The Specialists

Max Reaper is a former Army Ranger who has the rare ability to stop his heart for brief periods. In effect, he dies, temporarily. Virgil Cicerone is a wealthy industrialist whose new teleportation device works, except for one thing: it kills any living thing that is teleported. When Max’s special ability and the lethal teleporter meet, it’s like superheroic chocolate and peanut butter. Max can be teleported into locations that the police can’t get to, like the inside of a hijacked armored car. Once inside, his military training allows him to handle most situations.

The only problem is that he can only keep his heart stopped for three minutes before oxygen deprivation threatens to kill him for good. Also, if Max stays “dead” long enough, he starts to see some strange stuff. Bad guys start to resemble demons, and he can see what appears to be Cicerone’s dead daughter.

If 3 Minute Max has a cinematic feel, that’s no coincidence. Its creators, father/son team Bob and Max Forward, have been working in TV and film for years. Bob has written for a ton of cartoons and TV shows and Max is a storyboard artist. Their background in moving pictures is evident in every page of their comic. Bob’s writing is briskly paced and the action scenes are dynamic and exciting. Max’s art is beautiful and has a distinctive, painterly look. His rendering of fire and explosions make it clear that he’s spent some time around special effects.

3 Minute Max updates on Tuesdays. It’s a really fun read, from a really interesting creative team, so give it a look!