Maximo, the Amazing Superman is one of the few fictional characters that originated in a Big Little Book. The character, fully named Maximo Miller, first appeared in 1940, in a self-titled Big Little Book. Some copies of this book give authorship credit to Victor Appleton

Victor Appleton

Victor Appleton was a house pseudonym used by the Stratemeyer Syndicate, most famous for being associated with the Tom Swift series of books.The following series have been published under the Victor Appleton name:* Tom Swift, 1910–1941...

, the Stratemeyer Syndicate

Stratemeyer Syndicate

The Stratemeyer Syndicate was the producer of a number of mystery series for children, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the various Tom Swift series, the Bobbsey Twins, the Rover Boys, and others.- History :...

 house name that was credited as the writer of the Tom Swift

Tom Swift

Tom Swift is the name of the central character in five series of books, first appearing in 1910, totaling over 100 volumes, of American juvenile science fiction and adventure novels that emphasize science, invention and technology. The character was created by Edward Stratemeyer, the founder of...

 books. Other editions were credited to Russell R. Winterbotham

Russell R. Winterbotham

Russell R. Winterbotham was an American writer of western and science fiction genre fiction, and the author of instructional pamphlets and several Big Little Books. He also wrote crime stories with the pen name J. Harvey Bond....

, who was probably the true creator of the character. Maximo was created in response to the popularity of DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

' Superman

Superman

Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

, and is one of the few Superman knockoffs that did not provoke legal action from DC, even though the publisher was brazen enough to use the descriptive word Superman in block text on the covers of the books.

Maximo is a football hero at a college in the American southwest, but is also a hero off the field, thanks to his powers over electromagnetism

Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature. The other three are the strong interaction, the weak interaction and gravitation...

 and gravity and his ability to instantly hypnotize

Hypnosis

Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...

others. His powers are attributed to him being a mutant with a brain far more evolved then that of normal men.