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Maxwell Lord had been one of the world’s foremost power brokers. A man who had been entertained by governments, empires, and businesses. Whatever Max wanted to happen happened. His crowning achievement was the formation of the Justice League International, but that – like all Leagues – eventually fell. Max then became embroiled in the affairs of an artificial intelligence called the Kilg%re which transformed him into a cyborg. He appeared briefly in the public eye to organise a short-lived successor organisation to the JLI. However, what most this friends were unaware of was that Max was working behind-the-scenes on a new conspiracy.
- In Part One: Background, Details, and Biography (Early Life).
- In Part Two: Taking over the JLI, Fall of the Kilg%re, Max’s telepathic talent, and Shenanigans, JLI Style.
- In Part Three: Loss of control: Superman, Heimlich & Dreamslayer, and the First Death of Maxwell Lord,
- In Part Four: The Super Buddies, Left Turn Clyde, and Life & Death.
Biography (cont…)
Becoming the Black King
Checkmate was one of a several of inter-related US black-ops/intelligence agencies that were established or reactivated around the same time as Maxwell Lord was setting up his Justice League International. Checkmate’s hierarchy was based on the game of chess, the director was the “King”, the deputy-director was the “Queen”, its special agents were “Knights”, and its normal agents were “Pawns”. The fortunes of the agency waxed and waned in the competitive world of meta-human espionage (Checkmate V1). The last known King, David Said, and his bishop, Jessica Midnight, were responsible for recruiting Bruce Wayne’s bodyguard, Sasha Bordeaux, as a Knight (“Bruce Wayne: Fugitive”).
Checkmate was reorganised sometime after Bordeaux’s recruitment into a parallel-structure: White Side and Black Side. White Side was broadly political in nature while Black Side was broadly operational. Each side had a King and a Queen and each of them had a Bishop (an advisor) and a Knight (special agent). One side was meant to balance the other. It is, perhaps, not surprising that Maxwell Lord was recruited by the Government to be the new director of operations (the “Black King”). His time with the JLI had given him unparalleled access to and knowledge of the meta-human community (ditto with his business contacts). What isn’t entirely clear is whether Max’s recruitment came before, after, or concurrently with his organisation of the Super Buddies (The OMAC Project).
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