MAX

Real Name: Max

Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (Fortisquians)

Occupation: Starship commander, observer of Earth culture, celebrity

Group Membership: Comet's crew

Affiliations: Comet Man (ally), Fantastic Four (Crystal, Human Torch, Ms. Marvel/She-Thing, Thing)

Enemies: AIM, Bridge, the Nuwali, Superior

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Comet Man"

Base of Operations: the Comet (a starship orbiting Earth's solar system);
    Southern, California and other areas of the United States;
    formerly the Colony Fortisque, circling the star Arcturus, Sector 22

First Appearance: Comet Man#1 (February, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Max can project spheres of concussive force at will. He possesses telekinesis that he can use to fly (he can achieve escape velocity (Mach 32.7 (7 miles/second)) or levitate objects. He can survive the heat of atmospheric re-entry without harm and can rapidly recover from bullet wounds. Mac can teleport himself, another person, or both together over vast distances. Max also possesses the ability to project his mind into and manipulate other sentient beings or animals, as well as to read their thoughts and memories.

    Max has picked up various Earth dialects and slogans, especially those from television commercials. He does not fully understand Earth behavior, and his experience with the violence of humanity has affected his sanity to some degree.

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 160 lbs.
Eyes: Orange
Hair: Black

History:
(Comet Man#1(fb)/Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update'89#5) - Max is one of the Fortisquians, and he was the most recent of the "Comet Men" to man the ship which was mistakenly believed to be a comet. Max was trained to repress his passions and to keep an emotional distance from the aliens he observed. Over the many months that he monitored television broadcasts, however, he found himself fascinated by the popular culture, and growing increasingly enthusiastic about it. He was both intrigued and repelled by the violence he witnessed.

 

(Comet Man#1) - During Max's most recent pass by Earth, he unwittingly incinerated Stephen Beckley, an astronaut investigating the "comet." Max managed to recover the mind and molecules of Beckley and reform him aboard his comet ship, but due to his limited knowledge of human physiology, Max recreated him with equipment calibrated to Fortisquian standards, thus granting Beckley the power of the "Comet Men." Max tried to convince Beckley to remain with him to be trained in his powers, but he respected Beckley's wishes to return to Earth and allowed him to do so.

(Comet Man#2) - The Comet ship can be seen in the skies.

(Comet Man#3) - Max monitored a number of radio and television transmissions, enjoying them thoroughly and wondering if his people were missing something.
    Beckley's enemy, the Superior--having learned of Max's ship from Beckley, sent his agents in the Bridge aboard a shuttle into space to intercept the Comet ship and to try to take its and his power for himself.

(Comet Man#4) - Max monitored US reports detailing the apparent death of Beckley. He later detailed his ship's log entry#30345 S.H.S., discussing the violence he had witnessed on Earth and how it had thrilled and changed him.

(Comet Man#5) - Max decided that he must return to Colony Fortisque to maintain his sanity, but then became concerned that mental images he might project could infect the entire colony.

(Comet Man#6) - Agents from the Bridge contacted Max and he gleefully allowed them to board the Comet ship. When Beckley (now the Comet Man) learned that this had happened, he teleported aboard the ship and warned Max of their treachery. The Superior ordered both Beckley's and Max's deaths, but Max flipped out and turned their energy blasts back on them, slaughtering his attackers. After partially calming down, Max decided that humanity's emotions and violence was infectious and a threat to the world. He claimed that it was within the Comet ship's power to melt the Earth's polar icecaps and flood the Earth. Fortunately, Beckley talked him down, and Max was then ashamed of his actions.
    Beckley helped Max cope with his new emotions and agreed to accompany him back to Colony Fortisque, but then the Superior activated a bomb one of his men had placed aboard the Comet ship. Max recognized this at the last second and teleported both he and Beckley away to safety.

 

 

 

(Marvel Comics Presents#50/2 (fb) - BTS) - Stephen traveled with Max to the Colony Fortisque, where he received further training in his powers. The Fortisquians sought to train Beckley as one of their Comet Men, but they feared that his human behavior might contaminate their own, so they sent him into space in another Comet Ship to conduct the training.

(Fantastic Four I#315) - Beckley and Max discovered the Fantastic Four (and Master Pandemonium) on the planet Arcturus IV, and they flew to the surface to meet up with them. Upon learning they were stranded, Max demonstrated the teleport device that made a path to Earth, sending them all to the Savage Land (which was, at the time, covered in snow).

(Fantastic Four I#316) - In the Savage Land, Beckley and Max met up with a number of others seeking to learn the secrets of the Beyonders, including Ka-Zar, Shanna, and the US military. They were present when Crystal and the Human Torch ripped open a steel platform to reveal the name Beyonder on one of the generators below the Savage Land's surface.

