Justice League International
“Who is Maxwell Lord?”
Volume 1, Issue 12, April 1988
Released December 8, 1987
Cover Price: 75¢
Guide Price: $3.00 (as of 2011)
Writers: J. M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen
Penciller: Kevin Maguire
Inker: Al Gordon
Colorist: Gene D'Angelo
Letterer: John E. Workman
Editor: Andrew Helfer
Heroes: Black Canary II, Blue Beetle II, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Green Lantern IV, Martian Manhunter, Mister Miracle, Rocket Red 4
Villain: Kilg%re
Supporting: Metron
Setting: Unknown Mountains, DCU, 20th-century
Cover Description: Maxwell Lord is divided into two halves, the left side is human, the right is android. (No Booster Gold.)
Brief Synopsis: The JLI encounters Metron while Maxwell Lord deals with the computer that has run his life for years.
Booster Gold's role in this story:
Featured (Booster Gold plays a prominent role)
Costume Worn: MARK I power-suit
Issue Notes: This issue contains the origin of the enigmatic Maxwell Lord.
This story has been reprinted in:
Justice League International Book One: Born Again (2020)
Justice League International Omnibus (2017)
Justice League International Volume 2 (2009)
Page 2, panel 4
Booster Gold stands beside Captain Atom as Atom attacks Metron. This is Booster's first meeting with any New Gods besides Mister Miracle.
Page 5, panel 3
A majority of the events of Justice League America Annual #9, published in 1995, take place immediately after this panel, during the silence that Metron demands for "30 seconds."
Page 6, panel 2
First appearance in this title of Green Flame and Ice Maiden, two superheroines who were once members of the now-defunct Global Guardians who will soon join the Justice League. Green Flame, in particular, will become a good friend of Booster.
Page 12, panel 8
As Lord tells his origin story in flashback, he reveals that he had planned to befriend and kill his boss in order to take over his position in the company. This is fundamentally the plot of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth," in which the title character commits regicide in order to gain the crown of Scotland.
Page 15, panel 3
Lord reveals that he was working with Metron's sentient computer in order to save the world from itself. He expresses an interest to work towards "world peace" at any means, a conceit that will motivate him strongly in the future, especially in his post-Justice League days.
Page 15, panel 9
Lord admits that he chose Booster for the League in order to bolster the League's power. He will also reveal that he orchestrated the Royal Flush Gang's attack on the League in Justice League #4.
Page 22, panel 4
After Lord separates himself from the machinations of Metron's rogue device, the League decides to allow Manhunter to look into his mind and decide his fate with the League. Though it is never revealed exactly what Manhunter saw in Lord's head (the Martian Manhunter holds many secrets, it seems), it is clear that Lord has been granted a JLI signal device and presumably will be allowed to stay with the League despite his morally ambiguous past.
Boosterrific Review: At long last the secret of Maxwell Lord is revealed, and everything is explained. Sort of. Well, as good as we're ever going to get, anyway. (Justice League America Annual #9 will try to fill in some of the gaps, but it fails to improve on this issue in any appreciable way.) While the missing details in this story could be a bit distracting (murder?, bleeding?), it is a testament to months of solid characterization provided by Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis (with a huge assist by the fluency of Kevin Maguire's expressions) that the reader doesn't particularly care about the unresolved issues.
Boosterrific Rating: Worth Its Weight In Gold.
Average Fan Rating: (1 vote)
A fun issue as Maxwell Lord reveals his cards.
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