unidentified alien race

Classification: Semi-humanoid reptilian (or piscine) extraterrestrial race 

Location/Base of Operations: Unidentified planet, unidentified star system, unidentified galaxy

Known Members: Planet-Taker Corps (notably Skrang and their chief)

Affiliations: None known

Enemies: Fox-People, humanity;
    possibly other races

First Appearance: Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (June, 1964)

Powers/Abilities: Slightly larger than human, this race may or may not have had some degree of superhuman strength and/or durability.

    They may or may not have been poikilothermic ("cold-blooded," with a body temperature/metabolism controlled by the ambient environment).

    They have highly advanced technology. 

    They can travel at least interstellar distances via starships that could escape radar-detection via "sub-anti-matter" particle construction. They also had spectro-scanners to identify desired objects/technology from at least hundreds of miles away.

    They have remote-controlled drone able to liquefy metal.

    They possess other drones that can magnetically levitate a large guided missile and generate a force field.

    They utilize the "star energy" scalpel, and have other devices that can project nets of electromagnetic power; drones that can dispense cosmic sleeping vapor; and at least one device that emitted ultra-meson rays able to disintegrate multiple skyscrapers.

Traits: At least a sub-section of the race, the Planet-Taker Corps, have imperialistic goals, seeking to conquer other planets.

    Most of this race lived in fear of the Fox-People who shared their planet and were apparently far more powerful than them. 

Type: Bilaterally symmetric semi-humanoid reptilian (or piscine)bipeds
Eyes: Vertical slit pupils with either white irides and sclera or some other variation
Fingers: Three (plus opposing thumb)
Toes: Unrevealed
Skin color: Green (scaled)
Hair: None (Although the chief of the Planet-Taker Corps seemed to have a mustache-like appearance over his lip)
Average height: Approximately 7'

History:
(Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (fb) - BTS) - As children, at least some of Skrang's people played with toys that included guided missiles (or had instrumentation similar to a guided missile).

(Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (fb) - BTS) - Skrang was a member of the Planet-Taker Corps, apparently composed of some portion of his unidentified reptilian race. Despite plans of interplanetary conquest and incredibly powerful weaponry, they lived in fear of their rivals, the Fox-People, who shared their planet. Skrang's people were never able to defeat the Fox-People whom they considered vastly more powerful than they were.

    The chief of the Planet-Taker Corps presumably assigned Skrang to conquer Earth (or perhaps just to find a planet to conquer).

(Tales of Suspense I#54/3) - Approaching Earth in his starship, Skrang landed in a secluded wooded area a short distance from some "old age home" (see comments). Seeking to test the local weaponry, he used his ship's spectro-scanner to locate a powerful submarine and then sent a drone that traveled overnight and then emitted a ray that liquefied the submarine; as they were at port, the crew escaped safely.

    Skrang next located a guided missile at a military installation, and he sent another drone that levitated the missile high into the air. When the military present fired on the drone, it used a force field to deflect their bullets and then bring the missile back to Skrang. Via a device utilizing harnessed star energy as a scalpel, he disassembled the missile, examined its internal structure. Considering the missile to be no threat and having no further need for it, Skrang then used the device to destroy it utterly.

    Skrang then considered that he could overcome anything with which the humans defended themselves.

    However, Miss Hotchkiss, a resident of the nearby old age home, took a walk into the woods and approached Skrang's starship. Seeing the fox fur collar -- which included a fox head -- around her neck, Skrang erroneously concluded that even this seemingly frail woman was more powerful than the Fox-People. He then rushed back into his ship and took off, vowing that he would never again dare to enter this accursed solar system.

    Back on his home planet, Scragged reported his findings to the chief of the Planet-Taker Corps, who apparently agreed with his assessment...

Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Dick Ayers.

    Either Skrang's people do not exhibit sexual dimorphism, or no females were seen, or they reproduce asexually.

    This story fit the pattern of the various stories that we generally consider as having occurred at the time of publication rather than the fixing them to the sliding timescale, although it was well after the super hero stories (in this case Iron Man) took over the main focus of the comics, and so it is possible that it took place at the same time as the Iron Man vs. the Mandarin story in that same issue. I prefer the former, as the lack of super hero involvement fits with the much smaller number of super humans around that time.

    I would like to think that Skrang's race eventually figured out their mistake and sent back either Skrang or other representatives but they ran afoul of the "Man on the Wall," who would have been Nick Fury at that point...and maybe members of the First Line...

    Skrang's planet is described as "far distant" from Earth, but that's obviously a relative term, as any other star system is far distant from Earth's.

    The "old age home" is presumably some sort of retirement and/or assisted living community, but it was open enough to allow an elderly woman to wander the forest without any supervision/companion.

    The nation, state, city, etc. were not identified in the story, but the story seems most likely to have taken place somewhere in the USA.The military figures shown were in US uniforms.

    In the infinite Multiverse, every reality exists, and there exist realities matching dreams, ambitions, plans, etc. And so, there is a world where Skrang's conquest took place as he planned it: Reality-64358

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
This unidentified extraterrestrial race should be distinguished from:

• other unidentified races, reptilian, piscine, or otherwise
  

Seeking to test the local weaponry, Skrang used his ship's spectro-scanner to locate a powerful submarine and then sent a drone that traveled overnight and then emitted a ray that liquefied the submarine.      As the sub had been at port, the crew escaped safely. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3

Skrang next located a guided missile at a military installation, and he sent another drone that levitated the missile high into the air.      When the military present fired on the drone, it used a force field to deflect their bullets and then bring the missile back to Skrang. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3

Via a device utilizing harnessed star energy as a scalpel, Skrang disassembled the missile and examined its internal structure.      Considering the missile to be no threat and having no further need for it, Skrang then used the device to destroy it utterly. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3 Note: I am not sure whether "star energy" is plasma or whether it is just solar radiation/light/heat collected from close proximity to the star...or something else.

