Maximilian "Maxie" Zeus is a

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

, primarily as a minor enemy of

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

. He is depicted as a mentally ill former history professor who is obsessed with

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

and believes himself to be the god

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, becoming a crime lord in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city in the Northeastern United States that serves as the primary city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List ...

Publication history

Maxie Zeus first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #483 (April–May 1979) and was created by

Denny O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

and

Don Newton Don Newton (November 12, 1934 – August 19, 1984) was an American comics artist. During his career, he worked for a number of comic book publishers including Charlton Comics, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics. He is best known for his work on The Pha ...

Fictional character biography

Maxie Zeus is a former Greek history teacher who goes insane following the death of his wife. He becomes a criminal mastermind and battles Batman on several occasions before being committed to

Arkham Asylum Arkham Asylum () is a fictional psychiatric hospital appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in stories featuring Batman. It first appeared in ''Batman'' #258 (October 1974), written by Dennis O'Neil with art by Irv N ...

. Because Maxie appears to be less dangerous than other notorious Arkham inmates, Arkham's administrators do not commit him in the maximum security wing, despite repeated recommendations from Batman to do so. Batman's concern is vindicated when Maxie escapes to form a team of Greek mythology-based superhuman agents called the New Olympians. He attempts to kidnap Olympic athlete Lacinia Nitocris and force her to marry him before being defeated by Batman and the Outsiders. In '' Batman: Knightfall'', Zeus is among the villains who escape Arkham after

Bane Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gua ...

destroys Arkham Asylum. However, he is quickly stopped after colliding with a tree. Some time later, he is drawn into a plot engineered by the

Children of Ares The Children of Ares are several fictional characters appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as recurring adversaries of the superhero Wonder Woman. Primarily based on List of Greek deities, eponymous Greek mythological fi ...

to merge Gotham City with

Ares Ares (; , ''Árēs'' ) is the List of Greek deities, Greek god of war god, war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for ...

' throne capital, the Aeropagus, during which he is sacrificed to resurrect Ares. In '' Robin'', Maxie Zeus appears alive and becomes the head of the illegal casino "Maxie's" before Robin defeats him. In '' Batman: Cacophony'', Zeus works with the Joker and uses his funds to create a public school. After Batman rescues Zeus from the Joker, he temporarily restores his sanity using antipsychotics and convinces him to turn himself in to the police.

The New 52

The New 52 The New 52 was the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero American comic books, comic books. Following the conclusion of the "Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint" Fictional crossover, cros ...

story ''

Batman Eternal ''Batman Eternal'' is a year-long weekly limited series published by DC Comics, that began in April 2014. The series featured Batman, his allies, and Gotham City, with a writing team led by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins ...

'', Deacon Blackfire's ghost possesses Maxie Zeus in an attempt to resurrect himself. In '' Doomsday Clock'', Zeus appears as an inmate of Arkham Asylum.

Other versions

An alternate universe variant of Maxie Zeus appears in '' Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth''.

In other media

Television

* Maximilian "Maxie" Zeus appears in the '' Batman: The Animated Series'' episode "Fire from Olympus", voiced by

Steve Susskind Steven Robert Susskind (October 3, 1942 – January 21, 2005) was an American actor and singer who appeared in numerous small parts in sitcoms, such as ''Friends'', ''Seinfeld'', ''Frasier'', '' Married... with Children'', '' Scrubs'', and ...

. 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 is a shipping tycoon who began smuggling goods to support his faltering business. Due to stress and the threat of legal action, he suffers a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

, develops a

god complex A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. The person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning the person speaks of their personal opinions as t ...

, and believes that he is the Greek god

. As part of his delusions, he begins carrying an electrified thunderbolt-shaped metal rod and sees his girlfriend Clio as the deity

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre-playing. Etymology Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning ...

and Batman as

Hades Hades (; , , later ), in the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, is the god of the dead and the king of the Greek underworld, underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea ...

. * Maxie Zeus appears in '' The Batman'', voiced by

Phil LaMarr Phil LaMarr is an American actor and comedian. He was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV'', where he stayed for five seasons. His voice acting roles in animated series include the Sam B of ' ...

. This version is an eccentric multimillionaire obsessed with Greek mythology, history, and culture. Additionally, he detests being called "Maxie", preferring to be called "Maximilian". * Maxie Zeus appears in ''

Harley Quinn Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, PhD) is a fictional American character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for ''Batman: The Animated Series'' as a henchwoman for the ...

'', voiced by

Will Sasso William Sasso (born May 24, 1975) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and podcaster. After a starring role as Derek Wakaluk on the Global teen drama television series '' Madison'' (1994–1998), Sasso had his breakout as a regular cast member on the ...

. This version is a member of the

Legion of Doom The Legion of Doom is a group of supervillains who originated in '' Challenge of the Superfriends'', an animated series from Hanna-Barbera based on DC Comics' Justice League. The Legion of Doom has since been incorporated into the main DC Univers ...

and a self-help guru for aspiring supervillains who can generate lightning from his hands. He later enters a relationship with Nora Fries before they break up.

Video games

* A recurring standard enemy in the

NES The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

version of '' Batman: The Video Game'' is identified as Maxie Zeus in the game's instruction manual. * Maxie Zeus appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Miscellaneous

* The ''Batman: The Animated Series'' incarnation of Maxie Zeus appears in ''

The Batman Adventures ''The Batman Adventures'' is a DC Comics comic book series featuring Batman, set in the universe of Batman: The Animated Series and its successors. Overview ''The Batman Adventures'' was created to tie-in with the '' Batman: The Animated Series' ...

'' #25. * ''The Batman'' incarnation of Maxie Zeus appears in ''

The Batman Strikes! ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' #45.

References

External links

Maxie Zeus
at DC Comics Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeus, Maxie DC Comics male supervillains Comics characters introduced in 1979 Characters created by Dennis O'Neil Fictional schoolteachers Fictional gangsters Fictional characters with mental disorders Fictional crime bosses