| “ | ...For that is to be my job... Since I am a once and future Queen. | „ |
| ~ Maxima to Dolphin. |
| “ | No, I just haven't spoken to my family in a long time. They're not supportive of my time at Crucible. Because Crucible sees my potential as a leader, as an individual who can change things for the better. The only potential my family sees in me is my ability to bear children. | „ |
| ~ Prime-Earth Maxima. |
Maxima is a fictional superhero from the DC Comics and its universe, mostly appearing in Superman titles. She is known for searching for mates among Earth's superpowered male population; as a result, Superman becomes her obsession. Morally ambiguous, she formerly serves as an adversary for Superman and currently is a superheroine working as a member of the Justice League.
She was created by writer Roger Stern and artist George Pérez, and first appeared in Action Comics # 645 in September of 1989.
Contents
Biography
Maxima is the oldest child of a unnamed royal family from the planet Almerac, and she was betrothed to Ultraa. Maxima later left Ultraa and came to Earth in search for a mate, and found that Earth's superhero, Superman, was genetically compatible. Maxima attempted to seduce Superman, but became enraged when he rejected her offer and fought him. After her defeat, she found herself reluctantly working with Brainiac, who had destroyed her home plant with the Warworld.
She eventually turned against him, and helped Earth's heroes defeat him, and later joined a reformed Justice League after the team saved Almerac from Starbreaker. During her time with the league, she helped them fight Doomsday, and she later joined Captain Atom's Extreme Justice after the league disbanded. Maxima considered both Captain Atom and Amazing Man has potential mates, but neither were interested in interloping. During this time, Ultraa became angry with her interest in Captin Atom, and attacked him. Maxima stopped the fight between the two, and sent Ultraa back to Almerac.
Maxima later offered herself to Superman again, but he once again showed no interest since he was now married to Lois Lane. Angry and humiliated, she joined the Superman Revenge Squad to get revenge against him, and threatened that the next time they would meet, it would be war.
The New 52
In The New 52, a younger, revamped Maxima is briefly introduced in Supergirl issue #36 as a distinguished member of the Crucible Academy, an intergalactic organization that trains some planets' finest specimens to become their planets' protectors.
She spends the next few issues bonding with Kara before eventually revealing in issue #40 that she is emotionally and sexually attracted to Kara; Maxima's homosexuality is the reason she left her homeworld and the demands of her culture to find a heterosexual partner to produce children with.
Personality
Maxima was typically depicted as a haughty and shallow individual with only self-centered motivations, lacking any real depth as a character. 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 fiance, 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 humbleTex-Mex restaurant.
This occurred again in later issues of that series, where she's visibly uncomfortable from seeing newly joined members, Zan and Jayna, gorge themselves on junk food at a mall food court.
Portrayals
Television
- In Superman: The Animated Series, she was voiced by Sharon Lawrence.
- In Smallville, she was portrayed by Charlotte Sullivan.
- In Supergirl, she was portrayed by Eve Torres Gracie.
Quotes
| “ | It's over Superman! It's every planet for itself! The first who takes Warworld wins... and devil take the losers! | „ |
| ~ Maxima (New Earth) |
Appearances
Comics
Maxima has 213 comic appearances, most notably:
- Adventures of Superman (1989-97, 6 appearances)
- Action Comics (1989-2001, 11 appearances)
- Justice League America (1992-96, 34 appearances)
- Superman (1992-2000, 6 appearances)
- Superman: The Man of Steel (1992-2001, 6 appearances)
- Justice League Task Force (1993-96, 6 appearances)
- Extreme Justice (1995-96, 17 appearances)
- Supergirl (2015, 5 appearances)
- Universo DC (2015, 5 appearances)
- Superwoman (2017-18, 5 appearances)
TV
- Smallville (2008, 1 appearance)
- Supergirl (2016, 1 appearance)
Animated
- Superman: The Animated Series (1997, 1 appearance)
Gallery
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Trivia
- She is similar to Marvel Comic's Enchantress, as both are in love/obsessed with a main superhero (Superman and Thor), and have done redeemable acts despite being villains.
- She is also similar to Anissa from Invincible comics:
- Both attempt to force a superhero to mate with them. However, Anissa succeeds by force.
- Both are redeemed villainess.
