DEFIANT - The Story of Robert Smalls - "Escape" Tee
The Escape tee. The steamship, the harbor, and the night that carried 16 people out of Charleston to freedom, silk screened on a black shirt.
A limited edition tee from DEFIANT: The Story of Robert Smalls, the graphic novel by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Rob Edwards. Sizes S to 2XL. Ships nationwide.
What Is the Escape Tee?
The Escape design takes the most cinematic moment in the DEFIANT story, the vessel moving through a dark harbor with everything riding on it, and puts it on a shirt you will actually wear. Silk screened, limited edition, available in sizes small through 2XL.
It works the way the best story shirts work. Nobody reads a wall of text on your chest. They see the image, they ask what it is, and you get to tell them about a 23 year old who outmaneuvered an entire harbor. That conversation is the reason this shirt exists.
Who Was Robert Smalls of Beaufort, SC?
Robert Smalls was born into bondage in Beaufort, South Carolina on April 5, 1839. He died in the same Beaufort house 75 years later, a house he had bought with his own money after being held in it as a boy.
On May 13, 1862, Smalls commandeered the steamship Planter in Charleston Harbor under cover of darkness. He put on the captain's hat, gave the correct hand signals and whistle codes at five checkpoints, and carried his wife, his children, and roughly fifteen others out of the harbor to freedom. He was 23 years old.
His voyage helped persuade Abraham Lincoln to allow Black soldiers into the Union Army. After the war he bought the Beaufort house where he had been held, started a newspaper, founded a railroad company, helped write South Carolina's Reconstruction constitution, and championed the first free and compulsory public school system in the country. He served five terms in public office. Joseph Rainey served longer, and we say so, because the real record is remarkable enough without inflating it.
How Do You Order the Tee?
Choose your size above and add it to the cart. Checkout takes a card, PayPal, Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and code DEFIANT20 takes 20 percent off the Defiant collection. Orders ship nationwide across the United States and orders over $50 ship free.
Educators, librarians, and anyone ordering shirts in volume for a class, a staff, or an event should email chris@legionm.com for bulk pricing and an educator discount.
Why Should You Trust This Version of the Story?
DEFIANT was written by Rob Edwards, the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter behind The Princess and the Frog and Captain America: Brave New World. Cover art is by Nikolas Draper-Ivey, who created the cover for Kendrick Lamar's Black Panther: The Album. Interior art comes from Ray-Anthony Height, Sean Damien Hill, and Alex Paterson, veterans of Marvel and DC.
Bill Duke is executive producer. Marvin "Krondon" Jones III is co-executive producer. Michael Boulware Moore, Robert Smalls' great-great-grandson and founding CEO of the International African American Museum in Charleston, served as family advisor, and Dr. Myisha Eatmon advised on the history.
Published by Stranger Comics and Legion M Entertainment. Legion M is the world's first fan-owned entertainment company, founded in 2016 and now powered by more than 50,000 investors. DEFIANT did not start in a boardroom. It started as a meme in the Legion M fan community, and the members asked for it.
What Has DEFIANT Won?
NPR Books We Love 2025, selected from more than 380 staff-picked titles. NAACP Image Award nominee for Outstanding Literary Work: Graphic Novel. Amazon Best Seller in three categories. The first print run of more than 5,000 copies sold out in under a month. Featured in Christian Science Monitor, Publishers Weekly, and Military.com. The Kickstarter raised $154,293 from 1,812 backers and funded in under 30 minutes against a $10,000 goal. DEFIANT was featured at San Diego Comic-Con in 2023, 2024, and 2025.