Maxx...
In 1995, I had seen a handful of episodes of Maxx on MTV...
Maxx is strange and cerebral with a nice mix of CG and traditional animation. But, if you're looking for super-heroes in spandex, you're going to be disappointed. My favorite parts are the scenes in the Outback and, of course, the scenes with Mr. Gone. He's just so deliciously evil. Seeing Mr. Gone in action is one of my guilty pleasures. I used to have the VHS version. Eventually, when the DVD became available, I repurchased Maxx on DVD. I gave Maxx a 4 out of 5.
The Maxx is/was a surrealistic cartoon animated by the MTV network in 1995. The Maxx is based on a comic book series. It tells a story of a man who hides behind a purple mask and of a Generation-X chick social worker who helps him through tough times. At times they are followed by a murderer; their lives in the city correspond with different lives in a parallel universe called "The OutBack" and well, ah, if you haven't seen it you really need to. Much like the works of the Surrealists, it cannot be easily explained in words.
Episodes 1/2
We meet Maxx as he attempts to save a woman from thugs. The police arrive on the scene, and the thugs accuse Maxx of attacking them. So Maxx is carted off to jail, the thugs go free, and the woman becomes the prey of Mr. Gone -- occultist and serial rapist/killer. We meet Julie Winters, freelance social worker, as she bails Maxx out from jail. As the episode progresses, elements of Maxx's fantasy world, "The Outback" are introduced. A teenage girl, Glorie, also falls prey to Mr. Gone, leaving her boyfriend to pick up the pieces. The second episode ends with Maxx confronting Mr. Gone at a gas station.
Episodes 3/4
Julie is abducted by Dark Isz, creatures which are the inhuman servants of Mr. Gone. Another friend of Glorie pulls up to the gas station, and is caught up in the tussle between The Maxx and Mr. Gone. Maxx is shot by Mr. Gone, but is only wounded. The Dark Isz have taken Julie to Mr. Gone's lair, where she is tied up and held prisoner. Julie escapes her restraints with a jagged Dark Isz tooth, then decapitates Mr. Gone with the same tooth. The Maxx has another confrontation with Mr. Gone, this time in the Outback otherworld. In the midst of the battle, Maxx learns that he is actually in Julie's dreamscape, not in his own.
Episodes 5/6
We are introduced to Sarah, a 16-year-old aspiring writer. She lost her father when he killed himself after a murder spree at his work. Her mother has retreated into a '60s fantasy world. And she herself is a self-absorbed loner, scorned by her peer group. Sarah is also in therapy with Julie, and Julie and Sarah's mom are friends. In a strange chain of events, Sarah finds herself in a car with Maxx and Julie, and she sees Maxx pummel two Dark Iszes into pulp. Sarah then pulls the gun which belonged to her father on Maxx and Julie -- and she stops before she repeats the actions which doomed her father.
Episodes 7/8
The Maxx goes from the Outback into a weird cartoon land in a hilarious parody of Saturday morning cartoons and Dr. Seuss nursery rhymes. What's the matter with me? I'm off-model and flat-er! I've been outlined and blue-lined, yes, that is the matter! Episode 7 ends with Maxx meeting Julie as a child in the Outback. Episode 8 opens with Julie and Sarah's mom on vacation, and finishes with Maxx fighting Hammerhead, a super villain/hit man hired to kill Maxx by Mr. Gone.
Episodes 9/10
A coroner is doing an autopsy, and finds that the man he was to autopsy actually is a Dark Isz. Maxx and Julie are in the Outback together, and Sarah is visited by Mr. Gone in the form of a block of clay. All of the sudden, Maxx is tiny, and chasing after a huge Dark Isz in the "vast expanse" of Julie's living room and kitchen. Conversely, everything in the Outback is getting smaller, including Mr. Gone. Sarah brings the block of clay to Julie's apartment, in exchange for Gone's instructions on how she can find her Spirit Animal.
Episodes 11/12/13
The events of the last 10 episodes are recapitulated, then the action begins. Mr. Gone has his head reattached by the coroner we met in Episode 9, Sarah learns the real identity of her father, and the final secrets of Julie's past are revealed. The series ends with Julie leaving the city, and The Maxx finally remembering who he was before donning the mask which turned him into a superhero.
Maxx is strange and cerebral with a nice mix of CG and traditional animation. But, if you're looking for super-heroes in spandex, you're going to be disappointed. My favorite parts are the scenes in the Outback and, of course, the scenes with Mr. Gone. He's just so deliciously evil. Seeing Mr. Gone in action is one of my guilty pleasures. I used to have the VHS version. Eventually, when the DVD became available, I repurchased Maxx on DVD. I gave Maxx a 4 out of 5.
