The Maxx
| The Maxx | |
|---|---|
| File:The Maxx 01 cover.jpg The Maxx #1, illustrated by Sam Kieth. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Image Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing |
| Publication date | March, 1993 |
| No. of issues | 35 |
| Main character(s) | The Maxx Julie Winters |
| Creative team | |
| Created by | Sam Kieth |
| Written by | William Messner-Loebs Alan Moore |
The Maxx is an American comic book and character created by Sam Kieth and published by Image Comics. The comic book spawned an animated series that aired on the MTV network.
The series follows the adventures of the titular hero in the real world and in an alternate reality, referred to as The Outback. In the real world the Maxx is a vagrant while in the Outback he is the protector of the Jungle Queen. The Jungle Queen is similar to the Maxx in that she also exists in the real world as Julie Winters, a freelance social worker who often bails the Maxx out of jail. While the Maxx is aware of the Outback, Julie is not, though it is integral to the story of both the Maxx and Julie.
Plot summary
One day, after Julie stops her car to help a man in the street, she is beaten, raped, and left to die. To cope, she hides in what is referred to as her 'Outback' (a primeval landscape situated entirely in her subconscious, where she has control). In The Outback, she becomes "The Leopard Queen", an all-powerful goddess. She spends so much time dwelling in her Outback that the real world and The Outback gradually become unstable.
One night, she accidentally hits a homeless man with her car. Remembering what happened the last time she stopped to help someone, she covers the unconscious body with trash, but in doing so she unintentionally opens a link to the Outback. After Julie leaves, a lampshade in the trash (which had brushed the Outback) expands over the man's body, becoming a mask that costumes him and links him to Julie.
The series begins three years later, and the reader is not initially aware of the deep interconnections between the characters; they are slowly revealed over the course of the series. The homeless man does not remember anything about himself, only that Julie is important to him somehow. He doesn't even know his own name (he now calls himself The Maxx) or what he looks like under his mask.
Mr. Gone, a serial killer and rapist with a telepathic link to Julie and extensive knowledge of and access to people's various Outbacks, starts phoning Julie. She thinks he is merely an obscene phone caller, and ignores him. Eventually, The Maxx gets in Gone's way by "protecting" Julie, so Gone tries to kill him. The Maxx fights him in both The Outback and the real world. In the meantime, Julie leaves Maxx and wanders the countryside, sleeping with any man she meets.
Eventually, Mr. Gone makes Julie see the truth about her past, and reveals to her how The Maxx came to be. A twist is revealed by Gone to a secondary character who is killed: the fact that Gone first met Julie when she was a child. She knew him as "uncle Artie", a friend of her father's. Gone's tall tales about a visit to Australia helped shape Julie's outback. As Julie begins healing herself and The Outback, the series follows Sarah, a depressed teenager whose mother sends her to Julie for counseling. Sarah is often in conflict with her mother, who disciplines her so she won't grow up to be like her father — eventually revealed to be none other than Mr. Gone.
After the conclusion of the first storyline, the action leaps forward from 1995 (the then-present) to the year 2005. Julie and Dave (the former Maxx) having vanished, the action focuses on Sara (as she now spells her name) and a murderous escapee from her Outback. The story also reveals Sara's Outback and Mr. Gone's tragic origin story. Dave, who dons his Maxx costume once again, returns with Julie and her son, to confront Mr. Gone.
By this time, Gone has repented of his crimes, and seeks reconciliation with Sara. To that end, he surrenders to Maxx and Julie, and proposes a plan: they enter an interdimensional wormhole that will erase their pasts and give them all a fresh start. Maxx and Julie say an emotional goodbye, and enter the wormhole. Before Gone can do the same, however, three CIA agents (minor characters from a previous issue) ambush him and shoot him dead. All the principal characters now lead completely different lives, yet retain a small part of their connection to the Outback and to each other.
Spirit animals
One of the dominant concepts of The Maxx is that every human being has a spirit animal, which is linked to the person during a pivotal moment in their life. Julie's spirit animal is a rabbit. When she was very young, Julie rescued an injured rabbit that lay in the road in front of her house (as seen in The Maxx #10). Julie later witnessed her mother bludgeoning the rabbit to death with a shovel to put it out of its misery. This traumatic event linked the rabbit to Julie's subconscious. Julie projects the rabbit onto Dave as she tries to take care of him like the rabbit she was unable to save. Maxx, who is linked to Julie and her spirit animal worries that, if he removes his mask, he will find the head of a rabbit beneath it.
