Although I plan on “officially” debuting the BREATHERS GRAPHIC NOVEL in New York next week, I wanted to make the book available for you to buy online now.  I mean, why wait around, right?

So, you can order a copy of the new book here or through my ETSY SHOP.

Here’s a bit about the story:

The air is no longer safe to breathe.  A virus has been unleashed into the air, rendering it deadly to humans.  People have adapted to this world, wearing respiratory masks, or “breathers,” when they go outside.  They have adapted and life goes on much as it did before, although, with a very real fear of death looming over their every breath.

The story of Breathers follows a small cast of individuals as they struggle to make sense of the dystopian world they live in.  Among them: a detective whose addiction to the drug known as “Filter K” takes over his life.  A brother and sister who, due to recent events, start to wonder if the air really is deadly, or if it’s all just a conspiracy.  A mother and daughter who will do anything to keep their family together.  And a breather salesman who is looking to make amends for his past mistakes.  They are all survivors of this virus-plagued world.  They are all “breathers.”

(collects the entire six-issue Breathers series and includes a cover gallery and the 16-page story from Breathers #0)

Square-Bound Paperback Volume

426 pages, b & w interior with a full color cover, 6.625″ x 10.25″

$25.00 plus $5.00 shipping

I’m super-excited to announce that I will be debuting the BREATHERS graphic novel at MoCCA Fest (April 9-10) in NYC.  The book collects the six issues of BREATHERS, as well as issue #0 and includes a cover gallery.  That’s over 400 pages of story!

The books just arrived today and they look pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.  I will have the books available at MoCCA Fest along with art prints and a smattering of original art, both BREATHERS and non-BREATHERS related.

After I get back from the show, I will have the book for sale on this site.  Here’s what the cover looks like:

Breathers #6 is completed and ready for purchase in my ETSY SHOP and here (under the BOOKS header).  It is the final issue of the series.  I will also be releasing a Breathers graphic novel, which will collect the entire series in one volume.  That will be coming out in April.  I will be self-publishing it and it will be awesome.  More details soon…

Here’s the cover to #6.  Buy it.  Please.

I’m making more of an effort to get out and do more shows once again this year.  You can see the ones I’ll be attending in the right sidebar.  It’s going to be a busy year…

Breathers will be running in its entirety online on MTV Geek, an online source for comic book news, video interviews, previews and reviews.  Every Wednesday will bring you a new installment of the story.  I’m pretty excited to have Breathers associated with this new online presence and hope to get a lot more people reading the series.  We’ll see what happens.

Jesus, I haven’t posted anything here since August!?  Where does the time go?

Here’s what’s been happening in the wonderful world of Just Mad Books:

Breathers Book 6 is well underway.  I have the entire thing penciled and have begun the torturous task of inking.  Bring on the hand cramps!  I hope to have the issue done sometime in February.

I’ve been trying to figure out what direction to take as far as printing the collected Breathers book goes.  Do I fork out the cash and just print it myself?  Do I shop it around to publishers once again, now that it’s a completed project?  Lots to think about.

Now that Breathers is all but completed, my mind’s been wandering off to the next project.  There’s something so refreshing about the prospect of starting something new.  I have been living with Breathers for almost four years now, so it’s exciting to look forward to what’s next.  The new project, tentatively titled, “Late Winter Days,” is a reboot of a story I’ve tried to work on a few different time now.  But this time, I have things more fully realized.  More on this to come, definitely.

Not sure what’s up with the Breathers short film.  I had done some character design work for a new animated section of the film, but that’s as far as I know.  We’ll see.

I hope to print some shirts up to coincide with the completion of Breathers (and possibly the release of the collected Breathers graphic novel).

Is this shit boring?

Maybe you need something to look at.

There.  Happy now?

Remember, tell your friends to read Breathers.  Tell them to read it or you’ll punch ‘em in the nose.  That should work.  Threats.

Happy Christmas or whatever to you all.

Last weekend was the Minneapolis Indie Expo (MIX).  It was the first year of this particular show and, seeing as how it’s fairly close to home, I figured I should go sell some stuff there.  And so I did.

The show was held at the Soap Factory, a gallery space just on the outskirts of downtown (I think.  I don’t really know where we were…).  It was a re-purposed warehouse, so, while not exactly being “clean and neat,” still had a certain indie charm.  I imagine if you walked around the show barefoot, you would have, more than likely, needed a tetanus shot by the end of the day.  It was hot and muggy, but a smattering of fans keep the hot, muggy air blowing around the four or five small rooms the exhibitors had been broken up into.  I should say that I was seated in perhaps the coolest (temperature-wise) and least smelly (nose-wise) room, so, hooray for that.

There was a decent sized crowd of folks coming through the space, although they seemed more eager to grab a business card than actually bust out the cash.  But, I did have a good amount of sales (thanks to all you awesome people out there), just not what I had hoped for.  Hell, it paid for the trip, so I guess that’s something, right?  Right!

The show was very well-organized and very exhibitor-friendly.  They even provided us with pizza for lunch!  That’s like an instant win-me-over situation, right there.

So, all in all, in it’s first year, the Minneapolis Indie Expo gets a round of applause from me on a valiant effort.  Hopefully, this show will continue to grow and get more and more awesomer.  ‘Cuz, you know, I’ll keep attending if it does.  Done.

I have begun drawing Breathers 6. It will be the last issue of the series.  It will be around 30-40 pages and should be done by the end of the year.  Then I find a publisher to print up the collection all fancy.  The end.

Over at the Breathers Movie site, you can order Breathers t-shirts.  They are awesome and only $15.  I am wearing mine right now.

After a year in the making, the fifth installment of Breathers is finished!  I am still scanning in pages and working on the book layouts (the boring stuff), but will be taking preorders for the book at a discounted price ($5 instead of $6).  I will be accepting preorders until June 20th, and will print and ship out all preordered books that week.  You can order through PayPal in the “BOOKS” section of this site or by visiting my ETSY SHOP.

Jesus, I’ve been working on the 5th installment of Breathers for over a year now!  Don’t think I’ve ever gone that long without having some sort of new work released.  Guess that’s what happens when babies and house-buying enter the equation.  Excuses, excuses.  Anyway, I am so, so close to finishing Book 5.  It will have 94 pages of story (no wonder it so so goddamn long to finish it!) and I’ll be accepting pre-orders for it very soon.  I’d like to get the cover done before I go down that road, though.  I’ll keep you posted.

And, since I’m writing, I should also mention that there will be a Book 6.  Sure, I could end the story after 5, but I feel like an epilogue is necessary to really, fully tie things up all nice & neat.  So there.  I’m doing it and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.  I will have it done for SPX in September (which may well be the only show I do this year…if I get a table…).

Here’s a page: