SKYMAX
THE
SKRULLIAN SKYMASTER

Real Name:  Sk'ym'x

Identity/Class: Extradimensional/alternate reality (Earth-712/"Earth-S") Skrull Deviant 

Occupation: Adventurer;
    formerly librarian

Group Membership:  Squadron Supreme (Amphibian/Kingsley Rice, Hyperion/Mark Milton, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Nighthawk/Neal Richmond, Power Princess/Zarda Shelton, Doctor Spectrum/Joseph Ledger, Whizzer/Stanley Stewart)

Affiliations: Exiles (Beak/Barnell Bohusk, Blink/Clarice Ferguson of Earth-295, Longshot, Morph/Kevin Sydney of Earth-1081, Sabretooth/Victor Creed of Earth-295, Sasquatch/Heather Hudson of Earth-3470, Spider-Man/Miguel O'Hara of Earth-6375's 2099 AD), Fantastic Four of Earth-1610 (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Susan Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Mysterium, Spider-Man of Earth-1610 (Peter Parker), Squadron Supreme of Earth-3196 (Arcanna/Arcanna Jones, Blur/Stanley Stewart, Hyperion/Mark Milton, Nighthawk/Kyle Richmond, Power Princess/Zarda), Ultimates of Earth-1610 (Captain America/Steve Rogers, Iron Man/Tony Stark, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Thor, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff), X-Men of Earth-1610 (Colossus/Peter Rasputin, Cyclops/Scott Summers, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Wolverine/Logan)

Enemies: Blue Eagles, Grandmaster, Global Directorate, Hulk of Earth-1610 (Bruce Banner), Institute of Evil (Ape X/Xina, Dr. Decibel/Anton Decibel, Foxfire/Olivia Underwood, Lamprey/Donald McGuiggin, Mink/Julie Steel, Quagmire/Jerome Michaels), Master Menace (Emil Burbank), Nick Fury of Earth-1610, Proteus of Earth-58163 (Kevin MacTaggert), Scarlet Centurion (Nathaniel Richards), Victor Van Damme of Earth-1610

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "James Doe" (human alter ego), "The Watcher" (nickname given by Mysterium)

Base of Operations: Utopia Island;
    formerly Jonesville, Sylvana;
    formerly Squadron Satellite, Earth's orbit;
    formerly the Skrull homeworld, Andromeda galaxy

First Appearance: Squadron Supreme I#1 (September, 1985)

Powers/Abilities: Like all Skrull Deviants, Sk'ym'x can mentally alter the unstable molecules of his body, making them pliant enough to enable him to assume other forms through muscular expansion and contraction. As a genetically engineered "Super Skrull," Skymax possesses a range of powers denied "ordinary" Skrulls. He has super strength (lifting 5 tons), as well as superhuman stamina and durability superior to that of both humans and Skrulls. He can manipulate ambient cosmic energy to achieve various feats, from turning invisible to erecting invisible fields of force. Furthermore, he has control over ambient heat energy, allowing him to generate superheated plasma which he can use to cover (parts) of his body with flame. Skymax can fly, using mental stimulation. Skymax can communicate telepathically. A trained Skrull soldier, he can operate his people's advanced space-faring ships and is proficient in the use of most forms of Skrull military armaments (see comments).

History:
(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Hoping to defeat their bitter enemy the Kree after a millennia old struggle, the shape-shifting alien Skrulls developed a special genetics program designed to create an army of Super Skrulls, possessing amazing powers. However, the "Devourer of Worlds" consumed the Skrull homeworld (see comments) before the program was fully put into effect, and Sk'ym'x was the only Super Skrull to survive. Piloting a damaged vessel, Sk'ym'x vowed to spend his life searching for others of his kind that might have survived the destruction of their planet. That search eventually led him to Earth but before he could land, his ship gave out and left him stranded near Earth's orbit with no way to escape or repair the damage.

(Squadron Supreme I#4 (fb) ) - Near death, Sk'ym'x and his vessel were discovered by American astronaut Joseph Ledger who entered the craft and managed to pull out Sk'ym'x. Introducing himself as "The Skrull," the grateful Sk'ym'x awared his savior an energy synthesizer he called a power prism which Ledger used to become Doctor Spectrum.

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 (fb) - BTS) - In order to keep a low profile, Sk'ym'x used his shapeshifting abilities to assume human form. Calling himself James Doe, he applied for and got a job as a librarian in Jonesville, Sylvana.

