Maddrax
Maddrax is a booklet series from Bastei-Verlag , which has been published every two weeks since February 8, 2000.
The series combines the genres of adventure , science fiction , horror and fantasy . It tells the story of USAF pilot Matthew Drax , who is thrown 500 years into the future. In a world devastated by a cometary impact, he meets Aruula , often referred to in the text as a barbarian - with a differentiated meaning in the Maddrax universe - who has telepathic powers and gives it the eponymous name Maddrax due to an acoustic misunderstanding . In addition, there are a number of minor characters that appear again and again in individual novels.
The Zaubermond-Verlag publishes paperbacks (up to volume 27 hardcover) at regular intervals, which accompany and supplement the main story. In addition, as part of the paperbacks published by Romantruhe , the booklet novels will be reissued from the start.
The series of novels from episode 365 has been published in the form of a digital edition by Bastei Lübbe Verlag since 2014.
Authors
The novels are written by several authors. In addition to the regular authors, guest authors also write regularly.
The main authors of the series are currently Ansgar Back , Wolf Binder , Lucy Guth , Ben Calvin Hary , Ian Rolf Hill , Christian Schwarz , Sascha Vennemann, Manfred Weinland , Jana Paragidi and Jo Zybell. Other issues are by Bernd Frenz , Oliver Fröhlich , Ronald M. Hahn , Claudia Kern , Christian Montillon , Michael J. Parrish, Horst Pukallus , Michael Schönenbröcher alias "Mad Mike", Susan Schwartz , Stephanie Seidel and Timothy Stahl, Michelle Stern, Michael Marcus Thurner , Mia Zorn. Frenz, Kern, Parrish, Schwartz, Seidel and Stahl have left the series, Montillon only contributed two and Pukallus only one volume.
Michael Schönenbröcher is the editor of the series .
Cover pictures
Most of the cover pictures come from the Spanish illustrator Koveck , and now and then from Jan Balaz, Arndt Drechsler, Candy Kay , José del Nido and Luis Royo . Néstor Taylor has been the series' regular artist since 2012 . Royo does not draw directly for Maddrax, however, conceptually suitable images of him are cleverly integrated into the series context. Kay's pictures are computer graphics , the quality and appropriateness of which are controversially discussed by followers of the series on the letters to the editor and in internet forums.
Frequency of publication
In addition to the booklet novels that appear every two weeks, there is a series of paperback books (up to volume 27 hardcover) published by Zaubermond and published approximately every six months. In this, people and events are presented in depth, which play a subordinate role in the series of issues or were only mentioned in passing.
The booklet novels from number 250 also appear as an e-book ( DRM -free in EPUB format )
Reprints of the booklet novels were first published irregularly by Bastei Lübbe and have now been published regularly every two months by Romantruhe as a paperback since volume 8 ; a comic version was discontinued after the second volume. The unreleased third volume is available for download from the official website.
The novel booklets are available in eBook form from episode 365 from Bastei Lübbe Verlag.
action
The plot of Maddrax is usually told through self-contained stories, which consist of one to three booklet novels and are linked by a common thread. The following overview roughly summarizes the basics of the series:
In February 2012, a comet hit Lake Baikal on the Asian continent. The earth's crust is deformed, the poles shift, and a new ice age begins due to the blown dust.
As it turns out, this comet, known as Christopher Floyd by mankind, is actually a space ark that contains millions of ghosts of extraterrestrial life forms stored in crystals. The Daa'murs had to give up their home because a black hole manifested itself near their central star. When their lava planet was doomed, they were able to save themselves by giving up their bodies and creating such space arcs called “converters”. Stranded on earth, the disembodied spirits now try from the crystals to create a form of life that suits their spirits and earthly conditions by manipulating the local flora and fauna through radiation.
