Imagine losing a loved one and missing them so much that you can’t imagine how to belong in the world without them. This is the exact experience Mat Johnson had after losing his mother. As an only child of a single mom, they had an especially close relationship. Then one day he heard a song that mentally transported him back two decades, and he could see his mom, young, humming the song as she stood on a chair watering the spider plants in the living room. 

“I could hear the timber of her voice, remember the scent of her hair, the feel of the fabric of her clothes back then,” Johnson said, professor of creative writing and Philip H. Knight Chair of the Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon. “And that was the end of my initial grieving period, and also the beginning of a book.”

The book, Backflash tells the story of Devin whose life is spiraling out of control, until he discovers that he can travel back in time just by touching an article of family memorabilia. He mentally relives the best moments of his past while escaping the problems of the present.  

But the more Devin "backflashes," he finds himself on a mysterious trail of family secrets and betrayal. On the 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 of a future.

The graphic novel is described as a wild, time-traveling thriller where nostalgia is a superpower, and Johnson knew he needed a special artist to tell such an emotional story effectively. He had been wanting to work with Steve Lieber, a comic book artist based in Portland, Oreg., for more than a decade.  

“Not only are Steve’s illustrations gorgeous, but their mix of humor and heart are totally unique in the comics landscape,” said Johnson. “It was a bucket-list dream to team up with Steve, and even more special to do so on such a personal project, inspired as it is by the loss of my mom.”

Johnson said he wrote this in the speculative fiction genre because it allowed him to play around with the story and add humor without getting caught up in the emotional intensity of his grief.  

"I’ve been a huge fan of Mat's work since Pym and Incognegro, and it's been a tremendous privilege to work with him on Backflash,” said Steve Lieber, comic-book artist, Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and Whiteout. “Every moment of this story is full of humor and pathos and true-to-life observation."

In addition to being a professor, Johnson is an award-winning author of several books in multiple genres including Drop, Hunting in Harlem, The Great Negro Plot, Loving Day, Pym, Hellblazer: Papa Midnite and Incognegro. He was also a producer and writer for The Fall of the House of Usher.  

“The most rewarding parts of my creative process occur when I can bring what I’ve learned out in the world of professional storytelling directly into my classrooms. I consider myself a full-time professional artist and a full-time professional teacher,” Johnson said. “My work as a writer off-campus directly informs my teaching, whether it’s talking about making comics with my comic book seminar, sharing what’s it’s like to work on a TV show with my screenwriting workshop, or offering insights based on my decades as a novelist in my fiction workshops.”

Backflash is available now from Berger Books and Dark Horse.