The Maxx: Maxximized #4 Review

By John McCubbin on Tuesday, February 11th, 2014

What is Sarah’s story? Read on to find out.

The official description from IDW:

Sara and Maxx retreat under an overpass and reflect on their own personal demons. The black Isz keep spilling into the real world as omens of Mr. Gone’s plans grow more evident. Meanwhile, Julie tries to help Sara sort out high school nightmares and encounters with bullies that send Sara to the breaking point. Digitally re-mastered and re-colored!

My first introduction to The Maxx came last issue, and I have to say I’ve quickly became a fan. The weird and wonderful world that was created by Sam Kieth and William Messner-Loebs is simply amazing, and now the fact that it’s now in colour makes it even better.

Sam Kieth and William Messner-Loebs change the tone of the series ever so slightly in this issue, telling the story through a girl named Sarah. Now this was both the best thing and the worst thing about this comic. Now you may find it strange that something can be both, but it can. The fantastic and emotional narration from Sarah is what makes this story so intense, but at the same time due to this we don’t get to see that much of the Maxx. The negativity is however massively outweighed by the brilliant tone that comes from this issue, with the story having a more unique twist to it.

Sam Kieth also did a fabulous job of the art, and it’s only outshined by the mind blowing script. Prior to this series I wasn’t a fan of Kieth’s art, but after reading this series that has totally changed. Kieth’s art couldn’t be any more suited for this weird and wacky series, with his gritty tone being simply perfect for Maxx. The quality of Kieth’s art does however have a lot to do with the fantastic layouts, as these smooth flowing pages can’t stop themselves from popping off the page. Added to this the brilliant ink word, and the new vibrant colours (from Rodna Pattison) and the Maxx is easily the best work I’ve ever seen from Kieth.

The Maxx just keeps growing on me, with this deep, emotional tale being simply astonishing. Highly recommended.

4.5/5

S#!T Talking Central

VeganMike

The Maxx is wonderful, and I’ve been in love with the series since the mid-90s. However, since you said it’s your favorite Kieth work, I’m going to recommend a miniseries from a few years ago called My Inner Bimbo. It’s just as weird as The Maxx, but it’s written by a somewhat more-mature Kieth who’s exploring issues that are more of adulthood than teenager-dom.

Again, The Maxx is one of my favorite series of all time, but it does have a flaw that becomes more and more present as the series goes on: Sam Kieth writes great character short stories (Maxx #4 is a great example of this), but seems to get bored with those characters after a time. Eventually The Maxx becomes something closer to a short story anthology about its characters rather than an ongoing series; it’s still wonderful, but I think it shows where Sam Kieth’s passion for writing really is. Because My Inner Bimbo is a 5-issue miniseries, it plays to its writer’s strengths, and has a great beginning, middle, and end. I think that any Maxx fan would like it.

Just a recommendation from one Sam Kieth fan to another 🙂