Bobby Maximillion McMillan
NPCs
Dan Murdock
Lillian O'Banion
c r e a t e d b y J e f f B a u m g a r d n e r
Real Name: Bjorn "Bobby" Maximillion McMillan
First Appearance: Forte 2000 #1
Base of Operations: Seattle, WA
Occupation: College Student
Marital Status: Single
Known Relatives: Karen Black (adoptive mother), Hannibal Black (adoptive father)
Hair: Blonde (as Bobby), red (as Max)
Eyes: Green
Height: 6'1
History: Bjorn “Bobby” Maximillion McMillan lost both of his parents in an accident when he was five years old. He was adopted by Karen and Hannibal Black and was raised thereafter in a loving, supportive home. Their support was there, too, when Bobby began to excel at sports at a young age, and join (and dominate) one team after another, be it soccer, football, baseball, basketball, whatever. Everyone saw great things coming in the future of Bobby McMillan.
But Bobby had a bit of a problem. He was too good. Unnaturally good. Colleges wanted him badly, but whenever he took medical tests, something would always come up in his blood work, a 10% unknown factor. Nothing illegal, but nothing legal either. And his blood type would tend to change from one test to another, depending on the season or if it was a full moon or any other factor. Since schools kept this information confidential, it didn’t spread, but it also kept Bobby from any of the scholarships that had seemed to be guaranteed, and the future in sports he had always dreamed of.
The one man most privy to observing Bobby’s rapidly increasing and extraordinary athletic abilities was his high school coach, Dan Murdock. Dan was Bobby’s biggest supporter and closest confidant. It didn’t take the coach long to see strange things happening…like sometimes when Bobby ran across the field he didn’t leave footprints in the mud, or how he could move the entire blocking sled by himself when it took four of Dan’s other players to do it otherwise. At a time when Bobby’s hopes were being crushed by college rejections and his future was unclear, his coach suggested something a little crazy…but something that also immediately rang true. Bobby was not your normal athlete. Bobby had super-powers.
The summer before Bobby’s senior year, Dan ran something of an improvised “hero school” for him, to test the limits of these abilities of his. Together, they found out some amazing things. Bobby was growing stronger, much stronger than any normal human. Tougher, too, as they’d already seen on the football field. But the real shock came under intense testing, when Dan’s suspicions were proven true…Bobby could fly. Not much at first. But the more they worked at it, the further and better he could do it. The final surprise came one day when Dan was really pushing Bobby to his limits, getting on him like any good coach would. Bobby lost his temper, and suddenly, a seemingly invisible force struck the coach and knocked him back some 100 yards into (thankfully) the pole vault pit at the school. And when this happened, Bobby fell to the ground, completely exhausted. They would later term this strange ability to project (briefly) some kind of kinetic force as the “max effect”.
Suddenly, just when his life seemed to be going nowhere, Bobby found a whole new purpose. He’d grown up in Seattle idolizing the super-heroes of Forte, always wanting to be like Dr. Jackal or Vanguard or Anvil. Now, he was. And he felt a responsibility to use these powers of his like his idols had…to help people and better the world. He designed a costume for himself (with Dan’s help) and a hero identity, one based on his coach’s popular motto, “Maximum Effort, Maximum Gain”. It wasn’t long before all of Seattle was talking about the exciting new hero in town called Max. And it wasn’t long after that when Max’s path led him to team up with three other local super-heroes, and his childhood dream became reality when he became a founding member of the all-new Forte.
Power and Abilities: Max is very strong and fast, and his natural athletic ability and years of sports training have given him the skill to use both of these to great advantage. Max can run faster than the average man, and can also fly. His body is naturally tough and can absorb a lot of damage in a fight. And when he concentrates, he can call up the “max effect” and hammer someone or something with a kinetic blast at range. Using this ability, though, drains him quite a bit, so he tends to use it only in emergencies.
Personality: Bobby is a hopeful, good-hearted and well-meaning young man with a strong work ethic and desire to succeed. He sees his super-powers as a gift, one that’s meant to be shared with other people. He tries to follow his heroic ideal both in an out of costume, and people are drawn to his easy kindness and humility.
For reasons assumed to be psychological trauma related to his parents’ deaths, Bobby can’t remember his early childhood, nothing before he was taken in by his foster parents. He also suffers from nagging feelings of inferiority, even with all the amazing things he’s always been able to do. This is one of the things that actually helped him in sports, as he always felt there was more he could be doing to get better than he was, and therefore he worked even harder.
The love of Bobby’s life is Lillian O’Banion…but it’s still a love from afar. A cheerleader in high school, but a bit of a slacker as well, Lillian was always there in the corner of his eye on the field. But his own self-doubts kept him from actively pursuing her. Bobby also had a high school rival, a fellow athlete named Jamie Cassidy who despised Max’s talent. It was Jamie who started the talk about Bobby being a showoff, a reputation that stuck, along with any other rumors he could manage. Knowing of his powers, Bobby would never fight Jamie for fear of seriously injuring him, so Jamie took advantage of this to spread the word about Bobby being a coward as well. Now, Bobby, Jamie and Lillian all attend the University of Washington, where the rivalry continues. Though Bobby is studying computer science and has left sports all together, Jamie still carries the resentment, and does his best to use the fact of his currently seeing Lillian to get at Bobby. Lillian still considers Bobby a friend, much to Jamie’s consternation, and this has created a strange love triangle.
As a super-hero, Max is loved by the city of Seattle, and was so even
before joining the new Forte. The press follows his exploits religiously,
and schoolgirls around the city scream with glee at his approach.
Bobby Maximillion McMillan