History
Origin[]
Velmax was a Skrull Lieutenant working as a scout for the 21st Observation Corps who, like the vast majority of members of his race, possessed the ability to shapeshift.[3]
Roswell UFO Incident[]
In 1947, Velmax and his commanding officer Zuhn were sent on an observation mission to Earth, for the purposes of conquest and annexing the planet into the Skrull Empire. While observing the Earth over the American Southwest, they were detected by an US Force jet. The incursion damaged their ship and they crashed in Roswell, New Mexico. Recovering the from the crash, Velmax and Zuhn were discovered by discharged soldier Jacob Scott, who shot Zuhn and then tried to flee, ending in a fatal car crash. Velmax decided to continue his mission by co-opting Scott's identity. He then placed Zuhn in a Med Pod before military officials arrived. Posing as Scott, Velmax used a cover story to avoid incarceration and continued his mission. Using Scott's position Velmax entered into politics and rising high into the ranks of the United States government over the years eventually securing a position State Department. Velmax then used his position to try and relocate his ship and the med-pod that contained Zuhn so he could try and find a way back home.[4]
1950s[]
However over the years Velmax began to love American culture and rethink his position on Skrull conquest of the Earth.[4] By the early 1950s, Velmax had infiltrated Operation: Deep Freeze, the project that saw to the containment of the 1950s Captain America and Bucky. When the project considered placing installing a new Captain America, Velmax briefly consider posing the role but abandoned the notion as it would have required him to develop another cover identity that was fraught with many personal complications.[5]
In 1958, Velmax learned that his ship was being kept at a military facility located on Long Island. Using his position in the State Department, he convinced the fledgling First Line to assist him in investigating a security breach at the facility. Their arrival coincided with a Skrull spy (unknown to Velmax was Zuhn) also attempting to recover the ship, resulting in an American scientist being mutated into a monster by the ships defences. This monster also attracted the attention of the Monster Hunters. While the Monster Hunters and First Line fought the monster, "Scott" and Yankee Clipper went inside to stop the spy. Chasing Zuhn into the Skrull Saucer, Velmax was blasted with the ships defences destabilizing his shape-shifting ability while Zuhn escaped. When Yankee Clipper saw "Scott" changing shape, Velmax used the weapon as a means of further securing his cover by pretending he device mutated him and endowing him with super-human powers. After recovery, the First Line invited "Scott" onto the team and he took on the nickname Effigy.[6]
1960s[]
By the Spring of 1961, Effigy had the First Line completely backed by the government. The team was called by Black Fox to San Francisco to prevent the Yellow Claw's most recent attempt to conquer the world, by manipulating the amnesic Sub-Mariner.[7]
On November 21, 1963 Effigy led the First Line to Dallas, Texas to investigate danger in the area, believing that it could threaten the public appearance of President Kennedy. They ended up clashing with the shape-shifting Chimera and the lupine Howler from trying to steal a new propulsion system. Effigy battled Chimera one on one, mortally wounding him forcing Chimera to revert to his natural form -- that of his commander Zuhn. Effigy had to account for his actions to the dying Zuhn and then disposed of his body. When Liberty Girl died in battle, Effigy feared it would be bad press for the First Line, but the death was overshadowed by the Assassination of John F. Kennedy that happened the next day.[8]
In the mid 1960s, Effigy and the First Line joined forces with the Asgardian thunder god Thor in stopping the Nazi war criminal the Rumor from turning children into his obedient army through the manipulation of the Olympian love goddess Venus.[9]
By 1969, Effigy had fully embraced the American way and eventually repaired his Skrull saucer so that it was capable of flying in space. When he learned that Skrulls intended to interfere with the Apollo 11's historic Moon Landing, he mobilized the First Line to fly to the Moon and prevent the Skrulls, and their hired Earth criminals. Effigy destroyed the Skrull ship and most of their Earth benefactors were slain or captured.[10]
1970s[]
In 1972, when President Nixon threatened to shut down the First Line during the height of the Watergate Scandal. Black Fox convinced Effigy to do something to stop Nixon before he could reveal their identities. Effigy used his powers to learn damning information about Nixon and as "Deep Throat" he acted as the informant that eventually brought on Nixon's resignation.[2] In the aftermath of Watergate the First Line publicly broke up but continued to operate covertly.[4]
1980s[]
In 1980, Effigy recruited the Eternal Brain to assist the team in rescuing Mister Justice and kidnapped diplomats from the nation of Halwan. The mission didn't go as plan when his teammate Blackjack was killed and Mr. Justice managed to break free on his own. This earned the ire of Black Fox, who quit the team.[4] Later that decade, Effigy moved the team into the Carmody Institute. During an attack on the facility by Warlord Kro and the Deviants, Effigy had his first encounter with Cassandra Locke a time-traveller from the 22nd century of Earth-700 who had been exploring the First Line's history and warned them of an impending Skrull invasion of Earth.[1] Effigy soon learned that the Skrull invasion was coming soon when scientist Reed Richards captured a Skrull spy named Zankor.[11]
Effigy soon gathered all the surviving members of the First Line, past and present, as well as their foes to confront the Skrull invasion fleet. There were heavy casualties on both sides and Effigy was forced to set the mothership to overload it's warp-feed phase-shifters. During his attempt to do so, Effigy was fatally shot and reverted to his true form, revealing his true nature to his teammates Pixie and Oxbow. Effigy confided to them that all he wanted to be was a good American and then died. Pixie then activated the overload causing the entire Skrull armada to explode.[3]Attributes
Powers
Abilities
- Leadership: Velmax was appointed leader of the First Line team, and lead the team successfully, until his death stopping the Skrull invasion.
Paraphernalia
Transportation
See Also
- 11 appearance(s) of Velmax (Earth-616)
- 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Velmax (Earth-616)
- 4 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Velmax (Earth-616)
- 8 image(s) of Velmax (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marvel: The Lost Generation #10
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Marvel: The Lost Generation #7
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Marvel: The Lost Generation #12
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Marvel: The Lost Generation #9
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #1
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #2
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #3
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #4
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #5
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #6
- ↑ Marvel: The Lost Generation #11
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #3
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Book of the Dead 2004 Vol 1 1