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[Series Rec] THE MAXX
*Violently hammers fist into palm with each word* I will take every chance I get to recommend Sam Kieth's THE MAXX to anyone who will listen!
WARNING: This comic deals with triggering subjects and delves into violence quite a bit! Animal death is a plot-point. You have been warned!
You might remember a late 90's cartoon on MTV (Or YTV here in Canada) called THE MAXX, about a big purple homeless guy who lived in a box in the alley and traveled between the real world and the subconscious.
What you may not know is that it was adapted pretty darn faithfully from a comic book series that ran for about 35 issues. The cartoon pulled from the first dozen episodes, and changed the ending, and a few crossovers were changed, but otherwise the animated mini-series was spot on.
THE MAXX is the creation of Sam Kieth, the original artist of Neal Gaiman's SANDMAN and character designer of Morpheus. It was co-written by Bill Messner-Loebs and it was helped along by Alan Moore for one issue.
THE MAXX is a subversion of the super-hero genre, particularly all that was 90's in comics, and it's also a surreal trip into the disturbing and psychological. All the characters play off each other wonderfully and weave a tapestry that tends to unravel if one or more of them go away for a while.
Also it created Mr. Gone, my all time favourite villain of anything anywhere.
A few years ago, they came out with new trades of THE MAXX called THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED which featured newly scanned and remastered art and a new colourist.
But that's not the end of Maxx's story. He's been brought back in a limited 5 part mini-series called Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams which is out now.
If you want something more surreal and thoughtful, subversive and satirical that wasn't seen a lot in the 90's, I urge you to hunt down THE MAXX and give it a try. The art is beautiful, the story's intriguing and the run is short so you can't get lost.
Recommended Reading
WARNING: This comic deals with triggering subjects and delves into violence quite a bit! Animal death is a plot-point. You have been warned!
You might remember a late 90's cartoon on MTV (Or YTV here in Canada) called THE MAXX, about a big purple homeless guy who lived in a box in the alley and traveled between the real world and the subconscious.
What you may not know is that it was adapted pretty darn faithfully from a comic book series that ran for about 35 issues. The cartoon pulled from the first dozen episodes, and changed the ending, and a few crossovers were changed, but otherwise the animated mini-series was spot on.
THE MAXX is the creation of Sam Kieth, the original artist of Neal Gaiman's SANDMAN and character designer of Morpheus. It was co-written by Bill Messner-Loebs and it was helped along by Alan Moore for one issue.
THE MAXX is a subversion of the super-hero genre, particularly all that was 90's in comics, and it's also a surreal trip into the disturbing and psychological. All the characters play off each other wonderfully and weave a tapestry that tends to unravel if one or more of them go away for a while.
Also it created Mr. Gone, my all time favourite villain of anything anywhere.
A few years ago, they came out with new trades of THE MAXX called THE MAXX: MAXXIMIZED which featured newly scanned and remastered art and a new colourist.
But that's not the end of Maxx's story. He's been brought back in a limited 5 part mini-series called Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams which is out now.
If you want something more surreal and thoughtful, subversive and satirical that wasn't seen a lot in the 90's, I urge you to hunt down THE MAXX and give it a try. The art is beautiful, the story's intriguing and the run is short so you can't get lost.
Recommended Reading
- Darker Image (First real appearance)
- The Maxx #1-35
- Gen 13/The Maxx #1 (one shot)
- Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams (5 part mini-series)