For detailed information about this series, see: Sam & Max Wiki
Sam & Max is a media franchise focusing on the fictional characters of Sam and Max, the Freelance Police. It was created as a comics series, but was also adapted into a series of videogames and a cartoon series.
Comics
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police - Special Edition, published in 1987, it includes the stories Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple, Night of the Gilded Heron-Shark and the Getting Along in the Joint activity page.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police in: Night of the Cringing Wildebeest, short story within issue 19 of Critters, published in December 1987.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police in: Fair Wind to Java, short story in the Munden's Bar series within issue 52 of Grimjack, published in November 1988.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police Special, published in 1989, it includes the stories On the Road (with related special pages, including the official board game) and Our Bewildering Universe.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police in: The Damned Don't Dance, a christmas special within issue 50 of Critters, published in December 1990.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police, published in 1992, it incledes the story Bad Day on the Moon and the Disguise'o'rama activity page.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police Special Color Collection, a full-color compilation of stories published in 1992, including five new stories and five reprints. These are: Beast From the Cereal Aisle, Terror on the Tanbark, Monkeys Violating the Heavenly Temple, Night of the Gilded Heron-Shark, Getting Along in the Joint, The Magic Of Clumsy, Amateurish Animation, Night of the Cringing Wildebeest, The Damned Don't Dance, Ponderings of the Ages, and Fair Wind to Java.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police, 13 comic strips published on LucasArts' promotional magazine The Adventurer from 1990 through 1996. Instead of a strip, issue 7 included a colored version of the board game from On the Road, relabeled into the official Sam & Max Hit the Road board game.
- The collected Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway, published in 1995, it includes all stories published up to that point, except Our Bewildering Universe, Terror on the Tanbark, and Ponderings of the Ages.
- Sam & Max: Freelance Police in: Belly of the Beast, a halloween special within issue 50 of Wizard Magazine, published in 1997.
- Sam & Max, three short comics published on issues of the Totally Fox Kids magazine, published between 1997 and 1998 to promote the TV show.
- Sam & Max Skeptical Investigators, a 1-page comic within issue 10 of Oni Double Feature, published in 1998.
- Sam & Max: The Big Sleep, a 12-page webcomic made available for free at Telltale's website between December 9, 2005 and April 18, 2007, to promote their game.
- Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway, 20th anniversary edition published in 2008 of The collected Sam & Max: Surfin' the Highway, it includes all stories published up to that point except The Big Sleep, and some extra contents.
Videogames
Four graphic adventure games have been released in the Sam & Max series:
- Sam & Max Hit the Road (November 1993), PC.
- Sam & Max Season One, later renamed Sam & Max Save the World, released for PC in 6 episodes, and as a full game for Wii and Xbox 360. The original releases of the episodes are:
- Culture Shock (October 17, 2006).
- Situation: Comedy (December 20, 2006).
- The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball (January 25, 2007).
- Abe Lincoln Must Die! (February 22, 2007).
- Reality 2.0 (March 29, 2007).
- Bright Side of the Moon (April 26, 2007).
- Sam & Max Season Two, later renamed Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, released for PC in 5 episodes, and as a full game for Wii, Xbox 360, PSN and iOS. The original releases of the episodes are:
- Ice Station Santa (November 8, 2007).
- Moai Better Blues (January 10, 2008).
- Night of the Raving Dead (February 12, 2008).
- Chariots of the Dogs (March 13, 2008).
- What's new, Beelzebub? (April 10, 2008).
- Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, released for iPad, PC and PSN in 5 episodes:
- The Penal Zone (April 15, 2010).
- The Tomb of Sammun-Mak (May 18, 2010).
- They Stole Max's Brain! (June 22, 2010).
- Beyond the Alley of the Dolls (July 20, 2010).
- The City That Dares Not Sleep (August 30, 2010).
Two more games were produced between Hit the Road and Season One, but cancelled before being published: Sam & Max Plunge Through Space and Sam & Max: Freelance Police.
Television
An animated show based on the comics, titled The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, was produced and aired between October 4, 1997 and April 25, 1998, for a total of 24 episodes. It's also known as Sam & Max: Freelance Police!!! or simply Sam & Max.
A flash short titled Sam & Max: Our Bewildering Universe was produced in 2001 and published on Telltale's site.
A series of shorts was produced to promote Sam & Max: Season One using the same engine from the game. A total of 15 shorts were produced and released on Telltale's official site between November 30, 2006 and April 19, 2007, in groups of three, with each group released between one episode and the next one.
A 20 minute adaptation of Ice Station Santa was then produced in the same style as the previous ones to promote Sam & Max Season Two and released on Telltale's official site in November 2007.
A flash short in the same style of Our Bewildering Universe, titled Sam & Max Secret Origins: Skun'kape was produced to promote Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, and published on Telltale's site in 2010.
Links to other series
| Direction | Series | Date | Description | Type
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critters (Fantagraphics Books) | December 1987 | Two Sam & Max stories were published in issues 19 and 50 of Critters. | 2
|
|
| Munden's Bar | November 1988 | Sam & Max: Freelance Police in: Fair Wind to Java was published as part of the Murden's Bar series. | 1
|
|
| Monkey Island | October 1990 | Sam and Max make appearances as an idol, as costumes and as shadows in the first three episodes of Monkey Island, and are referenced in Escape from Monkey Island; the Sam & Max: Freelance Police stories on issues 1 and 14 of The Adventurer are parodies of The Secret of Monkey Island, and there also is a reference to the game in Sam & Max Hit the Road. | 2
|
| Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe | April 1991 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 2 of The Adventurer is a parody of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe. | 3
|
|
| Indiana Jones | October 1991 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 3 of The Adventurer is a parody of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and there also are references to Indiana Jones movies in Sam & Max Hit the Road. | 3
|
|
| Rawhide | April 1991 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 5 of The Adventurer features a reference to Rawhide. | 2
|
|
| Full Throttle (LucasArts) | July 1994 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 7 of The Adventurer is a parody of Full Throttle. | 3
|
|
| Afterlife (LucasArts) | January 1995 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 11 of The Adventurer is a parody of Afterlife. | 3
|
|
| Outlaws (LucasArts) | January 1995 | The Sam & Max: Freelance Police story on issue 12 of The Adventurer is a parody of Outlaws. | 3
|
|
| Star Wars | September 30, 1997 | The game Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II features Max The Bunny, who can team up with the player. Before, both series have made various references to each other. | 1
|
|
| Bill & Ted | March 14, 2008 | The Sam & Max video games "Chariots of the Gods" and "What's New Beelzebub" feature references to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. | 2
|
|
| Team Fortress | April 15, 2010 | Team Fortress 2 features three promotional items based on Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse and unlocked by pre-purchasing the game. | 1
|
|
| Zero Wing | June 22, 2010 | The third episode of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, titled They Stole Max's Brain!, features a reference to the phrase "All your base are belong to us!" | 3
|
|
| Poker Night at the Inventory | November 22, 2010 | Poker Night at the Inventory features Max from Sam & Max as one of the main characters, while Poker Night 2 features Sam; other characters make cameos in the two games as well. | 1
|
|
| Borderlands | April 24, 2013 | Borderlands 2 features an unlockable mask of Max from Sam & Max. | 2
|
|
| Nostalgia Critic | June 16, 2015 | The Nostalgia Critic reviews "Sam & Max: Freelance Police". | 2 |