(Squadron Supreme I#1 (fb)) - After meeting and cooperating with fellow heroes Amphibian, Hyperion, Nighthawk, Power Princess, Doctor Spectrum and the Whizzer to defeat a common enemy, Sk'ym'x agreed to Hyperion's proposal to form a team. Calling themselves the Squadron Supreme, the seven heroes vowed to protect mankind.  

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 (fb) - BTS) - In his super-heroic exploits, Sk'ym'x used the alias of the Skrullian Spymaster.

(Squadron Supreme I#9 (fb)) - Early in the Squadron's career, they found themselves the unwitting pawns of Reality-616's Grandmaster who used Skymax and the other heroes in a game of chance against the Scarlet Centurion who had roped the criminals of the Institute of Evil along in a similar way.

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 (fb) - BTS) - While serving with the Squadron, Skymax continued to search for his people, following clues and leads that might indicate some of them were hiding on Earth. After many unfruitful searches, he decided he might well be the last of his kind. Resigned to this fact and in need of solitude, he told the Squadron he was leaving Earth to return to his people while in fact he retreated to Jonesville, Sylvana where he assumed the identity of local librarian James Doe full time.

(Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe I#1 (fb) - BTS) - A few hours before the N^th Man was about to destroy Earth (and the Squadron's plan to stop him had failed), Doctor Spectrum wondered if the whole universe would suffer the fate of Earth. He was reminded of Sk'ym'x who granted him his powers and even the similarly alien Over-Mind. Spectrum figured there must be countless other intelligent species out there and decided to spend his remaining time and energy sending out lightspeed warnings in hopes of contacting someone who would be able to stop the cancerous growth that was the ever expanding Nth Man.

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 - BTS) - In the Squadron's absence, a cabal of political opportunists known as the Global Directorate took over America, yet "James Doe" did nothing to oppose them.

(Exiles I#78 - BTS) - The Global Directorate used voter fraud to secretly steal the elections, making it seem as if their victory was legitimate.

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 - BTS) - When the Squadron Supreme returned home after an extended stay on Earth-616, they were shocked to find their world a shambles and their country ruled by the Global Directorate and their army force the Blue Eagles (soldiers subjected to the Squadron's old b-mod tech to serve blindly). Mysterium, Earth-712's supreme sorcerer, told the Squadron the tide might be turned if they were able to gain the aid of "the watcher," "the dark phoenix" and the "in-betweener." Acting on a hunch, Dr. Spectrum traveled to the Jonesville library at which Skymax used to work.

(Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1) - Even though Skymax used his Super Skrull abilities to remain invisible in a corner of the library, Spectrum's power prism eventually spotted him. Forced out into the open, the ashamed Skymax revealed why he had lied about leaving Earth years earlier. Spectrum then invited Skymax to rejoin the Squadron, promising the Skrull to help find his people and expressing the hope that, at least for the time being, he could try and consider the team members of his clan and Earth his second home. Humbled, Skymax accepted. Reunited with the other founding members on Utopia Island (the "in-betweener" turned out to be Amphibian, and Nighthawk's son Neal was the "dark phoenix"), Skymax  joined them in their assault on the Blue Eagles (the Global Directorate's military force) base, located at the site of the former Squadron City. The Skymaster helped fight off the Blue Eagles until Hyperion confronted their alleged creator Master Menace (only to find Emil Burbank had been forced via the B-Mod to do the Directorate's bidding as well). Hyperion freed Burbank and the team returned to Utopia Isle where they began work on overthrowing the Global Directorate. Though because the Squadron believed their enemies were chosen democratically, they felt any action taken against the Global Directorate would indirectly prove their old reputation as fascist dictators.

(Exiles I#64 (fb) - BTS) - Skymax was present on Utopia Isle when Exiles member Barnell Bohusk appeared out of thin air to request Hyperion (Mark Milton)'s help in defeating "King Hyperion," an insane counterpart who threatened all of reality.

(Exiles I#77) - Just as the Squadron Supreme found themselves under attack from the Global Directorate and the Blue Eagles, with Skymax trying to take down their airforce, the dimension hopping Proteus (Reality-58163's Kevin MacTaggert inhabiting the body of Hulk (John Eisenhart) of Earth-6375's 2099 AD) appeared on Utopia Island. Feigning ignorance but actually on the run from the Exiles, Proteus claimed he'd come looking for Hyperion and proved his trustworthiness by assisting the Squadron in beating back the Blue Eagles. Proteus then told an elaborate lie about being hunted by the Exiles, who had turned evil shortly after Hyperion had assisted them. Properly baited, the Squadron immediately attacked the Exiles as soon as they blinked in. Content with having distracted his enemies, Proteus teleported away while the fight continued. Skymax matched his shape-shifting abilities against Morph (Kevin Sydney).

