Failure Biographies

by Johnny Damm

Damm's distinctive style of collage transforms 1950s horror comics into true stories of artistic failure.

One artist's quixotic quest to clone Martin Luther King, Jr. A pioneering silent film director pushed from the industry by her controlling husband. A writer who tries to write popular fiction but ends up in the avant-garde.

Featuring radical Argentinian art collective Tucumán Arde, conceptual artists Pope L. and Marta Minujín, filmmakers Alice Guy Blaché and Pere Portabella, Mexican superhero Superbarrio Gómez, and more, Failure Biographies celebrates the struggles of great 20th and 21st century innovators who attempted - and failed - to change the world.

182 pages, Paperback

Published October 19, 2021

About the author

Johnny Damm’s newest comic book series, “I’m a Cop”: Real-Life Horror Comics, has been featured in The Washington Post, Boing Boing, and In These Times and named one of The Comics Journal’s Best Comics of 2022 and 2023. Damm is also the author of the acclaimed graphic novels Failure Biographies and The Science of Things Familiar, both published by The Operating System. His comics, prose, and visual poetry have appeared in Guernica, Poetry, The Offing, and elsewhere. He lives in Santa Cruz, California.

Reviews

[Ms.Caprioli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read “I’m a Cop” but it’s not available right now here in Goodreads. It’s a comic book made entirely from statements from Police union leaders. The comics are illustrated in the style of horror stories because the statements are nothing short of horrific.

[W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Johnny's work. My favorite piece is "The Harder They Fall." My only critique would be that sometimes the minimal style comes off as unimaginative; it seems like more could be done with some of the panels.

[º · Rating 4 out of 5]

bad but thoroughly enjoyable

[Aurora]

Got about halfway through (stopped at the Hidden Doors). The first story was fun but it was downhill from there, and I want off this ride.