Maxwell Lord has had one of the most interesting character arcs in comics history. He started as an unscrupulous businessman who worked behind the scenes to set up the Justice League International. During the Invasion crossover, he was given the superhuman power to control minds with difficulty, and that sent him on a path to villainy that would lead to his brutal murder of the Blue Beetle. When Wonder Woman came after him, she realized that the only way to stop his increasing power was to kill him, so she snapped his neck.
Surprise! The Blackest Night crossover (are we noticing a theme here?) brought Max back to life, hale and hearty. He was last seen working in secret to accomplish some ridiculous plan that nobody really understood, but then DC rebooted the whole universe so I guess it doesn't matter now.
