Justin Madson
Breathers by Justin Madson
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on July 19, 2010 - 05:00
Breathers by Justin Madson is a series of self-published comics that I first found out about at SPX. It's up to Issue #5 now and it remains an intriguing premise with some great characters and story arcs. (There are actually six books as there is an Issue #0) From what I can tell jumping around the web, it's criminal how few mentions of it there are, considering how good it is. Some of that is simply due to its minimal presence on the web (which it would be well suited to as each book's chapters are episodic in nature) but it's also just another reminder that simply producing good work isn't always enough to connect with a big audience.
The world of Breathers is one where a virus has rendered the air unfit for humans to breathe without the assistance of a breather -- a mask to filter out the virus. The world is fairly well-adapted to this new status quo when the story starts although people do remember the world before. Madson does a nice job of thinking through the implications of this situation, but this is not a hard core science fiction type story; it seems more interested in its characters and is even prone to bits of magical realism.
Comix Talk for Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Submitted by Xaviar Xerexes on June 30, 2010 - 09:00
Sean Collins has an "aha" moment reading a recent interview with Meredith Gran, creator of Octopus Pie. Yeah, webcomics has its own center of gravity and there's a whole generation of creators and readers who've grown up in that gravity well.
CONVENTION: Brigid Alverson files a report on the recent annual American Library Association meeting -- lots of graphic novels in the mix.
INTERVIEW: The Avoid the Future blog (great name for a blog!) interviews Box Brown on the release of his third Everything Dies book. (h/t Journalista!)
REVIEWS: El Santo covers Wendy Pini's Masque of the Red Death and Lauren Davis reviews The Meek.
HYPE: Justin Madson just released the fifth book in his self-published Breathers series - it's available at his website. Below is a short trailer for the series (dramatizing a scene from the first book) which has shots of the comic interspersed in the live action.
Neil Jam Anniversary Week Celebration
Submitted by Neil Fitzpatrick on April 5, 2004 - 10:49
The Neil Jam daily comic strip turns one year old this week. To celebrate, I've assembled a team of only the most capable cartoonists around. Through Friday, in addition to the regular daily strip, a different cartoonist from the veritable Neil Jam dream team will be featured on the site each day. James Kochalka starts up the party with an intro to the whole week, and following him are Justin Madson, Tony Brandl, Jesse McManus, and Kurt Wolfgang. This is the ultimate Neil Jam party -- enough Neil Jam to knock your socks right off!
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