Mike Allred's "Madman" contains everything that is fun about comic books and presents it in a way that seems fresh and familiar at the same time.

Frank Einstein is a re-animated corpse with a lot of insecurities, but a supporting cast of characters that make him feel loved and always seem to get him into another wacky adventure, and I do mean wacky.

We're talking time-travel, sentient robots, shrinking, aliens galore and a search for the meaning of life.

800 pages for around $70.00? That's a great deal. I bought it for $125.00 when the book first came out. Even buy the TPB collections seperately would cost you more than that, so I highly suggest buying this book, you'll be glad you did.

Imagine Tim Burton, David Lynch, and Ed Wood got together one day and decided to create a superhero comic book. The outcome of this ingenious collaboration would, no doubt, have ended up just like Mike Allred's Madman.

Madman is the tale of Frank Einstein (say the name fast...you'll get it), a man resurrected from the dead by a scientist, who is so compulsive about his cadaverous appearance that he always wears a superhero costume. A sort of reluctant-yet-self-styled superhero, Frank - dubbed "Madman" goes on all manner of crazy adventures featuring mad scientists, ancient civilizations, time travel, living corrosive goo, space travel, aliens, marauding robot societies, sorcery, Lovecraftian demons, kung fu cool, and much much more. This is a comic with a wild sense of fun, a subtle ironic cynicism, ad boundless enthusiasm. You can't help but be enchanted right away. I very rarely give graphic novels these days 5 stars, but this one surely deserves it.

The Good: Lots. The stories are rudimentary sorts of adventures, but all of them tie in together to form a surprisingly cohesive story as Madman searches for information on who he was before he died. Great dialogue and a lot of fun, winking references to old comics of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. There's also a hefty dose of strangely powerful Gen X angst here. The art is brilliant - Allred draws in a style reminiscent of the great EC Comics artist Al Feldstein. Also, this book is wonderfully printed, on good quality glossy paper, a little bit larger than a regular comic book. Additionally, each chapter begins with a nice pin-up of Madman and, generally, his girlfriend, Joe, in some wacky situation. Some of these pin-ups, such as the ones supplied by the great Dave Stevens, Frank Cho, and Adam Hughes, are fantastic.

The Bad: Sticker shock, for one. I can honestly say this was the most I've every paid for a graphic novel - but it is totally worth it. There are some hitches in the story where the storytelling doesn't quite work and things seem a little "off," but these are few and far between.

All in all, if you're looking for a quirky comic book and have a few extra bucks to spend, pick this one up!

Madman is a great comic, one of the best, if you ask me.
This is a collection (the most complete one so far) of all the Madman adventures. Both the early series in Black, Blueish Grey and White (complete with the original thumbnails on the bottom of the pages) and the colored stories. I'm a fan so I give Madman, the comic 10 stars, but this book five. Why? The binding is good (sewn), the effort is laudable but to get all the 850 pages in one book, Image Comics had to use a thinner kind of paper. Don't worry, it's not a bible, but still, a bit thin.
Now to Madman, if you don't already know him. He is Frank Einstein, a hitman brough back from the dead by two mad scientists. He doesn't remember much of his past but sometimes has flashbacks. His so-called adventures are more what you would call funny and fantastic misadventures. Bit by bit, parts of his dark past are revealed. Otherwise Madman is a very loveable almost human character. He falls in love with a pretty girl, Joe. Has a buddy, Mott, from the planet Hoople.
The art? ART with capitals, please. Look at the pictures above. Michael Allred and his wife Laura (colors) do a splendid job, somewhere between the best of American and European comics.
This book is heavy, the stories light, funny and sincere. All that for a great price - If you want to get into Madman or missed out on any of the issues or hardbacks: buy it!!! It's definitely better than the TPBs

I don't normally write reviews (for reasons that will become plain).

My wife bought this book for me for my birthday. I'd always been curious about this series. I'd collected a few issues, here and and there, over the years but I didn't have and didn't want to seek out the earlist ones.

I knew enough to know that this character and this writer were special. You can just tell when you hold any issue in your hands. But, it was a bit difficult for me to piece some of it together (like, what's up with the lab assistant who's bandaged up like a mummey?????)

What a pleasure this has been to read! I'm about half-way through this 800+ page tome and I'm constantly impressed with the humanity of this dead then resurected character. I'm warmed by the depth of his feeling for his girlfriend and she for him. I'm blown away by the feel of this book in my hands. It's really very well done. And, if you ever ask yourself the the deeper questions about why you are here on this earth you will be drawn to the main character.

All of this said, it's a really fine adventure story told in the mould of...................... well,............... nothing else I've ever read. Buy this and take the time to appreciate it. It's well worth the money.

I'm giving this 5 stars because I've never missed an issue of the regular Madman series, so I've read bulk of the content here. Either you like Mike Allred's style or you don't. I've been a big fan of Allred since the first issue of Madman hit the stand years ago. He's got a colorful zesty way of telling a SciFi / Super Hero story. Excellent sequential style and great clean lines. Highly Recommended.