MAXX MAXXIMIZED (2013)

"Sam Kieth has long been renowned for his stunning artistry and insightful and quirky stories. Now, IDW is proud to present a re-mastered edition (complete with new scans of all Maxx pages from the original art) with revised coloring, all overseen by Kieth. The Maxx tells the story of a homeless person who lives in a box and moves back and forth between our reality and 'The Outback,' a heroic fantasy realm. He is aided and accompanied by Julie Winters, a social worker in our world and a beautiful jungle princess in The Outback. "

"The second issue of Sam Kieth's classic MAXX series continues with all pages completely rescanned from Sam's original art, and new coloring that is overseen by the creator. For longtime fans, this completely remastered version of Kieth's quirky classic is truly a brand new look at an old and treasured friend. For those just new to the Maxx, Julie, and the Outback we envy your discovering it for the first time!"

"Maxx is confronted by Mr. Gone in the outback, and spills vital clues about how he became the Maxx. Meanwhile, outback Julie retreats to her rock lair and begins the slow process of healing. Completely remastered-each page has been painstakingly scanned from the original art by Sam Kieth, who is also overseeing the new coloring. This is The Maxx better than ever!"

"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! "

"After Laying on the couch and feeling sorry for himself, being spied upon by some isz Maxx plunges down the proverbial rabbit hole, and encounters the 'Crappon in the Hat,' tries to save a fish, spills some beans, discovers a little girl (who's a developmentally stunted version of the Jungle Queen), then struggles to make sense of it all and finding himself on Julie's couch again. "

"After laying on the couch and feeling sorry for himself, and being spied upon by some isz Maxx plunges down the proverbial rabbit hole and encounters the 'Crappon in the Hat,' tries to save a fish, spills some beans, discovers a little girl (who is somehow connected to the Jungle Queen), and then finds himself on Julie's couch, confused and afraid right back where he started! "

"Guest starring Dale Keown's THE PITT! While a doctor discovers a secret about an old Maxx acquaintance, Maxx and Julie take a trip to the Outback together.. where they discover, among other things-The Pitt! And while Maxx and Pitt defend themselves in the outback, they shift into miniature versions of themselves in Julie's apartment, fighting off a GIANT ISZ who threatens to devour them!"

"Maxx and Pitt continued: In the Outback, an oversized Julie gets aggressive with a tiny and annoying Mr. Gone-which brings her one step closer to revealing the possible source or her trauma. while Maxx and Pitt managed to use old VHS tapes to restrain the berzerk Isz. Meanwhile, Sarah confronts a Horse who speaks to her on the side of a building."

"Our good Doc finds himself surrounded by a room full of black isz, as Maxx seeks resolution battling various Outback creatures. Meanwhile, Julie seeks solace in that special place we all go to contemplate weighty issues-the bathroom. Niether seems any closer to finding the answers they seek (But Sara finally unwraps that mysterious box of clay that's been talking to her )!"

"Fairy Tale: As Julie is spring cleaning, Mr. Gone entertains us with a little child-like tale of Julie's traumatic up-bringing, and the little sickly rabbit that scrape, scrape, scrapes, which she keeps hidden under her bed. She learns lessons from her absentee father's denial, and her mother's unflinching willingness to face things that Julie (and Maxx) would rather avoid all together. "

"Julie grapples with how to tell Maxx she's contemplating leaving him while she tries to see things from Maxx's POV. Meanwhile, Gone tries, yet again, to reason with Maxx and force him to face the secrets of the Outback and why Maxx and Julie's relationship is based on things both would rather remain repressed all this while Julie packs up a U-haul. "

"Up on a roof-top, an alienated boy named Harry seeks out Mr. Gone to learn how he might gain power. Meanwhile, Maxx breaks into Gone's lair and is distraught by clues on a series of tapes Gone made for Sarah. Back on the roof, Gone's advice for Harry meets with disastrous results-for Mr. Gone. "

"Sarah reflects on her grandma and Gone's odd connection, while an old man in a nursing home escapes into the parking lot, chasing an imaginary space ship. The nursing home staff are convinced the old man has dementia, but there seems to be a connection between his imagination and the Outback. Meanwhile, Julie re-invents herself-discovering, among other things, casual sex and junk food without guilt!"

