George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road roared into theaters back in 2015 to the delight of Mad Max hardcore and casual fans alike. The fourth installment in Miller's tetralogy saw Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception) take on the titular role, with Charlize Theron joining the apocalyptic wasteland epic as Furiosa, a new hero for a brave new world. Theron was especially praised for badass performance as Furiosa, and the film scored a certified fresh 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The success of the film spawned two planned sequels, a Furiosa prequel, and a four-issue, prequel comic book series, published by DC's Vertigo. The series follows the stories of Nux, Immortan Joe, Furiosa, and, of course, Max Rockatansky. Both the film and its comic book counterparts had fair amounts of badass moments, and we have ten of the best from the great, yet short-lived comic series.
The Birth Of Nux
The first part features the story of Nux. Nux, an infant, travels to the Citadel with his mother and father, where they live at ground level, hardly surviving without adequate food and water. Nux's father takes a job at the top of the citadel, but his career choice is perilous, and he ends passing away due to the conditions. Poor Nux never learns about his father's demise, and his mother perishes soon after.
Nux, believing that his father still lives, tries to reach the top of the citadel by grabbing onto an elevator used to transport guards. The guards torment him and step on his hand, but little Nux hangs on. The War Boys, in their torment of him, start laughing, but one is impressed by his tenacity and pulls him up. Some time passes, and the War Boys, impressed by Nux's toughness, dub him "a hard nut to crack," which leads to him being named "Nux." The moment he becomes Nux is epic and wonderfully illustrated. It's a moment of rebirth and one that is wondrous to behold.
Immortan Joe Rises
Immortan Joe is another character who was loved by fans of Mad Max: Fury Road. In the second part of the prequel comic, we learn about the origins of the "almost-immortal" Colonel Joe Moore. Before his rise as ruler of the Citadel, Joe was, before the collapse of society, a war veteran. When the cogs of the world stopped turning, Joe forms a raider gang with soldiers who served under his command before mankind's demise. He, along with his number one, Major Kalashnikov, raided communities in the wasteland.
During one of their raids, they capture an overweight wasteland survivor who reveals the location of a natural fortress that sits atop a gargantuan aquifer, which, of course, is The Citadel. Joe at first approaches the defenders of the aquifer peacefully, but, when he and his squad are met with resistance, he launches an assault which results in a siege lasting several days. Joe hatches a plan which sees him and several men scaling the rock face. The plan backfires at first, and most of Joe's followers are slain, and the defenders start hanging the corpses of his men from the cliff walls.
Joe's remaining men ground side, believe Joe to be dead, and accept their fate and plan to leave the Citadel by dawn. Joe, however, emerges from the caverns atop the citadel, with a few remaining men, and his followers, stunned by this impossible victory, call him immortal, which later leads to him garnering the name, Immortan Joe. The moment Joe emerges from the cavern is undeniably badass as the "hero" emerges with two swords in hand, one serving as a pike with a slain defender's head at the tip of one.
A True Leader Gives Others The Strength To Stand Alone
A few pages on after Immortan Joe emerges victorious, we learn more about his rise as the leader of the Citadel. We learn how he rebuilds the Citadel, reclaims the oil refinery, repurposes a lead mine to craft bullets, and we're introduced to his three sons. It's clear that Immortan Joe, despite being tyrannical in his true nature, is revered as some sort of wasteland god.
In a frame narrated by The Wordburger, writers George Miller, Nico Lathouris, and Mark Sexton use the line "A True Leader Gives Others The Strength To Stand Alone." The lines, coupled with an outstanding illustration of Immortan, his generals, and his sons are comic-book epicness in its purest form.
A Storm Comes
As the Wordburger continues to tell the tale of Immortan Joe to his listeners, he glances out of a window as a monstrous, apocalyptic storm approaches. Wordburger says; "even now, change is brewing... a storm comes." Fans of Fury Road have seen this sort of storm before, but, seeing it in comic-book illustration glory is next-level. It's the perfect closing to the first issue of the comics.
Furiosa's Stops Angharad's Abortion
In what is quite possibly one of the more graphically disturbing scenes of the Furiosa issue, we see one of Immortan's wives being abused. Joe impregnates Angharad, and, later on, she attempts to abort the baby herself. However, her plan is foiled by Furiosa, who, during this time, was employed by Joe to "protect" the wives.
Furiosa hears her screams and stops her. Angharad's screams bring the other wives to the scene, where Furiosa scolds them for being ungrateful despite all the privileges they have. The frame is beautifully illustrated and perfectly captures the rage of Furiosa.
The Wives Make A Pact To Escape
Not long after Furiosa chastises the wives, they form a tight bond with the Imperator. One night while entertaining Immortan Joe with music, he decides to take Fragile's virginity. Upon hearing this, The Dag belittles Joe and commands him not to touch Fragile, as she is the only one who hasn't been tainted by him.
The Dag is later raped and impregnated, and, later, Joe presents the wives with chastity belts and limits their freedoms. He also removes Furiosa from her bodyguard position. However, the wives and Furiosa devise a plan to escape. It's Fragile's line before they hatch the plan with Furiosa that is truly badass: "Furiosa showed us to be strong, as women, we are not things"!
Aunty Giddy Reveals Her Rifle And Plans To Deal With Immortan Joe
As the wives and Furiosa are gearing up to leave the Citadel for greener pastures, Aunty Giddy makes the decision to stay behind as her physical condition is too frail for life in the wasteland. Furiosa beckons to her to make sure if that is what she wants, Giddy assures her that she won't utter a word to Joe about where they're headed.
She confirms her plan to buy them time by revealing a long-range rifle to Furiosa, delivering the line "I'm ready for what may come." Way to go, badass Aunty Giddy.
Our Babies Will Not Be Warlords
As Furiosa and the wives make their daring escape, poor Aunty Giddy is left to deal with Immortan Joe and his sons. As she's about to be at the behest of the men, she stands in the now-empty wives chamber, ready with a rifle in hand. It's the huge frame displaying the words "Our Babies Will Not Be Warlords" on the chamber floor, which makes this yet another badass moment from the wives and Aunty Giddy.
Max Defeats The Buzzard In The Arena
The third comic in the four-issue run is the first part about Max Rockatansky. Max makes his way to a gladiatorial arena at Gas Town, to compete and win a new V8 engine for his Interceptor. Gas Town plays host to "Thunderdome Plus," which is based on the original Thunderdome from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
Unlike the original, however, instead of a fight to the death between two gladiators, here, many combatants join in on the carnage. Max faces off against a Buzzard covered in sharp-bladed armor, but, with the help of someone in the audience, he is able to defeat the Buzzard using a flare to the eye. Badass enough for ya?
Max Starts His New V8 Interceptor
The second part of Max's issue sees him take on a job to rescue the daughter of the woman who helped him back at the Arena. He manages to rescue her with relative ease, and, in no time, he comes across his old interceptor with a brand-spanking-new V8 engine. The moment he starts the car, along with the "at last" thought bubble and the way the action is illustrated make this a truly badass moment in the purest of Mad Max carnage.