Some device, whether part of Skrang's ship's weaponry or a separate device he brought with him, could be used to project electromagnetic nets (at least three at a time) that could each trap multiple aircraft within them. (Tales of Suspense I#54/3) - Plotting his conquest of Earth, Skrang considered that if the humans sent aircraft, he would trap their ships in nets of electromagnetic power. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3 Note: Technically, the electromagnetic nets and whatever generated them did not appear in Reality-616, they were just shown as part of Skrang's imagination of how his conquest would proceed. However, as every reality exists in an infinite Multiverse, there is a reality where Skrang did proceed with his conquest: Reality-64358

A number of drones can fly through the air and project "cosmic sleeping vapor" that can cause even disciplined soldiers to rapidly fall asleep. (Tales of Suspense I#54/3) - Plotting his conquest of Earth, Skrang considered that if the humans used ground forces, he would incapacitate them with cosmic sleeping vapor. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3 Note: I'm not sure what "cosmic sleeping vapor" is, other than that it is likely something of extraterrestrial origin.      Technically, the cosmic sleeping vapor-releasing drones did not appear in Reality-616, they were just shown as part of Skrang's imagination of how his conquest would proceed. However, as every reality exists in an infinite Multiverse, there is a reality where Skrang did proceed with his conquest: Reality-64358

Some device, whether part of Skrang's ship's weaponry or a separate device he brought with him, could be used to project ultra-meson rays, which could rapidly disintegrate large amounts of solid matter, including sections of cities. (Tales of Suspense I#54/3) - Plotting his conquest of Earth, Skrang considered that he would punish humanity for their resistance by using ultra-meson rays to disintegrate their skyscrapers. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3 Note: So, I'm not a physicist, but a quick review re-educates me that mesons are subatomic particles composed of quarks. They are smaller than protons or neutrons, and they only last for tiny fractions of a second, decaying to electrons, neutrinos, and photons. Outside of the nucleus of an atom, mesons appear as short-lived products of collisions of particles made of quarks, such as cosmic rays. They are also produced in particle accelerators.      It would seem likely that "ultra-mesons" may be higher-energy/more massive masons, such as those created during the Big Bang or that are created in particle accelerators.      So, somehow, these rays presumably harnessed the energy of or were otherwise composed of "ultra-mesons." Technically, the ultra-meson rays and whatever generated them did not appear in Reality-616, they were just shown as part of Skrang's imagination of how his conquest would proceed. However, as every reality exists in an infinite Multiverse, there is a reality where Skrang did proceed with his conquest: Reality-64358

The Planet-Taker Corps was apparently composed of some portion of the unidentified reptilian race that existed on an alien planet.      Members included Skrang and the chief of the Corps, as well as at least one unidentified member, all seen in the image to the right. Whether they had a few members or perhaps tens of thousands of members is unrevealed. The population of the race is unrevealed, as is the percentage of that race that were members of the Planet-Taker Corps.      Despite plans of interplanetary conquest and incredibly powerful weaponry, they lived in fear of their rivals, the Fox-People, who shared their planet. Skrang's people were never able to defeat the Fox-People whom they considered vastly more powerful than they were. (Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (fb) - BTS) - As children, at least some of Skrang's people played with toys that included guided missiles (or had instrumentation similar to a guided missile). (Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (fb) - BTS) - Skrang was a member of the Planet-Taker Corps, apparently composed of some portion of his unidentified reptilian race. Despite plans of interplanetary conquest and incredibly powerful weaponry, they lived in fear of their rivals, the Fox-People, who shared their planet. Skrang's people were never able to defeat the Fox-People whom they considered vastly more powerful than they were.     The chief of the Planet-Taker Corps presumably assigned Skrang to conquer Earth (or perhaps just to find a planet to conquer). (Tales of Suspense I#54/3) - Skrang found humanity to be helpless against his advanced technology, and conquest seemed certain, but he mistakenly assumed an elderly woman with a fox collar/scarf to be an indication that humanity was much more powerful than the Fox-People. Terrified, Skrang raced into his ship, fled back to his home world, and reported his findings to the Planet-Taker Corps' chief. --Tales of Suspense I#54/3 Note: As neither Skrang nor other Planet-Takers have menaced Earth in the ensuing decades, I would ASSume that Skrang's concerns regarding Earth were believed by the chief and the rest of the Corps (see comments).

images: (without ads)
Tales of Suspense I#54/3, pg. 1, panel 4 (Skrang, full body);
        pg. 2, panel 3 (ship releasing liquefying drone);
          panel 4 (drone flying);
          panel 5 (drone blasting submarine);
          panel 6 (submarine interior liquefying);
          panel 7 (submarine exterior liquefying);
        pg. 3, panel 2 (drone magnetically levitating missile);
          panel 3 (drone with force field);
          panel 5 (star energy scalpel);
          panel 6 (missile interior);
          panel 7 (missile destroyed);
          panel 8 (electromagnetic nets);
        pg. 4, panel 1 (cosmic sleeping vapor);
          panel 3 (ultra-meson beams);
       pg. 5, panel 5 (Skrang reporting to Planet-Taker Corps)

Appearances:
Tales of Suspense I#54/3 (June, 1964) "Skrang Strikes Tonight!"- Stan Lee (plot/editor), Larry Lieber (script/pencils), Dick Ayers (inker)

First posted: 08/10/2023
Last updated: 08/10/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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