Michael Hacker is an Austrian illustrator and cartoonist born in 1981, author of advertising works, gigposters for bands such as Mudhoney, Fu Manchu, Melvins, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr. and of self-published comic book. If Häcksler from 2010 is a stapled mini-comic collecting some funny gags about Tarzan, chickens and skulls, the new Steroid Max is a 48-page paperback including a self-contained story. Los Angeles, 1982: stunned by the vision of Conan The Barbarian, the young and uncool Max becomes a great fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger, so that when the movie-star disappears he tries to solve the mystery behind his kidnapping. The cartoony and expressive line of Hacker builds a wordless and funny story, a tribute to 1980s action films full of blood and sweat. Below the first pages of the book, available at the cartoonist’s webshop.
