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COMMANDER ZUHN

Real Name: Zuhn

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Skrull Deviant (pre-modern era))

Occupation: Commander in the 21st Skrull Observation Corps

Group Membership: Member of the Skrull army

Affiliations: Howler (Luke Garrow), the Scythe;
    formerly
Blackjack, Velmax

Enemies: First Line (Black Fox/Robert William Paine, Effigy/Velmax, Liberty Girl/Beverly, Mr. Justice/Timothy "Tim" Carney, Nightingale, Yankee Clipper/Patrick "Pat" Carney), Monster Hunters (Ulysses Bloodstone, Doctor Druid/Anthony Ludgate, Namora/Aquaria Nautica Neptunia, Zawadi), Jacob Scott;
    Dr. Schreiber (mutated by technology in Zuhn's ship)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Chimera, Mr. Winget (alternate identities)

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly Winget Industries, Dallas, Texas (as Winget)
    formerly mobile across the Andromeda galaxy (as Zuhn)

First Appearance: Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (November 2000)

Powers/Abilities: Like all Skrulls, Zuhn could change his shape to duplicate the appearance of any person or object roughly the same volume as himself (see comments). He was able to transform his body to resemble any number of otherworldly creatures, complete with functioning wings and claws. For combat purposes, he relied on the form of Chimera, an emerald green polymorph that easily altered its shape.

    As Winget, Zuhn specialized in the aeronautics market. Unlike his underling Velmax, Zuhn remained true to the edicts and beliefs of the Skrull Empire and tried desperately to return home using whatever means necessary.

    Zuhn was also experienced in using a Skrull bio-moleculizer weapon, transforming humans into rampaging monsters and stimulating metamorphosis in those possessing such power, and a moonlight-simulating device able to improve conscious control of lunar-powered creatures.

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Height: 5'4" (by approximation); variable
Weight: 156 lbs. (by approximation; see comments)
Eyes: Pink; variable
Hair: Bald; variable

As Chimera:
Height: 6'9" (base form, otherwise variable)
Weight: 300 lbs. (
base form; see comments)
Eyes: Blue (
base form, otherwise variable)
Hair: Green (
base form, otherwise variable)

As Mr. Winget

Height: 5'8" (by approximation); variable
Weight: 145 lbs.
(by approximation; see comments)
Eyes: Brown; variable
Hair: Gray; variable

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History:
(Marvel: The Lost Generation#6 (fb) - BTS) - Zuhn was a commander in the Skrull 21st Observation Corps.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - Along with his underling, Lieutenant Velmax, he visited alien worlds in their research vessel, prospecting the planet and its population for potential use for the Skrull Empire.

    In the Summer of 1947, Zuhn and Velmax reached Earth. Somewhere over the American southwest, their craft was spotted by an airforce pilot who was in the middle of a test flight. Not wanting to risk blowing their cover, Velmax to engage the fighter -- the encounter ended with both ships crashing in the desert.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb)) - The commander was first to recover, and he dragged Velmax out of the ship, while the still groggy lieutenant tried to apologize for crashing the ship. Just then, they ran into Jacob Scott, an inebriated ex-soldier who had come to check out the crashed craft, believing it was piloted by Russians. Scott immediately fired his shotgun, hitting Zuhn in the chest, before realizing he was facing aliens. Critically wounded, Zuhn ordered Velax to follow Priority Seven--Velmax complied and shifted into a monster form, ready to attack Scott. However, Scott was so drunk he smashed his car into a nearby rock and killed himself trying to get away. Velmax quickly took Scott's identification papers and disposed of the corpse before returning to Zuhn; he placed the dying commander in a med-pod when he spotted the arrival of the US military. Quickly assuming the form of Jacob Scott, Velmax played along and managed to avoid being captured, though he was powerless to prevent the military from taking custody of his ship and Zuhn.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (fb) - BTS) - Zuhn's med-pod was taken to a laboratory for further study; however, by then Zuhn had recovered from his wounds, and was able to escape the pod, setting fire to the lab to cover his escape. He then spent the next decade looking for a way to either find his ship or another way off Earth. To further these goals, he assumed the identity of "Mister Winget" and used his advanced technical knowledge to launch Winget Co, a successful aerospace company. Around the same time, he also debuted his Chimera identity, a polymorph form he used to gain an advantage over his competitors whenever more scrupulous tactics failed.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#2 - BTS) - In 1958, Zuhn finally tracked his old ship down to a research facility in Long Island. Determined to reclaim his vessel, he adopted a generic human form and hired the services of the costumed mercenaries Blackjack and the Scythe to gain control of the facility. However, unbeknownst to Zuhn, NSA agent Scott (secretly Velmax) became aware of the security breach and brought in costumed heroes Yankee Clipper, Liberty Girl and the Black Fox to investigate. At the same time, the Monster Hunters were alerted to a possible problem at the facility as well. While Zuhn had his operatives capture all the resident scientists, one of them--Dr. Schreiber--accidentally activated a device aboard the Skrull ship (presumably the bio-moleculizer) that transformed him into a giant monster that burst out of the lab and attacked the assembled heroes.