(Exiles I#77 - BTS) -Although the two seemed equally matched, the Skrullian Skymaster eventually beat his opponent and assumed his form.

(Exiles I#77) - Disguised as Morph, Skymax managed to sneak up to the Exiles' leader Blink, casually knocking her out from behind even as the other Squadronners overpowered her teammates.

(Exiles I#78) - Skymax attended the court case the Squadron Supreme held against the Exiles in the High Judicial Temple on Utopia Isle. Still believing Proteus' claims the Exiles were evil, Nighthawk charged the interdimensional heroes with crimes against nature, history and the human race itself. If they were found guilty, the punishment would be life imprisonment. The Exiles balked against this, calling the trial a mockery but Skymax assured them that "our league exists to serve justice." Using Doctor Spectrum's prism as a make shift lie detector, the Squadron heard testimonies from the various Exiles.

(Exiles I#78 - BTS) - In the Exiles' headquarters the Panoptichron, Heather Hudson watched the trial unfold and began to worry. Unable to extract her teammates due to Dr. Spectrum throwing up a force field around the Judicial Temple, she was forced to improvise. Checking the Panoptichron's files for any data on Earth-712, Hudson learned about the Squadron's actions in the past and realized they were in no position to judge anyone.

(Exiles I#78) - Using the Panoptichron's hologram array (thereby appearing as the Timebroker), Hudson made her presence known on Earth-712 and interrupted the trial. With the advanced technology of the Panoptichron, she showed both teams the truth about their mission and the various successes and setbacks they'd had to endure. Experiencing the Exiles' impressive track record, having helped "fix" dozens of alternate realities, Hyperion was ashamed since the Squadron hadn't even been able to save their own world. Heather Hudson then supplied them with evidence of the Global Directorate's voter fraud, taken directly from their own files. After leaking this evidence to the world's media, the Squadron and the Exiles invaded the Global Directorate's headquarters to depose the dictators. In the aftermath, Skymax watched as Power Princess temporarily joined the Exiles in their hunt for Proteus. As the interdimensional heroes left, Hyperion told Skymax and the others they'd better make sure Power Princess has a world worth coming home to.

(Ultimate Power I#1 - BTS) - Reed Richards of Earth-1610 ("Ultimate Earth") sent out a series of dimensional probes designed to look for a cure for his friend Ben Grimm's transformation. Unbeknownst to Reed, these probes were altered by Doctor Doom (Victor Van Damme) on orders of Nick Fury. Instead of collecting data, the probes caused unbelievable devastation in multiple realities, including Earth-31916. As a result, Earth-1610's heroes found themselves under attack from Earth-31916's super-powered operatives the Supreme Power, who had traced the destructive probe back to its source.

(Ultimate Power I#7) - After a long, convoluted fight, the Ultimates' reality altering Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) used her unpredictable powers to inadvertently summon Nighthawk and the other members of Earth-712's Squadron Supreme to the fight going on between the two teams in and around Earth-1610's Washington D.C. The newly arrived Hyperion furiously announced they'd make everyone pay for the damage done to their world.

(Ultimate Power I#8) - As the three teams of heroes tore into each other, the Squadron realized they were quantum duplicates of Earth-31916's heroes, so in synch they shared half their powers and even finished each other's sentences. Hoping to salvage the situation, Nick Fury of Earth-1610 decided to unleash his reality's Hulk, who was ready to destroy everything in his path.

(Ultimate Power I#9) - As his teammates Nighthawk and Whizzer fell before the Hulk, Skymax devised a plan that would not only contain the Hulk, but allow the Squadron to return home as well. Ordering heavy hitters like the two Hyperions, Dr. Spectrums and Thor to mount a coordinated attack, Skymax changed into the Hulk in order to buy the others time, which resulted in him getting sorely beaten. At the same time, the Scarlet Witch, Earth-712's Moonglow and Earth-31916's Arcanna put the finishing touches on a spell that made sure "all things went back." Skymax and the other Squadron members returned to Earth-712.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald (writer), Bob Hall (pencils), John Beatty (inks).

