Superman is back, with Superman soaring past the expectations set for it. Batman has been DC’s chief character for a long time, but Superman has taken his rightful place at the head of the DC superhero community in the eyes of the general public for the first time in years. DC has made Superman a major part of their publishing line in 2025, and Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All #1 is a perfect introduction for new fans to the character and his world. The story revolves around a mysterious alien invasion, with Superman captured and the superhero community put on the backfoot as the invasion chugs along. It is soon revealed that the perpetrators of the invasion are characters with a long history with the Man of Steel — Maxima and Cyborg Superman.
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Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All #1 is excellent, a cool little travelogue through Superman history from writer Dan Jurgens and artist Bruno Redondo. Jurgens brings back some blasts from the post-Crisis past for this story, and it’s a lot of fun. Maxima and Cyborg Superman have a long history with Superman — and Jurgens as a creator — and this story shows of why they are such important characters in the history of the Man of Steel.
Maxima and Cyborg Superman Have Very Different Histories with Superman
Maxima was created by Roger Stern and George Perez and first appeared in Action Comics #645. Maxima came from the planet Almerac and wanted to find a lover who was as powerful as she was. She searched the universe before finding Superman and tried to convince him to love her, usually through fisticuffs. Eventually, she decided to go another direction to get Superman’s love, so she joined the Earth’s superhero community. She ended up becoming a member of the Justice League, where she used his super strength, invulnerability, and telekinetic powers to fight evil. She was a member of the team during the battle against Doomsday, and mourned the death of Superman along with the rest of the superhero community. She ended up joining the Extreme Justice team, developing a crush on Captain Atom and Amazing Man. She eventually left Earth and returned to Almerac, but would join the Superman Revenge Squad once she learned that Superman had married Lois Lane. She would stay a general antagonist for Superman after this, and was finally killed by Brainiac 13’s Warworld.
The Cyborg Superman is much more well-known than Maxima. Hank Henshaw was a scientist who decided to go to space with his girlfriend and two other friends. There, they were exposed to cosmic radiation but unlike a certain foursome of adventurers, they didn’t gain superpowers. Everyone but Hank died and he swore revenge on Superman, who had tried to save them while they were in space. Hank gained the power to put his mind into machinery and tried to use it to gain revenge against Superman but failed. That seemed like the end for Hank, but it wasn’t. After “The Death of Superman”, Henshaw was able to use Superman’s DNA and Kryptonian technology to create a new body for himself. As the Cyborg Superman, Henshaw posed as the returned Superman rebuilt by technology. He almost everyone fooled, but his attack on the Eradicator and destruction of Coast City gave up the ghost. Superman returned and defeated him, and since Cyborg Superman has tried to take revenge against Superman. He eventually became suicidal, and learned that it was basically impossible for him to die. He’s joined the Sinestro Corps in the past, and battled Superman and the Super-family in 2023.
Cyborg Superman and Maxima Make a World-Shaking Team
Maxima and Cyborg Superman are two people with grudges against Superman for two very different. Maxima wanted Superman to be hers and he never reciprocated the feelings that she had for him. She did try to convince him to love her for a time by being hero, but that would end in failure. She tried to find herself several other strong suitors to no avail, and eventually left Earth. Maxima was never a popular character, but she was around in the Superman and Justice League books of the ’90s a lot, and many ’90s readers have found memories of her. The Cyborg Superman has always been all about hating Superman, and ended up joining with Maxima because it gave him a chance to destroy his greatest foe.
Their plan was actually pretty good — they ended up capturing Superman and using powerful telepaths to trap him to keep him from helping the heroes defeat the invasion — but Superman is Superman. He was able to break free and take the fight to them, teaching Maxima and Cyborg Superman that it doesn’t matter just how well crafted their plans are — Superman always wins.
Superman Treasury 2025: Hero for All #1 is on sale now.
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Image courtesy of Lionsgate
