MAX is an imprint of Marvel Comics for adult audiences, launched in 2001 after Marvel broke with the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system. MAX titles are unique among Marvel's current output in that they are free to feature explicit content.
The MAX imprint is not the first time Marvel has done comics intended for adult audience; the Epic Comics imprint in the 1980s and early 1990s often featured adult themes and stories. Some series in the Marvel Knights imprint, such as Elektra, are geared towards mature readers, complete with "mature/violent content" warnings. However MAX was the first concentrated effort by Marvel to exploit some of its lesser-known super-hero titles with nudity, sex, four-letter words and explicit violence and gore. Additionally, MAX featured the title Rawhide Kid, re-envisioning the title character as a stereotypical homosexual who existed mostly to field or deliver gay jokes.