Warning! Spoilers ahead for Harley Quinn #40!One of the most outlandish DC Comics foes Batman has ever faced has a much more tear-jerking backstory than fans expected. In her mission to improve the lives of Gotham’s villains, Harley Quinn has started to work with Maxie Zeus, only to find out the awful tragedy that succeeded in breaking him.

In Harley Quinn #40 by Tini Howard and Natacha Bustos, Harley is training Mister Freeze’s new recruits but feels that the two are woefully unprepared for supervillainy. Harley Quinn later meets with Maxie Zeus to discuss a plan to scare her new students straight.

Before that, Maxie opens up to Harley about his deceased wife, Martina. He reveals that during their attempts to conceive, Martina received a false positive that led to her being diagnosed with cancer. Martina died shortly thereafter, cementing Zeus’ descent into madness and supervillainy. Heartbroken by the story, Harley Quinn gives Maxie Zeus a hug.

Maxie Zeus Lost Everything Before Becoming a Batman Villain

After embarking on one of the biggest adventures of her life across the multiverse, Harley Quinn returned to Gotham City. After spending a night committing crime with her girlfriend Poison Ivy, Harley was inspired to return to villainy, but only to help other costumed criminals improve their lives (while taking a cut for herself, of course). She eventually found herself working with Maxie Zeus, who’d lost a bit of his fire since “Gotham War”. Harley Quinn and Zeus worked a heist together, and while it wasn’t successful, it did give Zeus the friendly ear he was in desperate need of.

Maxie Zeus losing his wife has been a known part of the villain’s origin and has long been seen as the thing that drove him to becoming a super-criminal. However, he’s rarely spoken about what happened to Martina or the events leading up to her death. This new glimpse into Zeus’ history helps explain why he broke so badly. From Maxie’s perspective, he didn’t just lose his wife, he was robbed of hope. To go from thinking he was about to start a family to losing Martina to cancer, it’s no wonder Maxie Zeus wound up becoming just another villain in Gotham.

Gotham’s Laughable Villain is a True Tragic Figure

Unlike most of Gotham’s other villains, Maxie Zeus has almost always been seen as a joke. But all along Zeus has been hiding an incredibly sad tale in his origin story. While it doesn’t make up for the crimes he’s committed since losing his wife, it does rationalize why he snapped. Thankfully, he’s got a good friend like Harley who takes him seriously and empathizes with his struggle. Hopefully, Harley Quinn can help her DC villain friend and finally find some semblance of peace.

Harley Quinn #40 is available now from DC Comics.