Madman Atomic Comics #13
Posted: Saturday, February 7, 2009
By: Ray Tate
Mike Allred, Laura Allred
Mike Allred, Laura Allred(c)
Image
Despite having my hope shredded by DC comics and becoming cynical over the years, I really couldn't believe that Allred was really going to kill off his characters in such a heinous way that exalts villainy. Sure enough. Joe and the Atomics are alive.
The happy ending isn't what makes Madman great. The ending actually makes sense. The way Joe becomes the most important player in the book is at once poetic and the payoff to her resurrection. She wasn't just returned via Professor Flem's technology to be Frank's girlfriend again. She returned for an ulterior purpose that felt like the culmination of a carefully laid plan begun back when Madman was first conceived. Joe has always been Frank’s guide. She steered him away from evil and insanity on more than one occasion, and it’s fitting that she plays this part.
It's nice to see Joe and Frank act like lovers do, to quote Annie Lennox. Her dirty talk with Frank isn't explicit but is humorous, suitable to her characterization and hot. I also like that they are cognizant of Luna's loss. So they lower the heat a bit when they're among their colleagues.
It Girl's loss is short-lived. Once more Professor Flem comes through, and props to Allred for coming up with an ingenious solution that differs from his resolution that returned Joe back to a single life form and her own body. At once, Allred elegantly cleanses Adam and shows that in Adam's case coming back to life isn't as easy as it seems put an intricate process.
Although I knew very well that Monstat did not kill Joe and the Atomics, I couldn't really expect how Allred was going to pull their fat out of the fire. This issue of Madman is not only coherent, it's clever, and it easily sports the most feel good ending I've read in two years.
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