Mike Allred's Madman began publication at Tundra in 1992 when it was released in a slick-looking duo-tone comic book and took "alternative comics" by storm. Madman soon evolved from its small, cult status into a stylish, full-color book published by Dark Horse -- bringing with it an ever-growing, hip audience. At Dark Horse, Allred was quickly invited into the august ranks of Dark Horse's Legend line.
In May 1996, Nexus meets Madman in what promises to be one of the best and most entertaining crossovers ever devised. Michael Gilman had the opportunity to sit down with Mike Baron, Steve Rude, and Mike Allred to discuss with these three comic-book masters how this unusual collaboration came about and where in the universe it will take its readers.
Michael Gilman: I understand the idea for this crossover was suggested by a female fan in a letter.
Mike Baron: Yeah, true. A letter from Haruka Sometani... How often does that happen?
Gilman: I'm sure not very often. Tell me about it.
Baron: Well, I got the fan letter and said, "Yeah. This is a good idea." At one point in the letter, Haruka states that one of the reasons she likes Nexus is that "Sundra has the right-sized breasts." Because of this, we were originally going to call this story "The Right-Sized Breasts." Anyway, I contacted Mike and Steve and they were for it -- and it got quick approval at Dark Horse -- so I plunged right into it.
Gilman: How did the two of you respond to this news?
Steve Rude: I thought it was a perfect idea. I was kind of shocked when Baron first explained the story to me, but I thought it was too wacky not to do. Plus, I like to make fans happy -- Baron and I both do.
Mike Allred: I'm pretty sure Steve was the one who brought the team-up to me first. It wasn't really thought of as serious in my mind until Anina Bennett [editor of Nexus] called me and officially asked me. Of course I said, "Yes! I'd love to do this!" I thought it was a great idea.
Gilman: What goes on in the story?
Baron: It concerns Vooper digging down in the caverns where he finds something he shouldn't. When he starts messing with it, it's like the genie in the bottle except it explodes into a giant robot and it starts to destroy Ylum. It starts to send out bizarre signals that indicate the only thing that can control it is a crazy person from its own era. So Nexus and friends say, "Oh, well. We'll summon the Badger." But there's a screw-up and instead of the Badger they get Madman.
Gilman: Did you co-write the story with Allred?
Baron: No, but I checked it with Mike every step of the way. He gave me a final approval, and I wrote the whole thing. I sent it to him and he re-wrote Madman's dialogue. He also suggested the giant robot.
Allred: You gotta love those giant robots. It was a lot of fun knocking things back and forth with Mike and seeing him come back with this script that was complete dynamite. Baron tapped into the personality of my character and it was easy for me to write the dialogue without changing the intent of the story or conversations.
Gilman: So overall you were happy with Baron's handling of Madman's character?
Allred: Absolutely thrilled. I felt I was able to make it consistent to my creation with very little effort.
Gilman: Steve, did you have any input on this story?
Rude: Well, I added a few things of my own... I spent days in this old bookstore looking up old toys trying to find the perfect toys. I wanted to make the toys I chose to be in this panel the best toys I could have possibly chosen.
Gilman: What about the art? Was that a collaboration at all?
Rude: No, the art is all me.
Allred: I will, however, be stapling all the comics.
[round of laughter]
Gilman: Steve, did you get right into drawing Madman or did it take a little while to get his personality right?
Rude: It took me a little while. I've found that no matter how well you think you know things, you don't... until you have to start drawing them. There are a lot of subtleties in the way other artists draw things -- even if it may be in a style similar to your own -- and it's something you have to get to know.
Baron: I'm looking at the art on Nexus Meets Madman right now. It's absolutely stunning.
Rude: I'm happy with it -- I thought it turned out real good.
Allred: I've seen the pencils, and they're fantastic.
Gilman: I don't doubt it. Nexus has always been the quintessential Baron/Rude project. How was it inviting someone else into the "inner circle of Nexus," so to speak?
Rude: It wasn't that different, really. Baron put down the initial vision and I'm sure he loved incorporating Madman into this very implausible story. It was meant to be a lot of fun.
Baron: Right. It was no big deal. Mike really gave us carte blanche -- he's the sweetheart here. We're always trying to promote the book by seeing if we can get him to cross over into other universes, but we're such a low-profile book that we don't get those automatic passes the big characters get.
