Maxima (DC)

Maxima is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Maxima was a female inhabitant of the planet Almerac who lived in another galaxy. She was the product of generations of selective breeding by the House of Almerac and born to the imperial bloodline to be the ruler of her world. (Action Comics v1 #651) She came to be betrothed to Ultraa where they were paired as infants in order to breed when they came of age. This was until he was beaten in a tournament leading to Maxima spurning him with the pair having never consummated their relationship. After the beating, Ultraa came to leave Almerac in order to prove his worth to Maxima where he fought in conflicts all across the cosmos. Meanwhile, Maxima came to begin the search for a more suitable mate for her to help her sire her children. (Justice League Quarterly v1 #13)

Her world was preparing themselves for an inevitable war against the warlord Mongul when Maxima came to view a gladiatorial match on Warlord on the holo-cast. In that, she saw a warrior named Superman battle in the arena and Maxima was impressed at his prowess as she saw him defeat the reigning champion Draaga. She came to be even more intrigued at the Kryptonian when he defied the order of Mongul to kill Draaga and Maxima believing that he demonstrated some potential. At the time, the dissolution of Mongul's rule had demanded Maxima's attention and thus she could not investigate the Superman for herself. As such, she had a simulacrum created and dispatched on the task. (Action Comics v1 #651) Seeking to find the Superman, she had the simulacrum of herself being sent to Earth along with Sazu. Whilst in Metropolis, she was approached by some thugs who she killed for threatening her. She then used her powers to make a number of humans into her servants where she was shown various human fashion lines. Despite that, the Lady Maxima was looking to encounter the Superman and wanted information on him where one of her servants suggested going to the Daily Planet as no one knew a place the Man of Steel called his personal residence. She came to learn that Superman had a 'girlfriend' named Lois Lane who was a human reporter that worked at the newspaper. This led to Maxima wanting to encounter this female but upon seeing her she was not impressed and used her powers so that Lois Lane could not speak as she was left in a hypnotised state. However, she and the other people of the Daily Planet had no information on Superman's location with Maxima deciding to use other means to draw the Man of Steel out. Teleporting away, she used mentally controlled humans and outfitted them with advanced technology to take over city hall. This drew Superman's attention who disarmed the attackers where he confronted the mastermind that was Maxima who immediately used her mental powers to cause him to kneel. Seeing Superman, he came to impress her and she desired him to be her mate but Sazu believed to be unworthy of her. In fact, Sazu turned against Maxima and destroyed her simulacrum as she claimed that Maxima's bloodline must not be tainted by the unworthy joining the royal house. Before disappearing, the simulacrum touched Superman's mind and promised to return before dissipating. Angry at Sazu's actions, the Lady Maxima decided to punish her attendant whilst deciding to head to Earth in order to claim the Superman for herself. (Action Comics v1 #645)

She then took her flagship that headed for Earth where Sazu's betrayal led to Maxima making the journey alone. Arriving in orbit, she teleported to the surface with her arriving by Metropolis in order to track down Sazu to punish her for her betrayal. Finding her attendant at a detention centre, Maxima had her sent off-planet to suffer the punishment for her actions whilst the Almeraci royal went forth to find Superman. (Action Comics v1 #651)

Afterwards, Almerac came under attack from Braniac after he had taken over Warworld where their armies looked to oppose the invaders. Despite their strength, their armies were exterminated though Brainiac came to spare Maxima and forced her to serve him. (Action Comics v1 #674) Brainiac had her along with Draaga and Matrix as he took them in his plan to conquer Earth. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #9) During this time, the Coluan was responsible for kidnapping the New God Metron and bending him to his will. This saw his New Genesis compatriots Orion and Lightray attempting to free him but they were attacked by Brainiac's unwilling subjects. Maxima came to use her powers to defeat Orion whilst Brainiac prepared his assault on Earth. (Superman v2 #65)

Superman organized a summit of superheroes, including Maxima, to listen to an alien named Dusk. She had seen the Sun-Eater snuff out the sun of countless planets, and she was there to warn the heroes that the Sun-Eater was headed towards Earth. Maxima and a team of herons opened up a Boom Tube to transport the Sun-Eater to the Source, but it overloaded and failed because the Sun-Eater only partially existed in their dimension. (Final Night v1 #1)

Under orders from the Agenda Mini-Maxima and the Junior Injustice Society led coordinated attacks on Gotham, Metropolis and Happy Harbor. They were opposed by Young Justice, the Justice League and Justice Society of America. However, they were teleported to the Agenda’s Alaska headquarters when the heroes turned their attentions there. The heroes defeated the Junior Injustice Society and dismantled the Agenda’s Alaskan operation. In order to be reunited with his familiar Teekl, whom Young Justice had captive, Klarion returned Maxima and all the other de-aged superheroes and supervillains to their proper age. (Young Justice: Sins of Youth v1 #2)

Maxima and the Alien Alliance transported Superman and every last citizen of Metropolis by zeta-beams to the orbiting space ark. Superman fought the aliens until he met the Alliance leaders, who explained that this was an evacuation necessary because Metropolis would be a staging ground against Imperiex. Adam Strange transported Superman to the remains of Almerac, which had been destroyed by Imperiex, and told him Imperiex intended to destroy Earth in the same way. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #115)

