During his thirty-year career as a writer, Max has developed a substantial readership.  A New York Times bestselling author, he has sold over ten million books.  He is also a writer of comics, which as a visual medium plays well into his desire to write screenplays.  He wrote the Dick Tracy syndicated strip from 1977 to 1993, as well as a number of comic book features, including Batman and his own Ms. Tree.

His most famous comics property is the graphic novel Road to Perdition, which is the basis of the DreamWorks film starring Tom Hanks, Paul Newman and Jude Law, directed by Sam Mendes.