The Maxx
The Maxx #1, illustrated by Sam Kieth. Cover from The Maxx #1. ...
Publisher	Image Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing
Publication date	March, 1993
Number of issues	35
Main character(s)	The Maxx Julie Winters
Creative team
Writer(s)	William Messner-Loebs Alan Moore
Creator(s)	Sam Kieth
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The Maxx is an American comic book and animated series written and illustrated by Sam Kieth (with writing assistance from William Messner-Loebs earlier on in the series and from Alan Moore in a later issue), and published by Image Comics. The first issue was published in March 1993. Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Sam Kieth is a writer and illustrator of comic books. ... William Messner-Loebs (known informally as Bill Loebs) is a Michigan comic book writer and artist. ... For other persons named Alan Moore, see Alan Moore (disambiguation). ... Image Comics is an American comic book publisher. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

The series follows the story of The Maxx, a homeless man who believes he is a superhero. The Maxx shifts between the real world and a dream world, which he refers to as The Outback; this alternate universe, which resembles a fantastic version of prehistoric Australia, is just as real to him as the real world. His only friend is Julie Winters, a "freelance social worker". Little does she know that she and The Maxx have a deeper connection, and it involves the dream world into which The Maxx is constantly drawn. The Maxx is a fictional character in the comic book of the same name by Sam Keith and William Messner-Loebs. ... A homeless man pushes a cart down the street. ... For other uses, see Superhero (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Dream (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Universe (disambiguation). ... Pangea may refer to: a common alternative spelling of the name Pangaea given to the supercontinent that is believed to have existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras Pangea, a geology equipment supplier/developer of mineralogical testing equipment Pangea (cable system), a submarine telecommunications cable system connecting the Netherlands and... A social worker is a person employed in the administration of charity, social service, welfare, and poverty agencies, advocacy, or religious outreach programs. ...

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. a priest wearing a cope The cope is a liturgical vestment, which may be of any liturgical colour, and is like a very long mantle or cloak, fastened at the breast by a clasp. ... See also: Unconscious mind. ...

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 to call 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. Mr. ... Serial killers are individuals who have a history of multiple slayings of victims who were usually unknown to them beforehand. ... Telepathy, from the Greek τῆλε, tele, remote; and πάθεια, patheia, to be effected by, describes the hypothetical transfer of information on thoughts or feelings between individuals by means other than the five classical senses. ...

Eventually, Mr. Gone makes Julie see the truth about her past, and reveals to her how The Maxx came to be. An ironic twist is revealed by Gone to a bit 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 to heal 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. On the Threshold of Eternity. ... The word counseling or counselling comes from the Middle English counseil, from Old French conseil, from Latin cōnsilium; akin to cōnsulere, to take counsel, consult. ...

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 origin story. Dave, who dons his Maxx costume once again, returns with Julie and her son, to confront Mr. Gone. In comic book terminology, the phrase origin story refers to a story or backstory revealing how a male character went through a sex change, or the circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains. ...

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. A totem is any entity which watches over or assists a group of people, such as a family, clan or tribe (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [1] and Websters New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition). ... Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event. ...

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: if one 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. In zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plants (rather than meat). ... This article deals with meat-eating animals. ... by Sophie Anderson For other uses, see Fairy (disambiguation). ...

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. Some readers view this as an appropriate allusion since the premise of The Maxx parallels that of Calvin & Hobbes; Julie can be read as a surrogate Calvin and Maxx her surrogate Hobbes. Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Watterson, following the humorous antics of Calvin, an imaginative six-year-old boy, and Hobbes, his energetic and sardonic – albeit stuffed – tiger. ...

Trade paperbacks and cameos

• 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. The cover of Sonic the Hedgehog #1, published by Archie Comics Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of comic books published by Archie Comics, featuring Segas mascot video game character Sonic. ... The limited series is a term referring to a comic book series with a set finite number of issues. ... The Savage Dragon is an American ongoing comic book series created by Erik Larsen and published by Image Comics. ... DV8 is a comic book published by Wildstorm. ...

TV series

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. An animated series or cartoon series is a television series produced by means of animation. ... Sam Kieth is a writer and illustrator of comic books. ... William Messner-Loebs (known informally as Bill Loebs) is a Michigan comic book writer and artist. ... Glynnis Talken Campbell (born in California) is a romance author, musician and voiceover artist. ... Barry Stigler (1948 - March 1, 2005) was an American voice actor. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ... April 8 is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... This article is about the original U.S. music television channel. ...

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.^[1] "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." Computer-generated imagery[1] (also known as CGI) is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media. ...

Voice actors

• Michael Haley - The Maxx
• Glynnis Talken - Julie, Gloriee
• Amy Danles - Sara[h]
• Barry Stigler - Mr. Gone

Glynnis Talken Campbell (born in California) is a romance author, musician and voiceover artist. ... Barry Stigler (1948 - March 1, 2005) was an American voice actor. ...

MTV Crossover

• In the TV series, Maxx is shown watching "The Great Cornholio", an episode of another MTV cartoon, Beavis and Butthead.

Beavis as The Great Cornholio. ... Beavis and Butt-head is an animated comedy show that aired on US TV station MTV from 1993 to 1997. ...

References

External links

• Sam Kieth's website
• The Maxx at the Internet Movie Database
• TV.com entry for The Maxx