Marvel's new line of Mature Readers 'Max' comics debuted with the first issue of Alias written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Michael Gaydos.  The comic carries a warning, 'Parental Advisory: Explicit Content,'on the front cover in large type.  Alias made it into stores as promised on September 6, in spite of the fact that American Color Graphics of Sylacauga, Alabama refused to print the comic, claiming it was obscene.  When informed of the Alabama company's refusal to print the title, Marvel was able to switch it to Quebecor and make the announced street date without any apparent problems.

 

Despite the liberal use of the 'F' word, Alias does not appear to be any more 'adult' than the typical Vertigo title.  What is different about the title, and what makes Marvel's MAX line distinct from what DC is doing with its Vertigo titles, is its use of characters from the Marvel Universe.  In Alias #1 Luke Cage, aka Powerman, has a cameo as well as a tryst (handled discreetly) with the comic's female protagonist, a failed superheroine turned detective -- and in the comic's final pages, a figure dressed like Captain America appears.

 

Like much of Brian Michael Bendis' work, Alias owes a major debt to hardboiled detective fiction. Its dark, brooding visual style is reminiscent of 1940s film noir, with Venetian blinds casting bars of shadows across darkened rooms as the action unfolds in a seedy urban environment.  The action is gritty and the language is Tarantinoesque, but it is as hard to see exactly why American Color Graphics refused to print this comic as it is to predict how successful and permanent this permutation of the Marvel Universe will turn out to be.
 
 
 
 
(Thanks to Capital City Comics for the copies of Alias.)