What do you think?
Rate this book
Backflash
Overwhelmed with grief over the death of his mother, shamed by his failures in marriage and fatherhood, and burdened by massive debt, Devin’s life is spiraling out of control.
That is, until he discovers the impossible: nostalgia is his superpower.
With a random touch of family memorabilia, he can mentally travel back in time, reliving the best moments of his past while finding relief from the present.
With his mother gone, Devin can now investigate her greatest secret: the identity of the father he never knew. But the more Devin "backflashes" into time, the faster his present life falls apart. On this hunt for a truth that was never supposed to come to light, Devin must come to terms with his past if he wants any chance at a future.
By Mat Johnson, the author of Pym, Loving Day, and Incognegro, Blackflash is a riveting literary graphic novel thriller laced with sly humor and raw emotion that explores time travel in wild and un-predictable ways.
That is, until he discovers the impossible: nostalgia is his superpower.
With a random touch of family memorabilia, he can mentally travel back in time, reliving the best moments of his past while finding relief from the present.
With his mother gone, Devin can now investigate her greatest secret: the identity of the father he never knew. But the more Devin "backflashes" into time, the faster his present life falls apart. On this hunt for a truth that was never supposed to come to light, Devin must come to terms with his past if he wants any chance at a future.
By Mat Johnson, the author of Pym, Loving Day, and Incognegro, Blackflash is a riveting literary graphic novel thriller laced with sly humor and raw emotion that explores time travel in wild and un-predictable ways.
104 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 2024
2 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Mat Johnson
42 books443 followersMat Johnson is an American writer of literary fiction who works in both prose and the comics format. In 2007, he was named the first USA James Baldwin Fellow by United States Artists.
Johnson was born and raised in the Germantown and Mount Airy communities in Philadelphia.
His mother is African American and his father is Irish Catholic. He attended Greene Street Friends School, West Chester University, University of Wales, Swansea, and ultimately received his B.A. from Earlham College. In 1993 he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Johnson received his M.F.A. from Columbia University School of the Arts (1999).
Johnson has taught at Rutgers University, Columbia University, Bard College, and The Callaloo Journal Writers Retreat. He is now a permanent faculty member at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Johnson lives in Houston.
Johnson was born and raised in the Germantown and Mount Airy communities in Philadelphia.
His mother is African American and his father is Irish Catholic. He attended Greene Street Friends School, West Chester University, University of Wales, Swansea, and ultimately received his B.A. from Earlham College. In 1993 he was awarded a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. Johnson received his M.F.A. from Columbia University School of the Arts (1999).
Johnson has taught at Rutgers University, Columbia University, Bard College, and The Callaloo Journal Writers Retreat. He is now a permanent faculty member at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Johnson lives in Houston.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 11, 2024
(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss. Content warning for the death of a parent.)
--- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 where necessary --
When we first meet Devin, he's about to fall into his newly deceased mother's grave - right on top of her, in fact. To say that he's a sad sack doesn't quite do it justice: he'll be the first to tell you that he's a college dropout with an ex-wife, a semi-estranged adult daughter, and a mounting pile of debt - but no marketable skills. He's spent the past decade or two caring for his aging mother Irene and, now that's she gone, he's left without purpose or direction. Just the house that his late mom purchased in 1970, which he's now in danger of losing thanks to a reverse mortgage. It's no wonder that Devin would rather bury himself in the past.
That's just what he's doing when Devin discovers his superpower: heavy doses of nostalgia allow him to revisit certain moment in the past. Once he discovers the "backflash" community, Devin enlists fellow time traveler Marcos to be his guide into the past. His goal? Find out the identity of his absent bio dad, so that he can sue the guy for back child support.
BACKFLASH is a really interesting idea with a lot to love. At 45 years young (lol), Devin's just a year younger than me (maybe not even? I think we were both born in 1978.), and we share so many cultural touchstones (fruit barrels! I'd forgotten about those). The concept of time-traveling-but-not-really is a fun one, and the mystery of Devin's father is engaging (especially with the introduction of the mob element).
