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| “ | I'm what you call a renaissance man. I dabble in a lot of things. | „ |
| ~ Richard Maxwell |
Richard Maxwell is an antagonist turned protagonist in the story arc, The Blackgaard Chronicles, in the radio show, Adventures in Odyssey.
Richard Maxwell is voiced by Nathan Carlson.
Biography[]
Past[]
Richard grew up in Millsburg with his parents, Mickey and Melissa, and half-sister, Rachael Woodworth. When Richard was young, his parents divorced because Mickey, a very smart "computer wonk", was more interested in his work than family. Melissa got custody of Richard and Rachael and went back to her maiden name, Woodworth, while Mickey moved to Windy City, Chicago. When Richard was ten, his mother met a seemingly nice man named Osgood Brownlow. Even though Melissa never married him, Brownlow was regularly present in their lives.
Osgood Brownlow taught Richard about scams and cons that he originally thought were games. He enjoyed it at first, especially since the family needed it, but then Brownlow wanted a large share of the money. Richard threatened to tell his mother about what Brownlow was teaching him. Brownlow threatened him back and told him that his mother would not believe him anyway. Later on, he saw Brownlow sell his mother's jewelry with another woman whom he actually loved. However, when Richard told his mother what he saw, she did not believe him and accused him of stealing the jewelry to frame Brownlow.
Richard Maxwell
Heartbroken, Richard packed his bags and left to live with Mickey in Windy City. They lived in the same apartment, but they were never close. Although, his father did help him develop a love for computers and Richard realized his talent. He graduated early from high school and sped through computer science courses in college.
Richard got many different jobs while living in Chicago, include a busboy, a pizza delivery man, and a janitor, while scamming each time. When he worked in a sanitation department, he met Gregory Kelley, who told Dr. Regis Blackgaard about him. On the morning he turned eighteen, he received a note from his father. His father left Chicago to get a job in the Middle East. His father also pre-paid for tuition at Campbell College in Odyssey, a few hours near Millsburg.
He lived peacefully in Odyssey; he was surprised to actually like it there. Due to his criminal tendencies, he met a man who called himself Jellyfish, and he raided places where he worked like the Odyssey Retirement Home. After six months of living quietly, his mother and Rachael showed up on his doorstep because Brownlow had deserted them. He allowed his mother and Rachael to live with him, despite his strained relationship with his mother, Rachael's "direct" personality didn't help. After a year, he woke up with a note from his mother, telling him that she left to start over. He was instructed to take care of Rachael. He tried his best to raise his sister, but she eventually ended up in the juvenile hall for shoplifting.
He was hired by Dr. Blackgaard after Blackgaard's cronies kidnapped Richard.
Before Applesauce[]
Richard Maxwell first appears where he's working at the Odyssey Retirement Home and has a brief conversation with Donna about Mrs. Hooper.
Sometime before Dr. Blackgaard's arrival in Odyssey, he worked as a counselor at Campbell County Community College. He blackmails Nicholas Adamsworth into changing grades or else he'd give the college a bad report about him. When Eugene Meltsner found out, Richard demanded him to keep quiet. Eugene and Nicholas tried to change the grades back, but they were caught by Eugene's boss, Mr. Burglemeister, and brought to the college's board of trustees. Nicholas confesses about what he did and trustees fire Richard Maxwell, but he was unfazed since there was another job he was looking at and he vowed to return.
In "Cross-Check", Maxwell met with Philip Glossman and Blackgaard, on the speaker, was furious at Maxwell's expulsion. Maxwell explained that he only did the grade-changing scheme because he cut off his extra income from the retirement home, he knew Whit was kind enough not have the police get involved, but Blackgaard was still furious that he could've arresting, ruining his plans. He also tried to get Applesauce from the college computer, but Mr. Burglemeister wrote a subroutine that tells him when the system is being used for what it's not supposed to. He had to cover tracks over what Meltsner was doing, but he thought he had better control over Nicholas. Now, he needs a dedicated computer with its own access and a secure, private place to operate it from. He then offers something: He checked the retirement home and found that the retirement home has quite a few city code violations and that the son-in-law of Mary Hooper, who was living at the retirement home, is the owner of Mansfield Computers. He also found that while Mary made up with her daughter, Barbara, thanks to Donna Barclay a few weeks ago, she hated Bob. This way, Glossman can work things out with the Gower's Landing shopping complex so that Blackgaard and Maxwell can have a place to work.