(Fantastic Four I#317) - Max transported  himself, Beckley, and the Fantastic Four to a Fortisque interstellar base and then to the base of the Nuwali. They confronted the Nuwali, who had teamed up with agents of AIM to learn the secrets for themselves. Max and Beckley helped the others to defeat the Nuwali.

 (Marvel Comics Presents#50/2 (fb) - BTS) - Max and Stephen split up from the Fantastic Four, taking their Comet ship in orbit of Earth's moon.

(Marvel Comics Presents#50/2) - Stephen returned to Earth in hopes of learning the location of the Superior. Max headed to Earth to take in the sites, confident that he was now prepared for the emotions, etc. he would experience.

(Marvel Comics Presents#51/2) - In Los Angeles, a gang of muggers confronted Max, who used his powers to force them to beat each other senseless. After changing their minds to see that violence was pointless, he then forced them to give them his money.

(Marvel Comics Presents#52/2) - Spending several weeks in Los Angeles, Max used his powers to make a fortune playing the ponies. Shortly thereafter he became quite a celebrity, touring talk shows, gaining various awards and honorary degrees. He shared the stage with singers Sting and Bono at an anti-Apartheid concert and blasted a few homers off the Dodgers in an exhibition game. He then visited Stephen Beckley at the house of his sister's boyfriend, Jonathan Gallagher. He surprised Beckley by revealing that Gallagher was actually the Superior. Max was quite amused at the ensuing struggle, as well as with the knowledge of the depths to which the Superior had sunk in an effort to gain revenge on the Beckleys.

(Marvel Comics Presents#53/2) - When Gallagher suddenly, unwillingly turned his gun and killed himself, Stephen assumed that Max had done it, but Max revealed that it was Benny.

(Captain Marvel V#7 (fb) - BTS) - Beckley and Max again returned to space in the Comet Ship. 

(Captain Marvel V#7) - Max remained aboard the Comet ship when Beckley located his son.

Comments: Created by Bill Mumy, Miguel Ferrer, Kelly Jones, and Gerry Talaoc.

    While the involvement of Halley's comet is essential to the origin of the Comet Man, something has to be adjusted in order to squeeze the story into continuity. 1986, the year in which the initial story was told, is now several years before the modern age, and significantly before the events of this story (in which the She-Hulk was one of the Fantastic Four). So, either:

  1. Halley's comet's cycle is slightly different on Earth-616 than in the real world, such that its most recent pass by Earth occurred within the sliding timescale of the modern era, just a couple of years ago.
  2. It was another comet, with a similar schedule to above.
  3. Don't worry about such things and just enjoy the story.

During Max's mad out bursts, some of his rants were:

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to:

  • ULTRA-MAX -computer virus created by Max E. Mumm
      --Punisher Annual#5
  • MAX ?? – creator of Future Max, skilled youthful inventor, has degenerative nerve disorder, boyfriend of Beatrice
      —Web of Spider-Man Annual#1
  • MAX ?? - mechanic, hired Hulk                                       
      --Incredible Hulk II#427
  • MAX of Earth-NU - technology designed by professor swenson,used for armor for spitfire and the troubleshooters
  •   -Man-Amplified eXperiment,MACS--Spitfire and the Troubleshooters(nu)#1
  • MAX of Earth-NU (Maximus Argath) - Far Place --Justice (nu)#13
  • MAX - the line of non-code approved comics--Alias#1
  • Max the Rottweiler , pet of the Punisher, @ Punisher II#54
  • MAXIE ?? - see MAXIE SCHIFFMAN--Amazing Fantasy I#15
  • other "Max" characters
    •

    Max's comet ship has no known connection to:

    Comet ship

    The ship has orbited Earth's solar system, coming back into view of Earth every 77 years, and has been mistaken in the past for Halley's comet (see comments). It was most recently piloted by Max, and was destroyed by a bomb planted by agents of the Superior. Max received a second such ship, and he and Stephen Beckley have traveled in it for some time.

     

    (original)--Comet Man I#1 ([1(fb)], 1-6)

    (replacement)--Fantastic Four I#315 (Marvel Comics Presents#50/2, Captain Marvel V#7

     

     

    images: (without ads)

    Other appearances:
    Comet Man#2-6 (March-July, 1987) - Bill Mumy & Miguel Ferrer (writers), Kelly Jones (pencils), Gerry Talaoc (inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
    Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update'89#5 (October, 1989)
    Fantastic Four I#315-317 (June-August, 1988) - Steve Englehart (writer), Keith Pollard (pencils), Joe Sinnott (#315-316) & Romeo Tanghal (#317) (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
    Marvel Comics Presents#50-53 (May-July, 1990) - Bill Mumy & Miguel Ferrer (writers), Kelly Jones (pencils), Gerry Talaoc (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
    Captain Marvel V#7 (July, 2000) - Peter David (writer), Chris Cross (pencils), Anibal Rodriguez (inks)

    Last updated: 01/14/05

    Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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