Showing posts 11 - 14 of 14 matching: maxwell lord
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
This Day in History: Canceled Series Annuals
The Justice League International Annual isn't due for another two weeks. While it might seem odd to release an annual to a series that has already been canceled, it certainly won't be the first time that this has happened to a Justice League title. Sixteen years ago today, DC published Justice League America Annual #10 more than two months after the series had been canceled at issue #113. Then, as now, Booster Gold took center stage.
The theme of the DC annuals in 1996 was "Legends of the Dead Earth," a series of tales about how the heroes of the DC Universe would go on to inspire humanity years after their own deaths. While many of the stories in these annuals could be considered unlabeled Elseworlds tales of an alternate reality, the Justice League story was heavily linked to ongoing continuity.
The story focuses on Captain Atom during one of his many unintentional trips through the quantum field to a future where Maxwell Lord's villainous schemes were oppressing humanity. (Sound familiar, Justice League: Generation Lost readers?) Lord has created a new JLI-inspired team called the Alliance that spend most of their time violently putting down "Trogs" bold enough to oppose Lord's tyranny. Whatever his original motivation, it becomes clear that Maxwell Lord has become corrupted inside former JLI-foe Lord Havok's robotic body (expanding on a plotline last seen in Justice League America #100).
The other original member of the JLI on the team is Michael Jon Carter. Refusing to be called Booster Gold, Michael acts as the team's field leader. Michael's position as Lord's right-hand man is fitting given that Lord had once hand-picked Booster to join his new JLI (as seen in Booster Gold #16). Michael is still something of a time traveler, having survived the intervening centuries by replacing his organic parts with mechanical imitations (a process begun in Justice League America #90). Wearing a prototypically Extreme! 1990s costume, this Michael exhibits a no-nonsense demeanor, increased power, and a warped set of personal values, even by Booster's admittedly questionable standards.
Before the story careens to its conclusion, it is revealed that Maxwell Lord is an evil megalomaniac who relives his past with living puppets based on his JLI template. Booster's motivations are never made clear, though Captain Atom expresses many uncharacteristically derogatory theories. Booster Gold fans are likely to be far more forgiving to our hero's actions.
Clearly a product of its era, this book is hardly the best annual in which Booster Gold appeared. Christopher Priest's story really doesn't make much sense, and Nick Napolitano's inks are especially unattractive. With the bar for annuals of cancelled series set this low, Geoff Johns and Dan DiDio won't have to do much work to top this effort.
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Monday, February 28, 2011
The Strange Family History of Maxwell Lord
Readers were introduced to Maxwell Lord's father as part of a retelling of Max's history in last week's issue of Justice League: Generation Lost #20. Also in the issue were scenes featuring Maxwell Lord's mother. While the story was well written and very enjoyable, a few problems become apparent when this new story is compared with earlier tales of Maxwell Lord's family. Namely, both of Max Lord's parents previously had different names. Max's mother -- named Naomi, not Rebecca -- even appeared in an issue of Booster Gold published as recently as November!
Now these little discrepancies can be explained away by a thoughtful writer, but they add to a troubling list of continuity inconsistencies surrounding Justice League: Generation Lost. Is this series rewriting DC history as it goes? Should the continuity changes that it presents be ignored? Historically, continuity changes that last tend to be tied directly to the popularity of the continuity-changing issue/series. Therefore it is likely that the answer to these questions lies in the readers' hands: do we like and are we willing to accept the continuity changes of Generation Lost once this series is over? Only time will tell.
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Wednesday, June 30, 2010
True Hollywood Story: Maxwell Lord
A lot of fans have had a problem with Maxwell Lord becoming a major villain in the DCU. Some say the transition was logical and evident in his original characterization. Others say that the metamorphosis was artificial and poorly executed. Whichever side of the fence you are on, you'll find something valuable in the multi-part post from The Captain's Unofficial Justice League Homepage blog (part 1 starts here). It's thorough, insightful, and informative, even for fans who think they remember the entire JLI run.
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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Winick Lords His Knowledge of Generation Lost
Now that Blackest Night has wrapped up, Judd Winick has more to say about Generation Lost. Apparently, Max Lord has successfully duplicated the Devil's greatest trick and convinced the world that he doesn't exist. Read more at Newsarama.
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