Smax
Encyclopedia
Smax is a fictional character from the comic book
series Top 10 written by Alan Moore
, illustrated by Gene Ha
, and published by the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics
/ Wildstorm
. A Top-10 spin-off mini-series also called Smax focused on the character and provided him with more of a backstory. In advertisements and interviews leading up to the release of the first issue, the series was referred to as Smax the Adventurer.
policeman who lives and works in a city populated entirely by super-powered beings. Smax originally hailed from a land based on fantasy myth and fairy tale legends, but had left after a horrifying failure during his career as a dragon slayer.
Smax is the muscle of Precinct 10, being both incredibly strong, and invulnerable to most forms of harm, including radiation. Smax is often fairly gruff and guarded amongst his peers, mostly due to the frequent loss of loved ones he has experienced in life (most notably his dear friend and late partner, Stochastic Fats). Though at first very hesitant to become friendly with his new partner, Robyn Slinger, he eventually begins to bond with her, even feeling a great need to protect her when she is attacked by Commissioner Ultima and buried under precinct station rubble. The pair are not romantically involved, however, as Smax has an intimate relationship with his twin sister, Rexa. This is not an unusual situation in Smax's home dimension, which has far different laws of physics and science. Rexa, eventually comes to live with Smax and the details of their unique relationship is only known to Robyn, who keeps it secret.
Smax is fairly resourceful in the line of duty, but he has a quick temper and is not intellectually inclined, often not thinking things through. Smax has experience using weaponry, including his Singing Sword, but he most often prefers using his fist, or his Strong Light energy (which emanates from his solar plexus).
and just as tall and physically impressive as her brother with the same blue skin and white hair.
It is revealed Jeff has been away from home for some time, having originally left his world fleeing personal and literal demons. Once a great dragon slayer, a job needed to pay the bills for his adopted dwarven family, Smax fails to stop an extremely powerful, shape-shifting dragon named Morning Bright from destroying a little girl. She was burned to ashes in front of him, forever leaving a white burnmark of a hand on his chest.
Further story developments reveal a sexual tension
between Smax and his sister. The two were born of an unwilling union between a monster and a human warrior woman with magical strength. Despite this, the pressure of twins kills her during childbirth. Her durability is passed on to her children. Their monstrous father would abuse them both and molest the sister, who would also find love and solace in her brother's arms. Smax would eventually kill his father so they could escape together. Though in their medieval homeworld their relationship wasn't particularly frowned upon, Smax developed conflicted feelings about the propriety of their love.
For various reasons, Smax, Rexa, Robyn and other diversity-mandated heroes venture out to destroy Morning Bright. Smax's heroic efforts cause the mark on his chest to be removed.
The series manages to touch on a number of dark topics, including alcoholism
, prostitution
, child murder and incest
(Jeff and Rexa). The cartoony drawing style and "fractured fairy tale" content drew comparisons to Bill Willingham's
ables (comic)|Fables] comic series, as well as Terry Pratchett
Discworld
novels. There are parodies of several franchises, such as Harry Potter
, The Matrix
and Pokémon
w: Alan Moore
p: Zander Cannon
i: Zander Cannon
c: Ben Dimagmaliw
w: Alan Moore
p: Zander Cannon
i: Andrew Currie c: Ben Dimagmaliw
w: Alan Moore
p: Zander Cannon
i: Andrew Currie c: Ben Dimagmaliw
w: Alan Moore
p: Zander Cannon
i: Andrew Currie c: Wildstorm FX
w: Alan Moore
p: Zander Cannon
i: Andrew Currie, Richard Friend c: Wildstorm FX
All of the issue titles are lines from the Syd Barrett
song "Octopus".
The series was collected into a hardcover edition (ISBN 1-4012-0325-6) in 2004 and in paperback (ISBN 1-4012-0290-X) on November 2, 2005.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series Top 10 written by Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
, illustrated by Gene Ha
Gene Ha
Gene Ha is an American comics artist and writer best known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Top 10: The Forty-Niners, with Alan Moore and Zander Cannon, for America's Best Comics, the Batman graphic novel Fortunate Son, with Gerard Jones, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, among...
, and published by the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
/ Wildstorm
Wildstorm
WildStorm Productions, or simply WildStorm, published American comic books. Originally an independent company established by Jim Lee and further expanded upon in subsequent years by other creators, WildStorm became a publishing imprint of DC Comics in 1999...
. A Top-10 spin-off mini-series also called Smax focused on the character and provided him with more of a backstory. In advertisements and interviews leading up to the release of the first issue, the series was referred to as Smax the Adventurer.
Character history
Jeff Smax (born Jaafs Macksun), is a gigantic, blue-skinned, white-haired, super-powered, demi-ogreOgre
An ogre is a large, cruel, monstrous, and hideous humanoid monster, featured in mythology, folklore, and fiction. Ogres are often depicted in fairy tales and folklore as feeding on human beings, and have appeared in many classic works of literature...
policeman who lives and works in a city populated entirely by super-powered beings. Smax originally hailed from a land based on fantasy myth and fairy tale legends, but had left after a horrifying failure during his career as a dragon slayer.
