Maddox Mania - the Man, the Myth, the Legend

What's the best page in the universe? maddox.xmission.com - so says founder of the site, solely known as Maddox. And who is "Maddox" you ask? Why, he's the most manly man among men. A true genius according to his legions of fans. A philanthropist, writer, pirate and speaker to the public, too. In fact, there isn't a thing this man can't do - we've even questioned his mortality. However, there is still a majority of people who know not who 'maddox' is or what his site is about. My goal is to rectify this great injustice.

Let's begin at the beginning of the saga of maddox. Once upon a time, way back in 1997, a man decided to create a text document of fifty things that irritated him. After circulating the document among users on a popular irc (Internet Relay Chat) server, he launched his first page as a result of the reactions to the writing. Thus was born the first article of maddox.
This brings us to the the site in general. What is his site about? Think of it as an all-you-can-read buffet on things that irritate or otherwise anger maddox. Nobody is left out of his path of destruction. He states what he sees and makes it quite clear that he doesn't care what other people think or feel about his opinion. In short, to quote him, "This page is about me and why everything I like is great. If you disagree with anything you find on this page, you are wrong."
Unfortunately, people DO take offense to his writing and often send him hate mail to express their displeasure and immense hatred for our loveable pirate. On a scale of 25 to 1, maddox finds the hate mail more interesting to post than the fanmail for obvious reasons. Any time someone is angry over an opinion - there's bound to be laughs galore. And beneath each posting of hatemail on his site is his strategic response, including visual aids to assist in responses. What spurred the influx of hate mail? Two years into the legacy, he received an email from someone enraged about his article in regards to Helen Hunt. The person mistakenly spelled her name wrong and his response was "learn to spell her name right" and a double middle finger salute picture of the infamous maddox himself. A word to the wise who may wish to write him emails of a displeased nature: he can spot spoof hatemail and he does post them in their entirety - including email addresses and names. Even with this obvious info as stated on his hatemail page, people still send tons of mail each day.

Every one of maddox's articles are solely written by him. This also includes the subject the 'article' is on, as well as any images that may be incorporated into the writing. Not only is this all done by him, but he does not have any paid advertising on the site - it's run solely by him and the generous donations of whomever may fancy sending him money. Often times he is asked about this choice. Some call it crazy, others call it stupid but for whatever reasons he has - it's one that's respected.

After a first book deal fell through, maddox picked up a second deal for "The Alphabet of Manliness" in April of 2005. While a surprise to many when this book deal was announced, the idea behind it would perhaps showcase a stronger ability of what this man was capable of writing. His research was extensive, taking him from April of 2005 up until June of 2006. This included general research, as well as finding artists and artwork to help bring the book to life. However, once research and artwork were completed, he began to write. In total there were 8 lucky artists chosen to do artwork for the upcoming book, each with a distinct style and incredible talent. It took him six months in total of actual writing according to maddox himself. This included weekends as well as holidays. Every day he was writing diligently, the deadline fastly approaching. I recall conversing with him a few times during this period, citing exhaust and once or twice absolute frustration. His dedication while writing the book was astounding and quite impressive. If only more people were as dedicated to something as he was while writing. As for what the book is about? That's simple. It's a book all about men and what men like. Almost in a reference form and akin to those ever popular 'how-to" guides. Some even have referred to reading it like the bible. The best way to fully understand the book? Buy it.

Last, but not least, there is "The Best Comic in The Universe" - Maddox's recent project. Newly launched, the first issue is still for sale through his site. What's it about? Obviously, it being the best comic in the universe, it no doubt encompasses everything his book stands for in pictoral form. With the fierce violence and manliness of being a pirate, the black and white comic is no doubt just as ruthless and awesome as anything else he's done. A collaboration between Maddox and Leah Tiscione, who was also an artist on "The Alphabet of Manliness" (and oddly enough a woman!), the comic will most definitely leave you craving the second issue and any other issues to follow.

Maddox mania is far from over. There are dozens of 'wanna be' sites out there, as well as numerous fan sites and even hate sites. But nobody can come close to encompassing the awesomeness of the best page in the universe. While perhaps the not most colorful site out there, the articles are easy to find and read. So if you have a sense of humor - I urge you to at least take a peek. I guarantee it'll be worth it as long as you're not easily offended.