The Maxx, Book 3, Vol. 3 Book

The short of it: Layers are peeling back, and I'm really digging it.

A part of me wants to amend my review for The Maxx, Vol. 2, because I feel some of my criticisms were influenced by being new to the material. Know what I mean? For any multi-part series, I think a person's response to the first part is going to be different from every subsequent review, because they're being introduced to a whole new world.

Then again, I supposed that's why I said I'd be returning to The Maxx someday. Because it's a book that's worth multiple reads.

And problems that I had with the 2nd volume seem like attributes to the 3rd, which is making me reconsider my previous evaluation. Take, for example, the page layout. In my review of Vol. 2, I said that the layout was sometimes confusing, but here, in Vol. 3, that confusion takes on a labyrinthine quality. You can't tell what you're seeing because you're going down a rabbit hole, experiencing something new. Sure, it's still muddied at times, but I think I appreciate the visual style a whole lot more with a second book under my belt.

So, too, is the story becoming clearer: still surreal, but purposefully so. I don't want to give away too many details, in part because . . . I'm not sure what those details are. But when I started reading The Maxx, I could feel a mythos being built. And in the nascent stages of Vol. 2 (and presumably Vol. 1) things felt a little sloppy. Now we better understand why things are the way they are, or why they're perceived the way they're perceived, and it's becoming easier to just go along for the ride, not ask so many questions.

Vol. 3 jumps around from character to character, even moreso than Vol. 2. Julie, Sarah, Mr. Gone. We see characters on their own, thinking and feeling without interacting with one another. And it's deep. This really is a series about memory, about trauma, about hurt and triumph. Psychology. That, at least, is what I could grasp this time around. These characters FEEL. And so do we, right along side them.

There are still a few things to nitpick. A couple of missed words in the dialogue suggests some sub-par editing. And visually, there are some moments that are telegraphed before they're shown, and the reveal is less impactful.

Nevertheless. The Maxx is fun and funny and feeling. I like it a lot. And I wish I had more focused criticisms of it, but I don't.

It's definitely worth your time. Check it out.