Devin is eminently relatable, but also frustrating AF. As much as it hurts to admit, I see myself in him. I haven't lost a parent (yet), but after my husband died unexpectedly I dealt (am still dealing with) many of the same issues as Devin, including un-/under-employment, a lack of confidence in one's ability to adult, a feeling of aimlessness, and general malaise. And it's tempting to look outside yourself for somewhere to place the blame - and responsibility. So I get why Devin decided to hunt down his dad - not for connection, but money - but that didn't make it any less painful to watch. You kind of just want to shake the guy and tell him to grow up already.
Of course, Devin has a cheat code none of us mere mortals ever will: the ability to backflash. Before long, he'll be able to buy back his mother's home, along with every house on the whole damn block. Since it never quite feels like Devin earned it (he does express a desire to be there for his daughter Lark, but the story ends before we can witness his follow through), this makes for a rather unsatisfying deus ex machina.
That said, BACKFLASH is still well worth the read. It's a novel idea with lots of oblations for the GenX crowd.
--- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 where necessary --
When we first meet Devin, he's about to fall into his newly deceased mother's grave - right on top of her, in fact. To say that he's a sad sack doesn't quite do it justice: he'll be the first to tell you that he's a college dropout with an ex-wife, a semi-estranged adult daughter, and a mounting pile of debt - but no marketable skills. He's spent the past decade or two caring for his aging mother Irene and, now that's she gone, he's left without purpose or direction. Just the house that his late mom purchased in 1970, which he's now in danger of losing thanks to a reverse mortgage. It's no wonder that Devin would rather bury himself in the past.
That's just what he's doing when Devin discovers his superpower: heavy doses of nostalgia allow him to revisit certain moment in the past. Once he discovers the "backflash" community, Devin enlists fellow time traveler Marcos to be his guide into the past. His goal? Find out the identity of his absent bio dad, so that he can sue the guy for back child support.
BACKFLASH is a really interesting idea with a lot to love. At 45 years young (lol), Devin's just a year younger than me (maybe not even? I think we were both born in 1978.), and we share so many cultural touchstones (fruit barrels! I'd forgotten about those). The concept of time-traveling-but-not-really is a fun one, and the mystery of Devin's father is engaging (especially with the introduction of the mob element).
Devin is eminently relatable, but also frustrating AF. As much as it hurts to admit, I see myself in him. I haven't lost a parent (yet), but after my husband died unexpectedly I dealt (am still dealing with) many of the same issues as Devin, including un-/under-employment, a lack of confidence in one's ability to adult, a feeling of aimlessness, and general malaise. And it's tempting to look outside yourself for somewhere to place the blame - and responsibility. So I get why Devin decided to hunt down his dad - not for connection, but money - but that didn't make it any less painful to watch. You kind of just want to shake the guy and tell him to grow up already.
Of course, Devin has a cheat code none of us mere mortals ever will: the ability to backflash. Before long, he'll be able to buy back his mother's home, along with every house on the whole damn block. Since it never quite feels like Devin earned it (he does express a desire to be there for his daughter Lark, but the story ends before we can witness his follow through), this makes for a rather unsatisfying deus ex machina.
That said, BACKFLASH is still well worth the read. It's a novel idea with lots of oblations for the GenX crowd.
December 22, 2024
It’s very difficult to blend sentiment- remembrances of a dead mother, regret over missed opportunities- with humor, but it really helps to have an artist as talented as Lieber (with inks by the very talented Loughridge). Bittersweet, funny, a commentary on nostalgia in pop culture, all very well done.
December 8, 2024
An excellent book, both in writing and in art. A lovely story about traveling back in your personal history through objects' inbedded nostalgia. Really quite moving, and funny to boot.
Recommended!
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
Recommended!