However, this radiation has a dumbing effect on the surviving people, who number in the hundreds of thousands. In a few centuries, human civilization will fall back into a Bronze Age stage. Due to the Ice Age, the struggle for daily survival dominates, while many animals, especially insects, mutate and pose additional dangers. Only in a few underground bunker colonies have people survived the centuries, which, due to their complete isolation from the outside world, are now extremely susceptible to germs and bacteria, but have been able to develop technically, protected against the dumbing radiation.
Matthew Drax, who was assigned to an air squadron in 2012 to observe the (failed) bombardment of the comet from the ISS , ended up in 2516 when the comet struck due to (initially) unknown causes. The ice age is drawing to a close, the dumbing radiation has declined for decades, barbarian hordes roam the countries, at the same time people in the ruins of former cities have come together to form larger communities and have established some trade. Matthew Drax, who survived the crash of his plane, is rescued from the wreck by the barbarian Aruula, who from then on accompanies him through the post-apocalyptic world. You will unravel the mystery of the supposed comet, travel to Mars and even in time. Again and again they come across new phenomena and are forced to risk their lives to save the world from destruction.
Offshoot
Mission Mars
From May to September 2005, the 12 volumes of the offshoot series “Mission Mars” appeared in weekly rotation with Maddrax . She told the story of a 2009 Mars expedition that had no way of returning to its home planet after the comet hit Earth. Different stages in the development of civilization on Mars are traced in four trilogies . The storylines of both series converged in volumes 150 and 151 of Maddrax, after which Mars was regularly the setting for Maddrax booklet novels.
The series was conceived by Michael Schönenbröcher together with Wolfgang Hohlbein , who also contributed the first volume, and should focus on the science fiction aspect of the series.
In addition to the Maddrax authors Susan Schwartz, Claudia Kern, Timothy Stahl and Manfred Weinland , Frank Thys also worked on the Maddrax offshoot. The cover pictures were created by the German artist Jan Balaz and by Koveck.
| date | tape | title | author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 05/10/2005 | 01 | The arrival | Wolfgang Hohlbein |
| 05/24/2005 | 02 | Stranded | Claudia Kern |
| 06/07/2005 | 03 | to survive | Susan Schwartz |
| 06/21/2005 | 04 | Artifacts | Frank Thys |
| 07/05/2005 | 05 | Invasion! | Frank Thys |
| 07/19/2005 | 06 | The advance | Frank Thys |
| 08/02/2005 | 07 | The breed | Timothy Stahl , Manfred Weinland |
| 08/16/2005 | 08 | inferno | Timothy Stahl , Manfred Weinland |
| 08/30/2005 | 09 | Fratricidal war | Timothy Stahl , Manfred Weinland |
| 09/13/2005 | 10 | Departure | Susan Schwartz |
| 09/27/2005 | 11 | The base | Susan Schwartz |
| 10/11/2005 | 12 | return | Susan Schwartz |
In February 2012 Bastei Lübbe published the complete “Mission Mars” series in the form of two paperbacks with the titles “The Arrival” and “The Brut”, each containing 6 of the 12 volumes. The cover illustrations are by Arndt Drechsler.
The people of the deep
For the publication of the 200th volume of Maddrax, the twelve-part offshoot series "The People of the Deep" was published in weekly rotation. The series consisted of four trilogies that explored the horror aspect of Maddrax. The novels were written by Claudia Kern, Stephanie Seidel, Michael Marcus Thurner, Dario Vandis, Mia Zorn and Jo Zybell, the cover design was done by Chris Noeth . His pictures were printed as mini posters on the inside of the cover of the magazine.
