monkeysvsrobots.com » pop-culture for the people

Well, I was going to go to the San Diego Comic Con this year but things just didn’t work out. There are plenty of other sites out there that you can read about it… Attribute it to a lack of money and motivation. I have been doing a lot of sitting around marveling at the amount of time I have been wasting marveling about it. Well, I’m sick of doing that. I need to get kickin’. This is the start of my “Kevin’s Road To Success and Whatever Lies Beyond”. So I guess it starts with a review of a comic that our dear friend and cohort Future lent me before I left: The Harvey Award Winning Madman. Madman is the creation of Michael Allred. Michael’s character (the madman of the title) Frank Einstein is a goofy looking guy dressed in a white jumpsuit with a big lightning shaped exclamation mark and stitches over his mouth (like the gimp in Pulp Fiction). I guess they could of titled it something like “Captain !” or something equally puntastic. A hero of sorts (with hero-like abilities as well), but more a somewhat regular man armed with a yo-yo and a slingshot than “hero”.

Frank is a guy whose world is very confusing to him because he can’t remember who, what or why he is. He can’t even remember his own name. His one true desire is to learn the answers to these questions. His friend Egon Boiffard is a doctor who, along with Dr. Flem are trying to discover the secrets of life and death themselves. They are partnered with a man named Monstadt who is the money man in the project. Monstadt is in it solely to gain immortality. When Boiffard and Flem back out of the deal with Monstadt, he becomes upset and decides to punish Boiffard by hitting him with a car. Meanwhile Flem escapes the situation by leaving town and continues to conduct research in a secluded area

Frank must find a way to save Boiffard so that he can learn of his past. Only Boiffard knows this secret, and the secrets to life and death with it. It is this journey that Madman explores, and what a journey it is. He must track Flem down to help save Boiffard, which becomes an adventure in itself. Madman is packed with detailed (black and white) drawings that show much depth in the characters and the story. I think my personal favorite is when Frank is dodging bullets (a feat that even he doesn’t know how accomplishes) or when he uses his psychic ability (which is fun to look at because it reminds me of X-Files or something). It has a lot of humor and irony that are equally enjoyable as well. The comic was both drawn and written by Michael Allred, whose work (an imaginary comic) was also seen in movies such as Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy (Bluntman and Chronic) and whose characters are featured in the new motion picture Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back coming out soon! I enjoyed the little “X-Tra Flip Action Corners” on this collection (you can view that below). Of course I like those kind of gimmicky things, so that doesn’t say much. It looks like Kitchen Sink Press is out of business nowadays, however I am sure a good comic store or eBay will have this title. “Madman Comics” was picked up by Dark Horse and is still readily available from them.

Bottom Line: It was a fun comic in a way that Dan Clowes’ Eightball can be, with a fast (although a little short) story (one that you will find reminiscent of a very famous book from long ago, but I’m not telling what one, although you can prolly guess it) that had interesting characters and was brought to life with great drawings. What more could you want?

-Hollywood

New rating system! 4 out of 5 monkeys!

Some last minute ramblings: The title of the trade paperback, “The Oddity Odyssey” is a reference to Bowie’s Space Oddity album of years past (Allred is a huge fan of Bowie). Also of note, in the Dark Horse release, there is a character named Mott The Hoople (and he’s an alien, like Ziggy Stardust!). If you aren’t versed in Hoople, they were a band Bowie worked closely with in the 70’s and even wrote their hit song “All The Young Dudes”. His more recent projects look really interesting too, so check him out! Lastly, in the Dark Horse release there are a lot of robots. Good enough for me!

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