Mike Allred began his career as a radio host on KYES AM 950 (KY95) in Roseburg, Oregon. He later became a television reporter in Europe, and started drawing comics in 1989 with the 104-page graphic novel "Dead Air" (Slave Labor Graphics). The story loosely followed his stint in radio as a sidebar to the true focus of the novel, the effects of post-nuclear war over a small Oregon town. He followed this up with his similarly titled works "Graphique Musique" (1990) and "Grafik Muzik" (Caliber Comics 1990–1991), in which he set out the style that he was to become known for with his most famous character, Madman.