There's a short list of characters that only remain in existence bc Sal remembers there: The Maxx, Sleepwalker, Tempus Fuginaut, Dan Didio. They feed on Sal's memories. 😂
I feel like we're missing a wizard in there somewhere... I could hear Sal now "BEHOOOOLD! You left out (insert Cape wearer), the master of (insert rudimentary power). 😂😂😂
I heard this story from a Gaiman interview. “Sam Keith really felt like he was a bad fit for Sandman. He was so unhappy he asked Gaiman to not use his name and credit him as “The Meat.” To which Gaiman said “No. I’m not calling you the “The Meat.”
Man, you guys (especially Ethan) rationalized the HELL out of this buck wild story. It's like reading an annotated version of a religious text. Third time watching this, commenting so that Al G. Rhythm may notice this masterpiece.
The original "The Maxx" Back Issues is one of my favorite episodes and this one did not disappoint! I really love Tiffs shift from hating being in this episode to genuinely being interested in what the book is about. Good stuff!
The whole realization Sal has at the end made me pop off saying 'HOLY FUCK! THAT'S DEPRESSING!'. Like, wow, a story that tries to be a peek into the future, just ended up not happening. That's... Wow....
But the title says Batman´s most unexpected crossover...so they are correct (except maybe the Elmer Fudd thing, which might be more bizarre but not more unexpected because both characters are owned by Warner Bros.)
Keith's done an arkham asylum book called madness, he is of course self loathing about it but I really enjoyed it. Great episode as always!! Love seeing more indie, surreal stories on the couch
I LOVE watching you folks interpret art. I know you don't get to do it often because of the nature of modern comic books, but every once in a while something like this comes along and immediately shoots toward the top of my list of favorite episodes.
Another great Sam Keith work was on Incredible Hulk during Peter David’s run. He filled in on art for grey Hulk vs Mr Hyde Two monsters embarrassed to have human sides for different reasons Great story
I remember trying to read this book with little knowledge of the Maxx and just completely losing my mind, Glad to hear some interpretations to help me digest what i read properly.
I love this episode holy shit! I have this weird nostalgia for something for something I've never experienced other than these back issues episodes and any other time sal has talked about the max! From how sam Kieth has been portrayed I know it may never happen and I totally understand why but I wish sal would do an interview with Sam ....With the loss of so many great artist and writers who paved my love for these superheroes these comics this art form and impacted my life in ways I would not even be aware of until my 30s just like Dennis O'Neal George Perez and so many more in just the last few years I'm so grateful for the Creator interviews...and having someone like sal who Is well informed and who can keep the conversation professional yet lighthearted and who I trust to do those interviews.....just thank you and more please...I know they don't do well but I believe we need them ....history needs them with sources like wizard gone and times changing I think those videos will be important insight to the greatest creative minds of today
I will always be thankful with you guys for introduce me to The Maxx and making me a fan of his stories. Also, my favorite character is Batman. So this was one of my most anticipated episodes of all time. Glad you guys covered it.
Holy crap I remember buying an issue of this after watching your guys' The Maxx episode, crazy how long ago that was and nice to see The Maxx talked about again!
Was waiting for this to be collected, sounds like a lot of surreal fun. I noticed Tiffany's T-shirt is her reaction so many times on this show when a book takes a turn, author throws in an odd twist, etc.
I was watching the first The Maxx video and saw that this one had come out!!! I loved the analysis you guys did throughout, and it was nice seeing Tiffany again!
If I shall throw my hat into the ring of unexpected Batman crossovers, check out Batman vs Bigby the big bad wolf of fables comic series and the wolf among us game fame. Not only do we get a happy Batman who loves fighting a giant wolf but also a Batman who has taken control of Gothams orphan producing factory and now has a army of robins led by Dick Grayson as Top Bird lol
This is my take on what happens in the book: So, the outback is already dying because max is getting older and his body is slowly decaying, and the whole book is based in some sort of coma dream and the green stuff is whatever illness put him in the coma. The whole book is in the max universe it’s just weird because it’s all in his coma dream and the only part when we actually see the real world is at the end in the hospital.
