scans_daily

So, it's been nearly a year since I made my first comic post here, The Superman/Madman Hullabaloo! At that time, I mentioned that I'd devote a post to the Mutant Street Beatniks and just who they even are.
Well, like I said, it's been nearly a year, plus I've had folks asking me to post more Madman, so why not take care of both at the same time?

So, here we go, let's find out together what makes the Mutant Street Beatniks so mutant?
Frank Einstein, the Madman of Snap City, first ran into the Street Beatniks gang in Madman Adventures #1, so here's three pages from that. Frank'd fallen asleep on a park bench, dreaming about flying and shouting "El icnivni!" when a cop wakes him up.

maybe it's just the soul patch, but i'm tempted to think the one with the glasses might be a pre-Gum Jack Pomade

Anyway, Frank runs off for some of those Adventures promised in the title and we don't see the 'Niks again until the ongoing starts, but Allred doesn't keep us waiting, giving us the story right in the first issue!
So, we'll skip right over to Madman Comics #1, ten and two-thirds pages out of thirty-two.

Frank and Joe are hanging out in the park (prolly not the same one, this one seems bigger!) but they're about to be interrupted.

Well, that doesn't look friendly at all!

Frank follows the creature into the tunnel, but he's about to run into some old friends.

And here we have our defining moment. The record will show that Frank indeed threw the goop on the Beatniks, though in self-defense, and he certainly wouldn't have been aware of the effects the goop might've had on them. Either way, it goes a long to explaining the bad blood they have with him, but not the whole story. Continuing along, we'll see more of that.

Anyway, Frank meets up with Joe outside the tunnels, where Flem's arrived to extract the second craft for study. Frank takes off with Joe, where they run into her former employers, the G-Men From Hell (there's a story for another day!)
Unfortunately for Frank, the Beatniks have caught up with him and, already starting to feel the effects of the alien goop, seek redress for Frank's earlier infraction.

okay so Joe's eyes are a little off in that last panel, but otherwise awwwww young love

So, Frank's off the hook for now, right?

Nope.

Making a run for it, Frank loses the creature on his way to the rocket tunnels. He makes it back to his place, where Drs. Flem and Gale are studying the second craft. They find, to their surprise, that it's occupied!
We pick back up in issue #2, six and a third pages from thirty.

Meet Mott. He's from the planet Hoople, and he's been running from the other alien far longer than Frank and the gang. Unfortunately for him, she (yes, she) is very persistent!

Flem and Gale take Mott to the rocket tunnels for the getaway while Joe and Frank stay behind to mind their guest. (all that slop they're covered with, by the way, is from a chemical bath Mott had to put them through to take care of some nasty bacteria that powers him semi-organic ship) Joe's already got a plan.

Frank got an antennae like that after his own run-in with aliens in Madman Adventures #3. It kinda supercharged his already-present precognitive abilities, but has no such effect on Joe. You haven't seen Frank's yet because, well, he hasn't bothered trying to talk to Mott's dogged lover now, has he? point to Joe

Of course, they're not gonna go uninterrupted here. Remember, this is a Mutant Street Beatniks post, after all.

Oh.

Joe Lombard: Saves the day, gets the guy. Frank just looks pretty (well, as pretty as a reanimated corpse can look, i suppose)

Shame about Sleek, though. That's sure not gonna come back on them at all!
And there you have it, how the Street Beatniks got Mutant, and why they really really hate Madman.
They didn't appear again for a while. I've already posted their next appearance after this, in the Superman/Madman Hullabaloo! There's also Madman Comics #16, where we find out that there's more to their mutations than just looking ugly and attracting alien ladies.

Our next post will be from the Atomics ongoing, where the rest of the Beatniks learn to follow the lead Gum set for them in that issue!