| date | tape | title | author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/25/2007 | 01 | A wound in the earth | Michael M. Thurner |
| 10/09/2007 | 02 | The greedy throat | Michael M. Thurner |
| 10/23/2007 | 03 | Death in the clouds | Mia anger |
| 11/06/2007 | 04 | Between life and death | Jo Zybell |
| 11/20/2007 | 05 | Day of Annihilation | Jo Zybell |
| 04/12/2007 | 06 | Frozen time | Jo Zybell |
| 12/18/2007 | 07 | Nobody's world | Dario Vandis |
| 02/01/2008 | 08 | Anti-serum | Dario Vandis |
| January 15, 2008 | 09 | The deadly wave | Dario Vandis |
| 01/29/2008 | 10 | Death in the blood | Claudia Kern , Stephanie Seidel |
| 02/12/2008 | 11 | Flaming sky | Stephanie Seidel , Claudia Kern |
| 02/26/2008 | 12 | Dokk | Claudia Kern , Stephanie Seidel |
2012 - year of the apocalypse
One week after Maddrax Volume 303, the twelve-part series "2012 - Year of the Apocalypse" started alternating weekly. In contrast to the two previous offshoots, it was a short series for which, although thematically related, no knowledge of the main series was necessary. Likewise not for the bastion series "The Adventurers" from the 90s, whose hero Tom Ericson played the leading role in "2012". Again, four trilogies appeared, this time under the sign of the Mayan calendar and the end of the world forecast for 2012. The novels were written by Hubert Haensel, Christian Schwarz, Manfred Weinland, Timothy Stahl and Oliver Fröhlich, the cover design was done by Oliver Specht. The last volume of the short series appeared one day before the date mentioned in "Maddrax" for the cometary impact and allowed conclusions to be drawn as to why the same did not happen in our reality. This series was originally intended to be continued, but due to a lack of demand, this plan was rejected again.
| date | tape | title | author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09/06/2011 | 01 | Message made of stone | Hubert Haensel |
| 09/20/2011 | 02 | The "man in white" | Christian Black |
| 04/10/2011 | 03 | Deadly Legacy | Hubert Haensel |
| October 18, 2011 | 04 | Traces of the past | Manfred Weinland |
| 11/01/2011 | 05 | The Conquistador | Manfred Weinland |
| 11/15/2011 | 06 | Prophet of the Apocalypse | Manfred Weinland |
| 11/29/2011 | 07 | A grave in the jungle | Timothy steel |
| 12/13/2011 | 08 | The timeless space | Timothy steel |
| December 27, 2011 | 09 | The doomsday machine | Timothy steel |
| 01/10/2012 | 10 | Under the spell of the lodge | Oliver Merry |
| 01/24/2012 | 11 | Dawn of mankind | Oliver Merry |
| 02/07/2012 | 12 | The needle of the gods | Oliver Merry |
particularities
At Maddrax Fanstory headquarters , readers of the series were able to submit self-written stories set in the Maddrax universe. Depending on the number of stories submitted, a vote was held among the registered members about every two to three months. The winning story was then published in a Maddrax booklet as a reader story. This service no longer exists.
The anniversary volume 200 "The search begins" was accompanied by a set of role-playing rules with which you can develop your own adventures in the Maddrax universe. Volumes 201, 204 and 216 contained additional “mini campaigns”, and more have been announced.
A complete pen & paper role-playing game that has not been published in print is available for download on the homepage.
A planned computer game for the series, which was already in an advanced planning stage, could never be realized due to the insolvency of the manufacturer.
In 2001 and 2002, Maddrax won the German Fantasy Prize for best series.
From August 18, 2009, Volume 1 of Maddrax will be published as a staged reading. The first two volumes are processed unabridged, volume 3 and higher are processed in abbreviated form. So far the first 14 volumes have been published (as of August 2014).
Web links
- The official page of the Bastei-Verlag website
- New Maddrax portal from the Bastei Lübbe publishing house , accessed on August 26, 2017. (The old portal at www.maddrax.de was shut down due to a hacker attack. The address forwards to the new portal.)
- Maddraxikon - Maddrax-Wiki
- Maddrax hardcover at Zaubermond
- Contribution to the series for the 300th issue, Deutschlandfunk Büchermarkt
Individual evidence
- ↑ On the term barbarian in Maddrax , described in the Maddraxikon of August 26, 2011
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
