graham-maxie-97082-mtgear-closerMAXIE GRAHAM
 of Earth-97082

Real Name: Maxie Graham

Identity/Class: Alternate reality (Earth-97082)

Occupation: Research scientist

Group Membership: 

Affiliations: Dimitri, Tony Stark

Enemies: ESON (primarily Hiro Matsui) caused problems with her romance with Stark

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Milaya maya <sic?>" ("My darling" in English) per Dimitri

Base of Operations: Marianna Trench Undersea Research Station

First Appearance: Iron Man: Crash (April, 1988)graham-maxie-97082-mtgear-full-dist

Powers/Abilities: Maxie is an experienced research scientist with the abilities and credentials to run the Marianna Trench Undersea Research Station.

    Her specific skills are unrevealed, but she is strong and passionate and willing to fight for and demand a solid relationship.

Height: Unrevealed (she seemed to be perhaps 5"-6" shorter than the 6'1" Tony Stark, so perhaps 5'7"-5'8")
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown

History:
(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Maxie Graham operated out of the Marianna Trench Undersea Research Station.

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Maxie began a relationship with Tony Stark (CEO of Stark International and formerly the heroic Iron Man). They both felt that they "had something."

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to give more to the world, Stark agreed to mass produce his Somatic Amplification Vehicle (SAV), a non-weaponized version of his Iron Man armor.

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Tony was enjoying "the Manhattan techno-paradise" (Stark's "ivory tower" home) with Maxie until he was pulled away to deal with Japanese manufacturing firm ESON, leaving Maxie upset with him.

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Nonethless, Maxie continued to test Stark's SAV.

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Considering them the best for mass production of the kind he needed, with excellent costs and high quality control, Stark chose ESON.

(Iron Man: Crash) <2015 A.D.> - As her co-worker Dimitri got into the SAV, he flirted with Maxie, telling her he had an itch where he could not scratch. She asked himi to stop clowning and noted that he didn't do it well in English anyway. She then instructed him that one he was outside, she wanted him to check "that seal," cutting off a small sample of sealant foam, but not too much; she further advised him not to take any chances. When Dimitri told he did not know she cared so much for his "worthless hide," she told him that she did not...but the "steel hide" that he was wearing was far from worthless: If he damaged that prototype in a joint project like this, accountants from the US, Japan, China, and the USSR. graham-maxie-97082-departure

    Receiving a call from Tony via her Walkfone, Maxie coldly greeted him, noting that there was no need for him to have called, as his test mode SAVs were performing outstandingly.

    Telling Maxie that he had something to celebrate, Tony noted that a little human companionship would be nice. When she reiterated her frustation with losing out to the gadgets, Tony told her that now that the deal was settled he was free to...and she cut him off, telling him that she had some leave time and that if he wanted to see what they really had, he should be willing to leave his ivory tower and meet her in Hawaii.

(Iron Man: Crash (fb) - BTS) - Tony met up with Maxie in Hawaii, and they had a romantic evening in their suite.

    Maxie talked to Tony about extending their time together.

graham-maxie-97082-reunion(Iron Man: Crash) - Stark told Maxie she was beautiful, and she told him that she was happy and that she loved him for coming there. After he playfully noted that he had to, after investing a small fortune on vid-calls checking arrangements with her, Maxie told him that her next trick would be to get him to enjoy being there. She continued, noting that he was more uncomfortable than when they were communicating by phone and that his life had been setting up distances. When he argued the constant demands people made him, she told him she must be more than just "people" to him or he wouldn't be there, and that she had talked about extending the time to help close the distance.

    As Tony started to argue, he was interrupted when his employee Jones called to report that ESON had broken contact after Stark International had shipped the final schematics and the wire-wrapped prototype. When Stark told Jones he would soon be en route to Tokyo, Maxie walked out of the room without a word.

(Iron Man: Crash - BTS) - After reaching Japan, Stark called Maxie, but she didn't answer his call.

(Iron Man: Crash - BTS) - Working with Keiko Takimoto and his IM2 robot, Stark exposed and foiled the plot by corrupt ESON second-in-command (presumably Chief Operating Officer) Hiro Matsui to utilize Stark's technology to restore Japan's past glory while framing CEO Hideo Shinoda for his actions. In the process, the IM2 gained free will and departed to live its own life.

(Iron Man: Crash) - After SHIELD brought him back to New York, Stark invited Maxie to see him, and she was impressed with his relaxed nature, as his front door was left wide open, and she was even more impressed with the passionate and committed nature of his kiss. She noted that he had a few more wrinkles and looked older; as this was a result of his having stopped using the black market anti-aging drug Perpetuon (which had also blunted his emotions), he told her it gave him character.

    Maxie then gave him a letter the doorman had given her, which was from IM2, and Tony considered to himself that he was proud of what IM2 had become.

Comments: Created by Michael Sanz.

    Crash was billed as "The First Computer Generated Graphic Novel." That was a big deal back in 1988. There's an extensive feature on how they did it at the back of the book. Buy it, and read it!

    Much like Earth-8410, the "future" of 2020 A.D., this is a reality where Stark was active from the mid-60's forward, with no sliding timescale.
    With the graphic novel published in 1988, the main story was meant to take place 27 years in the future; notably, Stark International was formed in 1965, and it is described as having been formed 50 years ago, so that's 2015 A.D. in this reality.
    We know Iron was active "into the 90's," but we don't know for sure that he first became active as Iron Man in the 60's...however, that's what I would ASSume.
    Additionally, the technical abilities seemed to extrapolate on defined technologies, rather than being as high-tech as in Reality-616. Advanced technical abilties, for sure, but no repulsor rays or uni-beam, for example.

    In the real world, the USSR dissolved in 1991, but not so in this reality, as Maxie referenced it in 2015. Of course, the writer wouldn't have known that in 1988, but regardless, I'd say it was still around in this reality circa 2015 until/unless proven otherwise.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Maxie Graham should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Iron Man: Crash graphic novel, pg. 11, panel 2 (full distant);
            panel 4 (mostly full, better detail);
        pg. 23, panel 5 (dressed up and departing);
        pg. 63, panel 2 (reunited with Stark)

Appearances:
Iron Man: Crash graphic novel (April, 1988) - Mike Saenz (writer, artist), William Bates (producer/programmer), Archie Goodwin (editor)

First posted: 11/29/2021
Last updated: 11/29/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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