"It offers a snapshot of the great illusionist with a peek behind the curtain at one of his tricks. The artist, reared on a steady diet of "Tintin" and R. Crumb, had no interest in Houdini or in magic. But he took the job in part for a chance to learn from Lutes and to pencil, ink and letter the story from his writer's thumbnails."

Sounds like a great book.
The Comics Reporter favorably reviewed the work's advance edition.

The critic notes the book asserts and then proves "Houdini was the first person to become famous because what he did was cool."

They do so by compressing much of Houdini's life into a single stunt, a bridge jump in Boston where Houdini escaped from handcuffs after tossing himself underwater. This allows the pair to show samples of recurring themes in Houdini's carefully crafted career: coordinated publicity stunts, secrecy, his close relationship to his wife, practice, physical fitness, working the press, and several instances of showmanship.
Houdini proves so interesting that the story itself is told with little flair: the narrative is straightforward and concentrates on process rather than locking itself into the unraveling of a mysterious incident; the visuals favor open, airy panels, establishing sequences, a six-panel grid to get through the more detailed sequences and an energetic design with a Houdini that practically snakes and shifts along the contours of his own inky line.

The images look great and the story sounds just right. Unlike many "alternative comics" on the market today, critics say Houdini: The Handcuff King is a very professional, very nice little short story, the only thing connecting it to alternative comics in general may be the focus on the Houdini's romantic partnership and collaboration, a sweet portrait of what was, at least for the afternoon depicted, a seemingly perfect marriage.

It's also very much the straight-forward piece, absent of dark moment or controversial opinion or stab at significant meaning, the kind of tone one might of guessed would be part of the project from the very beginning.

- Provided by InsideMagic