MICROMAX
Real Name: Scott Wright
Identity/Class: Human mutant (U.K. citizen)
Occupation: Former F.I.6 government agent, Radio 1 Disc Jockey, Brand Corporation Security Chief
Group Membership: MI-13;
formerly Vanguard, Excalibur, R.C.X.,
F.I.6
Affiliations: Aurora, Bishop, Black Widow (Yelena Belova), Blade (Eric Brooks), Brigadier Theobald "Inky" Blott, Stacy Dolan, Firebird, F.I.6, Dominic Fortune (David Fortunov), Gavin, Hercules (Heracles), O*N*E, le Peregrine, Retcon, Sabra, She-Hulk, Sid, Alistaire Stewart , Dai Thomas, Thor (Odinson), Union Jack (Chapman), Emelia Witherspoon
Enemies: 198, Advocates, Brain Drain, Cherubim, Colonel America, Domino, Sidi Fayad, Kang, Necrom, Peter, R.A.I.D., R.C.X., Seraphim, Shatterstar, Sky Pilots, X-Men (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman), Jaafar Yoosuf
Known Relatives: Maya (niece)
Aliases: Mr. Right
Base of Operations: London, England, U.K.
First Appearance: Excalibur I#44 (Late November, 1991)
Powers/Abilities: Micromax is said to have total mastery of his physical dimensions, enabling him to control his size and density. The limits of this ability is unrevealed; he has been seen to vary in height between less than 1 inch and 20 feet tall. His durability increases proportionate to his density, and he presumably gains an unspecified level of superhuman strength when he grows. His power also permits a degree of shapeshifting; he customarily appears slightly taller and more muscular than he really is, and modifies his facial structure to enhance his looks. It is unclear whether he might be potentially able to shift more dramatically, like Mystique, or use this bodily control to stretch like Mr. Fantastic. He tends to rely too much on his increased height and strength in combat, and is not a particularly skilled fighter. Micromax has a sound system built into his costume, with the control system built into right palm; he likes to listen to music when fighting.
Height: 5'7" (variable)
Weight: 140 lbs. (variable)
Eyes: Brown (variable)
Hair: Brown (variable)
History:
(Excalibur I#49 (fb) -
BTS) - Scott Wright learned he had the mutant power to control his size
and mass. Soon after this, he was recruited into F.I.6, a clandestine
U.K. government agency concerned with preserving national security.
(Excalibur I#61 (fb) - BTS) - Scott used his power to alter his features, hiding his scrawny build, pot belly and receding hairline. With his new looks, he built himself a career as a top radio disc jockey.
(Excalibur I#45 (fb) - BTS) - Alerted to mysterious thefts of druidic artifacts by F.I.6 Esper Division, which were suspected to somehow threaten national security, Brigadier "Inky" Blott ordered surveillance operations at sites the Espers predicted thefts would occur. Micromax was assigned to wait within each site, his ability to be tiny and discrete combined with his giant form's combat potential making him the ideal man on the spot.
(Excalibur I#44) - With back-up and tech support monitoring from a van outside, Micromax staked out the interior of Arfurs Antiques on Broadway Road, Bexleyheath. Late in the evening, he witnessed Phoenix (Rachel Summers) enter the shop, and seemingly grasp a ceremonial dagger with her telekinesis. Unaware she was actually battling an invisible entity which was the true thief, Micromax grabbed Phoenix from behind, only to be thrown forcefully away by her telekinesis. Getting back on his feet, Micromax grew until he towered over her, but again she easily threw him with her telekinesis, this time out the shop frontage. Following the stunned agent, Phoenix halted as she was confronted by armed F.I.6 agents; getting back up and shrinking back to his normal size, Micromax informed Phoenix she was under arrest for robbery, until another agent, Mortimer, corroborated her tale of an invisible thief through UV images. The wind taken out of his sails, Micromax weakly informed the departing Phoenix to stay out of government operation in the future.
(Excalibur
I#45) - Micromax took part in another F.I.6 stakeout, this time in the
Major Mainwaring Museum in Warmington-On-Sea. As the invisible thief
struck again, Micromax once more came into conflict with another party
trying to stop the theft--this time Nightcrawler and his allies the
Technet, who had been likewise asked to watch the museum, in their case
for Commander Dai Thomas of the Police's Inter-regional Task Force.
