The Maxx (character)

The Maxx is a fictional character in the comic book of the same name by Sam Kieth and William Messner-Loebs.

Character overview

Like the series' other principal characters, the Maxx lives in two worlds: the real world, in which he is a homeless amnesiac in a purple superhero costume, a mask with teeth, and claws for middle fingers; and the Outback, an alternate dimension resembling prehistoric Australia, in which he rules all he surveys. There, he serves as protector to the Jungle Queen, an Amazonian beauty; in the real world, the Jungle Queen is in fact Julie Winters, his social worker and only friend, who is usually the one taking care of "him". He shifts between the two worlds uncontrollably, and often has trouble distinguishing one "reality" from another. He has no memory of his life before "becoming" the Maxx, and does not even know what own face looks like beneath his mask. To him, the mask acts as a living entity, crawling over his face and causing him great distress.

In the comic book

Backstory

The Maxx is introduced as the only one of Julie's clients that she truly cares about; even though she does not know his real name (she simply calls him "Maxx") and has never even seen his face beneath the mask, she lets him stay in her apartment and considers him a friend. She nevertheless thinks his tales of the Outback are the product of mental illness (in a subconscious attempt to ignore her own visions of the dimension) and has little patience for his attempts to "protect" her.

Main conflicts

In "The Maxx" #1, he finds himself the target of the Isz, small, white, cannibalistic creatures that are the main predators of Outback — in the real world. They turn out to be under the control of Mr. Gone, a serial killer and rapist who claims to know about the Outback and of Maxx's true identity. The two get into a brief scuffle, and the mysterious psychopath shoots and wounds Maxx, who passes out from loss of blood and escapes to the Outback. There, he learns that his beloved Jungle Queen has gone insane from some unspecified grief.

In issue #3, Maxx and Mr. Gone meet in the Outback — itself remarkable, as Julie had beheaded Gone in the previous issue after he kidnapped her. Gone claims to be able to help him understand the nature of the Outback, and tells him that Julie's trauma stems from having been raped as a college student.

Maxx also befriends Sarah, a depressed teenager who goes to Julie for counseling. He watches out for her and the other neighborhood kids, and tells her stories of his adventures in the Outback. He and Julie take Sarah to a movie, only to be attacked by Isz. Panicked and traumatized, Sarah pulls a gun and threatens to kill herself. Maxx and Julie persuade her to step back from the brink, however, and the three become close friends.

In issue #5, Maxx meets various manifestations of Julie's consciousness who tell him that he should not intrude on her most private thoughts and feelings. There, he removes his mask and looks at his real face; he sees only a field of seeds, which grow into jungle plants that resemble the Outback. He wakes up in the real world, confused and frightened.

In issue #8, Maxx brings Julie to his Outback, where they are nearly killed by the dimension's many dangerous beasts. Meanwhile, Maxx's Outback counterpart appears in the real world, where he does battle with an Isz and a shark monster, both sent by Gone to kill him. Julie, meanwhile, has a vision in which Maxx's real face is that of her spirit animal, a rabbit.

Julie leaves town to confront the personal demons she had repressed for years, throwing Maxx's life into even further disarray.

The seemingly immortal Gone repeatedly appears to Maxx in both worlds to torment him with riddling clues about the Outback and his past before meeting Julie; after Julie leaves, the madman dares Maxx to take off his mask and find his own Outback independent of Julie. In issue #19, Maxx and Sarah finally learn the truth; the Maxx's true identity was a homeless man named David Burlapen, and was forever linked to the Outback when he was hit by a car — with Julie behind the wheel. While fleeing the scene, she knocked over a lamp and tore open a path to the Outback. The purple lampshade came in contact with the Outback, and took on a life of its own. It covered Dave's entire body, erasing his memory and transforming him into the Maxx. The only witness was one Artemus Pender — who would later become Mr. Gone.

Throughout the next few issues, Maxx and Sarah become close friends and, in a way, lovers; while they do not actually have sex, they merge into one another's Outbacks. When Julie returns, pregnant, she and Maxx have a falling out, and he renounces his "Maxx" identity and costume and starts going by his real name.

Conclusion

In issue #26, set 10 years later, he reconnects with Sarah, Julie and her adolescent son when Mr. Gone reappears in their lives. Gone, who has regained his corporeal form and repented of his past crimes, claims to have discovered a dimensional wormhole that will erase the events of 10 years before and provide them all with a fresh start. Dave puts his costume back on, once again becoming the Maxx, and he and Julie say their goodbyes before entering the wormhole. In the resulting alternate reality, he is a janitor at a college, where he befriends one of the professors — the alternate Mr. Gone.

In the TV series

In the animated miniseries based upon the comic book, The Maxx was voiced by Michael Haley. The series follows the comic book very closely, portraying the events of issues #1-11. The series' final episode implies that Maxx goes to live in his Outback permanently after discovering his real identity.

External links

* [http://www.trueflint.com/Maxx/comicsumm.html The Maxx's cardboard box]