(Thanks to Dark Horse Books for providing me with a review copy through Edelweiss)
January 14, 2025
*2.5 stars*
I feel like Johnson has good qualities as a writer because I noticed some admirable qualities to this story — the way the story is paced and when things are introduced. The worldbuilding and rules of time-travel. I felt those were handled pretty well and felt polished. I think overall, it’s Devin who isn’t that likable — he is that “cool uncle” that you see in every movie that’s kinda a bum and doesn’t really have his life together. And while the story of course is about him losing his mother, the fact that he doesn’t even try makes it hard to get behind him. Couple that with the way Mat tried to be humorous whether it be slang or just jokes in general — didn’t really stick the landing and just read as corny. I kind of thought the reveal was a bit predictable. And the very end was sort of just “plop”. The whole throughline of grief and moving forward doesn’t really see through at all and Devin’s life choice in the last page doesn’t help what I was saying earlier about him not having his life together. His relationship with his daughter isn’t even mended either.
I feel like Johnson has good qualities as a writer because I noticed some admirable qualities to this story — the way the story is paced and when things are introduced. The worldbuilding and rules of time-travel. I felt those were handled pretty well and felt polished. I think overall, it’s Devin who isn’t that likable — he is that “cool uncle” that you see in every movie that’s kinda a bum and doesn’t really have his life together. And while the story of course is about him losing his mother, the fact that he doesn’t even try makes it hard to get behind him. Couple that with the way Mat tried to be humorous whether it be slang or just jokes in general — didn’t really stick the landing and just read as corny. I kind of thought the reveal was a bit predictable. And the very end was sort of just “plop”. The whole throughline of grief and moving forward doesn’t really see through at all and Devin’s life choice in the last page doesn’t help what I was saying earlier about him not having his life together. His relationship with his daughter isn’t even mended either.
February 17, 2025
3.5 rounded down since it was a little unfocused. Don't get me wrong the focus on moving from the past, the power of our past and memories, and handling grief through escapism with the past against the need to move on. The humor was unexpected but very strong and kept the story light which the beautifully done flashback moments (a personal highlight) did as well. But it just feels a bit all over the place and unfocused especially for its page space. Maybe with 30 more pages it would be a bit more complete and do some of the other stuff it aimed for but it's in a weird middle land where it's short but long enough it takes to add something but not long enough to really capitalize on it.
August 1, 2025
(3.3) Interesting concept when considering time travel via nostalgic relics. I liked the artwork with adequate twists but sometimes the dialogue fell flat.
Read
April 8, 2025Devin is middle-aged, stuck, wondering where it all went wrong, clearing out the house where he grew up after losing his mother – and then finds himself back in that simpler past for real. Backflash is at its most powerful when it sticks to this brilliant central premise, not far at all from Phonogram's retromancy, but here viewed sympathetically, from within. Of course, that shift of perspective could also owe something to external factors; in the I-don't-want-to-think-about-how-many years since Phonogram, turning one's back on the present has become ever more appealing; even on the micro scale, what a day to read a story where one of the records which triggers a time trip is Parallel Lines. But rather than focus fully on Devin being torn between his past with his mum, and potentially building a future with his semi-estranged daughter, there are detours which I found less compelling, into a whole underworld of backflashers, a mystery, and a magic system which mostly feels more ramified and defined than it needs to be (exception: it was an excellent touch to have the magical potential of any given retro artefact easily exhausted, thereby setting up an addiction/acquisition mechanism, and more accurately capturing the way that it's hard to maintain an entirely stable relationship with nostalgia). Still, with Steve Lieber on art, even the bits that seemed like clutter in narrative terms hardly felt as if they dragged.
September 7, 2025
For all this was a completely original take to, I guess, time travel, it's not one that I loved. I feel as though, aside from being Black and abandoned by his father, I didn't leave this graphic novel with a strong sense of the main character. Actually, that's not completely true. I also know that he loved his mother and was a dead beat dad.
Devin is therefore a character who is largely defined by other characters. The only autonomy he shows is by getting back to the past where he can see his diseased mother again and solving the mystery of the identity of the father who abandoned him.
There is definitely a twist of the narrative I did not see coming that's revealed in the last quarter of the story, but I won't spoil it.
I did like the comedic if inept side character who stepped in as a kind of mentor to Devin and, as I said, the almost psychometric method of time travel was completely unique. This doesn't break from the two most popularly established versions of time travel in that it concedes that nothing about the past can be changed when it's visited. There are no possibilities of multi-verses created herein.
