Matt Madden (born 1968 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) is a

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

writer and artist. He is best known for original

alternative comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

, for his coloring work in traditional comics, and for the experimental work '' 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style'', which is based on the idea of

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau w ...

's '' Exercises in Style''. He also teaches comics at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

Career

Madden began his career self-publishing minicomics in

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in the early 1990s. He was co-editor with

Matt Feazell Matt Feazell (born 1955) is an American cartoonist from Hamtramck, Michigan, primarily working in minicomics. He is best known for his wryly humorous ''The Amazing Cynicalman'' series and the simple "stick figure" art style he uses for it. Cynical ...

and

Sean Bieri Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglic ...

of the anthology ''5 O'Clock Shadow''. After several of his short pieces appeared in established publications, Madden's first graphic novel, ''Black Candy'', was published by Black Eye Books in 1998. In the mid-1990s Madden began writing reviews for ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'' and other publications. He is a consulting editor for the mini-comic Le Sketch. He works in illustration and comics coloring and also teaches comics storytelling at the

. His graphic novel, ''Odds Off'', was published by

Highwater Books Highwater Books was a small but influential independent comic book publisher based in Somerville, Massachusetts, noted for its arty editorial direction and production values under publisher Tom Devlin. Highwater began in 1997 and folded in Novembe ...

, and issue of his periodical series of short works, ''A Fine Mess'', are published by

Alternative Comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which ...

. He regularly deals with themes in settings in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(where he lived for a time in the late 1990s), or that are rooted in Mexican culture. Madden is

OuBaPo Oubapo (, short for french: Ouvroir de bande dessinée potentielle; roughly translated: ''"workshop of potential comic book art"'') is a comics movement which believes in the use of formal constraints to push the boundaries of the medium. OuBaPo ...

's "U.S. correspondent."Colchester, Max
"Jerry Lewis Is Funny to the French, but Comic Books Are Serious Business: Ruling Clique Squabbles Over 'Ninth Art'; 'We Laughed About It, Later We Wept'."
''Wall Street Journal'' (Jan. 21, 2011).

Personal life

Madden currently lives in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York with his wife, fellow comics creator

Jessica Abel Jessica Abel (born 1969) is an American comic book writer and artist, known as the creator of such works as ''Life Sucks'', ''Drawing Words & Writing Pictures'', ''Soundtrack'', ''La Perdida'', ''Mirror, Window'', ''Radio: An Illustrated Guide' ...

, and their two children. They took a sabbatical in France in August 2012."Jessica Abel and Matt Madden: Back to Being Comics Artists,"
Grace Bello, Publishers Weekly, February 14, 2012.

Bibliography

*''Black Candy'' (Black Eye Books, 1998) *''Odds off, or, L'amour foutu'' (Highwater Books, 2001) *''A Fine Mess'' 2 issues (Alternative Comics, 2002–2004) *''99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style'' (Chamberlain Bros., 2005) *''Ex Libris: A Comic'' (Uncivilized Books, 2021) *Madden, with

, ''Drawing Words and Writing Pictures,'' ( First Second, 2008) *Madden (translator), Aristophane, "The Zabime Sisters," ( First Second, 2010) *Madden, with

, ''Mastering Comics: Drawing Words & Writing Pictures Continued,'' ( First Second, 2012)

References

External links

*
Le Sketch: mini-comic with Matt Madden's sketches

A 2005 Interview with Madden
* Alternative cartoonists School of Visual Arts faculty 1968 births Living people Artists from New York City {{US-comics-creator-stub