Frustrated, Micromax berated Nightcrawler, angry that another member of
Excalibur had (in his mind) gotten in the way of a government operation
and let the thief escape once more. Their heated debate was interrupted
by the arrival of both Thomas and Blott, who began to argue
jurisdiction with one another.
Four days later Micromax was on another stakeout, inside the Brum-Art Gallery in Birmingham. Feeling his repeated failure to stop the thefts were making him look bad, he complained over his radio, asking why the Espers couldn't pinpoint the specific artifact he needed to guard. Blott ordered him to maintain radio silence, seconds before the distracted Micromax was knocked out cold, struck by a packing crate wielded by the invisible robber. He awoke to find Nightcrawler and the Technet had succeeded in overcoming the thief, a monstrous homunculus. Dai Thomas watched gloating as Blott berated his unfortunate super-agent for letting F.I.6's rivals win the day.
(Excalibur I#49) - Alerted by Esper Division of the location of the person who had psychically controlled the artifact thief, F.I.6 mediators moved into a Docklands warehouse. Blott called Micromax in, but to the agent's annoyance, kept him as back-up, informing him that his failures had made F.I.6 look incompetent. However the target, Necrom, swiftly slew the mediators inside, blowing the warehouse up in the process, and moved out to finish off the remaining agents. Temporarily stunned by the blast, Micromax recovered in time to witness Necrom grab Blott (the last F.I.6 member other than himself not yet slain) by the throat. Micromax grew to giant size as he moved in to save his superior, but Necrom paralyzed him within a forcefield. Unable to move, Micromax watched as Blott was drained of his lifeforce, and Necrom reached out to do the same to him. Realizing he could not afford to let Necrom touch him, Micromax desperately shrank as fast as he could, passing out from the strain. Mistakenly believing Micromax had been killed, Necrom departed. Soon after police clean-up crews, alerted to the disaster by Dai Thomas' clairvoyant ally Emelia Witherspoon, arrived on the scene. Micromax awoke and grew to normal size, informing Thomas of the threat of Necrom. Witherspoon sensed Necrom was heading for Excalibur's lighthouse base; when Micromax declared they had to warn the group, he was told that the team's radio phone was dead.
(Excalibur
I#50) - Racing to the lighthouse in a helicopter, Thomas, Witherspoon
and Micromax witnessed Necrom attacking Excalibur's allies Feron and
Kylun. Micromax ordered the pilot, Harris, to hold position above
Necrom, then jumped out. As he dropped towards the evil mage, Micromax
increased his size and density until he achieved the mass and velocity
of a small meteor just before he landed on Necrom's head. Micromax was
temporarily stunned, briefly returning to his real mass. As he got his
breath back Micromax chided himself for his reckless stunt, telling
himself he was lucky to have survived, but stating he was glad to have
avenged his fellow F.I.6 agents by killing Necrom...just as Necrom
smashed free of the rubble. Just in time the startled Micromax was
pulled out of reach of Necrom's life-draining hands by the crimson
energies of Cerise, another of Excalibur's allies. Necrom saw Kylun
(whose magical blades could do him real damage) racing towards him, and
retreated into Excalibur's lighthouse. Micromax joined Kylun, Cerise
and Feron in pursuing him.
As Excalibur confronted Necrom, the team's allies (Micromax included) were gripped by an irresistible urge to flee the area, the result of a telepathic warning from Roma of the lighthouse's impending destruction. Boarding Excalibur's jet, Excalibur's allies piled into the team's plane and flew to Braddock Manor. Moments after they landed, they were joined by Excalibur, teleported there by Roma. The entire group went into the Manor to figure out what to do next, now that they had saved the universe.
(Excalibur I#51 (fb) - BTS) - Micromax probably left Excalibur in the Manor resting, presumably to file reports on the demise of F.I.6.
(Alpha Flight I#108) - Micromax was chosen as a temporary representative spokesperson for the U.K. at the first Pan-European Conference on Super Human Affairs, and was introduced to Alpha Flight, guests of the event, over a video link. However, like the other European representatives, Micromax was hypnotized by the Nazi super-villain Brain Drain to kill his country's leader. Shrunk, Micromax snuck into 10 Downing Street, only to be intercepted by Aurora of Alpha Flight, who overpowered him before he could grow again. Afterwards, with all the attacks averted by Alpha Flight and the mind-controlled heroes freed, Micromax attended the conference in Switzerland.
(Excalibur I#61 (fb) - BTS) - Micromax turned down an offer from Nigel Orpington-Smythe to join R.C.X., instead concentrating on his show business career. He was soon being courted by television companies.
