The Maxx

When I first opened The Maxx, I was shocked by the sombre tone being carried through it, expecting a weird, off-the-wall, raunchy comic thing (as it had been marketed to me as). I wasn't prepared for the genuinely substantive exploration of grief and mental health that was waiting for me. The Maxx delivers on this idea of escapism as a crutch for dealing with trauma causing dissolusion with reality, The Maxx is constantly bouncing between two realities, it dissorients him and makes him forget who he is and the show does an amazing job at making us feel that dissorientation too, they throw out questions on whether the outback is the true reality or the city and flash between them in a way that feels confounding at times and works so well. The revelations that crop up in this how and the dynamic between Maxx and Julie all slot together so pricely and perfectly over the 13 episodes that it's hard not to be moved by the places it ends up, no matter how grim some aspects of the journey may be along the way to get there. Absolutely sick, and I will also mention some great art, the only comic-style show I've really seen that looks as much like real comic panels as this.