Why was Maxwell Lord more deserving of death than Circe, Cheetah, or Joker?

[JKCarrier]

She'd also have to face the fact that she'd be putting herself in danger by being near other metahumans that Max could control the moment he woke

If Max could take control of anyone at a moment's notice, then why didn't he just take over Wonder Woman?

[Peter Svensson]

If Max could take control of anyone at a moment's notice, then why didn't he just take over Wonder Woman?

Because he can't. Her connection to Truth made her the only person on the planet 100% immune to his powers.

[raporfest]

No. He's much worse. He's a paranoid lunatic and raporfest hasn't read the story at all.

Yes I have read the story.

[nerites]

I don't think he was deserving of death at all; I think Diana had to kill him to prevent the deaths of others and she was willing to pay that personal cost.

My feelings exactly. And she sacrificed a lot for the DCU.

[nightforce]

You know, there was an episode of Angel once, where a God inhabited the Body of the character of Fred (Short for Winifred). Fred's innards were being Liquified and her very sould destroyed forever. Angel wanted to save her So he looked for ways to do so. A Guardian told Angel that there WAS a way to do that. The catch? 100's of thousands of people would have died in her stead. So. He let his friend die. To save those innocent people.

Wonder Woman more or less made a decision. You see, the people lately reading comics are more or less trying to read like through a child's eyes.. (While not necessarily a bad thing) Being a Hero is not so cut and dry all the time. Black and White. They have to make the TOUGH decisions. There might be a time they would have to kill to save another.

This is stuff drama is made of

[Flâneur]

If Max could take control of anyone at a moment's notice, then why didn't he just take over Wonder Woman?

And to head anyone off beforehand, this isn't a sudden contrivance as this trait has been established beforehand for a long while in Wonder Woman's own book. It's an acknowledgement of continuity.

Wonder Woman more or less made a decision. You see, the people lately reading comics are more or less trying to read like through a child's eyes.. (While not necessarily a bad thing) Being a Hero is not so cut and dry all the time. Black and White. They have to make the TOUGH decisions. There might be a time they would have to kill to save another.

This is stuff drama is made of

It's certainly gotten people to care about her for once rather than her costumes or her punches. I think that, at the very least, says something.

[Gail Simone]

I think the story handled it as well as it could be handled, but I still hate the whole Max Lord thing from the word go. It doesn't fit who Max was, there's a dearth of great supporting characters in the DCU that were created in the last few decades, it seems part of the wave to kill anything charming or funny, and it shows WW in a light that still bothers me.

But I think if you're going to tell that story, they did a very outstanding job.

[dupersuper]

I'm sure that has been debated ad nauseum, but I was too lazy to go through all the threads and I was wondering why Maxwell Lord's execution at WW's hands was more justifiable in the heads of readers than that of other villains, including some pretty terrible mass murderers (like Darkseid, Two-Face, Circe, etc.).

Is part of it that, since you know DC can't and won't kill off important brand names like Joker or Cheetah, Maxwell Lord becomes a "stand-in" for all those villains that, by rights, should have been executed years ago for their crimes?

Since some of you think villains should be killed for their heinous crimes, but also know DC can't really kill of its lead villains for brand purposes, do you think DC should have a stable of ready-made characters available for such events (most lesser known characters are, ultimately)?

It's been asked before, but would you like to see more Maxwell Lord-style executions in Wonder Woman, or in other comics? Should Diana be snapping the necks of Cheetah, Doctor Psycho, etc? If not, what makes them less heinous than Maxwell Lord? Was Max truly the most villainous villain of all, even worse than Psycho or, say, Brainiac?

What makes a villain so evil that their necks are worthy of snapping by an Amazon princess?

I could say it's because he had Superman under his control, but since Circe has had him under mind control as well, plus had the entire Greco-Roman pantheon under her control, that seems wrong...

Of course, I still can't buy Max as a villain in the first place...certainly not, as he implied, as a villain during his JLI days...but I'd guess many of those that actually read JLI find that hard to swallow.

Circe has already been killed before and evidently has the ability to resurrect herself. It is tactically foolish to kill Circe when she can spontaneously resurrect herself. It is more responsible to imprison her and know her whereabouts then kill her and then have her pop-up, freshly invigorated, at any time or place.

Fair point, though in comics it doesn't seem to take a sorceress to do this

Her most defining moment outside of her own book, & it wasn't even one her own rogues

It wasn't even A rogue...

