Frank Einstein, also known as Zane and Madman, investigates his old house, which is haunted of course. If the second narrator can be trusted, by the time the story is over he'll have gained two more names. Meanwhile, Luna Joe is off on a secret mission.

The scene in which a dual personality is being split into two separate entities is more reasonable than 99% of the story. The ginchy science fiction is almost comforting, and even "spectral" elements are relatively normal.

The idea of ghosts being escapees from a dimensional tear has been explored in numerous media. On television, the Phantom Zone inmates of Smallville, the Gelf of Doctor Who and, in comics, the entities in Stuart Moore's Para all are riffs on the same theme.

Allred is probably aware that this concept doesn't break any new ground, even with the addition of his necrotic spin. That's why he characterizes his second narrator, Frank being first, as straightforward speaking rather than koan spouting.

Simultaneous narration probably only could be achieved successfully in a comic book. That's technically interesting, but the result of that narration disappoints. The narrator relates a tale that consists of New Age goofiness fused with Catholic and Christian mythology:

"We all lived as spirit children before we were sent to this Earth to receive bodies and gain individual experiences...with our deaths our spirits temporarily leave our bodies and go beyond the Veil to the Spirit World which is divided by Spirit Prison and Spirit Paradise."

Oh, wow. Heavvvy, Moonchild.

Mike Allred grounds the hocus pocus in stylish artwork prone to animated action while maintaining a degree of realism. The trouble is that Frank really doesn't have a lot of motivation for his gymnastic routines. Swinging an extension cord to make the ghosts go poof is given as much energy as Frank fighting alien beasties, for example, and I'm not absolutely sure this was necessary.

Sometimes Madman can be challenging. Allred says something, but he conceals messages and foci in numerous masks that can leave the reader dumbfounded. Maybe that's why this issue of Madman left me somewhat unsatisfied. I think I prefer the bafflement.

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