Maxwell Lord is a fictional character in the DC Comics Universe. A shrewd and powerful businessman, he was very influential in the formation of Justice League International.
Originally a normal human; Lord was one of many on Earth gifted with super-powers when a 'Metabomb ' was exploded by alien invaders. This bomb activated the latent metagene present in a small percentage of Earthlings. Lord gained the ability to control the minds of others, albeit at great difficulty. Exercising this power typically gives Lord a nosebleed. After she was shot and placed in a coma, at the start of the 15-part JLAmerica/JLEurope crossover Breakdowns, Dreamslayer , a supervillain who, with the aid of the Extremists , a team of robotic servants had once destroyed all life on their planet, took over Lord's body and "supercharged" this power, allowing him to control thousands of minds at once. Using Lord's body and power, he caused the JLI to lose it's charter, and almost forced them to disband. Finally however, while it forced the JLI to battle itself, the mortally-wounded Silver Sorceress managed to contain Dreamslayer and held it within her mind as she died, taking it with her, and while Lord was freed, his power was burnt out.
Later, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and was transferred to the robotic body of Lord Havok , one of the Extremists to survive, and, while his original body was buried, he hid the news of his survival for a time. Recently, he pulling together several former JLI members, including L-Ron, Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and Fire as the "Super Buddies ," advertised as "Heroes the common man could call."
The 2005 mini-series Infinite Crisis revealed that Lord was, in fact, a criminal mastermind who spent his years running the JLI gathering sensitive information about the world's superheroes, whom he considered a threat to the planet. At the same time, he sabotaged JLI efforts in order to render the superhero team as ineffectual as possible. At the end of the prologue special issue, Countdown to Infinite Crisis , he shoots and kills one-time JLI member Blue Beetle when the hero discovers Lord's secret.