I hate to break it to you but These Guys aren't cops. Diana, Bruce and Kal are basically VIGILANTES and working above the Law anyway. So in essence they are breaking the law

Well, most are, but Superman certainly has official sanction, Batman has Gordon covering for him, and WW has diplomatic immunity going for her...

I've certainly read enough here and in other forums to know that there's a good number of reasons who think some villains are worthy of death, and take pleasure in seeing it happen to them. Enough to make me ask the question, certainly.

We disagree here.

That's mostly because comics have become such a gorefest to make the villains seem "badass" that the heroes too often come across as an ineffectual clean up crew, rather than rescuers who actually save the day.

On a side note I honestly I don't see why Superman's considered such an effective hero. What does that code of his actually allow him to do?

How many times do you have to save the world/galaxy/universe/omniverse to be considered effective?

Let me get this straight...

People have NO problem believing that the JLA defeated a warrior host of angels and all of the OTHER wild and crazy stuff Morrison had them doing...

But Maxwell Lord (who AGAIN, I mgiht add, did NOT have his original body) is the greatest threat ever?

BWAHAHAHA!!!!

Yes...he went from a used car salesmen with minor "push" powers, who was a good guy, to an evil genius in control of a covert government organization and Batmans tech, who was the most powerful telepath in all creation, even patiently breaking down Supermans mighty will and causing him to attempt to kill his friends, even though the body he had should have had no powers at all. Why can people not accept that?

[Flâneur]

Yes...he went from a used car salesmen with minor "push" powers, who was a good guy, to an evil genius in control of a covert government organization and Batmans tech, who was the most powerful telepath in all creation, even patiently breaking down Supermans mighty will and causing him to attempt to kill his friends, even though the body he had should have had no powers at all. Why can people not accept that?

Jean Grey went from losing in combat against a pot plant to destroying a galaxy without a thought. Why can people not accept that?

[Scott Taylor]

In answer to the OP, I didn't see the killing as justified at all. Maxwell Lord was an awesome creation, and as such he deserved to live just as much as one of the WW rogues mentioned would deserve to live.

That death, in addition to the death of Blue Beetle and Sue Dibny, actually made it appear as if there was intent to deconstruct and destroy the Giffen JL. Which is sensational at best, since that was one of the more beloved eras. So meh for sensationalism.

[brettc1]

A big concern about letting Max live is he risk involved, but it seems like a pretty lame concern when measured against the continued existence of beings like Starro, who can mind control not just Superman but every meta-being on Earth.

If killing Max was the right thing to do to prevent future loss of life, then you must accept that every hero in the DCU has the blood of thousands on their hands for all the time they have NOT terminated a dangerous supervillain like Deathstroke, Dr Polaris or Cheetah.

[brettc1]

Yes...he went from a used car salesmen with minor "push" powers, who was a good guy, to an evil genius in control of a covert government organization and Batmans tech, who was the most powerful telepath in all creation

HA - I should have patented that used car salesman phrase years ago

[Flâneur]

A big concern about letting Max live is he risk involved, but it seems like a pretty lame concern when measured against the continued existence of beings like Starro, who can mind control not just Superman but every meta-being on Earth.

If killing Max was the right thing to do to prevent future loss of life, then you must accept that every hero in the DCU has the blood of thousands on their hands for all the time they have NOT terminated a dangerous supervillain like Deathstroke, Dr Polaris or Cheetah.

Not eliminating Max would've resulted in essentially the end of the world; we were shown this. The blood on her hands would've been far larger for letting Lord live than any of those other villains who are, for the most part, nowhere near as interested in violence as you put forward.

[turnedm]

The answer is simple then. Get the Kryptonite back. Failing that, get more Kryptonite.

It seems from the rest of your post that you liked her snapping Lord's neck and you're trying to make excuses for it, trying to justify it. You're denying that there may have been another way because you don't want there to be another way; what she did was the way you liked best, and had she found a different solution you wouldn't have liked that as much.

EDIT TO ADD: And wait a second, since when does Superman have the strength to even lift a finger when he's exposed to Kryptonite, let alone knock said Kryptonite away?

Well, for your consideration, remember that SUperman has fast reflexes, and K takes some time to has an effect (unless this Superman is Smallville's Clark). And second point, they were flying at super speed towards the Sun (you know, that thing that makes Superman strong), so his strength was on the rise.

[Arrogantcur]

Well, for your consideration, remember that SUperman has fast reflexes, and K takes some time to has an effect (unless this Superman is Smallville's Clark). And second point, they were flying at super speed towards the Sun (you know, that thing that makes Superman strong), so his strength was on the rise.

Ah, I see.

Maybe flying towards the sun wasn't such a great idea?