Sarah's spirit animal is a horse. In the latter half of the series, this spirit animal manifests itself as Norbert, a homeless man Sarah takes pity on.
Isz
The main creatures that inhabit The Outback are white Isz. White Isz are herbivores, but can eat most other Outback creatures, as all creatures in Julie's Outback are actually plants. When white Isz are brought from The Outback into the real world they become black Isz. Black Isz are carnivores. They are stronger, faster, and have sharper teeth than white Isz. Black Isz assume different appearances depending on the clothes they're wearing. In this matter, intention counts more than disguise skills. If an Isz is dressed as an old lady, it appears as an old lady to anyone who doesn't know what it really is. All Isz are eyeless. In the latter part of the series, Sara's Isz appear as pink, flying, eyeless fairies that explode if not kept in water.
Allusions
Calvin & Hobbes -- One issue of The Maxx contains a single image of a character highly resemblant of Calvin, viewed from behind, holding a stuffed tiger highly resemblant of Hobbes.
The Sandman -- One issue contains two posters of the character 'Death' from the comic book series by Neil Gaiman. The narrator is mocking death as it is played by a "hot chick"
Trade paperbacks, cameos and other Merchandise
- The Maxx Book 1: Issues #1-6
- The Maxx Book 2: Issues #7-13
- The Maxx Book 3: Issues #14-20
- The Maxx Book 4: Issues #21-27
- The Maxx Book 5: Issues #28-35
- The Maxx Book 6: Collects the spin-off series Friends of Maxx
- Other issues include The Maxx #1/2, and the Gen¹³/The Maxx crossover
The Maxx has made cameo appearances in the graphic novel Popbot (which Kieth co-wrote); the independent comic Armature issue #1; the Sonic the Hedgehog comic Sonic Super Special #7 Sonic/Image Crossover; the four issue limited series Altered Image, the Image mini series Blood Wolf (1995) and The Savage Dragon #28 (collected in Savage Dragon Vol. 7: A Talk With God). He also briefly appears in the series Mars Attacks The Image Universe. He appears on a TV screen on the Frostbite version of the cover to DV8 #1.
MacFarlane Toys released a Maxx figure as part of its Spawn line.
Shocker Toys has released one The Maxx mini-figure.
An adventure for the obscure Heroes & Heroines role-playing game was released using The Maxx characters and setting.
TV series
| The Maxx | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Sam Kieth Bill Messner-Loebs |
| Voices of | Michael Haley Glynnis Talken Amy Danles Barry Stigler |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | MTV (USA) |
| Release | April 8 – June 19, 1995 |
The comic book series was adapted into an animated series as part of the MTV program Oddities. It covered Darker Image #1, The Maxx #1/2, and issues #1-11 of the regular series, depicting the introduction of Julie, the original Maxx, Mr. Gone, and, later, Sarah. The series included few of the revelations of the characters' origins, however, and did not describe the interconnections between them.
The animation frequently changes styles. In one scene, characters may be rendered in detail but in the next, they may be simplified and cartoonish. Often this is done to show a change in perspective. CGI and even live-action are sometimes integrated in with the hand-drawn animation. Critics such as Richard Matthes have noted how much of the animation is based directly on panels from the comic."The cartoon version of The Maxx follows the comics’ art almost line-for-line. Instead of attempting to cartoon-ify the dark tone of the comic books, the producers made the decision to use animation that is nearly identical to the panels within the Image comics. In addition, the animators did as little animating as possible. They don’t insert motion just to show that they can; instead, they hold on to shots, using movement only when absolutely necessary."
The entire series has yet to be released on DVD, but a 4-episode VHS was released in 1996.
Voice actors
- Michael Haley - The Maxx
- Glynnis Talken - Julie, Gloriee
- Amy Danles - Sara[h]
- Barry Stigler - Mr. Gone
MTV Crossover
- In the TV series, Maxx is shown watching "The Great Cornholio", an episode of another MTV cartoon, Beavis and Butthead.