Mad Max: Fury Road is a limited comic book series created by George Miller, Nico Lathouris and Mark Sexton. Serving as a prequel to the 2015 film of the same name, in addition to bridging the events of the film with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, the series focuses on several characters from the film at various points in their lives before it.
The series consists of four issues. Beginning in May 2015, Vertigo published one issue per month, ending in August. A single-volume collection of all of the issues was published on 26 August. The reception of the series was mixed—some considered it unnecessary and poorly executed, and many harshly criticized the issue centred on Imperator Furiosa. However, the issue focused on Nux and Immortan Joe, and the two issues focused on Max Rockatansky were received more positively.
Plot
All of the prequel comics begin with an introduction by the “Wordburger”, an oral storyteller and historian. In each comic, the Wordburger is seen narrating the story of the respective protagonist to the residents of the Citadel, after it has been liberated from Immortan Joe's rule.
Nux and Immortan Joe
The first comic centres on the origins of Nux and Immortan Joe.
The first part of the comic focuses on the origins of Nux. Nux's parents travel to the Citadel where they live on the ground without basic necessities. To support his family, Nux's father takes up a job at the top of the Citadel but eventually dies due to the hazardous conditions. Nux's sick mother soon dies as well and believing his father to be still alive, he tries to reach the top by grabbing onto an elevator used by the guards. Nux desperately tries to hold on and the guards watching him start laughing. As he laughs back in a mocking response, the guards are stunned by his grit and one of them saves him from slipping by pulling him up to the platform. They call him "a hard nut to crack", which leads to him being named "Nux", and he eventually joins the War Boys when he grows up.
The second part focuses on the origins of Joe. After society started collapsing, war veteran Colonel Joe Moore formed a raider gang along with others who had served under him like Major Kalashnikov. During one of his raids, a fat man who is about to be executed reveals the location of a massive fortified aquifer in exchange for being spared. However, he warns that it is nearly impossible to enter without being granted access by those inside. Joe then tries to convince the defenders of the aquifer to allow him access by offering them several sex slaves. However, they refuse and he launches an assault. The resulting siege lasts many days, killing many of his followers and depleting their resources. He sends his scouts to search for more supplies, but they fail to find any; however, they report the discoveries of an abandoned oil refinery to the north, and a lead mine to the west.
Joe then draws up a plan to climb to the top of the aquifer by sending up a monitor lizard with his men tied to it by the rope. The lizard however keeps coming back down every time until one of his henchmen cuts off his own finger and attaches it to a rope, using it as a treat to motivate it to scale all the way to the top. The plan initially backfires, as most of them are killed. As the inhabitants of the aquifer begin executing the survivors and hanging their corpses from the walls, many of Joe's followers on the ground lose hope and prepare to leave. Joe however emerges with his few remaining followers, having killed all of the defenders. His stunned followers start calling him "Immortal", and he eventually acquires the name of "Immortan Joe".
The aquifer comes to be known as the Citadel and becomes the base for Joe's army. His men start operating the previously-discovered oil refinery and lead mine for supplies. The refinery is named as "Gas Town" and given to the fat man who told him of the aquifer and comes to be called the "People Eater". The mine is named "The Bullet Farm" and is given to Kalashnikov, who comes to be known as the "Bullet Farmer". Over time, Joe has three sons; Scabrous Scrotus, Rictus Erectus, and Corpus Colossus, all of whom were either mentally handicapped or deformed, paving the way for his plan to father healthy sons as heirs by using various women as his wives who would be isolated from the harsh elements of the wasteland, thus increasing the chances of them being born healthy.