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(Marvel: The Lost Generation#2) - While Schreiber kept the heroes busy, Zuhn (in his human guise) berated the scientists for having cannibalized a ship containing technology a thousand years beyond their understanding. His rant was interrupted by NSA agent Scott--with neither Velmax nor Zuhn recognizing each other in their human forms--who pulled a gun on Zuhn, Blackjack and the Scythe. While the two mercenaries fought Scott, Zuhn quickly made his way into the Skrull ship for cover. When Scott followed him in, Zuhn hit Scott with another energy burst from the bio-moleculizer, figuring it would kill what he believed to be a human opponent. Zuhn then assumed the form of one of the scientists and alerted the heroes their ally was wounded before disappearing into the night.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 - BTS) - By 1963, Zuhn had abandoned the idea of recapturing his ship and now focused on building his own craft to get off planet. In order to do so, he needed a new type of guidance system developed by one of his biggest rivals: Stark Industries. When it proved impossible to procure the technology through regular business channels, Zuhn decided he'd be better off taking it as Chimera. Figuring he once again needed super-powered help, he developed a device that channeled moonlight in such a way that it would help control the transformations of the Howler.

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(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4) - Zuhn (as Winget) greeted Luke Garrow when he came to meet him at Winget Co. Briefly explaining why he wanted Garrow, he exposed him to the moon device which forcibly shifted him into his Howler form. After telling the startled Howler what his motives were, Zuhn shifted from his Winget form to Chimera and proposed a partnership. Howler happily accepted, and the duo waited until nightfall to make their move.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4) - Unbeknownst to Zuhn, the invite, along with Garrow's acceptance, was monitored by the FBI, who in turn informed the First Line. Upon arriving in Dallas, the First Line planned an ambush inside the Stark facility.

(Marvel: The Lost Generation#4) - Upon entering the Stark Industries plant, Zuhn and Howler noticed a dummy for a security guard, alarming them they'd been expected. By then, the First Line made their move, with the Yankee Clipper using his enhanced strength to knock Howler for a loop. When the Black Fox tried to ensnare Chimera with his bolas, Zuhn simply turned his form into a serpentine shape to shake off the projectile. Darting away to secure the artifact he came for, the frustrated Zuhn found Liberty Girl in his path. When the First Liner tried to distract him, by acting as if he were a bull during a prize fight, he angrily lashed out at her with his claws, killing the non-powered girl on the spot. While Nightingale and the other First Line members tended to Liberty, Effigy (secretly Velmax) chased after Chimera. For a few moments, the two shifted forms, attacking one another in different monstrous forms they both recognized as native Skrullian creatures. Just as Effigy dealt Chimera a killing blow, Zuhn called out the name of his former lieutenant. Shocked to see what he had done, Velmax held the dying Zuhn's body in his arms while desperately trying to explain why he had joined the Earthers. Zuhn, after telling what had happened to him since 1947, would hear nothing of Velmax's story, and died calling him a traitor. Before rejoining the First Line as Effigy, Velmax disposed of Zuhn's body, lying that Chimera somehow had dissolved away.

(Secret Invasion: Skrulls!) - Several years after his death, Zuhn received an entry in the Skrull Warbook files, comprised by Skrull Chancellor Kal'Du by order of Queen Veranke. In it, Kal'du noted that Zuhn regrettably left no accumulated reports for study; he stressed, however, that Zuhn's death at the hands of the traitor Velmax should not be forgotten. Furthermore, Kal'du pointed out that the fact Zuhn died on the same day as President John F. Kennedy was a point that might be exploited should any level of prolonged contact with humanity post-conquest be necessary.

