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
