MAX (comics)

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The logo for MAX comics.

MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system. MAX titles are unique among Marvel's current output in that they are free to feature explicit content.

The imprint includes titles such as:

Current

The Punisher
Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allen Poe limited series

Finished

Alias
Apache Skies
Black Widow: Pale Little Spider
Blade
Cage
Doctor Spectrum
The Eternal
Fury
''Howard the Duck
''The Punisher
Rawhide Kid: Slap Leather
[[Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu]]
Supreme Power (Moved to the Marvel Knights imprint in 2006)
[[Supreme Power: Hyperion]]
[[Nighthawk (Supreme Power)#Supreme Power: Nighhawk|Supreme Power: Nighthawk]]
The Hood
Thor: Vikings
U.S. War Machine and ''U.S. War Machine 2.0'
X-Men: Phoenix - Legacy of Fire (see also this link for more info) (issues 2 and 3 of a 3 issue mini-series)''

The MAX imprint is not the first time Marvel has done comics intended for adult audience; the Epic Comics imprint in the 1980s and early 1990s often featured adult themes and stories. After Epic there was the short-lived New Frontier imprint, and the Strange Tales imprint, which was aborted as a mature readers line by Marvel's parent company (titles were Man-Thing, Werewolf By Night, and Satana, the latter was never completed after the decision was made to make the imprint Comics Code-approved. Next came Edge, another short-lived imprint. Some series in the Marvel Knights imprint, such as Elektra, are geared towards mature readers, complete with "mature/violent content" warnings. However MAX was the first concentrated effort by Marvel to exploit some of its lesser-known super-hero titles with nudity, sex, and explicit violence and gore. Additionally, MAX featured the title Rawhide Kid, re-envisioning the title character as a stereotypical fop who existed mostly to field or deliver gay jokes.

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