Madman
Real Name: Zane Townsend
Identity/Class: Re-animated corpse
Occupation: (prior to death) assassin; (after death) superhero
Affiliations: The Atomics; Josephine "Joe" Lombard (girlfriend); Mott (alien friend from the planet Hoople); Dr. Gillespie Flem and Doctor Boifford (creators, latter one deceased); the Tick
Enemies: Unknown
Known Relatives: None known
Aliases: Frank Einstein
Base of Operations: Snap City
First Appearance: Creatures of the ID "For the Record" (Caliber Comics, 1990)
Other Appearances: Madman; Madman Adventures; Madman Comics; Superman/Madman; Nexus meets Madman; Madman/The Jam; The Atomics
Powers/Abilities: Superhuman co-ordination, unpredictable precognition and some kind of psychic insight.
History: Zane Townsend was an assassin, at least until he died in a car crash. This proved to be a life changing experience, but not, as you might expect, a life-ending one. His corpse was stolen by mad scientists Doctor Boiffard and Doctor Flem, who reanimated it minus any memories of his former life, and christened him "Frank Einstein" (after Frank Sinatra and Albert Einstein).
A clean slate, but gifted with a high level of intelligence and a smidgeon of psychic ability, Frank was to embark on a number of adventures. He fell in love with temp lab assistant Josephine "Joe" Lombard, even though as a reanimated corpse he wasn't the nicest looking guy around, so he took to wearing a costume similar to one worn by his favourite superhero, partly to hide his dead looks, and partly to boost his confidence. Doctor Boiffard was killed by a madman seeking immortality, sending Frank on a hunt to locate Doctor Flem to revive him, and Joe was kidnapped. This double quest brought out a previously unrecognised heroic streak in the dead man, and after he had rescued Joe he continued to battle monsters and evil robots as Madman.
Comments: Created by Mike Allred, copyright to him.
In case you hadn't figured it out, Madman's secret identity of Frank Einstein is a play on Frankenstein, the fictional scientist who originally reanimated a human corpse.
Madman is one of the participants in War of the Independents.
CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with
Madman, the brother of the Leader and enemy of the Hulk
Mad Hatter, a Golden Age hero
Mad Jim Jaspers, a foe of Captain Britain
Mad Meckanoid, a foe of the Spider
Mad Ronn, a member of the ABC Warriors
Mad Tommy, a member of Bad Company
Crazy Chrissie, former lover of D.R.
Crazy Gang, insane creations of Mad Jim Jaspers
Crazyman, a different insane superhero
Lunatik, enemy of the Defenders
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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