Madman Atomic Comics # 1 - Jumping Silent Cars That Sleep at Traffic Lights
is an issue published by Image that was released on 4 / / 2007Plot Summary
(Contains Spoilers)
Madman finds himself in a world where everyone is dead. Searching everywhere, he comes across Warren, one of Dr. Gillespie's helper drones. Warren says all the death is because of Madman. He tells him to go back to the beginning to recall the events that lead to this. Madman can recall when he "died" and was brought back by Dr. Gillespie and Professor Boiffard. They were the ones that rehabilitated him and gave him the name Frank Einstein. This was also when he discovered that he had psychic abilities that allowed him to know all of a person's secrets just by touching them. He immediately fell for Joe, Gillespie and Boiffard's research assistant. Soon, Frank created a new identity inspired by his childhood hero, Mr. Excitement to help his self esteem. He went on many adventures helping out Gillespie with different experiments.
Warren continues to press Madman. He thinks back to Astroman, a clone robot made from his brain cells. When Astroman was asked to reveal the memories of Frank's past life, he blew his circuits. Frank knows that he was a Tri-Eye Agent and that he wasn't a "good man." He also knows that he's been given a second chance to be a better person.
Things come crashing down and Frank can barely handle it. He is told that he is one of the four. When it is time, "the four horseman will ride." He is told that he knows a lot about life and death, heaven and hell, he has traveled through time and across dimensions. He just doesn't know anything about himself. He is told that perhaps everything that has happened is only a figment of his imagination. He is reminded of how cruel he was. How easily he could kill. Perhaps everything he remembers about trying to redeem himself never really happened. He is everything and nothing. He is all alone.
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Jumping Silent Cars That Sleep at Traffic Lights
I love Madman. Just gotta get that out. It's not just Madman but any piece of paper that Mike Allred and co. touch. This issue serves as the obligatory jump on point. There's a nice re-cap of pretty much everything Madman's been up to. At the same time, everything that has happened is called into question. Madman has evolved from his first appearance. He is a guy that really wants to do good. In one of his early adventures, he pops out the eye of a "bad guy" and swallows it. In his defense, he did feel bad afterwards.
What I truly enjoy about Madman is the dynamic combination of Mike Allred's art and wife Laura Allred's colors. I don't know much about the coloring process but I immediately know when I'm looking at work colored by Laura. It's hard to describe Allred's art style. It's simple yet detailed at the same time. You also have just plain FUN stories with Madman. None of the dark stuff about villains raping a hero's wife or characters sensationally dying only to return later. I understand that comics have evolved but I do like to be able to enjoy what I'm reading and leave with a good feeling inside.
Madman comics manage to surprise and entertain you without the cheap stunts. You have an incredible supporting cast of characters from aliens to robots to surly beatnik mutants. I implore all to read this comic. If you are tired of the same old stuff in the superhero stories, check this out. It is truly an overlooked gem.
