I remember seeing the cover of issue 1 when I was in highschool. I thought it was some weird mad magazine Batman comic done by the guy who drew tank girl. Watching both Maxx videos the story of Sam sounds genuinely sad to me because looking at the art it reminds me of a adult dr Seuss book with such wild imagination and creativity. Like people can learn to draw the basic Batman but it takes special talent to depict Batman in such a way and to draw the world of maxx. I really love the style and Sam should feel proud of his artistic talent above all else.
Mom's Red Eye apparently dates back to a Sam Keith miniseries called Ojo. It is a compelling image and I suspect some aspect of the miniseries creates the necessary link to why it's significant here. Cross-promoting his own material using viral marketing techniques. Chef's Kiss.
I've been thinking of the Head recently. I was very young when it was on, and recently I was like, "what the hell was that called!" I didn't care enough to google it, but enough that this made my day lol.
Maybe (in a literal sense insteard of the metatextual one) Maxx was suffering from cancer of some kind, and the poison meant to cure the outback was chemo therapy.
I love you guys. Sometimes i watch back issues when high, cause its relaaxing and fun and makes me laugh. But this episode...i just felt like i was hearing words. So many words! Most of them made up. Lot of them in sentences that make no sense.
Didn't you guys cover Maxx before? I don't know...."let's go back, let's go back"...to previous episodes of Back Issues!!! Also, the actual breakdown of the book in the end was great. Going into the whys and the....whys.
@@comicpop I'm 38 yrs...middle. As a boy, I befriended a teenager that dumped a crap ton of comics on me. Now, at this time, I was fortunate to have my parents occasionally buy me a comic here and there, my dad's favorite superhero is "The Mighty Tor" (that's how Hispanics pronounce it), and my mom is a superhero herself. When I was ready to dump those very same comics on to the next boy, he had the official Age of Apocalypse gold foiled covered...it must've covered so much. Now I know what you're thinking, "did this guy just make something up to promote this Age of Apocalypse book that's never referenced." Yes, and no TF I didn't 😅. In my eyes it would be an awesome two hour episode, referencing shit I'd imagine you guys have somewhat covered. In the back of my mind I could hear Ethan saying "a girls gotta dream".
Dude I just found out that Sam Keith lives in my area and frequents the main comic shop I go to. I was in there and started talking to one of the workers about how I love Sam kieths art and then he dropped that bomb on me. Apparently he also threw out a bunch of his original art on the maxx which makes me pretty sad
@@comicpop same! I keep a lookout every time I go there lol. I also forgot, but apparently his joker is modeled after the owner of the store. Once I saw that I couldn’t unsee it lol.
@@comicpop Ah! I've been discovered by ComicPop! I've been a fan since middle school and now I'm a college freshman. Greetings from a fellow New (South) Jerseyan.
Oh, hey, this dude drew that weird Batman Through the Looking Glass comic that I bought years ago. Always liked the art, but I completely forgot about it until I saw how he draws Batman's chest logo.
Ahhh... That's right! I just finally read the last two issues of this and wondered why I kept thinking something was missing -- now I realize it was because I was getting parts of the TrLG comic mixed up with it in my head!
