I'm actually beginning to think that Laura Allred is the better of the two Madman artists. I've read Madman since its black and white conception. In those books, Allred used gray tones to add depth through shading, and I have to admit the sublime line work not the gray tones attracted me instantly, yet I look at this gorgeous latest issue and must consider that Laura Allred is the MVP.

Imagining Madman without color is now inconceivable to me. The star is the least colorful of the characters. Allred purposefully tones down her colors for him, but every other character is composed of multiple splashes of the spectrum, from Horn's bright blues to Haley's light brunette features.

Recently, Luna, also known as the It Girl, absorbed Joe's essence. This amalgamated the characters and gave Laura Allred a jaw-dropping workout. The It Girl's uniform is pink and lilac with yellow emblem, gloves and boots to match her blonde hair. To manifest Joe's presence, Allred added new colors. Now, It Girl blends Joe's red hair and her pink freckles in an attractive mélange.

Allred's colors always compliment. In the story It Girl gets business-like with a green suit. That ensemble goes with Luna's blonde hair as well as Joe's scarlet highlights and vivid blue eyes.

Mike Allred's story, while almost less noticeable than the color, still offers the faithful Madman reader points of interest. For instance, the coldness of Dr. Flem is revealed to be, as I always suspected, something of a facade. Raw intellect cannot be the only thing to attract Bonnie, and there must be a reason why Gayle, his colleague, appreciates his company.

There were a few issues in the entire series where Flem appeared to act far out of character; at one point he almost seemed vindictive, but in the opening to this latest volume, Allred gave a rationale for these odd moments. While I don't believe Allred actually had this planned from the beginning, Allred's serendipitous explanation is a lot better than some planned twists I have read.

Flem's characterization in this story rings true. He's a little sneaky in that he likes to manipulate things to his advantage, but he genuinely cares about Frank and wants him to be happy. It appears that Flem's good intentions will soon be complicating matters, but it's a fascinating twist.

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