Controversy With Mike Allred's Madman
The show and its lead character have been criticized as being plagiarism of the comic book Madman by the creator of Madman, Mike Allred. Both titular characters share several personality traits, and, according to Allred, wear similar costumes, both featuring a chest emblem of an exclamation mark (though Freakazoid's logo adds his initial F before the exclamation mark). During the short run of the show, Allred remained relatively silent on the subject. However, in 2003, he responded to a question about the show on the message board of his official website:
Bruce Timm was kind enough to tell me that Madman was a direct inspiration for the show, with comics open and referred to when developing the show.Stupidly, I was flattered; happy to inspire anything. But when the show came out, with no acknowledgement or credit or any kind of compensation, I slowly became annoyed as everyone and their uncle confronted me with "there's this cartoon that's ripping off Madman" and "you oughta sue".
I simply wrote a friendly letter to Steven Spielberg telling him his production was a direct lift of my creation, I had no intention of creating ripples, I just wanted him to know that I knew. No one replied, which is fine. And to be honest, Madman is an amalgam of a half a dozen other influences. So who am I to complain (the exclamation mark on the chest still kinda urks me a little though. A little too close for comfort).Read more about this topic: Candle Jack
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