User Reviews

This is easily one of the more outlandish and fantastical episodes, as the majority of it takes place in the twisted and alien realm of the Astral Plane, and it touches upon such far-out themes as astral projection and the occult, and I do love how the creators of this show tried out many different tones and ideas with which to expand upon the depth of it. And a weird episode has a truly bizarrely-realised villain in the form of Talon, an ancient demonic mouldering giant skull who uses a gigantic eagle to carry him around and do his dirty work..he looks like he belongs on a heavy metal album cover! And David Warner just makes the episode with his fantastic voice performance, giving a character that could possibly have come off as a little silly scary depth, pathos, and a real Shakespearean flair! Talon had impeccably written dialogue, and you really buy that this vile being has waited an eternity to feast upon the souls of the living. The only thing I didn't like was how the visage of Talon's skull moved as he snarled and grinned and whatnot. I know they needed an expressive villain, but skulls do not move that way! They altered the design of Talon quite a bit from what he was in the Horror Head play-set "Mighty Max Crushes Talon", in which he was originally known as Clawber, and was not a disembodied skull, but an undead skull-faced villain in purple robes wearing a crown which resembled a bird's claw gripping his head. The name was eventually changed to Talon to reflect the series. I want a Virgil doll! It's my most favourite out of all the weird and wonderful ways in which Max was summoned to conquer evil. It's really funny when it corrects Max about being "a plastic fowl doll actually!" Be quick to spot the reference to the Evil Dead movies when the gang leaps out of a portal that's right in front of the "Shop S-Mart"! I absolutely loved the comically impatient and stubborn character of the Gate Keeper, who looks like an all-knowing huge eye floating in space, and who is the guardian of the gateway that separates the Astral Plane from the physical world. I find it so hilarious the way he keeps bellowing out "Only one who beareth the Cap of the Mighty One, may open this gate!!!" And I love the scene where Max puts his big mouth to good use for once, and comes through for everyone when he manages to convince the being to let them through even though he doesn't have the Cap at that particular moment. Max says boner during that scene.. Ha! Oh my god, he actually says ~BONER!~ You'd never hear that in animated shows these days! Some of the new-agey themes might be a bit off-putting, especially the 'educational' segment at the end, which comes off as really silly and out of place. But on t'other hand, who knows? To me it certainly feels very strongly as if you're in some manner of other place when you're roaming the infinite inner-recesses of the subconscious innermind... I dearly treasure dreams and nightmares both, they're truly the only real spark of what could be called magic in a cold and terribly rational world. "Go forth, Cap Bearer."