The Madness - Paperback

by J. Michael Straczynski (Author), Aco (Illustrator)

Legendary writer J. Michael Straczynski teams with superstar artist ACO for a tale of bloody vengeance.

In THE MADNESS, Sarah Ross has been using her power as a thief, stealing from the rich and...well, keeping it. Until the day she stole from the wrong person, a highly placed official who pressures the government to assassinate her. The plot, aided by so-called "good" superheroes sponsored by the government, misses her but wipes out her family. Driven mad by grief, and laser-focused on revenge for the murder of her family, Sarah and a hidden side of her personality - an imaginary friend who may be more real than she believes - goes after these superpowered operatives determined to take her revenge, at any cost.

Author Biography

J. Michael Straczynski

J. Michael Straczynski has worked in every medium except poetry, at which he sucks. His film credits include five movies that have collectively earned over a billion dollars: "Changeling" for Clint Eastwood, "Thor" for Kenneth Branagh, "Ninja Assassin," "Underworld Awakening," and "World War Z."

As a television producer and show-runner, he has written over 300 produced episodes and seven TV movies, creating and producing such series as "Babylon 5," "Twilight Zone," "Jeremiah," "Murder She Wrote," and, most recently, "Sense8" for Netflix.

His comics have sold over 13 million issues, including stints on Marvel's "The Amazing Spider-Man," "Thor," "Fantastic Four," and others. His "Superman: Earth One" graphic novels for DC Comics consistently appeared on the NY Times Bestseller List. His creator-owned titles include "Midnight Nation," "Dream Police," "Ten Grand" and "The Adventures of Apocalypse Al." He is currently head of the creative council for a new comics publishing company, AWA (Artists, Writers and Artisans) and his first title, The Resistance, debuted Spring 2020.

As a journalist, he has published over 500 articles for the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Writer's Digest, Penthouse, Twilight Zone Magazine, and elsewhere.

He was nominated for a Best Screen Writing BAFTA (British Academy Award) for "Changeling," and has received the Eisner Award, the Inkpot Lifetime Achievement Award, the Hugo Award (twice), the SDCC International Icon Award, the Saturn Award, the Ray Bradbury Award, the Christopher Foundation Award, the E Pluribus Unum Award from the American Cinema Foundation, two Emmys for "Babylon 5," the GLAAD Media Award, and dozens of others.

His autobiography, "Becoming Superman," was published in hardcover by HarperCollins Voyager in 2019 to glowing reviews in the Washington Post, New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the Los Angeles Review of Books and the Wall Street Journal. His new novel, "Together We Will Go," will be published by Simon & Schuster's prestigious Scout Press imprint in July 2021, with his book "Becoming A Writer, Staying A Writer," debuting a month earlier from BenBella Books. He is also writing two ten-episode audio dramas for Penguin-Random House: "Dunwich," and an anthology series, "The Far Horizon."

ACO

ACO (Alejandro Cal Oliveira) works as a penciller and cover artist, and has worked on titles for Marvel and DC such as Nick Fury, Wonder Woman, X-Men, Batman, Midnighter, and The Doom Patrol. AMERICAN RONIN was his first AWA book; THE MADNESS is his most recent for the publisher.