''The Maxx'' is an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

series created by

Sam Kieth Sam Kieth (born January 11, 1963) is an American comics artist and writer, best known as the creator of ''The Maxx'' and ''Zero Girl''. Career Comics Kieth's first published work was "a story in the back of a Comico comic" when he was "about ...

in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by

Image Comics Image Comics is an American comic book publisher and is the third largest comic book and graphic novel publisher in the industry in both unit and market share. It was founded in 1992 by several high-profile illustrators as a venue for creator-ow ...

for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

imprint. The first appearance of the character was in ''

Darker Image ''Darker Image'' was an American comic book published by Image Comics. The series was intended as 4-issue miniseries, serving as an introduction to three "grim and gritty" characters. The series, however, only had one published issue, published i ...

'' #1 by Image Comics in March 1993. The

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

, starring an eponymous purple-skinned hero, spawned a 13-episode

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

that originally aired April–June 1995. Starting in November 2013 and ending in September 2016, the original series has been republished by IDW as ''The Maxx: Maxximized'' with new colors and improved scans of the original artwork by

and Jim Sinclair. In 2018, the Maxx featured in a five-issue crossover series with

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

, published by IDW. The series follows the adventures of the titular hero in two worlds: the real world and an alternate reality referred to as the Outback (presumably named metaphorically after the real

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

). In the real world, Maxx is a

vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

, a "homeless man living in a box", while in the Outback, he is the powerful protector of the Jungle Queen, who exists in the real world as Julie Winters, a freelance

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er who often bails Maxx out of jail. While Maxx is aware of the Outback, Julie is not, though it is integral to both of their stories.

Plot summary

Main story arc

Mr. Gone, a

serial rapist A serial rapist is someone who commits multiple rapes, whether with multiple victims or a single victim repeatedly over a period of time. Some serial rapists target children. The terms ''sexual predator'', ''repeat rape'' and ''multiple offending ...

with a

telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

link to Julie, has extensive knowledge of and access to other people's Outbacks. He starts phoning Julie, but she thinks he is merely an obscene phone caller and ignores him. Eventually, the Maxx gets in Gone's way by "protecting" Julie. Gone tries to kill him with assistance from the Outback's main predators, the Isz. The Maxx fights him in both the Outback and the real world. Eventually, Mr. Gone makes Julie see the truth about her past and reveals to her how the Maxx came to be. Gone first met Julie when she was a child as "Uncle Artie", a friend of her father; his

tall tales A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...

about a visit to Australia helped shape Julie's Outback. As Julie begins healing herself and the Outback, the series starts following Sara, a depressed teenager whose mother sends her to Julie for counseling. Sara is often in conflict with her mother, who disciplines her so she will not grow up to be like her father - Mr. Gone.

Backstory

The backstories of several characters are revealed midway through the series. While in college, Julie picks up a hitch-hiker who beats and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...

s her before leaving her to die. To

cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colour. A c ...

, she hides in what is referred to as her "Outback" (a primeval landscape situated entirely in her

subconscious In psychology, the subconscious is the part of the mind that is not currently of focal awareness. Scholarly use of the term The word ''subconscious'' represents an anglicized version of the French ''subconscient'' as coined in 1889 by the psycho ...

, where she has control). In the Outback, she becomes "The Jungle 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 consumes him and links him to Julie.

Second storyline

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 Iago, a giant, murderous

banana slug Banana slugs are North American terrestrial slugs comprising the genus ''Ariolimax''. MolluscaBase eds. (2021). MolluscaBase. Ariolimax Mörch, 1859. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p= ...

from her Outback. Iago has a list of people to kill, and it turns out that Julie and Sara are both on it. Sara is hounded by a homeless man named Norbert whom she soon realizes is her Maxx. Sara has constant confrontations with Mr. Gone, who is repentant of his past crimes. He is visited by three special agents intent on arresting him, but he turns them into insects. Later, after reading a diary he leaves for her that reveals his tragic

origin story In entertainment, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a Character (arts), character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist, and it adds to the overall interest and complexity of a narrative, often giving reason ...

