Aren't Those Episode Names Just Plain Annoying?
Although its many imitators often just annoy me to death, the original "Madness" series engineered by Krinkels is one of those cartoons that first evolved from a simple mass slaughter and its gray-scale, faceless, emotionless, red and yellow cretins somewhere out in Nevada into an apocalyptic scifi/horror series that has never failed to please with its stunning animated choreography, ripping soundtrack, and sheer brutality.
Having reached a new milestone with "Madness: Abrogation", the tenth official episode in the series, it is unlikely that anybody can top its visual and visceral splendor. It will turn off plenty of viewers, as always, thanks to an indecipherable, operatic plot that fails to offer any resolution in the future (perhaps as Krinkels, the author, always intended as a joke on the audience, for who really thought the "Chicken Dance" music could create villains as creepy as "Tricky the Clown"?).
As a plot synopsis, Hank and his loyal associate must brave another facility operated by the "1337 Crew". Of course, there is a dark void of corpse-sucking personified violence who serves as ringleader, along with a series of giant crewmen, ichor-blooded crewmen, and other pleasantries and traps. Oh, and a stone-scroll-shear game... for who goes first down a dark pit.
Hank has seen better days. If the unhealed wounds littering his frame are bad enough, he sports a crustacean-like arm to replace the one before and his size seems to have been altered as well. Why he continues to spar with these cretins, or what their purpose is, will always be unknown. As usual, Krinkels sprinkles strange computerized warning messages on the screen as a means of dialog, but these do not help us draw conclusions about what is happening.
In all honesty, Krinkels is in love with his ability to amass a stupendous plethora of goings-on in a single screen with impressive fluidity and just one guy at the animating helm. This has resulted in two things: long waits for the next episode in the series, and the audience gets forced into replaying or at least rewinding whole sequences to make sure nothing is overlooked. Even if the gripping sequences kept you from looking away from their sheer awesomeness, it can prove to be tiresome when the action is constant and the plot is nonsense.
Now, the plot might not be the point, but there are recurring characters like "Savior", a dark parody of the Christ that pokes fun at the whole eternal life/resurrection belief by having the character restore countless thugs and crewmen as zombies instead. This horrid aberration must have an origin and fate contrary to the eternal origins of whom he is based, right?
Or "Tricky"! Madness Combat's "It" or "Joker" character, a hobo with facial makeup and an absurd cult following among fans... surely Krinkels can cater to their need for an unstoppable antagonist (actually, he does so here, so that's kind of moot).
Even Hank, also featured in "NG Rumble", perceived as the original faceless slayer of a world tainted with techno-biological insanity, has no suitable epilog devoted to him. All of this amounts to an eventual sequel in the series, just to beat around bushes again!
Despite these complaints, which target the series on a whole rather than a single episode, "Madness: Abrogation" is at the cutting edge of flash cartoon choreography and proper effects, especially sound mixing. Look past the horrific themes and excessive gore and you have a cinematic style that few have mimicked with any success.
The heart of Madness is that chaos surrounds the screen without explanation, without remorse, without any seeming hope, and the protagonist (often Hank in this case) must tread through this nightmare-infested apocalypse with just his fists and wits to start. In a sense, the "Madness Combat" series is in the horror sub-genre of adventure fiction, where the only stakes are one's life and sanity. Perhaps that alone, being surrounded by insanity and trying to stay sane, is what makes "Madness Combat" not only popular but also endearing and enduring as well.