Semantic Drift » comics

Friday Night Fights: Madman versus Skinless Circus Freak

semanticdrifter — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 22:55:49 +0000

Frank Einstein had a brief flirtation with a career in the circus. He traveled with the troup on a sea journey, but to say that the circus folk didn’t exactly warm to our snazzily dressed hero would be putting it mildly. Take for example this early encounter with the show’s skinless strongman:

Frank may in fact be something of a scaredy-cat, but the man has some serious moves:

A master of running an interior dialogue, even after getting kneed in the chain, Frank may hate pain but can still take a punch:

Pain, maybe. But never death. He has also apparently mastered some heretofore unknown martial art thatmakes his kicks have defecatory sound effects:

He even manages to lay the final smackdown while pondering some of the deeper questions that plague us on this moving sidewalk we call life:

Madman has it all: depth, agility, charisma. Just like Bahlactus.

Friday Night Fights: The Old (Mad)Man and the Sea

semanticdrifter — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 01:29:58 +0000

Stupid things like traveling to new parts of the country, spending time with family and friends, and working on law school briefs have really cut into my posting-scanned-comics-panels-on-the-internet time. As a result, I’ve had to sit out the last few rounds of Friday Night Fights refereed by the dread Bahlactus, but now I feel the need to step back into the ring.

Mike Allred’s Madman faces a dizzying array of opponents in Madman Gargantua, fighting robots, terrorists, and giant puke blobs with equal vigor. He even goes toe-to-toe with the creatures of the deep. To set the scene: Our Hero has been traveling on the giant swollen brain of his mutating friend and employer Dr. Boiffard. After much soul searching and bonding on the open ocean, Madman finds himself approaching an island. Unfortunately, shortly after making landfall, Madman (a.k.a. Frank Einstein) accidentally drops his rocket pack into the briny deep.

Much to Frank’s chagrin, he finds the device protected by some manner of purple cephalapod. Frank knows what to do.

Having gone all Santiagio on the creature, Frank escapes from his watery grave but has to take care not to let his mind run away from him, as it were. But the wounded squid blocks his approach.

This quick thinking marked the end of Frank’s nautical excursion but the not the end of his time on the island.

Friday March Mad(man)ness: Q & A Part II

semanticdrifter — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 19:23:38 +0000

Hey, Frank Einstein (a.k.a Madman), What do you think about the television program Lost? I think it’s really interesting how they were able to weave such a dense, multi-layered story around a bunch of people hanging around an island. But I am a little worried that the creators sometimes try to cram too many amazing things into the story.

Oh, I feel better already. Did you see the one where they got taken to a separate, nearby island? And what do you think about the mysterious appearances of Jack’s dead Dad and the otherworldly “Jacob”? Did you see those?

Monday March Mad(man)ness: Q & A Part I

semanticdrifter — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:58:28 +0000

Hey, Frank Einstein (a.k.a Madman), What kind of grades did you get when you were in school?

Monday March Mad(man)ness: A Little Vocabulary

semanticdrifter — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:00:40 +0000

Zowie!!! March Madness, with Madman

semanticdrifter — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:07:20 +0000

Recently I finished reading the Madman Gargantua, a pleasantly hefty volume collecting the adventures of Mike Allred’s ginchiest creation. There will be a full review later, but suffice it to say it’s about a re-animated hitman named Frank Einstein and his mad scientist pals and it’s overflowing with aliens, robots, time travel, and other awesome wackiness. In honor of this volume, I’ve decided to dedicate the month of March to celebrating it with a little something I’m calling March Mad(man)ness. To kick things off, our hero meets a fan: