in the country is technically a crime, but other than that this is just a story about a man building a life for himself. Frank isn’t a bad person. He broke a few laws but he’s not a violent criminal, and this is one of those stories that has a more nuanced take on crime and criminals than just ‘breaking the law makes you a bad person’.

Frank proved to be an interesting man to follow. He’s spent so much of his life in prison and breaking out of prison that he really doesn’t know what to do with himself now that he’s out. He feels constantly on edge, waiting to be caught and dragged back to Alcatraz, because that’s all he’s ever really known. We get to see Frank learning to live a normal life, to settle down and build a home for himself, and it’s a really lovely journey.

He’s helped in doing this by the Leonettis, two of my favourite characters in the book. Older than Frank, Francisco and Pam see their son in the escaped prisoner. That’s even a big point of disagreement between the couple at first, and why Pam begins not wanting to help Frank out, because Francisco gives Frank their dead son’s clothes to wear. But as time moves on we see Pam warm to Frank, even ending up at the point where she’s so protective of him that she begins to fear he might suffer a similar fate to her own son. The Leonettis are a wonderfully warm and caring couple, and they come to see Frank as their own son. They don’t care that he used to be a criminal, they don’t care about his past other than wanting to protect him from it, and it’s their kindness and compassion that turns his life around. I came to care for the Leonettis pretty quickly, and loved the small family unit that they formed with Frank.

The art on the book is provided by Ludovic Chesnot, who has a look and style that feels very grounded at times, but also has a bit of flair to it that makes certain parts of the book feel a bit unnatural and stylised. I think this is perhaps a perfect approach to a story that is fictional, but grounded in reality. The art seems to reflect the fact that the events of the book aren’t real, that they are an embellishment by the author, yet could have happened. I liked the character designs, how instantly recognisable and unique everyone looked, as it helped to keep everything clear and simple and helped to prevent the story from getting muddled.

Frank Lee: After Alcatraz is an entertaining read, a fictional tale based on real events that tells a very human story with a lot of heart. I found a lot in this book to enjoy, and was genuinely disappointed when it was done as I’d have loved to have spent longer with these people and their lives.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Titan Books for an advanced copy of this historical crime and biography graphic novel.

People love the idea of escape. Be it from family, friends, responsibilities, jobs especially and definitely prisons both mental and physical. Stories of escapes fill the media and everytime there is a prison break of some sort the balance of those hoping for the person's capture is equaled by those scream run, prisoner run. Most escapes from prison end in capture. Or if there is no body found, well that prisoner must be dead. Authority dislikes those that gain and remain free, as authority hates to give up control. Frank Lee, After Alcatraz written by David Hasteda, and illustrated by Ludovic Chesnot is a comic retelling of the escape from the The Rock by Frank Lee Morris and his two companions and what might have happened after the police and search teams declared him and his companions dead.

June 11, 1962, sixty years ago, Frank Lee Morris along with two companions, brothers John William and Clarence Anglin using dummies and a raft and lift vests they created themselves escape the island of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, and set off in the cold waters of San Francisco Bay. Bits of a vest, part of the raft and a wallet were all that were found of the men, after search parties combed the area in pursuit. The assumption was made that the men were drowned in the freezing waters and the their bodies either dragged out to sea or sunk into the deep. However the U. S. Marshall service has never closed the case and was investigating reports still until the eighties. This is where our story begins as Frank separates from the brothers and sets out on his own, but finds that a life of freedom comes with its own walls and a cell is only just one mistake away.

The book is very well researched with a lot of information about the time, the prison and the people involved. The escape is very riveting, and what happens does make sense. Some of what happens to Frank seems very convenient to the plot, but life is always a series of lucky and unlucky steps. The characters are well written, and being a crime story, the reader does feel quite a bit of sympathy for Frank and for the people who help him. The art is very good. Not just in the characters, but in the flow of the storyline, how it tells the story and the backgrounds. Cars, buildings, bridges, the water everything is extremely well rendered and fits the era beautifully. The coloring has an almost not quite sepia, almost a black and white filter on the colors, giving it a gritty, edgy 1970's movie feeling. As if a filmed sequel to the Escape from Alcatraz movie. Really good.

An enjoyable crime what if story that is really intriguing. I always love stories like this because there are so many possibles to the story. Recommended for Ed Brubaker fans, EC Comics crime stories, or for fans of the author Edward Bunker. This is the first work that I have read or seen by either creator and will have to look for more, especially artist Ludovic Chesnot, whose art really made this book.