Maxima (comics)

Maxima () is a character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. In her original incarnation, she was a morally ambiguous queen from the planet Almerac who is known for searching for mates among Earth's superhuman male population to be wedded as her king, and became obsessed with Superman for a time. She has also worked as a superheroine member of the Justice League. In her recent incarnations, she is reintroduced as a princess of Almerac and ally of Supergirl. Unlike her previous version, she is lesbian and struggles with following Almerac's traditions in continuing the royal line with finding a male mate.

Outside of comics, Maxima has appeared in the live-action series ''Smallville'' and ''Supergirl'', respectively portrayed by Charlotte Sullivan and Eve Torres Gracie.

Publication history

Maxima first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #645 (September 1989) and was created by writer Roger Stern and artist George Pérez.

Fictional character biography

Post-Crisis

The oldest child of the royal family of the planet Almerac, the fiery-tempered Maxima came to Earth in search of a suitable mate to sire her heir, leaving behind her betrothed Ultraa. Maxima's first appearance in Metropolis was a simulacrum of her brought to Earth by her servant Sazu, who attempted to convince Superman to be her mate. The simulacrum was destroyed and Sazu was imprisoned. The real Maxima then appeared to free Sazu and came face to face with Superman. She and Superman, she argued, were genetically compatible; she could "give him what no Earth woman could - children". She was infuriated when Superman rejected her offer, saying he had no desire to father despots.

Maxima later reluctantly worked with Brainiac after he destroys Almerac. However, she eventually rebels against him and joins the Justice League. When the League helped her save Almerac from Starbreaker, the planet's ruling council exiled her. As a Leaguer, she helped in the fight against Doomsday, and when that version of the League disbanded, she became a member of Captain Atom's Extreme Justice. She considered Atom as a potential mate, but he was not interested. During the period of her flirtation with Atom, a jilted Ultraa angrily attacked him. Maxima eventually stopped the brawl and sent Ultraa back to Almerac. She later had a brief fling with another teammate, Amazing-Man, which lasted until the team was dissolved. While part of the Extreme Justice team, she joined with other heroes on a trip to Hell itself, mistakenly believing that Superman was trapped there. During the battle, Maxima fell and was lost in one of the 'nine rings'. She was sent back to Earth when Neron, the current ruler of Hell, was subdued.

She offered herself sexually to Superman again, hoping that her recent good deeds would offset her earlier ruthlessness. Superman, now married to Lois Lane, was even less interested in her proposal than before. Angry and humiliated, she joined the Superman Revenge Squad. She swore that Superman had rejected, humbled and humiliated her for the last time, and threatened that the next time they meet, it would truly be war.

In "Our Worlds at War", Maxima works with various heroes to battle Imperiex before being killed by Brainiac 13.

''The New 52''

In 2011, ''The New 52'' rebooted the DC Universe. A younger, revamped Maxima is briefly introduced in ''Supergirl'' #36 as a member of the Crucible Academy, an intergalactic organization that trains its students to become their planets' protectors. She spends the next few issues bonding with Kara before eventually revealing in issue #40 that she is attracted to her. Maxima's homosexuality is the reason she left her home world and the demands of her culture to find an opposite-sex partner to produce children with. Additionally, "Maxima" is revealed to be a title rather than a name.

''DC Rebirth''

Superwoman

An older woman who resembles the more traditional pre-'' Flashpoint'' version of the character in both appearance and personality briefly appeared as a villain and usurped the title. This version was a former Almeracian soldier serving the true Maxima's mother who was disappointed with the younger Maxima's reluctance in finding a male mate on account of her homosexuality. Believing her unworthy of the Maxima title and her royal heritage, the usuper would kidnap the younger woman and attempt to take her place. The older impostor was eventually defeated and imprisoned by the combined might of Supergirl, Superwoman and the real Maxima.