Working at Blackgaard's Castle[]
With Dr. Blackgaard during Connie's interview
Richard Maxwell talked to Lucy Cunningham-Schultz, who took a liking to him. She refused to talk to Connie Kendall after she sent her home from Camp What-A-Nut, she was still fired from Whit's End, that's when Richard had an idea. He asked Connie if she wanted a job at the upcoming Blackgaard's Castle. Along with Dr. Blackgaard, he was able to get Connie to tell them that she got fired for messing with a program called Applesauce but stopped herself from telling what it did. After she left, Dr. Blackgaard decided not to hire her as Whit's hold on her is too great. Richard said he could use her to get Whit away from the council when the vote for Blackgaard's license to the castle but was against Blackgaard's idea to get Tom Riley away. Blackgaard got furious at Richard and forced him to comply after threatening to call the police about all the crimes he committed.
Richard convinces Lucy to tell Connie and Whit that each wanted to see the other. Then he reluctantly set Tom's barn on fire with horses inside. The plan was successful as Philip Glossman was able to convince the rest of the council to grant the license to Blackgaard without Tom and Whit. On the bright side, Whit decided to hire Connie back and helped save Riley's horses.
Three months later, Blackgaard's Castle had been up and running for two weeks. Richard Maxwell found out that Whit had a modem hooked up to his computer, he was able to get its number from a friend of his from the telephone company. He hooked up another modem to Blackgaard's computer, allowing them to infiltrate Whit's computer and go through Applesauce. Richard was amazed that the system's check made everything go crazy at Whit's End like what happened with Connie, but unfortunately that was only the first level. The second level needed a password, Blackgaard tells him to use Lucy to get it. Lucy didn't have much information, so Blackgaard gets an idea to buy them time. He has Richard hack into the Imagination Station, drain the power, then give it a power surge. Although Richard was fascinated by how they could turn everything off in Whit's End, he was against the idea of sending a surge of power through dead circuits, because someone could get hurt. Blackgaard refused to listen, and he did the final step causing the Imagination Station to explode and Lucy ending up in the hospital. Richard was very mad at this, but Blackgaard couldn't care less about Lucy, and Richard couldn't tell the cops without getting himself involved. While Whit and Eugene figured out Maxwell's hacking, Lucy demanded him to do the right thing.
Pinned under a Zappazoids machine
Richard Maxwell decides to redeem himself and stop Dr. Blackgaard. He creates an irreversible rigging program that would send power surge through every machine in Blackgaard's Castle whenever its password is entered. He tells Blackgaard he got the password for Applesauce then got his program ready saying he was bypassing the Applesauce's first level, then has Blackgaard activate it by typing the "appropriate" password, DESTRUCT. Soon after everything goes haywire, the building catches fire. Furious, Blackgaard threw Maxwell under one of the arcade games, causing to get stuck under it. Richard begged him to save him, but Blackgaard fled into the basement. Richard thought he was doomed, and it was what he deserved, but Whit came in and lifted the machine so he could get out. Richard informed him that Blackgaard was still there, but a beam blocked the door forcing them to leave before the roof came down. Richard asks Whit why he saved him, and he responded that he has a lot of explaining to do and his life is worth saving. Afterwards, Richard confessed to everything, including burning down Tom's barn.
Later Adventures[]
A "knight scheming"
Richard reappeared in Chicago when Blackgaard tried to obtain a computer with top secrets. He grabs Whit to the side when the latter went to save a kidnapped Connie. Maxwell insisted that he's out to get revenge against Blackgaard. Maxwell claimed he's there to help Whit, but Whit is unsure of what to believe. Since Maxwell also claimed to know where Blackgaard is holding Connie, Whit decided to trust him and go along. Meanwhile, Agent Frank Phillips and his assistant agent, Woody, found Whit's coordinates again and followed him to Blackgaard's warehouse.
