Maxwell Lord

MAXWELL LORD

Real Name: Maxwell Lord IV

Class: Extraterrestrial mutate

Occupation: Businessman, former JLI liaison, head of Innovative Concepts

Group Affiliation: Checkmate, formerly Justice League International, Super Buddies

Known Relatives: Claire (ex-wife), Maxwell Lord III (father)

Aliases: Black King

Base of Operations: Checkmate headquarters, Swiss Alps, formerly New York City, New York, Queens, New York

First Appearance: Justice League #1 (May, 1987)

Powers: Lord used a minor form of mind control that could push someone into doing or thinking something that Lord desired. Every time Lord used this ability he got a nosebleed. Lord was a ruthless and efficient businessman.

History: Lord was born into wealth and taught to succeed by any means necessary. Early in his business career he came under the control of a self-aware computer, which thereafter guided his decisions.

(DC Countdown #1 (fb, BTS)) - Maxwell Lord was worried that superhumans were controlling the destiny of humanity, and started making long-term plans to "save" mankind from superheroes. He intended to take control of the Justice League, and make sure they would be an ineffectual team.

Lord formed the Justice League, and eventually won them a U.N. sanction.

Lord gained his mind control powers after the Dominators detonated their genebomb on Earth.

Lord shook off the computer's control over him.

J.L.I. dissolved.

(Green Lantern III #81) - Coast City; Maxwell Lord was among the heroes who attended a memorial service for Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

(Gunfire #1) - Maxwell Lord attended the funeral of Gunther Van Horn, a former business partner, and told Dunther's son Andrew how much he respected his father. Andrew had no idea his father was a war profiteer.

(Formerly Known as the Justice League #1, 2) - Lord and L-Ron recruited Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire, Elongated Man, Sue Dibny, Mary Marvel and Captain Atom for Max's new non-profit superteam and set up shop in Queens.

(Formerly Known as the Justice League #3) - Lord showed his team the Super Buddies promo video. The team hated it, but before Lord had a chance to defend his work the Super Buddies were abducted by Roulette. Lord and Sue sat around trying to figure out exactly what happened.

(Formerly Known as the Justice League #5, 6) - Manga Khan tried to buy back his old assistant L-Ron from Lord. Lord refused, and Khan threatened total annihilation of Earth if he didn't get his way. Thanks to some masterful negotiation by Sue, Manga gave up any claim to L-Ron and promised to stay away from Earth in the future.

(Identity Crisis #1) - Maxwell Lord attended Sue Dibny’s funeral.

(DC Countdown #1) - In his quest to control superhumans Maxwell Lord became Black Knight of Checkmate and took over control of the organization. He clandestinely stole control of the Brother Mark I from Batman and transferred it's files on every superhuman on the planet, including the secret identities of such major players as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, into Checkmate's computer database. He started manipulating the finances of Kord Universal and Wayne Enterprises, and stole kryptonite from Kord. Blue Beetle uncovered Lord's activities and confronted him at Checkmate's Swiss Alps headquarters. Lord was proud of Beetle's detective work, and revealed that all his actions as leader of the Justice League were part of his plan to take away power from superhumans the world round. He offered Beetle a spot in Checkmate, and when Beetle refused Lord shot him in the head, killing him.

(OMAC Project #1) -

Comments: Created by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire

Maxwell Lord received profiles in Who's Who Update '88 #4 and Who’s Who in the DC Universe #2. Maxwell Lord received a profile in Who's Who in the DC Universe #7 under the Justice League America entry. He received a profile in JLA-Z #2 under the JLA (“The International” Era) entry.

Green Lantern III #101 had a flashback of Maxwell Lord's appearance in Green Lantern III #81. Lord had aflashback cameo in flashback cameo in Teen Titans III #30.

In Martian Manhunter II #24 Martian Manhunter told a story about Lord, the JLI and his addiction to choco cookies. This may have been part of Lord’s history, but more than likely it was just an anecdote Martian Manhunter found funny.

Maxwell Lord had a cameo in Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime #1.