mad max: fury road: nux & immortan joe Archives

This first of a four-part miniseries kicks off this week, expanding upon the world of Mad Max: Fury Road. Mad Max: Fury Road: Nux & Immortan Joe #1 features writing from Nico Lathouris and Mark Sexton, who collaborated with George Miller, and lifts the curtain a bit to show off the “origin” of two of the key characters in Fury Road, Nux and Immortan Joe.

Published by DC Comics’ imprint Vertigo, the first issue is pretty decent, even with the high expectations coming out of the movie it’s based off of. It’s funny because after seeing the film, the thing I really wanted to find out about. I expected we might see more in future movies, but then again, maybe not. So, lo and behold, my wishes have been granted as this kills two birds with one stone.

The issue is broken into two parts, with Nux’s story getting the shorter treatment, which is fine because his isn’t the more interesting of the two characters. I will say that Nux’s background is interesting though, and explains some of what we see on-screen.

Immortan Joe is the big thing. How’d he come to take over and rule these people? How’d he take control of the citadel? Who was he before the collapse of everything? We get all of those answers and more diving deep into his background. The story is actually pretty cool, and fits well into the world of Mad Max, a world I’ve always wanted to find out more about.

The art throughout is pretty cool with a look that I’d expect from Vertigo. The style fits the world as well with a slight dirty/scratchy look. It’s art we see in quite a few Vertigo series, almost their “house style.” There is also a lot of small detail in the panels that stood out for me, such as the boils and growths, something that’s prevalent in the new movie. The downside is the lack of motion in the comic, something that Sexton has going against him in translating the film to comic. The entire Mad Max series is very much about the movement, and the cars, and to bring that over into a static image is a bit difficult.

Overall, the first issue did exactly what I’d hope it’d do, give me more information about some of the characters from the film. None of it is shattering, and I’d actually recommend going to see the film before reading the comic, but as far as a “movie” comic, it’s an entertaining first issue.

Story: George Miller, Nico Lathouris, Mark Sexton Art: Mark Sexton, Leandro Fernandez, Riccardo Burchelli, Andrea Mutti
Story: 7 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Brett

Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Brett

Top Pick: A-Force #1 (Marvel) – An all-female Avengers team?! Hells yes! Sign me up. The team looks interesting and there’s promise of a new character being introduced who will play a big role. There’s lots of buzz for this book and I’m looking forward to it.

Max Max: Fury Road: Nux & Immortan Joe #1 (DC Comics/Vertigo) – If you saw the movie this weekend, you know why this is on the list.

Psycho Bonkers #1 (Aspen) – A fun car race comic featuring a teenage girl. This is something we need more of. It’s like Speed Racer for the Tween set.

Ultimate End #1 (Marvel) – And this is how a world ends…..

Valhalla Mad #1 (Image Comics) – Any new series from Image is on my radar. Three warrior gods vacationing on Earth by writer Joe Casey sounds awesome to me.

Edward

Top Pick: A-Force #1 (Marvel) – The all-female team for Marvel could be pretty fun if the characters aren’t just put there because of their gender.

Ei8ht #4 (Dark Horse) – More answers are due to be revealed in this tale of time travel.

Jem and the Holograms #3 (IDW Publishing) – This series has been a fun ride so far as the band starts to get more confidence.

Jungle Girl Seasons 3 #2 (Dynamite) – This is a modern version of the jungle genre which once ruled comics.

Satellite Sam #14 (Image Comics) – This world of debauchery and lies only gets more complicated after every issue.

Elana

Top Pick: A-Force #1 (Marvel) – This is the hottest ticket of the week — all of our favorite female heroes in a fascinating speculative world by ground-breaking writer, G. Willow Wilson.

A certain Harvard Professor might think this book looks like porn based on leading questions she asked her sons who are too young to know what porn is. But I know the difference. And even female characters with conventional comics bodies (oh well) can be written as full fledged characters that exist beyond just being subjects for an eroticized male gaze (yeah!). My money is on this being an outstanding book to love and share with your friends.

Convergence: New Teen Titans #2 (DC Comics) – “Why must I be a teengage superhero in looooove?” Only Dion and The Belmonts and Marv Wolfman know for sure. Last issue was everything I wanted: bronze age-worthy soap-y superhero romance, art with a classic feel and great “acting” via Nicola Scott and some things we didn’t know we wanted: namely the fact that apparently Cyborg and Beast-Boy are a couple? I’m still waiting on a fan who read the original series back in the day to tell me if this was a going theory back then. Anyway, this month’s should be all that and more.

Dirk Gently’s Wholistic Detective Agency #1 (IDW Publishing) – I grew up loving the Hitchhiker’s Guide books. They were laugh out loud funny beyond anything else I’ve read yet full of real human emotion, even the aliens. This series is based off of related Douglas Adams novels. I hope this will be in the same spirit.

Jem and the Holograms #3 (IDW Publishing) – A comic book that has charmed everyone. Please get this in to the hands of teen readers! It is totally accessible to folks who never watched the show. Yet it embraces the true spirit of the show- a light sci-fi action story featuring strongly written diverse women. Apparently the movie missed that entirely.

Loki Agent of Asgard #14 (Marvel) – Al Ewing is really on a roll in his titles. I can’t wait to see where this series lands. Great characterization, emotional stakes are high, creative story and I really can’t predict where this will go. Not sure what to make of the new look Loki reveal from last issue. Is he some sort of integrated personality between evil King Loki and the heroic trickster from recent issues? No idea.