Smax is the muscle of Precinct 10, being both incredibly strong, and invulnerable to most forms of harm, including radiation. Smax is often fairly gruff and guarded amongst his peers, mostly due to the frequent loss of loved ones he has experienced in life (most notably his dear friend and late partner, Stochastic Fats). Though at first very hesitant to become friendly with his new partner, Robyn Slinger, he eventually begins to bond with her, even feeling a great need to protect her when she is attacked by Commissioner Ultima and buried under precinct station rubble. The pair are not romantically involved, however, as Smax has an intimate relationship with his twin sister, Rexa. This is not an unusual situation in Smax's home dimension, which has far different laws of physics and science. Rexa, eventually comes to live with Smax and the details of their unique relationship is only known to Robyn, who keeps it secret.
Smax is fairly resourceful in the line of duty, but he has a quick temper and is not intellectually inclined, often not thinking things through. Smax has experience using weaponry, including his Singing Sword, but he most often prefers using his fist, or his Strong Light energy (which emanates from his solar plexus).
Mini-series plot
The story deals with Smax and Toybox returning, via magical teleportation, to Jeff's magically enchanted homeworld. Smax, now a city dweller, seems embarrassed by his unsophisticated, sword-and-sorcery roots. They attend Smax's uncle's funeral where Jeff introduces Robyn as his wife, though no such relationship exists. At this point Jeff's sister Rexa Macksun is introduced, dressed in the typical garb of a female fantasy barbarian such as Red SonjaRed Sonja
Red Sonja, the She-Devil with a Sword, is a fictional character, a high fantasy sword and sorcery heroine created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith, and loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's 1934 short story "The Shadow of the Vulture"...
and just as tall and physically impressive as her brother with the same blue skin and white hair.
It is revealed Jeff has been away from home for some time, having originally left his world fleeing personal and literal demons. Once a great dragon slayer, a job needed to pay the bills for his adopted dwarven family, Smax fails to stop an extremely powerful, shape-shifting dragon named Morning Bright from destroying a little girl. She was burned to ashes in front of him, forever leaving a white burnmark of a hand on his chest.
Sexual tension
Sexual tension is a social phenomenon that occurs when two people interact and one or both feel sexual desire, but the consummation is postponed or never happens....
between Smax and his sister. The two were born of an unwilling union between a monster and a human warrior woman with magical strength. Despite this, the pressure of twins kills her during childbirth. Her durability is passed on to her children. Their monstrous father would abuse them both and molest the sister, who would also find love and solace in her brother's arms. Smax would eventually kill his father so they could escape together. Though in their medieval homeworld their relationship wasn't particularly frowned upon, Smax developed conflicted feelings about the propriety of their love.
For various reasons, Smax, Rexa, Robyn and other diversity-mandated heroes venture out to destroy Morning Bright. Smax's heroic efforts cause the mark on his chest to be removed.
The series manages to touch on a number of dark topics, including alcoholism
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, child murder and incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
(Jeff and Rexa). The cartoony drawing style and "fractured fairy tale" content drew comparisons to Bill Willingham's
Bill Willingham
Bill Willingham is an American writer and artist of comics.-Career:Willingham got his start in the late 1970s to early 1980s as a staff artist for TSR, Inc., where he illustrated a number of their role-playing game products...
ables (comic)|Fables] comic series, as well as Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
Discworld
Discworld
Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novels. There are parodies of several franchises, such as Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
, The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
and Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
Publishing history
w - writer(s) | p - penciller(s) | i - inker(s) | c - colorist(s)- Smax #1 - "Isn't it Good to be Lost in the Wood..." (20 August 2003)
w: Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
p: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
i: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
c: Ben Dimagmaliw
- Smax #2 - "...And Isn't it Bad, So Quiet There, in the Wood?" (17 September 2003)
w: Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
p: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
i: Andrew Currie c: Ben Dimagmaliw
- Smax #3 - "The Grasshopper Green Burying-Band" (15 October 2003)
w: Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
p: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
i: Andrew Currie c: Ben Dimagmaliw
- Smax #4 - "Trip, Trip, to a Dream Dragon..." (2 January 2004)
w: Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
p: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
i: Andrew Currie c: Wildstorm FX
- Smax #5 - "Please Leave Us Here, Close Our Eyes..." (24 March 2004)
w: Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
p: Zander Cannon
Zander Cannon
Alexander "Zander" Cannon is an American comics writer and artist, known for his work on books such as Top 10 and Smax.-Early life:Cannon was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1995 with a B.A...
i: Andrew Currie, Richard Friend c: Wildstorm FX
All of the issue titles are lines from the Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett
Syd Barrett , born Roger Keith Barrett, was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and painter, best remembered as a founding member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic...
song "Octopus".
The series was collected into a hardcover edition (ISBN 1-4012-0325-6) in 2004 and in paperback (ISBN 1-4012-0290-X) on November 2, 2005.