, Sara eventually feels sympathy for and a connection to her father. She also begins developing a strange power that she may be inheriting from Mr. Gone. Julie and Dave return to the story after Julie is attacked by Iago and loses a few fingers. It turns out that Julie abandoned her son, Mark, to keep him safe from Iago. She tries to have Dave tell Mark that she is dead so he will stop seeking her out, but Mark does not believe him. Sara, Dave, Mark, Mr. Gone and Norbert band together to rescue Julie from Iago, who kidnaps her and takes her into Sara's outback. Norbert cuts Iago open, apparently defeating him, but Julie has already escaped. Mr. Gone soon reveals that time is unraveling for the group, which now includes Glorie, one of Mr. Gone's past victims who now has a friendly relationship with him. Gone returns Dave's Maxx power to him. Sara returns as a being whom different people perceive as a giant Isz, pink fairy, or football. Mark has an odd dream about eccentric kidnappers. Each member of the group begins to disappear from reality to be reborn in another. Before Mr. Gone can disappear, the three agents who previously tried to arrest him and now appear as humanoid beings with insect bug heads, return and kill him, as he expected. Mark is the last to disappear. In Julie's outback, Mr. Gone is reunited with Sara, who is now a child again. The Maxx considers attacking him, but the Jungle Queen says to leave him be, because even evil deserves a place to rest. In the new reality, Mr. Gone is a professor and Dave is a janitor at his school. Julie and Mark are still mother and son, but seem to live in better conditions. All the principal characters now lead completely distinct 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 a dying rabbit that lay in the road in front of her house (as seen in ''The Maxx'' #12). Julie later witnessed her mother bludgeoning the rabbit to death with a shovel to put it out of its misery. This

trauma Trauma most often refers to: * Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source * Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event *Traumatic i ...

tic 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 she takes pity on.

Isz

The main inhabitants of The Outback, the Isz are small, eyeless beings with egg-shaped bodies, arms and legs, about as large as housecats. The omnivorous white Isz of the Outback become

cannibalistic Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

black Isz when brought into the real world. They are stronger, faster, and have sharper teeth than white Isz. However, in one instance, a single White Isz was able to cross over into the real world unchanged when there was a small punctured hole in an alley wall that directly connected both realities. The Black Isz proceeded to torture their less aggressive kin after its initial mission had been completed, showing the completely opposite degrees of aggression the two types exhibit. The Black Isz can assume different appearances depending on the clothes they wear, and their intent. If an Isz is dressed as an elderly woman, it appears as such to anyone who does not know already that it is an Isz. In the latter part of the series, Sara's Isz appear as pink, flying, eyeless fairies that explode if not kept in water.

Collected editions

The original comic series was collected into five

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

: *''The Maxx'' Book 1: Issues #1–6, (September 2003) *''The Maxx'' Book 2: Issues #7–13, ''

'' #1 *''The Maxx'' Book 3: Issues #14–20 *''The Maxx'' Book 4: Issues #21–27 *''The Maxx'' Book 5: Issues #28–35 The spin-off series ''Friends of Maxx'' #1–3 (April 1996–March 1997) was collected as: *''The Maxx'' Book 6 (February 2006) The IDW reissues of the comics have also been collected into

hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...

collections: *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 1: Issues #1–4, (July 2014) *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 2: Issues #5–8, *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 3: Issues #9–12, *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 4: Issues #13–18, *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 5: Issues #19–24, *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 6: Issues #25–30, *''The Maxx'' Maxximized Volume 7: Issues #31–35, (December 2016) IDW collected the reissues into trade paperbacks: * ''The Maxx: Maxxed Out'' Volume 1: Issues #1–12, 978-1-63140-555-6 (March 2016) * ''The Maxx: Maxxed Out'' Volume 2: Issues #13–24, 978-1-63140-705-5 * ''The Maxx: Maxxed Out'' Volume 3: Issues #25–35, 978-1-63140-880-9 (May 2017)

Other issues

Besides an appearance of the Maxx in Comico ''Primer'' #5 (1983), other Maxx issues include an 8-page spread in the first and only issue of ''

'' (March 1993), an incomplete anthology series from

, as well as ''The Maxx'' #½ (June 1993) and a ''

Gen¹³ ''Gen¹³'' is a superhero team and comic book series originally written by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi and illustrated by J. Scott Campbell. It was published by WildStorm under the Image Comics banner, which went on to become an imprint for DC ...

/The Maxx''

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

(December 1995). Recently, IDW published another crossover series of five issues, ''Batman/The Maxx'' (October 2018–February 2019). * ''Batman/The Maxx: The Lost Year Compendium'': Issues #1–3 (Kindle Edition) (September 2020) * ''Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams'': Issues #1–5, (2021)

Cameos

The Maxx has made cameo appearances in the graphic novel ''

Popbot ''Popbot'' is the name of an award-winning prestige format comic book written and illustrated by Australian, Ashley Wood. In 2004 in comics, 2004 IDW, in association with Sideshow Toys, produced the extremely popular limited edition Popbot polyst ...

