German pulp series, genre mix between dark future SciFi and horror stories. It is published bi-weekly by Bastei-Luebbe. The series has just passed issue 50 (celebrated with two different cover versions and some merchandise), so it`s still peanuts compared to the big guy on the block on the german pulp novel market, Perry Rhodan, but that still marks it as a remarkable new startup.
In the year 2013 a comet strikes the earth after all efforts to deflect him fail, causing the downfall of human civilization. Commander Matthew (Matt) Drax of the US Air Force, stationed in Berlin whose mission it was to observe the last deflection attempt and later the impact from the air with his fighter wing is caught in a shockwave and hurled 500 years into the future, a future where humans live in barbarism, where nature has reclaimed what was hers and were strange mutations made survival a whole new ballgame. Touring the ruined cities of Europe, making his way to England, and from there back to his former home, an America which has seen dramatic changes as well. Never sure whom to trust, or where to find new tools for his survival, Maddrax, as he is called in this world, has a lot to learn if he is to survive.
The story so far isn`t highly original, many aspects have been seen before (in Buck Rogers for example), but excellent writing and interesting plot hooks turned it into one of the hottest newcomers of the last few years on the german pulp market. It has already spawned hardcover novels, a comic book and a pen-and-paper role-playing game (available as free download on the official homepage.
The appeal of this series is strange to define,as is it's genre, as it unifies SciFi, Fantasy and Horror (Bastei's token genre), but it is good fun, and manages to entertain the reader time and again.
The official HP is located at http://www.bastei.de/maddrax/site.htm (texts in german only, but many pictures to help get a feel for this series)