Before Blackgaard and Pinky the Clown could leave, Whit and Maxwell arrived, Pinky had been caught. Suddenly, Maxwell pulled out a revolver as part of his two-year long plan for revenge! Blackgaard pushed Connie right into Maxwell and tried to escape through a hatch in the elevator, but it zapped him somehow. Maxwell revealed that he sabotaged all his gizmos to prevent him from getting away this time. Whit and Connie tried to convince him to not take the path of revenge. However, Maxwell had Blackgaard get on his knees, beg for his life and apologize. Whit chewed Maxwell out for doing this saying revenge never truly satisfies someone, he then gets in the way of his gun. Scared, Connie pulls him out of the way just before Maxwell fired. However, it turned out to be a water gun, which splashes water onto Blackgaard’s face. Maxwell revealed that wouldn’t really risk his life like this. Whit and Connie are relieved, but Blackgaard is furious and made a bolt for the rear exit. Then, Agent Phillips and Woody arrived to arrest the three of them. However, after Woody ran out the back, Maxwell revealed that Phillips is actually working for Blackgaard. Phillips pulls out a real gun and grabbed Maxwell’s water gun, demanding the laptop. Whit decided to do it and Phillips left.
A few hours later, though, Blackgaard and Phillips get surprised by what is on the laptop while in a run-down fleabag hotel room somewhere in the wilds of Illinois. Whit and Maxwell revealed that they rigged the laptop to erase everything on it, except a message from them, when they turned it on. Blackgaard vowed to be back.???
The Acolyte[]
About fifteen years later, Maxwell reappeared in a comic strip known as "Elsewhere in Odyssey", in a story arc entitled, "The Acolyte". It is revealed that after Richard testified against Blackgaard's goons and he set out to personally dismantle the rest of Blackgaard's world-wide organization. This led him down the path of vigilantism, and ultimately pitted him against Blackgaard's most devoted follower, the Acolyte. After the Acolyte's defeat, Richard nearly reverted to his criminal ways in order to steal the resurrected Applesauce program, but chose do do the right thing in the end.
As of present continuity, Richard has decided to move back to Odyssey for the time being. It was revealed in Elsewhere in Odyssey's 2023 Thanksgiving strip, that he is staying at one of the old Timothy Center cabins, and attended Thanksgiving at Whit's house.
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Quotes[]
| “ | Know me? We used to work together, ain't that right, Multsey baby? | „ |
| ~ The Nemesis, Part 1 |
| “ | Ya got that right, heh heh heh... | „ |
| ~ The Battle, Part 2 |
| “ | I am... sorry, Mr. Riley. And I hope you can forgive me... one of these days. | „ |
| ~ The Homecoming |
| “ | I always got blamed for everything bad that happened at Campbell County Detention Center, but the funny thing is, when you left, the bad things stopped. | „ |
| ~ Hard Losses |
| “ | You should really have one of these [stun guns] on hand for protection. I got mine on sale at the Electric Palace. | „ |
| ~ Checkmate |
Trivia[]
- Due to his personality and storyline, Richard Maxwell is one of the most popular characters in Adventures in Odyssey.
- In Cross-Check, Book 3 of The Blackgaard Chronicles, it is revealed that Richard Maxwell didn't technically set Tom Riley's barn on fire. He was originally just going to light a pile hay and deadwood behind the barn to make look like it was on fire. However, his shirt got caught in the flames and he accidentally threw it on a hay bale leaning against the barn wall. He even tried to save the horses, Leah and Rachael (named after Jacob's wives at the suggestion of Mrs. Riley), because one of them had the same name of his half-sister.
- In Rook's Ruse, Book 4 of The Blackgaard Chronicles, Richard hooks up the computer differently. Instead of using a modem, he set up a computer network.
- Originally, Richard Maxwell going to be AREM in the Novacom Saga, but this was changed to Robert Mitchell because his voice actor wasn't available. Both characters have the same initials, R.M., which is how the police pronounced AREM.
- Richard's latest radio appearance was in in the April Fools' Day episode, "I Slap Floor". He got several jobs in Odyssey, but eventually revealed himself to be Dr. Regis Blackgaard in disguise. However, the whole thing was just a story made up by Bernard Walton.
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