Having never seen or even heard of the Maxx, this was super confusing. Still interesting and fun, but I was also watching while slightly dozing off after a long day at work and my sleep addled brain was coming up with some pretty weird stuff. Did I hear that Batman and Maxx fought a couch, or was that a dream? Anyway, crazy as this was, it was still good stuff as always, Sal!
as someone who doesn't understand what any of this is or means, this was absolutely hilarious even if it it did feel like what i imagine a drug trip is for my ears
I tend to wait for books to be done and read them that way but I did buy his one as it came out, when it did come out, and I loved it for what it was but was also entirely disappointed in it. I just love Keith's art and I dig his writing too but in just felt like he was going through the motions. Like he didn't care. So more than anything recent I truly had a love hate with this. So cool but so boring and disappointing simultaneously
Buy Batman/The Maxx: Arkham Dreams right here! amzn.to/3WPqp3Q
There's a short list of characters that only remain in existence bc Sal remembers there: The Maxx, Sleepwalker, Tempus Fuginaut, Dan Didio. They feed on Sal's memories. 😂
I feel like we're missing a wizard in there somewhere...
I could hear Sal now "BEHOOOOLD! You left out (insert Cape wearer), the master of (insert rudimentary power).
😂😂😂
Dan Didio 😂
They come in and out from the Limbo dimension
@@dn22pkkdd476Alan Moore transcends existence as we know it
I heard this story from a Gaiman interview.
“Sam Keith really felt like he was a bad fit for Sandman. He was so unhappy he asked Gaiman to not use his name and credit him as “The Meat.” To which Gaiman said “No. I’m not calling you the “The Meat.”
I love that thru all of this Sal is fighting off a straight jacket, Ethan is trying to science it all out and Tiffany is clawing for the exit
Haha exactly!
Tiffany was not having a good time.
These ridiculous crossovers always make some of my favorite episodes.
Glad you agree!
Thank you so much for covering this
Man, you guys (especially Ethan) rationalized the HELL out of this buck wild story. It's like reading an annotated version of a religious text.
Third time watching this, commenting so that Al G. Rhythm may notice this masterpiece.
Thank you!
The original "The Maxx" Back Issues is one of my favorite episodes and this one did not disappoint! I really love Tiffs shift from hating being in this episode to genuinely being interested in what the book is about. Good stuff!
Thanks a lot!
The whole realization Sal has at the end made me pop off saying 'HOLY FUCK! THAT'S DEPRESSING!'. Like, wow, a story that tries to be a peek into the future, just ended up not happening. That's... Wow....
Most unlikely crossover event of them all? But they are wrong, in a world where the Punisher meets Archie.
Until they do the Walking Dead and Sesame Street I can't find any crossover that can beat Punisher and Archie.
But the title says Batman´s most unexpected crossover...so they are correct (except maybe the Elmer Fudd thing, which might be more bizarre but not more unexpected because both characters are owned by Warner Bros.)
And Punisher met Eminem!!!
oh Marvel aren't they silky, quirky I'd dare to say
Archie also met a yautja
Picturing Sal as the Maxx in Tiffany's Outback makes my brain hurt slightly. 😂
Yeah, let's not go there.
Keith's done an arkham asylum book called madness, he is of course self loathing about it but I really enjoyed it. Great episode as always!! Love seeing more indie, surreal stories on the couch
I'm glad to know that Wumpus Woof is Julie's dog. Otherwise, the whole story would have made no sense.
No! It wasn't Julie's dog! Julie had a totally different dog!
@@comicpop My Brain: *dial-up sound*
I LOVE watching you folks interpret art. I know you don't get to do it often because of the nature of modern comic books, but every once in a while something like this comes along and immediately shoots toward the top of my list of favorite episodes.
Thanks! I really wanted to keep as much of that in the episode as possible.
I’d like to pitch a hypothetical thesis: Batman’s outback is Crime Alley when he relives the memory of his parents murder
There's an episode of Harley Quinn that's pretty much exactly what you're describing
Another great Sam Keith work was on Incredible Hulk during Peter David’s run. He filled in on art for grey Hulk vs Mr Hyde
Two monsters embarrassed to have human sides for different reasons
Great story
Love the episode and all the theories.
Kinda makes me wish it sold better so Kieth could do more.
Same.
I like how Sal applies this logic to the reading of this series: you picked up this book, so you knew what you were in for.
Fair point!
