Jens H Altmann Passes

[BC Blog Poster]

I've known Jens H Altmann for around a decade. Comic book creator, novelist, translator and general commentator trying for his big break, he helped me out with stories, was a voice of sanity on the Bleeding Cool forums and, well, was a friend. Living in Germany, he was able to conduct a couple of X-Men movie interviews for Bleeding Cool.

We understand that Jens took his own life a few days ago. If there was anything wrong I, and others, never saw the signs.

Our condolences to his wife, family and friends.



The final page of Altmann's webcomic Made Of Fail from last year.

[Mike H.]

Very sad. I enjoyed reading Jens' always thoughtful, often witty posts and having the occasional passing "conversation" with him on various threads. My condolences to his family and friends.

[stygma]

While i didnt known Jens at all, i certainly could appreciate his attempts to share reasonable communication here on BC.

This was the last post of his i read:

"I've started to just walk away from threads where people attack me for having a different opinion than they do, as soon as I become aware that I'm getting into a fight. I just think to myself that I'm surrounded by idiots and that it's not worth my time to deal with that crap."

i hope i can remember that wisdom in the future.

RIP Jens
My best wishes to his family and friends.
ill say my prayers for him at Shunko-in Temple tonight and again at Heian Shrine tomorrow.

-from Kyoto,
pete D.III

[nilskidoo]

Oh god. This is horrible. He was probably the first person I talked to through this forum.

[Liveforfilms]

That is so sad. Jens was one of the first people I got chatting to on Twitter and he was a great commentator on movies and comics. I considered him one of my internet pals.

Terrible news. My thoughts are with his friends and family.

[drachenfells]

Jens was always someone you could expect a sensible and informative conversation from. He will be missed.

[Blackfist]

We understand that Jens took his own life a few days ago. If there was anything wrong I, and others, never saw the signs.

in my experince in most cases you can never tell, it can build up or come all at once and you never see it coming. many in his posistion are good liers, even if there was a hint it would be hard to even prove it.

this is a real shame, he'll be missed

[Gilgamesh]

I liked him. RIP.

[Jason A. Quest]

Jens suffered from chronic depression, which either stemmed from or was exacerbated by his professional frustrations. He'd contemplated suicide in the past, and spoke about it matter-of-factly. He didn't even disavow it, saying it was an option he'd still consider. That was part of his honesty. You can't put an acquaintance in another country on constant suicide watch, and he seemed to be doing OK. But when I heard he was dead... I knew he'd done it himself.

He was a dedicated writer, and he did the work, but he never got the breaks he was looking for. I want to say "he never gave up", but obviously that's not the case. But up to the point where he did give up, he didn't stop trying. That persistence was something I admired about Jens: if he could keep at it, so could I. (Rest assured that I'm still not giving up any time soon; I just don't have Jens' example to motivate me now.) We never quite collaborated... except for the time he challenged people to redesign his Made of Fail characters in the style of Rob Liefeld, which he appreciated and will always be a fond memory for me.

Thanks for posting this on the front page, Rich.

[Brendon Connelly]

Bye, Jens. And thanks.