Warning: this article contains spoilers to Crossover #3!
In Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw’s Crossover, the world changed forever after fictional comic book characters suddenly appeared in the real world, creating a war zone of destruction and death in Denver, Colorado in 2017. The city and its inhabitants were enclosed in an impenetrable dome, but five years later, two comic-loyal people discover a lost fictional child who claims that a hero helped her travel in and out of the Dome. Believing they know the identity of this hero, they travel with her to a secret hideout where they meet other comic book superheroes along with the child’s hero, who isn’t the symbol of hope they were expecting.
In this world where comic books, any related literature, and those who worked on or supported such are despised, cosplaying believer Ellipses and her opinionated, older boss Harold made the choice to keep the faith. As an angry mob burned down their store, the little girl they’d chosen to help – Ava – told them about the man who saved her, drawing a picture that both of them believed to be Superman. After helping the girl blend in, Ellipses convinced Harold to help them reunite Ava with her parents while also investigating if Ellie’s parents are still alive, having been trapped in the Dome all this time.
When their attempt to get closer is interrupted by a colossal monster fight you could only see in comics, this group of travelers are found by Doctor Blaqk and the Paybacks, a group of forgotten superheroes that only the group’s recent addition Ryan knows about. Teleported to a secret hideout, the Paybacks dismiss Ellie’s request to go with them to the Dome, saying their goal was to retrieve Ava and anything else would have to go through their boss. The “Big Man” happened to be there in person, but rather than the DC heavyweight everyone was expecting, Mike Allred’s Madman was revealed instead.
Few characters understand the art of crossovers better than the man who returned to life as Frank Einstein. Displaying superhuman as well as impressive psionic abilities, the wandering superhero with an uncanny outlook on life fought a myriad of strange foes while trying to piece together his past before his unfortunate demise. Along with being published by different comic companies throughout the years, Madman also guested a number of other notable comic book characters like Frank Miller’s Big Guy, Erik Larsen’s Savage Dragon, and Mike Mignola’s Hellboy in his stories, but one of his biggest crossovers involved Superman.
In Superman/Madman Hullabaloo!, Superman and Madman were manipulated by Mr. Mxyzpitlk who not only switched their dimensions but also made them physical hybrids of each other. After collecting portions of Superman’s power that had been hidden in select individuals in both worlds, they confronted Mxyzpitlk where he was defeated by Madman in a game of Twister and tricked into saying his name backwards. Writer Donny Cates is a lover of the medium, so this mistaken identity could be a reference to that amusing crossover from yesteryear or suggest that comic book characters in Crossover retain their memory of past events despite any intercompany changes or the industry’s consistent rebooting of canon.
In this world, the rules of reality have been abandoned in a struggle to adapt, understand, and often control these powerful visitors whose adventures once captivated and inspired normal people. While anyone in crisis would welcome Superman‘s help, in a situation where everyone is acting crazy, it somehow makes sense that Madman would be a pillar of sanity, capable of doing impossible things in a world that badly needs any hero it can find.