The Justice League fought a group of Imperiex Probes in space, and although victorious the explosions caused by the defeated Probes severely injured the team. Maxima and Starfire brought them aboard the Alien Alliance's space ark for medical treatment. (JLA: Our Worlds at War v1 #1)

Darkseid and Maxima sent their holograms to Washington when President Luthor briefed them about the Imperiex War, and let them know that if Imperiex destroyed Earth he would complete his plan to set off a new Big Bang and recreate the universe. (Action Comics v1 #781)

The Alien Alliance broke apart when Imperiex died, and Maxima and Massacre led their own faction to take over Warworld. The disorganized effort almost led to Maxima's death, but Superman saved her. In gratitude she rammed her ship into Warworld to disable it, and keep it from overtaking Earth. Her effort was futile, Warworld responded by destroying the ship and killing Maxima. (Superman: The Man of Steel v1 #117)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Maxima

Her daughter came to take the mantle of Maxima where she was expected to do her part to repopulate the planet by choosing a mate and bearing children. Maxima was disgusted by it, and became estranged from her family. (Supergirl v6 #37)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Maxima was a beautiful woman with seemingly human features who had long red hair. She was said to be maybe around six-two in height with her being described as being a cross between a showgirl and a power-lifter. (Action Comics v1 #645)

She had stated that she took orders from no one and saw herself as the better of others with her being superior in every way. (Action Comics v1 #651) She was shown to have no compunction with killing someone who threatened her. (Action Comics v1 #645)

It was shown that she was a product of her society and her desire to have children was something taught to her by people. She had said that she cared little for love which as simply an opiate and that breeding was to ensure the future of the royal line on her world. (Justice League Quarterly v1 #13)

Upon learning of Superman, she became curious on seeing this figure and became impressed with him where she desired him to be her mate. (Action Comics v1 #645) She had her scientists examine Superman's genetic code from a sample that had been acquired where they noted that despite any differences the pair were compatible. Maxima attempted to tempt him by suggesting that their union would result in progeny and give the lost race of Krypton new life. According to her, she could give the Man of Steel something that no human woman could give which was children and offspring who could rule galaxies. However, Superman came to reject her advances as he claimed he did not want to father a race of despots that would be hot-blooded barbarians. This rejection made Maxima furious and she came to attack the Kryptonian with her wanting him to suffer a thousand torments for his actions. (Action Comics v1 #651)

Maxima claimed to belong to a hearty, star-spanning people with her family having spent millennia forging a rich empire throughout their galaxy. Their power was noted for being vast and that they had few rivals. Their early ancestors recognised that no single race embodied the many aspects of strength and power so the Almeraci began a cycle of continuous warfare. They chose their conquests carefully as they sought out worlds with rich genetic stock and assimilated only the strongest into their empire with the weak and removed from consideration. Meanwhile, the Imperial bloodline of the House of Almerac was the proud result of generations of selective breeding to produce superior specimens. (Action Comics v1 #651)

One of her attendants was Sazu who accompanied Maxima during her forays. Despite this, she said that her first duty was to the Royal House and she was capable of turning against her mistress if her actions weakened the bloodline. (Action Comics v1 #645)

Upon meeting Captain Atom, she came to sense a warrior spirit in the hero. She late came to develop an attraction to him where she noted that he was good with children and suggested that the pair procreate. At first, she cared little that he had children already and suggested instead that he become her concubine. When he refused, she came to react violently and even attacked him. (Justice League Quarterly v1 #13)

Powers and abilities

Being of the imperial bloodline, she was the product of generations of selective breeding. It was said that her powers were psionic in nature giving her a range of mental abilities. (Action Comics v1 #651) Maxima was shown to possess a degree of mental powers allowing her to brainwash people to serve, compel their bodies to follow her command and control their movements. (Action Comics v1 #645) She could communicate telepathically with others allowing her to speak directly into another person's mind. (Action Comics v1 #651)

It was said that she was both strong and fast with this matching the might of a fully-powered Kryptonian. (Action Comics v1 #651)

She was shown to have the capabilities to produce a simulacrum of herself that she was able to operate remotely. (Action Comics v1 #645) These were said to be near-perfect doubles who could be proxies that were said to be underpowered constructs. (Action Comics v1 #651)

Maxima was one of the few beings besides Superman capable of fighting the monster Doomsday. (Adventures of Superman v1 #498)

She was known to keep some attendants that aided her. (Action Comics v1 #645)

Notes

• Maxima was created by Roger Stern and George Pérez where she made her first appearance in Action Comics v1 #645 (September, 1989).

In other media

Television

• In Superman: The Animated Series, Maxima appeared in the setting of the animated television series in the episode "Warrior Queen" where she was voiced by actress Sharon Lawrence.
• In Smallville, Maxima appeared in the setting of the live-action television series in the season 8 episode "Instinct" where she was portrayed by actress Charlotte Sullivan.
• In Supergirl, Maxima appeared in the live-action television series set in the Arrowverse in the episode "Myriad" where she was portrayed by actress Eve Torres Gracie.

Appearances

• Action Comics v1: (1989)
• Superman: The Man of Steel v1:
• Justice League Quarterly v1:
• Extreme Justice v1:
• Superman v2:
• Supergirl:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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