Max

Gilbert Hernandez introduced Max to readers in Love and Rockets: New Stories #7 in 2015, anchoring this Modern Age character firmly in the Fantagraphics tradition of literate, boundary-pushing alternative comics. Appearing across Blubber, Love and Rockets, and Love and Rockets: New Stories, Max inhabits the gloriously strange creative universe that has made the Hernandez brothers legendary, sharing pages with an intriguing cast that includes Pupusi, Fritz Baby, Mila Castellon, and Cristobol. With nine catalog appearances, Max is a compact but genuine piece of one of indie comics' most celebrated ongoing sagas — exactly the kind of character that rewards the devoted reader who digs deep into Beto's wildly imaginative body of work.