(Excalibur
I#61) - Scott finished his afternoon slot on the radio; when his boss,
Sid, praised his work, Scott reminded him his contract was due for
renewal, and that TV was beckoning. Scott was impressed to find that
S.T.Y. Television had apparently sent a pretty chauffeur to collect him
for a 3 p.m. meeting, but when he entered the car park, he found it in
darkness. He was ensnared by the Cherubim Fern, as his chauffeur's
appearance flowed to reveal another Cherubim, Lump; the pair informed
Scott that R.C.X. supremo Orpington-Smythe was displeased that Scott
had ignored his invitation. Growing, Scott broke free, but was knocked
out by the electric touch of yet another Cherubim, AC-DC.
(Excalibur I#62 (fb) - BTS) - Micromax was transported to Cloud Nine, R.C.X.'s base in Liverpool.
(Excalibur I#62) - There he underwent a series of medical tests designed to evaluate the limits of his powers.
(Excalibur I#64) - Following the tests, Micromax was placed in stasis alongside other R.C.X captives, including many of his Excalibur friends.
(Excalibur I#65) - Revived by Nightcrawler, Micromax joined his friends battling R.C.X.'s combat troops, the Cherubim, Sky Pilots, Seraphim and Advocates, a fight which ended with Orpington-Smythe being ousted as head of R.C.X.
(Excalibur I#68 (fb) - BTS) - After Excalibur returned from a trip to the future, Micromax joined the team.
(Excalibur I#68) - His attempts to organize the team and arrange practice sessions did not go down well with most of his grieving teammates, who were mourning the loss of Captain Britain in the timestream during their return. Kylun however agreed to a sparring session, finding Micromax a quick learner. Their bout was interrupted by the arrival of the Starjammers, who had come to apprehend Cerise for war crimes, and who swiftly overpowered both of them. Nightcrawler's attempts to mediate with the Starjammers were halted when Micromax re-entered the fray; as Excalibur joined the fight, Micromax grappled with the reptilian Ch'od. Cerise surrendered herself, ending the fight, but after the Starjammers teleported out, most of Excalibur (Micromax included) followed through the Star Gate, intending to rescue her. They arrived on a prison planet moments later.
(Excalibur I#69) - Nightcrawler decided that he would need to enlist the Starjammers help in rescuing Cerise. With a shrunken Micromax clinging to his tail, Nightcrawler teleported up to the Starjammer's ship, arriving in the garbage chute as it vented into space. After narrowly avoiding an impromptu spacewalk, the pair made their way to the bridge; the Starjammers leader Corsair was already uncomfortable with Cerise's conviction, and was easily convinced to investigate further. The group returned to the surface, where they were given details of Cerise's alleged crimes.
(Excalibur I#70) - Micromax and the others witnessed Cerise kill the assassin Fang with her bare hands in self-defense. Shortly afterwards they experienced first hand the crimes Cerise was accused of, through visions from the Oracle Cryan; with Cerise wishing to remain behind to atone, Excalibur returned home to Earth.
(Excalibur I#71 - BTS) - Micromax went to the States to weigh up a job opportunity as the head of security at the Brand Corporation.
(Excalibur I#125 (fb) - BTS) - Micromax accepted a job as Chief of Security in the Brand Corporation's New Jersey branch. After a while, they terminated his service.
(Excalibur I#125) - A month or so after he was fired, Micromax attended the Otherworld wedding of his former teammates, Brian Braddock (Captain Britain) and Meggan. At the reception he caught up with Kylun, comparing experiences since each had left Excalibur.
(Avengers III#46) - When the forces of Kang the Conqueror launched a number of attacks across the globe, Micromax helped repel the attack on France alongside French hero le Peregrine and Avengers Firebird, Thor, She-Hulk and Hercules.
(Union Jack#1 BTS/ Union Jack#4 (fb) - BTS) - In a bid to make his superior look incompetent, Deputy Director Gavin of MI-5 deliberately covered up information received pertaining to an imminent terrorist attack by R.A.I.D. on London, and sent Micromax and Excalibur away from the U.K. capital following up a false lead to ensure maximum loss of life and thereby maximum public outcry.
(Union Jack#4) - Micromax returned to London after Union Jack and his impromptu allies had stopped R.A.I.D.'s assault. He congratulated the injured Union Jack for a job well done, and told him he could go home and rest, while Micromax and Excalibur handled the clean-up.
