Creatures of the Id #1

History

The issue grew out of Mike Allred's early work in alternative comics, following his debut book Dead Air and his Graphique Musique anthology work for Slave Labor Graphics; by 1990, Allred had migrated to Caliber Press, publisher Gary Reed's small but adventurous alternative imprint. The book was produced collaboratively: writer Jeffrey Lang and artist/inker Bernie Mireault contributed the anthology's first two stories, while Allred wrote and penciled the eight-page Frank Einstein segment himself, with Mireault inking and Laura Allred — whose lettering contribution is acknowledged in later reprint credits — providing assistance. Allred has described Frank Einstein as a deeply personal vessel for his own spiritual and existential questions, a quality already visible in this first short appearance, and the character's name was a deliberate triple pun combining Frank Sinatra, Albert Einstein, and Frankenstein's monster.

Trivia · 7 facts

• First appearance of Frank Einstein, the character who would become Madman, in the eight-page story 'For the Record.'
• Three stories appear in the issue: 'Train of Thought' (written by Jeffrey Lang, art by Michael Allred, inked/lettered by Bernie Mireault); 'Civilisation and Its Discontents' (Lang/Allred/Mireault); and 'For the Record' (written and penciled by Michael Allred, inked by Bernie Mireault).
• Frank Einstein's name is a triple reference: Frank Sinatra and Albert Einstein (the heroes of his fictional reanimators, Dr. Boiffard and Dr. Flem) and a direct nod to Frankenstein — his origin as a corpse stitched back together and brought to life.
• Laura Allred is credited 'for her assistance' in the original issue; later reprint records in the Madman Library Edition confirm her lettering contribution to the Frank Einstein segment.
• The Frank Einstein story was reprinted in Madman: Two Trilogies (Graphitti Designs, 1995) and in Madman Library Edition Vol. 1 (Dark Horse Comics, 2021), the latter a 680-page oversized hardcover collecting Madman's adventures from 1990–1996.
• Madman went on to headline multiple series across Tundra Publishing, Dark Horse Comics, and Image Comics, as well as a three-issue crossover with Superman (DC/Dark Horse), before Dark Horse collected the entire 'Madmaniverse' in a six-volume Library Edition series (2021 onward).
• Some sources (EBSCO/Madman character entry) give a September 1990 on-sale date while Key Collector Comics, Wikipedia, and the Grand Comics Database cite October 1990; GoCollect lists December 1989, which appears to be a data outlier.

Cast · 1 character

Full credits