Comments: Created by Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks).

    It is unclear to me whether Skrulls can change their masses or not. They typically stay within some range of their volume, but stories are inconsistent with limitations in this regard, as the early Fantastic Four I#2 showed a Skrull seeming to turn invisible by suddenly shrinking to a tiny size, and we've seen Skrulls increase their volume by a factor of 2, 5, or even 10+ in some stories. Perhaps these Skrulls had enhancements that exceeded the Skrull norm. I'm not sure.
--Snood.

1. According to various editions of the Official Handbook, the average Skrull cannot distend his or her mass any more than 1.5 times as large a volume as his or her original volume, nor can he or she contract his or her mass any more than .75 a volume as his or her original. However, as far as I know, these limitations have NEVER been part of any story featuring Skrulls.
    True...Skrulls' abilities and limitations vary with each writer and whatever plot device is needed for the story.--Snood
 
2.
For example, in Reality-2300's 24th Century, Skyppi, the elderly Skrull who befriended Hercules, demonstrated size and mass changing abilities which greatly exceeded the “official” limitations. On one occasion, he escaped his pursuers by changing into an insect and riding on the pants of a security officer. Furthermore, the fact that Skyppi had been a maintenance worker for 200 years because he was considered to be unfit for warfare means that he wouldn’t have been given any enhancements. And that means that his abilities were entirely natural.
 
3. This is just my own fanfic theory but I’ve always believed that the unstable molecules which comprise every Deviant Skrull’s body might contain some that function like Pym particles. If so, then Skrulls would be able to greatly change their masses by either accruing or shedding extradimensional matter simply by willing it as part of their shape-changing.
 
Don Campbell

    While it is not outright confirmed that Schreiber was mutated by the bio-moleculizer, Zuhn hit Scott (Velmax) with the moleculizer, figuring that it would change him into *another* monster like Schreiber so he could cover his escape. I'm no expert on Skrull tech, but I seriously doubt there's more than one device that turns people into rampaging monsters.

Here's some related information courtesy of Ronald Byrd:

Here's some other information related to 1947:

ADVENT (Kyle Grobe) - came from 2092 back to 1947, timeline that created him diverged --New Warriors I#68, 69 (identified)

AREA 51 - Located in New Mexico--[Uncanny X-Men#363], probably also connected to the numerous 1947 Skrull incursions from in Conspiracy#1-2, Marvel: The Lost Generation#12-1 and Blackwulf#2

PRIME SKRULL - only surviving member of the non-Deviant Skrulls, fled to Earth to escape extinction in 1947, experimented on for years by us government, rescued by Blackwulf. Manipulate matter, adrenalin can empower others--Blackwulf#2

PROJECT SENTRY (Canadian government, Nazis, Project Sentry, Super-Soldier serum, US government, Weapon X, Professor ) - formed in 1947 in Facility in West Virginia; joint project attempting to recreate the Super-Soldier serum at 100, 000 times its original strength; serum consumed by Robby Reynolds, who became the Void and the Sentry --Sentry II#6

Additionally, you'll recall that West Virginia (site of Project: Sentry) is the location of the town of Clairton, which was infiltrated in November of 1945 by the Dire Wraiths...who are, of course, SKRULL Deviants. Prior to that, the Skrulls abducted Machine-Gun Martin in 1935. Later, Skrulls fought the 3-D Man in 1958 (also IIRC the year of Namor's encounter with Paul Destine and the death of Miss America, among other stuff). Then came the Skrull Beatles in the sixties. So many dots just waiting to be connected...

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Zuhn should not be confused with


images: (without ads)
Marvel The Lost Generation#4, p14, pan2 (main image)
Marvel The Lost Generation#4, p19, pan4 (locked inside medpod)
Marvel The Lost Generation#4, p16, pan3 (as Chimera)
Marvel The Lost Generation#2, p13, pan2 (in human guise)
Marvel The Lost Generation#4, p19, pan2 (dies)


Appearances:
Marvel: The Lost Generation#4 (November 2000) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Marvel: The Lost Generation#2 (January 2001) - Roger Stern (writer), John Byrne (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)


First Posted: 03/13/2014
Last updated: 01/4/2020

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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