Madman

I got my copy of Madman Gargantua as well as the new Image Madman Atomic Comics #2 and 3 this past week.

All I can say is 'BOUT DAMN TIME!

I've been waiting on the humongous Gargantua since February and my local comic shop missed the last two issues. I've been an Allred fan since around '93 when I was introduced to the Legend imprint (which had Hellboy and Sin City in it as well) over at Dark Horse. I've hunted down nearly every Allred comic I've been able to find over the years and own pretty much every creator owned/indy thing he's ever done.

There's a great pop vibe that his work has and it features a really zany quality to it that its beyond retro. What's really neat though is that intertwined and beneath the surface is a very (sometimes heavy, sometimes light) philosophical undertone. It's never heavy handed but just presented in an everyday man sort of way, pondering the big questions of the universe in between some zany adventures.

Which I think the best example of this was in the Madman/Superman crossover that was printed a few years back. Both Supes and Madman's respective girlfriends had been kidnapped and they ran off to try and retrieve them but there's a bit in there...probably only a few panels...where Frank (Madman) turns to Supes and goes "Do you believe in God?"

I can't remember Supes' exact response but he was definitely taken off guard by the question and he fumbles his words momentarily. Then it hits me, here's Superman...a character that has been around for over 60 years and he has no solidified religious structure.

Just little stuff like that in the Allred's work that makes me a huge fan. And I must note that the new Madman Atomic Comics series being printed by Image comics is probably Allred's best artistic work to date. You can tell he's happy to be back home to his world of Frank and Joe and the rest of the cast.

Allred is aided by his wife Laura, who colors all his work. She is doing an outstanding job on the new Image series, making it really stand out and look very unique amongst the books on the shelves.

You can check out more on Madman and Mike Allred here: [link]