Justin Madson

I picked this up because of the Wizard of Oz references, which I assumed would be primarily metaphorical. That isn't the case, but many of them ended up feeling pretty arbitrary aside from the involvement of Campbell, the Tin Woodsman (one of the main characters), and a couple of other plot points. There are Oz names and easter eggs everywhere, but mostly this is fairly traditional YA graphic novel about a teenaged girl who feels alienated within her family and her younger brother, who just wants things back the way they used to be. It isn't badly written, but you can pretty much see where the story is going to go every step of the way. Madson's art reminds me a little bit of Chris Ware's - everybody has a pretty flat affect, and that adds to the general sense of moroseness within the book.… (plus d'informations)

6/10, I didn't enjoy this book at first, but it got better towards the end. The art style was really off putting, the colour palette was nice, but I kept noticing how the eyes were just white circles, gives off a sort of creepiness to it. I would've loved to see more of the worldbuilding, how is there so much steampunk in the world? Half of the plot was very slow after Solar finds Campbell, but it got very emotional towards the last half, and I was really invested in it.

In the last half, Campbell tries to stand up against the bullies, and uses his heart, there was a tornado in the neighbourhood, so Solar, Campbell, and another character went into a rocket which actually flew! The friendship between the two main characters really developed, and I liked seeing the two of them together, in the end, Solar even made a new home for Campbell, which was very heartwarming. If you want a story about friendship, this is the book for you.… (plus d'informations)

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss. Content warning for rape, drug addiction, depression, self-harm, suicide, and violence. Caution: this review contains minor spoilers.)

-- 4.5 stars --

Forty-six years ago, a scientist named Fencer created a deadly airborne pathogen in a lab - and then released it into the world. Though he just died in prison (at the ripe old age of 89, natch), the dystopian world he created endures. As does humanity: though the air is no longer breathable, people have adapted with the help of "breathers," or respiratory masks that allow them to go about life much as they once did. (Buildings and some vehicles are outfitted with complex ventilation systems.)

BREATHERS follows a cast of regular people as they go about their regular lives: dating, grieving, battling drug addition and depression, trying to keep their kids fed and housed during an economic depression. There's Juliana, a single mother, former drug dealer, and sometimes sex worker, who finds an already tight budget squeezed even thinner when her daughter Mara breaks her arm. Jacob is a traveling breather salesman who is haunted by the memory of his missing wife Emily. Corrupt cop Marsh is addicted to a drug called "Filter K," which causes dementia, violent behavior, and psychosis. October - Tobey for short - tries to juggle a budding relationship with Huck and his sister Easter's depression and suicidal ideation. Easter, meanwhile, suspects that she alone can breathe "fresh" air; this search for meaning brings her to the BARD Institute, and memories she had long buried.

And then there's Piper, Mara's stuffed dragon, into which she's apparently breathed life. Piper can talk, fly, and slay the baddies. If breathable air is the tradeoff for sentient stuffed animals, I just might choose this 'verse. (Plus there are no gas-guzzling cars, so double points.)

Though BREATHERS was conceived, written, and originally released well before the COVID-19 pandemic, reading it through this lens really lends additional dimension and meaning. One of the many subplots focuses on Professor Barnes and the "Breathe Free" movement, a cult-like group that peddles conspiracy theories - chief among them that the virus is a hoax; the air, perfectly breathable. Since Easter's special abilities seem to bolster this claim, I devoured BREATHERS with no small amount of trepidation. Though it felt like the narrative was going in an anti-masker, COVID-denial direction at times, luckily this doesn't prove to be the case. The way that Madson handles the "Breathe Free" storyline is just *chef's kiss* masterful. It's amazing to think that he wrote it pre-COVID, since it dovetails so seamlessly with *gesticulating wildly* everything that's going on in the world in the here and now.

Likewise, all of the disparate plot lines weave together like a beautiful tapestry, as the characters' lives intersect in various ways. I found Juliana's, Jacob's, and Easter's journeys particularly compelling. Easter's struggle with depression - and to find a sense of meaning - resonated something fierce.

But the pièce de résistance has got to be Piper. A talking dragon in a scifi dystopia? Need I say more?… (plus d'informations)

A fairly typical tale about an angsty teen tossing aside her good girl image to hang with some juvenile delinquents is jazzed up by making it an homage to The Wizard of Oz. Her tale parallels and intersects with Campbell, the titular Tin Man, a homeless android with daddy issues (robots have daddies!?!?).

The story is too slow, dull, and predictable (an impending tornado is telegraphed over and over). It is shelved with the YA graphic novels at my library, but the simplicity of the tale screams middle school. The art is reminiscent of Jeff Lemire's, with most characters sharing the same two faces -- usually stuck in emotional neutral -- with a mix of different hairstyles to differentiate them.

Morose meh.… (plus d'informations)