I never thought I'd see The Maxx return to Back Issues. 2023 on this channel rules!
We're trying!
I remember trying to read this book with little knowledge of the Maxx and just completely losing my mind, Glad to hear some interpretations to help me digest what i read properly.
Happy to help!
I love this episode holy shit! I have this weird nostalgia for something for something I've never experienced other than these back issues episodes and any other time sal has talked about the max! From how sam Kieth has been portrayed I know it may never happen and I totally understand why but I wish sal would do an interview with Sam ....With the loss of so many great artist and writers who paved my love for these superheroes these comics this art form and impacted my life in ways I would not even be aware of until my 30s just like Dennis O'Neal George Perez and so many more in just the last few years I'm so grateful for the Creator interviews...and having someone like sal who Is well informed and who can keep the conversation professional yet lighthearted and who I trust to do those interviews.....just thank you and more please...I know they don't do well but I believe we need them ....history needs them with sources like wizard gone and times changing I think those videos will be important insight to the greatest creative minds of today
I wish we could get Sam on the show. It would be a full circle kind of thing.
I will always be thankful with you guys for introduce me to The Maxx and making me a fan of his stories. Also, my favorite character is Batman. So this was one of my most anticipated episodes of all time. Glad you guys covered it.
Thank you!
This made me wish Gaiman and Kieth would reunite for a Sandman/MAXX crossover.
OH man!
😭😭 College is a scam, and I really needed this today. Love you guys so much thank you!!
Holy crap I remember buying an issue of this after watching your guys' The Maxx episode, crazy how long ago that was and nice to see The Maxx talked about again!
That moment when Sal Figures it out...
Oddly enough I have actually read this crossover when it originally came out because I remembered the back issues on the Maxx.
Nice!
I love crazy crossovers, and I respect this book just going full tilt, plus the artwork is just amazing, it’s a fun book.
Was waiting for this to be collected, sounds like a lot of surreal fun. I noticed Tiffany's T-shirt is her reaction so many times on this show when a book takes a turn, author throws in an odd twist, etc.
We posted a link in the comments! But you can get it pretty cheap now.
I was watching the first The Maxx video and saw that this one had come out!!! I loved the analysis you guys did throughout, and it was nice seeing Tiffany again!
I always thought the fact that Maxx speaks his inner dialogue out loud was super cool and interesting.
Made me laugh back in the day.
ComicPOP coming through once again, gotta love it!
Thanks!
If I shall throw my hat into the ring of unexpected Batman crossovers, check out Batman vs Bigby the big bad wolf of fables comic series and the wolf among us game fame. Not only do we get a happy Batman who loves fighting a giant wolf but also a Batman who has taken control of Gothams orphan producing factory and now has a army of robins led by Dick Grayson as Top Bird lol
Watched the maxx episode again like a month ago so this is perfect. THANKS COMIC POP
Whoa you guys really broke it down on an existential level that I was expecting for a Batman/Max crossover!
Thank you for doing more out there books like this
This is my take on what happens in the book:
So, the outback is already dying because max is getting older and his body is slowly decaying, and the whole book is based in some sort of coma dream and the green stuff is whatever illness put him in the coma. The whole book is in the max universe it’s just weird because it’s all in his coma dream and the only part when we actually see the real world is at the end in the hospital.
I can't believe Tiffany was somehow won over by the end of this episode (kind of).
Thanks again for the video!!!!
As soon as Tiffany said boots with the fur I started singing Low by Flo Rida lol
Batman/Maxx and Notorious B.I.G.: "It was all a dream" was not the connection I thought I would have at the start of this video.
This has become of my favorite episodes!
Damn, thanks!
You know, this doesn't even work as a promotional thing because The Maxx, Maxximized is out of print.
