Robin Williams’geek credentials were well-known, but the late comedian surprised comic book creator Michael Allred when he wore aMadmanT-shirt during his appearance on HBO’sComic Relief. This appearance cements Williams’ comic book fandom for all time and shows how deep his love for the medium really went.
Posting to Instagram,Allredrelates how Williams was a big fan ofAllred’s signature character Madman, to the point where he wore a T-shirt of the character during theComic Relief Vbenefit show on HBO in 1992.
Writing that he had previously heard Williams was a big fan of the character, Allred was still thrilled to see the comedian rocking some Madman apparel on TV.Wearing a T-shirt of a cult character like Madman shows how deep Williams’ fandom really went, as Allred’s character had only been around for two years at that point.
Robin Williams Was a Big Fan of Michael Allred’sMadman
MadmanIs Available Now in Collected Editions from Dark Horse Comics
Madman is Allred’s signature character, first appearing inCreatures of the Idin 1990 before getting his own self-titled series from Tundra in 1992.Madman is in actuality Frank Einstein, a corpse revived by two scientists, Dr. Boiffard and Dr. Flem. Possessing superhuman agility and reflexes as well as precognitive powers, Einstein becomes the adventurer Madman, the superhero defender of Snap City. After Tundra folded, Madman’s adventures moved over to Dark Horse Comics, who recently collected all of his adventures in hardcover Library Editions and is set to collect them again inpaperback omnibus editions starting next year.
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Williams wasn’t the only Hollywood fan to take notice of Allred’sMadman.Kevin Smith had Allred cameo as himself inChasing Amy, where the artist actually delivers the opening line of dialogue in the 1997 film. Ben Affleck’s Holden can later be seen reading aMadmancomic, while Jason Lee’s Brody is also seen wearing a T-shirt with Madman’s iconic lightning bolt / exclamation mark symbol. In addition to these Easter eggs, aMadman moviewas in development for a long time by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, although the proposed feature film never materialized.
MadmanHas a Long History in Comic Books and in Hollywood
Allred’s Indie Superhero Is a Movie Star (in His Own Way)
He may have never gotten a feature film, but having afan in Williams more than solidifies Madman’s position in popular culture. Allred went on to create memorablecomic runs onX-Statixat MarvelandiZombieat DC/Vertigo, but the artist still periodically returns to the world of Snap City to chronicle the adventures of Frank Einstein, his girlfriend Joe, alien friend Mott the Hoople, robot clone Astroman and superhero team the Atomics, so hopefully Allred will return to write and draw moreMadmansometime in the near future.
Michael Allred created the mutant hero El Guapo in Marvel’sX-Statixas a tribute to filmmaker Robert Rodriguez.
As big a fan ofMadmanas he was, Williams was also passionate about other indie comics of the era. As further proof of Williams’ comic fandom, artist David Mack pipes in on the comments section of Allred’s original Instagram post, relating his own story of the comedian’s interest in Mack’s seriesKabuki:
Fantastic pic and story! [Williams]sent me a letter and check once to order Kabuki back issues. I later got a letter from a film crew member that he gave out some of those comics to the crew.
Being a fan of bothMadmanandKabukishows thatRobin Williamswas a serious comic book fan and was willing to share his fandom in some very generous ways.
Source:Michael Allred
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