A graphic novel showing there will always be a good reason to get out of the house.

Comics

Total Madness is aimed mainly, though not exclusively, at teenage readers and depicts the everyday horror of someone suffering from panic attacks. The main character is Anna, a 17-year-old high-school student regarded by those around her as “Mrs Faulty” or a “weirdo”. Eschewing dramatic plotlines, the narrative describes Anna’s return to school after a month of being unable to get out of bed and her subsequent trip with the mysterious Max. However, instead of a carefree road movie, we follow Anna’s struggle with the daily fears and anxieties that lurk in a crowded bus, in a motorway tunnel, in public showers, in random passers-by and in hypothetical ideas taken to paranoid conclusions. Tomáš Kopecký’s illustrations convey the physical manifestations of mental fears – the moments when Anna literally sees red. Or when, from apparent calm, she suddenly descends into neurotic ramblings, losing herself in terrifying fantasies and desperately trying to regain her equilibrium and focus.

You can read an excerpt here.

About the authors:

Tereza Kopecká (1984) published her first book for children in 2019. She has a passion for storytelling and it was her long-term ambition to write a comics story inspired by real life.

Tomáš Kopecký (1982) began drawing as a child, he drew at school and he is still drawing today. He has illustrated a few games and books and is absolutely thrilled to have finally been able to illustrate a comic book.