I remember seeing the cover of issue 1 when I was in highschool. I thought it was some weird mad magazine Batman comic done by the guy who drew tank girl. Watching both Maxx videos the story of Sam sounds genuinely sad to me because looking at the art it reminds me of a adult dr Seuss book with such wild imagination and creativity. Like people can learn to draw the basic Batman but it takes special talent to depict Batman in such a way and to draw the world of maxx. I really love the style and Sam should feel proud of his artistic talent above all else.
This took so long to come out, my comic shop shuttered in the interim
Ouch
This brought me back
But how much cooler would this book have been if in the outback Batman became the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh
Love it
This is the writing's of a crazy person
Love these episodes!!
Really glad, thank you!
What a bonkers book. The maxx show is visually really cool. Makes me want to read the rest.
It’s entirely thanks to this channel that I’m going to check out the first thirteen issues of The Maxx
Mom's Red Eye apparently dates back to a Sam Keith miniseries called Ojo. It is a compelling image and I suspect some aspect of the miniseries creates the necessary link to why it's significant here.
Cross-promoting his own material using viral marketing techniques. Chef's Kiss.
I was thinking that max had cancer, not just a normal sickness which is why releasing the poison helps.
This is a damn fine theory!
I remember me my brother watching the Maxx
Nice
It's a super iconic bat insignia. It's my personal favorite bat symbol.
Tiffany's shirt is perfect for this episode
OH yes
There was a Wolverine/Hulk book made by Sam Kieth in the early 2000s, and boy does Kieth like a certain type of story and tone.
I've been thinking of the Head recently. I was very young when it was on, and recently I was like, "what the hell was that called!" I didn't care enough to google it, but enough that this made my day lol.
Maybe (in a literal sense insteard of the metatextual one) Maxx was suffering from cancer of some kind, and the poison meant to cure the outback was chemo therapy.
I literally just searched for The Maxx and this came up!
Good!
Tiffany got me at the beginning, not gonna lie...
We have fun
I have never heard of The Maxx until this video
Hope you enjoy the journey
I love you guys. Sometimes i watch back issues when high, cause its relaaxing and fun and makes me laugh. But this episode...i just felt like i was hearing words. So many words! Most of them made up. Lot of them in sentences that make no sense.
This was a perfect episode for the Maxx
I think I remember you guys talking about this book in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
I think we cut out the part where we talk about that, but yeah!
They say this is the most unexpected crossover but they forget The Maxx met Sonic the hedgehog.
When?!
@@comicpop Sonic Super Special #7 at Archie comics saw Sonic and friends travel to the Image comics universe and meet Spawn, Savage Dragon, Maxx, etc.
@@TheBechtloff I'll check it out!
Mr peanut butter: what is this, a crossover episode?!🤣
Me : but of course 😜🥳
Sam's story has personal trauma in it. U can see it in his work . His old Batman night fall and wolverine are some of my favorite covers
Didn't you guys cover Maxx before? I don't know...."let's go back, let's go back"...to previous episodes of Back Issues!!!
Also, the actual breakdown of the book in the end was great. Going into the whys and the....whys.
Thanks!
@@comicpop I'm 38 yrs...middle.
As a boy, I befriended a teenager that dumped a crap ton of comics on me. Now, at this time, I was fortunate to have my parents occasionally buy me a comic here and there, my dad's favorite superhero is "The Mighty Tor" (that's how Hispanics pronounce it), and my mom is a superhero herself. When I was ready to dump those very same comics on to the next boy, he had the official Age of Apocalypse gold foiled covered...it must've covered so much. Now I know what you're thinking, "did this guy just make something up to promote this Age of Apocalypse book that's never referenced." Yes, and no TF I didn't 😅. In my eyes it would be an awesome two hour episode, referencing shit I'd imagine you guys have somewhat covered. In the back of my mind I could hear Ethan saying "a girls gotta dream".
Dude I just found out that Sam Keith lives in my area and frequents the main comic shop I go to. I was in there and started talking to one of the workers about how I love Sam kieths art and then he dropped that bomb on me. Apparently he also threw out a bunch of his original art on the maxx which makes me pretty sad
I wish we could talk to him! That's so insane!
