Customer Reviews

Smax

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In case you missed Top Ten (I'd recommend you go pick uop the Trade Paper Back) Smax was a blue skinned cop who had a habit of talking to his closet. In his own series we get to find out why.(along with the name confusion in Top Ten) Alan Moore and Zander Cannon(who finally gets some credit)

shine in this tale. Just as in Top Ten both Moore and Cannon let the in-jokes fly and have a romp through the magic kingdom.

What could I say about Alan Moore that hasn't been said yet? After a 12-issue run of Top Ten, Moore takes us to Smax's homeworld, a place where technology doesn't exist and there are dragons to be killed. Smax takes his partner, ToyBox, with him and we get to learn more than we could have hoped for about the previous life of Jeff Smax, or Jaafs Smackson, the dragonslayer. It is funny (there is a bureau that oversees all kinds of quests; quotas must be met, so Smax has to take with him some dwarfs, elves and sorcerers!), it is smart, it is Alan Moore! The art is cartoony, but it works.

I was never that much of a fan of the original Top Ten series. But I really enjoyed this fun and engaging spin off. In this series we follow Top Ten character Smax back to the "Sword and Sorcery" style parallel universe where he grew up. This book is fairly different from Top Ten - this is pretty much Alan Moore doing humorous fantasy in the style of Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" novels - although Moore can be a little bit more dark and nasty than Pratchett. Readers who haven't read Top Ten should be able to pick this one up and enjoy it, although they may be slightly confused the first five or ten pages. But after that this is completely its own story. And it's all very enjoyable.

Once again, Alan Moore for the win. Like The Forty-Niners, this is a spinoff of his excellent Top 10 series. Smax and Toy Box head to Smax's homeworld, a place brimming with all the hallmarks of a fairy tale world, as well as wink wink, nudge nudge fantasy humor. Essentially, it's a fairy tale in a fairy tale land filled with all the tropes of fairy tales, but with Moore's little twists. Entirely different than Top 10, but just as enjoyable.

Despite having a very childish, cartoonish look, just like Top 10 the art is bursting with references to everything under the sun, from Harry Potter to Winnie the Pooh to Bob The Angry Flower to Star Wars and lots more. Great fun (though don't let the look fool you; the story deals a bit with rape and incest, so this isn't for kids).

SMAX is a spinoff from Moore's wonderful Top 10 series. Moore is the only comic book writer who can make me laugh out loud and shudder in fear (and in the same book!) and SMAX certainly doesn't disappoint; it's a mostly light-hearted and hilarious story with moments of true horror. Moore's take on the dragon seems very fresh and interesting; Moore, as is typical, seems to know what he's talking about. It's also a nice exploration of people who leave their backward homes for the big city and what happens when they return.

The artwork is good and suits the generally light and "magical" story, although I prefer the more realistic artwork on the original Top 10.

Highly recommended!

One of the better stories from Alan Moore I read. Really liked it, it added a lot to the whole Top 10 saga. If you like top 10, this is a must read!

If you haven't read any Alan Moore, start! This book is a follow up to Top Ten Book 2. I won't include spoilers, and you don't need to have read Top Ten to appreciate this novel. Watch the panels closely - there are so many nods to pop culture that it would be hard to start a list! It's funny and sad and worth every penny.

A knight off to kill the Dragon, and sleep with his sister, or a knight off to sleep with his sister and kill the Dragon. The knight, however, is Officer Jeff Smax of the Neopolis police force. There are some secrets about his family and his past he does not want his co-workers to know about, and of course, his partner is pissed.

jeff (jaafs) smax was first introduced in top 10, which this is an offshoot of. i didn't really care too much for top 10, maybe i just don't like the setting. but smax is great. it's funny and the story is very good. i'd recommend this to all comics and alan moore fans.

I have to say I liked Smax, but it wasn't great. I mean it was funny, had nice atmosphere and setting and overall everything was decent, but... Well, the plot seemed a little thin for all the build up. There's this whole big secret problem Smax has and then, well they walk around for a couple pages find the dragon, Robin thinks up a gimmick, and there you go. And the fact that the whole Smax and sister thing is solved so quickly, well. I guess I expected more from the fact that this was a mini-series and all. I'd say it's about as good as one of the side-stories in Top Ten, but not as good as the main plot arc in those books.