"Maxx finds himself plunged into a maze of quilts, lawn chairs and toy animals, leading to a large horse version of Maxx, (Not to be confused with Maxx's rabbit version). Maxx is pulled along into Sara's childhood, when a mysterious stranger discovers Sara and Maxx in bed together Meanwhile, Jasper gets his hand released from the Outback, but in a less than pleasant way. "

"Julie's back which should satisfy everyone, but only confuses matters further. Julie and Maxx fight, Sara retreats into her tapes, and a prisoner discovers himself trapped in a holding cell with a suspicious little cellmate. "

"Newly colorized! Sarah finally learns everything from her dad's tapes, but she might not last long enough to share this newfound knowledge since she's stuck in jail with a black Isz for a cellmate! Turns out she has one more lesson to learn: sometimes you have to be ugly to survive. "

"While Julie's stuck in the bathroom thanks to her morning sickness, Sarah and Maxx's minds become melded, and Maxx now knows what he must do. He journeys to Julie's Outback where-amid a sea of skulls-he finds the Leopard Queen. Together they travel to a distant volcano, and while staring into the flaring lava, Maxx's memories come flooding back to him. "

"Sara used her time in Jail to ponder weighty issues about her dad, Mr. Gone while we discover a being trapped alone in a cell with a blind, black Isz! "

"Julie rides the porcelain bus and has disturbing memories of Mr. Gone's colluding with her parents during her childhood-which helps her piece together the mystery of Maxx and The Outback!"

"As the Hooly bears down on Jungle Maxx and Julie in the inner world of the Outback, in the real world a greater trauma threatens Maxx as Julie grapples with whether or not to move out and leave Maxx... forever. "

"Maxx's story leaps ahead to a dustpan future, where the CIA zero in on an aged Mr. Gone, who's trying to fend off his impending doom by writing to his daughter Sara!"

"Future Sara is still adjusting to putting up with other people's crap-her roommate Steve, his girlfriend Syke, and even elderly Mr. Gone who's... well... gone fishing. To say nothing of the Giant Yellow Banana Slug who has surfaced once again."

"Sara's 'Horse' Maxx takes her on a journey through a childhood maze of blankets draped over lawn chairs and there she discovers Artie/Gone in a surreal hallucination. Meanwhile a thug named Pablo picks the wrong dumpster to squirt mustard into... as the threat of the Yellow Slug looms. "

"Sara finds herself out on a pier, literally and figuratively, and is swallowed up by exploding fairies and the relentless Yellow Slug, as the self-esteem tape-which plays in his head-does nothing to slow his destructive path of mayhem!"

"Sara and Horse-Maxx struggle to contain the exploding Pink Fairies they rescue from the lake. As they try to keep them on ice, literally, and hide them from Sara's roommate."

"The origin of Mister Gone. 'Nuff said. "

"Julia reveals the sacrifices she had to make to Maxx in order to convince Iago the Slug of her supposed demise. Meanwhile, Mr. Gone wraps up his origin story!"

"More Wonderland Variations as Little Sara leaps down the rabbit hole down and meets the Quilt Princesses, encounters various cheezy permutations of looking quasi-glass characters, culminating in a Psychic Grinning Cate."

"In the future, Sara's Horse-Maxx seems the only one capable of facing down Iago, the Giant-Yellow-Self-Help-Banana-Slug. Meanwhile, Gone hints at Maxx's own origin, and Julie finally discovers the mystery of Sara's disappearance. "

"Julie's search for Sara continues in the most unlikely of places. Meanwhile, a secret is revealed that will change Sara forever. "

"An unconscious Sara/Isz/Football/Fairy continues to befuddle Maxx, Julie, and Mark, so they throw her in the bathtub for safe keeping. Meanwhile, Magen explores her fascination with the taller older girl at School, which she secretly refers to as her Amazon Soccer Queen of Love!"

"As the Maxx-a-verse bubbles separate, Glorie breaks off from Mark and an alternate universe of her life, outside of Maxx's world, takes shape. "

"Things begin to spin out of control and things start to get weird-which is saying a lot for this book! And introducing Mickey, Dude, and a villainous man in a diaper named Uncle Freddie... and three oranges. Bullet points: ' 'It is one of the best things on the shelves today. Same as it ever was.' -Comic Bastards"

"The focus is on the Library Girl Megan, and her obsession with the Amazon Soccer Queen of Love. Building up to the amazing, stupendous, Maxxian climax!"

"THE GRAND FINALE! Loose ends are tied up (or as close as anything is 'tied up' or 'makes sense' in this book) as Julie, Maxx, Gone, and the rest of the Maxx crew all get swallowed up into an alternate universe of magic bubbles!"