Maxi-Man

Maxi-Man is the name of two DC Comics heroes. The first was created by Len Wein and Joe Phillips and first appeared in Mister Miracle (vol. 2) #9 (October 1989). The second was created by Jodi Picoult and Drew Johnson and first appeared in Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #6 (May 2007).

Fictional character biography

Henry Hayes

Henry Hayes worked in a successful ad agency. After he was fired, his wife took his young son and left him. Hayes drifted through life until the detonation of an alien gene bomb. He was rushed to the hospital and accidentally given a lethal dose of adrenaline. Instead of dying, Hayes was granted superstrength, superspeed, and superhuman endurance. He decided to become the super-hero Maxi-Man.

Maxi-Man was initially unsuccessful due to the fact he was outshined by the other heroes and decided to move to a small town. Unfortunately for Maxi-Man, he chose Bailey, New Jersey, the new home of Mister Miracle II. During the first disaster, Miracle was able to save the day before Maxi-Man could act. Deciding Mister Miracle had to go, Maxi-Man tried to defeat him during their next encounter. Mister Miracle avoided fighting Maxi-Man and made him look foolish. Maxi-Man became more enraged until the crowd intervened. Learning a valuable lesson about heroism, Maxi-Man moved on to work on his skills.

Hayes didn't stay out of the limelight for long. He soon joined Booster Gold's corporate hero team, The Conglomerate. In addition to fighting crime, Maxi-Man and his teammates also became corporate sponsors. Hayes personally appeared in advertisements for Danielle Foods, a lawn care company and division of LexCorp. He participated in the coup of San Sebor. Though the ruler was a tyrant, some of Hayes' teammates protested the nature of the mission. The Justice League attempted to arrest the team after this, but they decided to talk instead and left on uncomfortable terms. Maxi-Man and his team were endangered when one of their liaisons, Thrunctuous, illegally worked with Hector Hammond, to create a new superhero that would 'accidentally' kill the Conglomerate. Thrunctuous and the superhero, a mindless monster, both died in the resulting fight. The group survived the bad publicity as it was spun that they worked with the JLI to 'save' the world'. The group soon decided not to follow along with their sponsors' often illegal ideas and became a branch of the League. Maxi-Man left the team afterwards.

Maxi-Man was often considered old-fashioned by his friends. His speech patterns were decades out of date. Instead of pondering the social implications of removing the leader of San Sebor, he declared his love for patriotic superheroes, including General Glory. He later stated his favorite film is Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, a Frank Capra movie.

Death

However, Maxi-Man did not retire and continued adventuring until he was captured by Roulette and forced to battle in her House. Apparently, he was killed, and his picture was hung among the other fallen players.

Maxi-Man Successor

Maxi-Man from Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #6 (May 2007)

A new Maxi-Man recently appeared on the super-hero stage. This second Maxi-Man became a hero after winning a reality tv show and possesses identical powers as the original. He makes a publicity appearance at a theme park, guarded by government agents Nemesis and Diana Prince AKA Wonder Woman. Debris from a faulty coaster knocks out Maxi-Man. Nemesis saves him while Wonder Woman saves the coaster.