WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Crossover #3, by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Dee Cunniffe, and John J. Hill, on sale now.
The Image Comics series Crossover is a meditation on the entire comic book medium, with a strong focus on the superhero genre as recognizable characters suddenly are transported into the real world with cataclysmically devastating consequences.
While several iconic figures are heavily teased and alluded to in the first several issues, the latest chapter has two comic book properties linked to Dark Horse Comics make a prominent appearance to team up with the main characters: The Paybacks and Madman.
Crossover follows a young girl from the comic book world named Ava that escaped the protective dome erected over Denver by the intruding fictional characters as they continued their eternal conflict within its city limits, meeting Ellie, the story's protagonist and a young woman who lost her parents to the superhero invasion. With all fictional characters and comics banned after millions of lives lost in Denver from the sudden emergence in an impromptu crossover, Ellie and Ava join their friend Otto to elude the authorities and try to escape as an extensive search for Ava begins. While the general public and authorities are shocked by the sight of a Gundam-styled robot battling against a kaiju, Doctor Blaqk from the superhero team The Paybacks appears, revealing the titanic confrontation was just magical distraction before introducing the refugees to the rest of his team.
The Paybacks were created by Crossover co-creators Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw along with Eliot Rahal, and their series was published through Dark Horse in 2015. The team featured a group of misfit superheroes suffering from bankruptcy and tasked with repossessing the secret lairs of their counterparts to cover the enormous expenses they incurred for the genetic and cybernetic enhancements and advanced gadgets and vehicles in order to become heroes in the first place. As assembled Paybacks teleport Ellie and her group to their secret hideout, they learn that a hero was responsible for helping Ava leave the sphere while contending with the revelation that their Dark Horse series was canceled after a brief run. As the heroes examine Ava's drawing of her benefactor, Madman appears and cheekily comments on it.
Madman was created by Eisner Award-winning comic book creator Mike Allred in 1990's Creatures of the Id #1 by Caliber Press before moving to other publishers like Tundra Comics, Dark Horse, Oni Press, Image and IDW Publishing. A man resurrected as a superhero after dying in a car accident, Madman is a wacky, mischievous figure that often provided commentary on the nature of the superhero genre, leaning into the colorful punk rock energy of the genre and pop art possibilities of the medium at a time when the industry was largely moving towards being markedly dark and gritty.
Given the self-aware superhero humor and storytelling sensibilities inherent to both The Paybacks and Madman, the characters appear perfectly suited to join in on Crossover's genre-deconstructing premise. Cates, Shaw and the rest of the creative team are only just starting to show their hand as the ambitious, love letter to the comic book medium continues to unfold while steadily increasing its scope. Now with actual, established superheroes on their side, Ellie and Ava's adventures are truly poised to take off as the mystery of who rescued the girl from the barrier the heroes created to protect themselves has taken an unexpected turn.