(Civil War: X-Men#1/Civil War: X-Men#2 (fb) - BTS) - After several mutant internees (the 198) escaped from the Xavier Estate, Bishop recruited Micromax and Sabra to help him recapture them. Micromax joined under instructions from the British government, placed under Bishop's command for the duration.
(Civil War: X-Men#2) - Micromax joined his teammates at O*N*E's Sentinel Base in New Mexico, and watched as a Sentinel recently damaged by the X-Men underwent repairs. Asked by Bishop if he had any doubts about what he was doing, Micromax confirmed he was following orders and would keep any personal doubts to himself. Informed that the 198 were hiding at a base in the Nevada Desert, Micromax, Bishop, Sabra, and O*N*E's Sentinels deployed there, discovering upon their arrival that the X-Men had got there just ahead of them. Things looked like they would be settled in a peaceful manner, until a third party (Johnny Dee) took over the X-Man Cyclops, causing him to blast Bishop.
(Civil War: X-Men#3) - Sabra ordered Micromax to tackle Cyclops while she rescued Bishop. Growing in size and density, he waded in, sending first Cyclops and then Beast flying. As the battle continued to rage, the 198 joined in; Micromax pulled Archangel out the air to stop his attacking Sabra, then turned his attention to Shatterstar, only to be run through by Shatterstar's sword. Micromax collapsed, reverting to his normal size; as the battle was called to a halt, a medic declared his wound bad, worse than could be treated in the field.
(Civil War: X-Men#4) - Micromax recovered consciousness to find Sabra kneeling over him while he received emergency medical treatment. She noted with affectionate humor his true appearance, mentioning that she didn't know he was a shapeshifter and that he must have been glad he wasn't depowered during M-Day. The medic noted that Micromax was slipping away, and there was no more that could be done for him; at Archangel's suggestion they injecting some of his healing blood into the wounded man, and with his condition stabilized Micromax was rushed to hospital by helicopter.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#1 (fb) - BTS) - Micromax was recruited into Vanguard.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#1) - Micromax hid inside the head of the terrorist Sidi Fayad in Pakistan. Micromax grew inside Sidi's head, causing his death in front of Sidi Fayad's Jihad brother Jaafar Yoosuf.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#10 (fb) ) - Micromax was caught by Jaafar after killing Fayad. Micromax was tortured until he gave up everything he knew about Trenton Craft and Vanguard.
Micromax helped Yoosef, who had possessed Stacy Dolan, to get into Craft's apartment without being seen. Yoosef apparently killed Craft and was then helped out of the apartment by Micromax.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#5) - Micromax informed Blade, Belova and Dominic Fortune about Craft's death.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#7) - As Dolan again battled Dominic, Yelena joined Blade, Micromax & Retcon in confronting her.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#8) - Micromax waited as Blade decided not to kill Dolan. The Thing then arrived (under Jafar Yoosuf's control), and attacked, battling Micromax and the others.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#9) - While Micromax and the others fruitlessly battled the Thing, Dolan located Yoosuf and interrupted his possession, freeing the Thing from his control.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#10) - Micromax knocked out Thing by leaning on his carotid then revealed that he had been compromised in Pakistan and forced to reveal Vanguard's existence. He was surprised when Trenton Craft walked into the room.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#11) - Craft was aware of Micromax's betrayal of Vanguard but wanted to wait until all the players were assembled in one place. He explained that he didn't harbor any feelings of malice toward them but they would be unable to continue living with the knowledge of his or Vanguard’s existence, Craft believed that he had erased Vanguard and Dolan with a single thought.
(Marvel Comics Presents II#12) - Unknown to Craft, the members of Vanguard didn't die. Thanks to the powers of Retcon, Craft left the room convinced he eliminated Vanguard and Dolan. The team managed to go their separate ways.
Comments: Created by Alan Davis and Mark Farmer.
We don't see Micromax in Excalibur I#51, an issue set almost immediately after I#50, given that we see most of the team asleep after their exhausting battle with Necrom. Dai Thomas is seen, and mentions he left the team resting the night before, and it makes sense to me that Micromax would have to leave and give a debriefing--after all, he was the sole survivor of a covert government agency, so someone is bound to have wanted to ask him a few questions.