'' Book 2 (which Kieth co-wrote), issue #1 of the independent comic ''Armature'', the Sonic the Hedgehog comic ''Sonic Super Special ''#7 Sonic/Image Crossover, the four issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

''Altered Image'', ''

Bloodwulf Bloodwulf was an American superhero comics title and character created by Rob Liefeld. The character first appeared in the one-shot ''Darker Image'Darker Image'' #1 (1993) in March 1993, published by Image Comics. The character later appeared ...

'' #2, ''The

Savage Dragon The Savage Dragon is a fictional superhero created by Erik Larsen, published by Image Comics and taking place in the Image Universe. The comic features the adventures of a superheroic police officer named the Dragon. The character first appeared ...

'' #28 (collected in ''Savage Dragon Vol. 7: A Talk With God''), and '' Troll Halloween Special'' #1. He also briefly appears in the series ''

Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...

Image''. He appears on a TV screen on the Frostbite version of the cover to ''

DV8 ''DV8'' is a comic book published by Wildstorm. The series revolves around the lives of a group of Gen-Active people (Called DV8, or referred to as "The Deviants"), initially living in New York City under the supervision of Ivana Baiul, who se ...

#1''. Maxx stories have also appeared in '' Gay Comics'' #24 and

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

's ''Hero Comics 2014''. In 2018, Maxx made a long-awaited comeback with

in the ''Arkham Dreams'' series.

Television series

The comic book series was adapted into an animated series as part of the

program ''Oddities''. The show covered ''Darker Image'' #1, ''The Maxx'' #1/2, and issues #1–11 of the regular series and depicted the introduction of Julie, the original Maxx, Mr. Gone, and, later on in the series, Sarah. Therefore, the TV show did not go into the same depth (e.g. revealing the origins of all the characters) as the comic series. The animation frequently changes style: in one scene, characters may be rendered in detail, but in the next, they may be simplified

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s. Often, this is done to show a change in perspective. CGI and even live-action film are sometimes integrated or interspersed with the

hand-drawn animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation in cinema until computer animation. Pro ...

. Critics such as Richard Matthes have noted how much of the animation is based directly on panels from the comic.

Home media releases

In 1996, the complete series was released on VHS with a runtime of approximately 2 hours. In 2009, it became available to stream on MTV.com, though only to U.S. audiences. On December 17, 2009, ''The Maxx'' became available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

exclusively through Amazon's CreateSpace "Manufacture-on-Demand" program; it contains every episode of the TV show and also includes

audio commentary An audio commentary is an additional audio track, usually digital, consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with a video. Commentaries can be serious or entertaining in nature, and can add informatio ...

on each episode, plus interviews with creator Sam Kieth and director

Gregg Vanzo Gregg Vanzo is an American animator. He has worked on several shows, including ''The Simpsons'' and ''Futurama''. He is also the founder of Rough Draft Studios. Career in television Gregg Vanzo began his career as an animator on Bill Kroyer's ...

Voice actors

*Michael Haley as The Maxx * Glynnis Talken as Julie Winters and Glorie *Amy Danles as Sarah *Barry Stigler as Mr. Gone

Other media

Role-playing game

An adventure for the ''Heroes & Heroines''

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

was released using ''The Maxx'' characters and setting.

Soundtrack

An audio drama comic adaptation, ''MAXXimum Sound: A Comic Book Soundtrack'', was made from the first three issues of the comic book and released on audio cassette in 1993. It was created by Stephen Romano and managed by Smiles Lewis.

Video game

In 2008, Chris Vick made an

Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and th ...

(1993 console)

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

based on the Maxx for the ''JagCode II'' contest. Being the winner of the contest, it is available on the ''JagCode II'' website.

Film

On November 22, 2019,

Channing Tatum Channing Matthew Tatum (born April 26, 1980) is an American actor. Tatum made his film debut in the drama ''Coach Carter'' (2005), and had his breakthrough role in the 2006 dance film '' Step Up''. He gained wider attention for his leading rol ...

and

Roy Lee Roy Lee (born March 23, 1969) is an American film producer. Lee's production company, Vertigo Entertainment, has a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Early life Lee was born in 1969 at Wyckoff Heights Hospital, in Brooklyn, New York, to Korean p ...

announced their intent to produce a film based on ''The Maxx''.

References

External links

Sam Kieth's Blog

Official site
of ''The Maxx'' *

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on February 15, 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maxx, The 1990s American adult animated television series 1995 American television series debuts 1995 American television series endings American adult animated drama television series American adult animated fantasy television series American adult animated superhero television series Comics about women Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into television series Dark fantasy television series Feminist comics Fictional humanoids Image Comics superheroes MTV cartoons Television shows based on comics Television series based on Image Comics Television series by Rough Draft Studios