"Variety"   April 7, 1995

MTV Oddities: THE MAXX

MTV hits all the right buttons with this stylish, fast-paced animated series, which combines snappy dialogue and rapid-fire witticisms, while tapping into the burgeoning popularity of other-world existences.

"MTV Oddities," which bowed in December with six segs of the toon "The Head," is an umbrella title for various offerings. "Maxx," based on the Image comic books by Sam Keith, offers six episodes detailing the daily doings of Maxx - a transient with incisive observations about human nature and some unexpectedly funny one-liners - and Julie, a freelance social worker who finds the good in even the most deviant of personalities.

The pair, while battling external and internal demons, also must battle a villain with the moniker Mr. Gone, who dispatches his diminutive, carnivorous henchmen - dubbed bloodworms - to do his dirty deeds.

The voices are perfectly cast, with Michael Haley giving Maxx a low-end growl that's the ideal foil to Glynnis Talken's peppy, yet cynical chatter as Julie.

Maxx's delusions - where he travels to the Outback and Julie is a jungle queen - add an unusual dimension to the offering and the switch (as well as the blurring) between real and imagined helps keeps seg interesting.

Though the show may seem a bit esoteric for the MTV crowd, scripters Keith and Bill Messner- Loebs have wisely incorporated enough elements including violence, cleavage and crude jokes to keep its core demographic tuned in.

The scribes and producers also will likely get the testosterone set interested, but the NOW folks angry, with its rendering of Julie as a bosomy, tank-top sporting, button-nosed do-gooder who uses her street-smart charms to handle even the most demented of down-and-outers.

Animation is top-notch, differing from web fare by more closely emulating comic book panels with split screens and shadows, and darker linear tones, all of which aid in fully communicating the gust and nuance of each scene.