Editing Freakazoid! (section)

==Controversy with Mike Allred's ''Madman''==
The show and its lead character was criticized for [[plagiarizing]] the superhero [[comic book]] ''[[Madman (Mike Allred character)|Madman]]'' by [[Mike Allred]],<ref name="madman" /> asserting that the title characters share several personality traits, they both have blue skin and wear similar costumes featuring a chest emblem including an exclamation mark. During the short run of the show, Allred remained relatively silent on the subject, but in 2003, he responded to a question about the show on the message board of his official website:

{{blockquote|text=[Show creator] [[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 [show producer] [[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 irks me a little though. A little too close for comfort).<ref name="madman">{{Cite web |last=Allred |first=Mike |date=2003-11-07 |title=Re: Freakazoid |url=http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/allred/?noframes;read=9834 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060728122015/http://www.comicscommunity.com/boards/allred/?noframes%3Bread=9834 |archive-date=July 28, 2006 |access-date=2007-05-27 |website=Mike Allred Message Board}}</ref>}}