Interesting that he calls the comic "Tim Timebuster." I would think that, if the first two years of it didn't have Tim at all, he wouldn't call it that. Could it be that Tim, and perhaps Doctor Cyber as well, were characters originally created for this comic? It might explain why Tim has the rather inaccurate-to-set red cap with a smiling yellow face on it in the comic, as well as Cyber's many inaccuracies to his minifigure form. It may also mean that the bizarrely styled faces of the Time Cruisers minifigures, with more realistic eyes and the presence of noses, were in fact an attempt to mimic the style of the comic.
But if this is the case, how does Max fit in? Maybe it is as TalonCard said, and he was developed by Advance or Futura. Then someone on the staff for Klick or World Club decided that he would be an interesting basis for a comic. Then Kim Hagen Jensen, who is put in charge of the comic, develops Tim and Cyber to serve as a foil to Max's nefarious doings. Someone at LEGO likes the comic and pitches it as a new theme, and in 1996 we get Time Cruisers. At that point (or perhaps a year later, when the Time Twisters become clear antagonists to Tim and Cyber), Max is dropped as he is not featured in any sets.
Perhaps a little far-fetched for a theory, but then some pretty far-fetched things happened with LEGO during the 90s.
Anyway, translations of the excerpts from the two other comics on Jensen's website:
City Center 1
City Center 2
Arctic 1
Arctic 2