Incredible Doom

By Matthew Bogart and Jesse Holden

“Incredibly strong and not a little disturbing.” —Cory Doctorow, author of In Real Life

Welcome to a new age…the age of the internet.

Allison is drowning under the weight of her manipulative stage magician father. When he brings home the family’s first computer, she escapes into a thrilling new world where she meetings Samir, a like-minded new online friend who has just agreed to run away from home with her.

After moving to a new town and leaving all of his friends behind, Richard receives a mysterious note in his locker with instructions on how to connect to “Evol BBS,” a dial-in bulletin board system, and meets a fierce punk named Tina who comes into his life and shakes his entire worldview loose.

Unlikely alliances, first love, and minor crime sprees abound in this teen graphic novel debut about making connections while your world is falling apart.

“Perfectly captures the mystery and wonder of the early days of the internet.”  —Andy Baio, author of Waxy.org and co-founder of XOXO

"A rush of love for brave beginnings—of both the early internet and the teens who used it to find themselves and each other." —Eleanor Davis, author of The Hard Tomorrow and How to Be Happy

"A compelling story complimented by pleasingly minimal art that skillfully evokes a sense of loneliness and isolation. " —Savanna Ganucheau, co-creator of Bloom

"A sharp and authentic wild ride that brought me back to my teenage years as a punk with a dial-up connection.” —Kevin Panetta, co-creator of Bloom

“A poignant and often hilarious reminder that technology is at its best when it’s easing the ache of loneliness and bringing people together."  —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award-winning author of The Serpent King

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063064959

Matthew Bogart

Matthew Bogart is a cartoonist living in Portland, Oregon. He has been publishing comics since he was ten and his father let him loose on the office photocopier.

Book preview

Reviews for Incredible Doom

[villemezbrown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Set in the 1990s, teenaged early users of the internet use it to find friendship and cope with bullying and child abuse. A little slow and slice-of-life at times, but still engaging. I do wish the geographical settings of the two parallel storylines were a little clearer earlier on.I like the occasional bits of ASCII art and the old-fashioned text-based user interfaces. Made me nostalgic for the day I first sat down at an internet-connected computer at college in the '80s, grumbling about the administration requiring me get an email address and wondering why anyone would want to bother with this ugly and useless green information exchange when all I really needed was more playtime with "Risk" and "Lode Runner" on my black-and-white Macintosh.

[librarianryan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was not at all what I was expecting. The description tells you it’s the story of the beginning of the modern computer era. However it’s really four students from different backgrounds that come together because of bulletin board servers in the early 90s. These kids are just learning about computers but actually learning more about themselves and who they can trust. This book was a super-fast read. The artwork is all done in black, white, and blue which really sets a somber tone. This book says its volume one and I really think I want volume 2 but I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for it. There are trigger warnings for this book, there is abuse of a child. It’s right in the beginning and it’s verbal, not quite physical but still physical, and really grabs the reader off from the beginning. However this still makes for a fabulous read for any high schooler or adult.