Personality and motivations

Overall, the portrayal of Maxima varied by writer. In her appearances in the various ''Superman'' titles, Maxima was a haughty and shallow individual with only self-centered motivations. By contrast, in her appearances in the comic book series ''Extreme Justice'' and ''Steel'', Maxima was developed as an individual with a warrior's sense of honor and a strong countenance of noble pride that had its humorous moments in relation to other characters. This was evident during ''Extreme Justice'' #10 and #11, where Maxima hosted the bachelorette party for Captain Atom's fiancée, Plastique, wearing a stylish and elegant "red carpet" dress while everyone else wore jeans to the event that was held in the party room of a humble Tex-Mex restaurant. This occurred again in later issues of that series, where she is visibly uncomfortable from seeing newly joined members, Zan and Jayna, gorge themselves on junk food at a mall food court.

Powers and abilities

As a scion of the Blood Royale of Almerac, Maxima commands a vast array of immense psionic powers that come from selective breeding and years of gene therapy which she can utilize in a variety of ways. In her first face to face encounter with Superman''Action Comics'' #651 (March 1990) she displayed a high level of psionic powers, such as psychokinesis and seemingly hypnotic mind control. Maxima can use her psionic powers to give herself superhuman strength, enough to prove an effective opponent in hand-to-hand combat with a resurrected Superman or hold her own against the even stronger Doomsday. Maxima can increase her strength to an unlimited degree, pushing her past those in her tier. She also has enhanced stamina, as well as having such a degree of superhuman speed that she could easily move faster than the speed of light and proven herself to be able to keep up with speedsters such as the Flash. Through skillful application of her psionic powers, Maxima has been shown to emit powerful optical beams that can severely injure even Superman, take out Orion with one bolt, and she can create nearly impervious force fields. She is also capable of teleporting herself and others across vast distances, even from other worlds, which was demonstrated when she brought her adviser Sazu to Earth from a prison world. In the first battle with Doomsday in ''The Adventures of Superman'' #498, Maxima is the only one in that incarnation of the Justice League besides Superman who was able to hurt and withstand blows from Doomsday. Her various abilities make her a threat potentially for the entire Justice League.

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Maxima who married Superman following Lois Lane's death appears in '' Armageddon 2001''.''Adventures of Superman'' Annual #3 (October 1991)

In other media

Television

* A character based on Maxima named Neila appears in ''Superboy'', portrayed by Christine Moore. She possesses superhuman strength, speed, and durability, pyrokinesis, the ability to alter her hair, and teleportation.
* Maxima appears in the '' Superman: The Animated Series'' episode "Warrior Queen", voiced by Sharon Lawrence. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. This version sports a whimsical personality, limited metal manipulation, and a bracelet that allows her to teleport.
* Maxima appears in the ''Smallville'' episode "Instinct", portrayed by Charlotte Sullivan. This version possesses a toxic kiss and empathic powers.
* Maxima appears in the ''Supergirl'' episode "Myriad", portrayed by Eve Torres Gracie. This version attempted to make Superman her mate, but was thwarted and incarcerated by the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO).
* Maxima makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in the '' Kite Man: Hell Yeah!'' episode "Portal Potty, Hell Yeah!".

Film

Maxima makes a non-speaking appearance in '' DC Super Hero Girls: Intergalactic Games'' as a student of the Korugar Academy.

Video games

Maxima appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Miscellaneous

Maxima makes non-speaking appearances in '' DC Super Hero Girls'' as a student of the Korugar Academy.

See also

* List of Superman enemies

References

{{Justice League characters
Characters created by George Pérez
Characters created by Roger Stern
Comics characters introduced in 1989
DC Comics aliens
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters who can teleport
DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
DC Comics extraterrestrial supervillains
DC Comics female superheroes
DC Comics female supervillains
DC Comics LGBTQ superheroes
DC Comics LGBTQ supervillains
DC Comics psychics
DC Comics telekinetics
DC Comics telepaths
Fictional characters who can duplicate themselves
Fictional characters with energy-manipulation abilities
Fictional empaths
Fictional lesbians
Fictional queens
Superman characters
Fictional princesses