Madman Comics #16

History

Issue #16 was produced entirely by the husband-and-wife creative team of Mike Allred (story, pencils, inks, letters, and cover) and Laura Allred (colors), with Phil Amara serving as editor — the same core unit responsible for the Dark Horse run since its 1994 launch. The issue arrived in November 1999, near the tail end of the 20-issue Dark Horse series, at a moment when Allred was already architecting the Atomics concept that would define his next publishing phase under his own AAA Pop Comics imprint.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Mr. Gum (Jack Pomade), the elastic former Mutant Street Beatnik who later becomes a founding member of the Atomics superhero team.
• Mr. Gum's powers — full-body elasticity and shapeshifting — stem from alien-spore mutation; his green skin and rubbery texture give rise to the name, though Snap City's press reportedly preferred the nickname 'the Booger.'
• The issue is structured as a holiday anthology: one story covers Halloween trick-or-treating with Frank Einstein and Joe Lombard; a second has Frank, Joe, and Mr. Rodrigo (from issue #12) feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving before a possible Santa Claus encounter leads them to the North Pole.
• All story, art, lettering, and cover work by Mike Allred; colors by Laura Allred; edited by Phil Amara — the same core team throughout the Dark Horse run.
• Published November 24, 1999 (cover-dated December 1999) by Dark Horse Comics; 32 pages, full color.
• Issue #16 is the penultimate standalone chapter of the Dark Horse run before the series shifts tone with the G-Men from Hell arc (issues #17–20).
• Collected in The Complete Madman Comics Vol. 4: Heaven and Hell (Dark Horse), which gathers issues #16–20; also included in later omnibus editions such as Madman Omnibus Volume 2 (2025) and the Madman Library Edition Vol. 2.
• Mr. Gum received his own solo one-shot from Oni Press in April 2003, demonstrating the lasting importance of the character introduced here.

Cast · 8 characters

Full credits