    As most people undoubtedly know, the Squadron Supreme started out as Marvel's take on  DC's Justice League of America with Hyperion subbing for Superman, Nighthawk as Batman and so on... However, by the time the Squadron got its own limited series in 1985, they had yet to introduce a Martian Manhunter type character. That's why Mark Gruenwald came up with the concept of the Skrullian Skymaster and retroactively made him a founding member of the team who quit well before the Squadron's first encounters with Earth-616. In an ironic twist: while the Martian Manhunter is deathly afraid of fire, Skymax actually generates flames.
    As the one who delivered the power item that granted Dr. Spectrum his Green Lantern-esque abilities, Skymax also fills the role of DC's Abin Sur.
--Snood

    Speaking of generating flame... Suspension of disbelief or not, it is a rather big coincidence that the first Super Skrull to roll off the assembly line in the reality of Earth-712 has the exact same powers as Kl'rt, Earth-616's Super Skrull who was specifically tailored to have all the abilities of the Fantastic Four, who don't even exist on Earth-S.

    The devourer of worlds seems like a likely counterpart of Galactus; and the Skrull world that Galactus devoured in Earth-616 in Fantastic Four I#258 was Tarnax IV.
--Snood

    SW summoned the 712 Squadron, so how would they know this was where the probe that damaged their world originated from? They hadn't traced it back - they'd been summoned. When the 712 Squadron turned up in Ultimate Power, it appeared from their dialogue that their world had been devastated by Ultimate universe probes, just like the Supreme Power Earth. However, this wasn't the case; the 712 gang mention that they are effectively lip-synched to their Supreme Power counterparts, repeating what they are saying word for word. Plus, the 712 guys showed no inclination of wanting to hang round to get redemption against whoever did the theoretical damage to 712. 712 wasn't damaged; the 712 guys were plucked from their own world by random reality manipulation, and found themselves forced to repeat the angry dialogue of their counterparts.
--Loki

    Skymax received profiles in Avengers: Roll Call I#1 (2012) and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#12 (1986)

    Unless otherwise specified, all locations and beings related in this profile refer to Earth/Reality-712 versions.

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Skrullian Skymaster should not be confused with

• Super Skrull, Kl'rt, Earth-616's original Super Skrull @ Fantastic Four I#18
• Power Skrull, Paibok, scientifically augmented Skrull soldier @ Fantastic Four I#358
• Velmax, Skrull lieutenant crash-landed on Earth, became the patriotic First Line co-founder Effigy @ Marvel: The Lost Generation I#12
• Martian Manhunter, member of an extradimensional league of heroes dedicated to fight for justice @ JLA/Avengers I#1
• or any other "Skrullian" or "Skymax" characters 
  

    Searching for a way to move amongst humanity without attracting attention, Sk'ym'x used his shape shifting powers to adopt the alternate identity of James Doe. He applied for a job as librarian in Jonesville, Sylvana which he kept while serving with the Squadron. However, when he decided to quit the team and lied about returning to space to continue the search for his people, he actually assumed the identity of James Doe fulltime and, allegedly, never broke character even during the Squadron Supreme's absence. Shortly after the Squadron Supreme returned, Doctor Spectrum visited the Jonesville library on a hunch. "Doe" used his powers of invisibility in an attempt to elude Spectrum, but the Power Prism picked up his energy signature anyway. After accepting the invitation to rejoin the Squadron, the Skrullian Skymaster apparently retired his James Doe persona.

-- Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1

images: (without ads)
Avengers: Roll Call, Skymax entry (main image)
Squadron Supreme I#4, p12, pans3&4 (saved and helps create Doctor Spectrum)
Exiles I#77, p23, pans3&4 (poses as Morph)
Exiles I#78, p5, pan3 (serves a league of justice)
Ultimate Power I#9, p5, pans1&2 (confers with Quicksilver)
Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1, p37, pan7 (as James Doe)

Appearances:

Squadron Supreme I#1 (September, 1985) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Bob Hall (pencils), John Beatty (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme I#4 (December, 1985) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Bob Hall (pencils), Sam de la Rosa (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe (November, 1989) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Ryan (pencils), Al Williamson (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Squadron Supreme: New World Order I#1 (September, 1998) - Len Kaminski (writer), Anthony Williams (pencils), Andy Lanning (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Exiles I#64 (July, 2005) - Tony Bedard (writer), Mizuki Sakakibara (pencils & inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Exiles I#77 (April, 2006) - Tony Bedard (writer), Jim Calafiore (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Exiles I#78 (May, 2006) - Tony Bedard (writer), Jim Calafiore (pencils), Mark McKenna (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Ultimate Power I#7 (October, 2007) - Jeph Loeb (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Bill Rosemann, Ralph Macchio (editors)
Ultimate Power I#8 (December, 2007) - Jeph Loeb (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Bill Rosemann, Ralph Macchio, Lauren Sankovitch (editors)
Ultimate Power I#9 (February, 2008) - Jeph Loeb (writer), Greg Land (pencils), Jay Leisten (inks), Bill Rosemann & Ralph Macchio Lauren Sankovitch (editors)