Okay, supposition on his radio career: First, he must have built it after he found his powers--even though his face wouldn't have been seen by his listeners, a high profile career like Radio 1 DJ would have made his face well known, so he must have known how to change his looks before hitting it big. Given his comments about being new to the use of his powers in Excalibur #49, my hypothesis suggests the radio career would have to be fairly new. I've also ASSumed he didn't work for F.I.6 before discovering his powers. He doesn't seem to have any real skills as an agent, depending too much on his powers, so I can't see why they'd recruit him prior to his powers emerging. I'm envisioning his history thus--scrawny and not exactly a handsome guy, presumably leading an average and not overly exciting life, learns he can change to look like a hunk and has superpowers, so first he offers his services to the government, wanting to be James Bond, and then when that doesn't work, he tries out for showbiz, first radio and with eyes set on TV.
Of course, I could be completely wrong. As an alternate hypothesis, he might have always had his feature-altering abilities, and built a DJ career, before F.I.6 tracked him down, recruited him, and taught him to use his powers to change his size more dramatically (which would still fit the comments about not yet being used to size changing).
In Excalibur #65, Micromax appeared in his handsome, hunk-build look, even though his mutant powers were being blocked by the Warpies. Quite how this worked, especially given that he reverted to his scrawny look when knocked unconscious, I'm not sure--if his powers were blocked, he should have been stuck in normal form. Possibly the Warpies allowed that much of his power to work--after all, the same Warpies didn't bother blocking Kylun's sound-replication powers, as they didn't deem those a threat, so they may have had enough control to allow Scott this minimal power use while blocking his more combat-useful abilities.
A small history addition: Micromax doesn't appear in person in Excalibur I#71, but Nightcrawler takes the time to explain what has happened to all the Excalibur members who vanished suddenly between issues with the change of writers.
Micromax is seen on the cover of Avengers: The Initiative#1.
Profile by Loki.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Micromax has no known connections to
images: (without ads)
Excalibur I #49, p2, panel 4 (main image)
Excalibur I #65, p16, panel 2 (headshot)
Excalibur I #45, p4, panel 1 (big Micromax)
Excalibur I #49, p14, panel 4 (little Micromax growing)
Excalibur I #61, p16, panel 7 (Scott's true appearance)
Appearances:
Excalibur I#44 (late November, 1991) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#44 (December, 1991) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#49 (April, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#50 (May, 1992) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Sven Larsen (idea), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#61 (late January, 1993) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#62 (February, 1993) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (pencils/inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Excalibur I#64-65 (April-May, 1993) - Alan Davis (writer/pencils), Mark Farmer (inks), Terry Kavanagh (editor)
Alpha Flight I#108 (May 1992) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Tom Morgan (artist), Rob Tokar (editor)
Excalibur I#68 (August 1993) - Scott Lobdell (plot), Dan Slott (writer), Steve Buccellato (pencils), Harry Candelario (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#69 (September 1993) - Scott Lobdell (plot), Evan Skolnick (writer), Steve Buccellato (pencils), Don Hudson (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#70 (October 1993) - Scott Lobdell (story), Richard Ashford (script), Ken Ashley (pencils), Don Hudson, Rick Parker, Agop Gemdjiank & Danny Taverna (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#71 (November, 1993) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Ken Lashley, Darick Robertson & Matthew Ryan (pencils), Cam Smith, Randy Elliot, Randy Emberlin & Mark Nelson (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Excalibur I#125 (October 1998) - Ben Raab (writer), Dale Eaglesham (pencils), Scott Hanna (inks), Frank Pittarese (editor)
Avengers III#46 (November 2001) - Kurt Busiek (writer), Manuel Garcia (pencils), Bob Layton (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Union Jack#1 (November, 2006) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Civil War: X-Men#1-4 (September-December, 2006) - David Hine (writer), Yanick Paquette & Aaron Lopresti (#3) (pencils), Serge LaPointe & Jay Leisten (#3) (inks), Mike Marts (editor)
Union Jack#4 (February, 2007) - Christos N. Gage (writer), Mike Perkins (pencils), Andrew Hennessy (inks), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents II#1 (November, 2007) - Mark Guggenheim (writer), Dave Wilkins (art), John Barber (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents II#5 (March, 2008) - Mark Guggenheim (writer), Dave Wilkins (art), John Barber (editor)
Marvel Comics Presents II#7-12 (May-October, 2008) - Mark Guggenheim (writer), Dave Wilkins (art), John Barber (editor)
First Posted: 03/21/2006
Last updated:
02/06/2019
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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