FW Presents: Find Your Joy: The Maxx – The Animated Series

Permanent grouch Nathaniel Wayne actually finds something nice to say! It’s a holiday season miracle!

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11 responses to “FW Presents: Find Your Joy: The Maxx – The Animated Series

  1. First off, you should see your cardiologist about that enlarged heart. Growing three sizes in one day is not healthy.

    Second…nice episode. I remember the Maxx, both the comic and the toon. I liked both, but I never got deeply invested in either. Still I appreciated the rampant originality in the concept, and the execution of the animated series.

    I see IDW and DC are currently producing a Batman/Maxx crossover comic. Who knew?

    Chris

  2. Great episode!

    I had the first two or three issues of The Maxx. I loved Sam Keith’s style at the time, I loved the design of the titular character, especially his absurdly large and rocky feet. I loved how he made Julie look beautiful, as you described, despite her big hips and potbelly. But I couldn’t crack the story; it was too over my head.

    I had hoped the MTV animated series would help explain the story. I was already a devotee of MTV’s Oddities starting with THE HEAD. There were things about The Maxx show that I loved, like a lot of the animation flourishes you described: Mr. Gone’s cape flowing like water; the way the Maxx ran across the outback with these exaggerated steps. But my memory is feeling like the show didn’t do any better at explaining what was going on, and I might not have even watched the whole series. It’s probably something an adult Ryan would get more appreciation from.

    1. This is a story that (in any medium) requires a certain amount of comfort with ambiguity and interpretability. I do think there’s enough to grab hold of that it’s not just nonsense, but if answers are key to your enjoyment… yeah it might be a tough one to swallow.

  3. Good job, Nathaniel. Great stories. We don’t get MTV here, so I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a few seconds of the animated series. One day.

      1. Not me. Well, we did get Much once I was in college, but I grew up in a 90% French-speaking community so we got Musique Plus instead. I think it was better, because it had two worlds of music to choose from. It’s true that I glimpsed MTV my summers in Texas, but not in the era Nathaniel describes.

  4. I haven’t thought about The Maxx cartoon in ages! I was in college at the time, and the Campus Center’s TV room was the only place with cable at the time, but it was a challenge to catch Oddities consistently. But it was a joy when I could. YouTube has some episodes. I’ll have to rewatch what I can. Thanks, Nathaniel!

  5. I had completely forgotten this cartoon existed until this episode, even though my roommate and I watched every episode when it originally aired!

    I was never a big Image fan, but I remember being impressed by the show because it seemed like the most pure adaptation of a comic book I had ever seen in another medium. The mind reeled at the possibilities, that a creator-owned book could get this kind of platform.

    Great job with the show, Nathaniel!

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