'Happy Town' by Justin Madson

“Happy Town” by Justin Madson

Justin Madson has embarked on one hell of something with his books “Happy Town.”

I’ve read both volumes now, but they aren’t over yet. It’s a pretty difficult story to sum up, but I’ll try. You’ve got this small Midwestern town that somehow has all the energy and drama of a big city, just without nearly so many people. There’s a mayor’s race about to happen so they are trying to send a rocketship to Saturn except townspeople keep suddenly floating away - which inspires a cult to get started - and the world has been overcome with snow because this demon has returned to Earth. Oh, and the hippies are really focused, ambitious practitioners of magic (I mean, come on Madson, don’t make us suspend our disbelief that much).

The best character in the book is this ex-cop with a robotic arm who makes friends with a monster he calls fur-ball (sort of like an intelligent bear who can teleport). I think the cop’s daughter is the young superhero in a jetpack. That’s sort of unclear to me. Anyway, he kind of becomes the muscle for this geriatric teams of ex-worldsaving adventurers who realize that this snow-demon has come back and which former resident of Happy Town made it happen.

Really, though, there are a lot of stories in these books. At the end of two volumes, many of them are starting to come together and I’m looking forward to seeing where they all go. I like the artwork (the funny shaped heads), the slacker-feel and the characters. My one criticism is that Madson doesn’t ever narrate his transitions. He tries to let you know that you’ve moved from one setting to another and one group of characters to another by making a different look to the page and drawing his characters well enough that you know, but after a while it gets hard.

See, there are a lot of characters and a lot of divergent plotlines in this story. In the second book, I definitely found myself thinking I was still in one part of the story only to have to go back because I realized I a transition had happened. It’s a little confusing at times, that’s all. A “Meanwhile, back at the ranch” would be appreciated, but this is clearly a conscious choice on his part and I guess he has to stick with it.

That said, these are good and ambitious books (even if their coverprices are a high). Worth your time to check out. I’m glad I picked them up. I don’t even hold it against Madson and his wife that they live in the Madison, Wisconsin area - especially since they told me they are thinking about moving.