@@comicpop same! I keep a lookout every time I go there lol. I also forgot, but apparently his joker is modeled after the owner of the store. Once I saw that I couldn’t unsee it lol.
See Tiffany shouldn't have said that at the end cos now I desperately want to watch a smoked out episode of Back Issues
I gotta say, I've seen this and the first episode where you guys go over the Maxx, and it's just a strange head trip trying to understand.
Hope you held in there!
I kind of remember the maxx. mostly from liquid television MTV waiting to watch Aeon Flux lol but now I want more thanks Comic Pop!
That show had a crazy reach despite being on at like 1 am
@@comicpop it is 1995. I am drinking jolt cola at 1am. The TV is on .5 percent volume so my parents don't wake up and make go to bed...
I enjoyed The Maxx cartoon for what it was. The Head was fun. This comic is nuts. Thanks guys 😊
Anytime!
NICE. VERY NICE.
Oh my god, The Head
*sigh "...that's a wumpuswoof..."
Tiff's shirt got a lot of mileage this ep.
@@comicpop Ah! I've been discovered by ComicPop! I've been a fan since middle school and now I'm a college freshman. Greetings from a fellow New (South) Jerseyan.
@@adambuckley2270 Thanks for watching, Adam!
Truly unexpected 🎉
Oh, hey, this dude drew that weird Batman Through the Looking Glass comic that I bought years ago. Always liked the art, but I completely forgot about it until I saw how he draws Batman's chest logo.
Ahhh... That's right! I just finally read the last two issues of this and wondered why I kept thinking something was missing -- now I realize it was because I was getting parts of the TrLG comic mixed up with it in my head!
Tiffany seems to have the right t-shirt for the episode
100%
Having never seen or even heard of the Maxx, this was super confusing. Still interesting and fun, but I was also watching while slightly dozing off after a long day at work and my sleep addled brain was coming up with some pretty weird stuff.
Did I hear that Batman and Maxx fought a couch, or was that a dream?
Anyway, crazy as this was, it was still good stuff as always, Sal!
I highly recommend the Back Issues episode they did on the original Maxx series!
Check out the MTV show!
A Spider-man crossover could have worked. Maxximum Carnage.
lol
HELL YES
😁😁found my way to this Kieth comic .. 😂 that art is great!!! And I love bats!!! I'll leave it at that..
So happy this is being covered! But what's that farting sound as Sal laughs at the 5:20 mark?
We have a squeaky couch
@@comicpop ok! I knew it wasn't what it sounded like but I never noticed before. Great stuff! Thanks for doing this!
@@DCPatrol It actually happens a few times in this episode. It doesn't normally happen so I figured we'd just leave it.
Gosh Batman knows everyone even the turtles!
Cowabunga!
Yes! I love The Maxx!
Could the Mother's Red Eye be a stop sign?
Awesome.👍🏻
I loved The Head.
Well now, that was certainly a book. It is weird that even though I could barely follow any of that I kind of want to pick it up now 😅
All alleys lead back to Gotham
Agreed.
14:07 or a Boom Box?
lol
I own this hardback, why don't I remember most of this
Gotta read it again!
as someone who doesn't understand what any of this is or means, this was absolutely hilarious even if it it did feel like what i imagine a drug trip is for my ears
Bats must be Alfred's spirit animal
Batman/The Maxx would also make a great animated movie
Sal the Jungle Queen!!
Bats Max should be the Zor-en-ar versión or batmite
For a second I thought it said Batman/The Matrix.
I tend to wait for books to be done and read them that way but I did buy his one as it came out, when it did come out, and I loved it for what it was but was also entirely disappointed in it. I just love Keith's art and I dig his writing too but in just felt like he was going through the motions. Like he didn't care. So more than anything recent I truly had a love hate with this. So cool but so boring and disappointing simultaneously