Drawn in Blechman's expressive, patented "wavy line" pen-and-ink style,
Amadeo & Maladeo is the tale of two Mozart-esque half brothers. The
aristocratic Amadeo begins his musical career playing violin for the
King and Queen of Austria, while penurious, illegitimate Maladeo plays
violin for pocket change on a street corner. Both face the trials and
tribulations of fame as their stories intertwine and come full circle.
Amadeo and Maladeo serves as an elegant and unvarnished metaphor for
the hardships contemporary artists face, which appears to be a universal
condition of civilization.