Gilman: Really? That amazes me. Everyone in comics knows this character and this creative team is nothing short of exemplary.
Baron: Well, the title itself isn't new and the industry is constantly searching for the next big thing. What people who may not have read us recently don't realize is that we reinvent ourselves with every issue.
Allred: As a long-time fan of Mike and Steve's work, Nexus has never been better. It was always the strongest, most consistent, highest-quality monthly book going, and now that they own it, it's better than ever.
Gilman: Mike, how did it feel being a temporary member of the Baron/Rude team?
Allred: It was extremely flattering, especially now that I've seen the work in progress. Mike's script is, again, fantastic, and I can't describe the sheer joy at seeing Steve Rude complete an entire comic book with my character in it. My reaction can be summed up as, "What did I do to deserve this?"
Gilman: Are there any surprises in this crossover? Well, any that you can talk about, that is.
Baron: Yeah. There's a subtext to Madman Meets Nexus -- it's not the deepest subtext in the world, but there's more going on than just Madman and Nexus exchanging bon mots... and Judah, too. Judah has many bon mots to exchange.
Rude: There's a lot of weird stuff going on here.
Allred: Mike and Steve are both very aware of my affection for pop culture, and introducing Madman into the book gave them an opportunity to touch on that. I don't think you had to grow up in the '60s and '70s to appreciate what you'll experience in the book, but if you did you'll get a real kick out of it.
Gilman: Now this isn't the first major crossover Nexus has taken part in...
Baron: Oh, by no means. The Nexus/Magnus crossover with Acclaim was probably our biggest crossover.
Gilman: Was there a noticeable increase in Nexus readers out of that?
Baron: I don't think so, although those two books did very well. We're planning a different strategy to increase Nexus -- we have a newsletter. Any retailer who's interested in copies of the newsletter can write us [Nexus Newsletter, 6666 Odana Road #115, Madison, WI 53719-1056. Subscriptions are $4.00 for four issues beginning with issue #3. The first two issues are free for the asking].
Gilman: How often does Nexus come out now?
Baron: We only did four last year, and this year we're shooting for six, including Nexus Meets Madman. The sixth one is really a special story we've wanted to do for a long time.
Gilman: How so?
Baron: It's an out-sized story -- it's a 44-page story about life, death, and the meaning of it all. I can't give away the title, but I will say that we hope to answer all the really big questions.
Rude: It'll be very cool. One of the most exciting new things that has come into the relationship of Baron and I is that I'm suddenly full of all these story ideas for Nexus and one of those ideas is responsible for this special story.
Gilman: This isn't the first crossover Madman has done either. He met up with The Big Guy in Madman Comics #7 and #8.
Allred: Yeah, another one of my all-time-favorite, comic-book characters. It's classic. And Hellboy made an appearance in issue #5. I believe that's all.
Gilman: Any plans for future crossovers?
Allred: In a weird twist of fate, Steve had created a couple of characters on his own for the Creators' Universe Card Set, The Moth and The Silencer. I asked him if it would be okay if I had them as guests in an issue of Madman. So Madman Comics #13, which was planned almost a year ago, will feature these characters and a painted cover which Steve and I collaborated on. It should give "lucky #13" a little extra strength.
Gilman: Mike [Baron], is Nexus going to continue indefinitely? Your life's work, so to speak?
Baron: Part of it. The other part is building a personal habitat for 800 voles that live in the neighborhood.
[round of laughter]
Gilman: How about you, Steve? As long as Steve Rude can hold a pencil will there be Nexus?
Rude: I would like to think so -- and there's a very strong inner reason for that. As an artist I want to be there seemingly forever, doing my favorite characters for my fans. I like to think that Nexus can be a testament to that way of thinking when artists stayed on books forever.
Gilman: What about you, Mike? Do you have plans to draw Madman indefinitely?
Allred: No, I definitely have a specific ending in mind for the series. It just depends whether that ending will come at issue #25, issue #50, or issue #100. I have so many other things I want to do in comics and movies and music... so I don't know where I'll be, say, five years from now.
Gilman: Anything you guys want to add?
Allred: Yeah, when we're all dead it will be secretly revealed that I did the whole thing.