Devin is therefore a character who is largely defined by other characters. The only autonomy he shows is by getting back to the past where he can see his diseased mother again and solving the mystery of the identity of the father who abandoned him.
There is definitely a twist of the narrative I did not see coming that's revealed in the last quarter of the story, but I won't spoil it.
I did like the comedic if inept side character who stepped in as a kind of mentor to Devin and, as I said, the almost psychometric method of time travel was completely unique. This doesn't break from the two most popularly established versions of time travel in that it concedes that nothing about the past can be changed when it's visited. There are no possibilities of multi-verses created herein.
July 17, 2025
I did feel kinda seen by this.
A black man dealing with some ADHD type stuff, who struggles to move forward after being a mess up socially and financially even if he's a good person. His inability to focus and be introspective is his constant enemy, and the people around him are tired of it, but they do love him and respect how he took care of his mother. It's a complicated bag with a magical realism element to it for most of the story.
At the end of the mystery, nothing changes interpersonally except that his special gift of being trapped in the past turns into a money maker which I don't love as a conclusion because it takes it from magical realism to magical but it does tie everything up.
A black man dealing with some ADHD type stuff, who struggles to move forward after being a mess up socially and financially even if he's a good person. His inability to focus and be introspective is his constant enemy, and the people around him are tired of it, but they do love him and respect how he took care of his mother. It's a complicated bag with a magical realism element to it for most of the story.
At the end of the mystery, nothing changes interpersonally except that his special gift of being trapped in the past turns into a money maker which I don't love as a conclusion because it takes it from magical realism to magical but it does tie everything up.
May 12, 2025
After his mom dies, longtime slacker Devin discovers the ability to "backflash," or ride the nostalgia of certain objects into the past, and he sets off on a quest for his unknown father, who abandoned the family. Big message here: he's been just as absent a father to his own daughter and it's time to be present in the here and now. BACKFLASH is a solid book. I didn't feel completely drawn into Devin's personality - he felt a little unfleshed out - but the overall tone felt relevant, and Steve Lieber can draw anything.
Read
January 1, 2025A disappointing read. I was looking forward to Johnson’s latest but felt like this went entirely nowhere. I appreciate the theme of nostalgia and grief but the tone was inconsistent and I was truly unable to comprehend the stupidity of the main character. He repeatedly says he has ADHD, but the behavior he displays is well beyond that diagnosis.
June 4, 2025
I felt this gn flowed an original storyline for a heavy emotion. Accepting grief is a peace that surpasses understanding. And it was like the author and character really came to live the Toni Morrison quote "It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you."
December 7, 2024
Tries to.be funny but it's not. The concept was interesting but i was never invested in the characters. Lieber's art is good but not as great as Superior foes or the Fix.
I don't recommend this.
I don't recommend this.
December 18, 2024
This was an interesting look at the poetry of nostalgia with a fantasy element added. It didn’t go where I expected but was all the more original as a result.
January 20, 2025
This was fun! I dont think ive ever read anything like it. Interesting story concept and some pretty funny one liners in there. I think i want to read more from this author!
January 23, 2025
2.5 stars
It was a bit silly and frustrating but I appreciate the spin on how music and nostalgic items can transport us to better times when we’re feeling sad.
It was a bit silly and frustrating but I appreciate the spin on how music and nostalgic items can transport us to better times when we’re feeling sad.
January 23, 2025
The 'Member Berries just weren't working for me here, and the story wasn't effective.
March 20, 2025
This was a really interesting concept that made me feel both happy and sad. I really love the idea of being able to revisit memories through objects, this was a good one.
May 26, 2025
The main character's mother has just died, and he finds he can visit his past to see her. The art is nice, the story holds together, and I liked it. Just not all that much.
August 16, 2025
The graphic novel was the perfect format for this story! Maybe my favorite Mat Johnson work.
March 22, 2025
4.5 - great premise and touching connection to Johnson's real life.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews