Origin

Micromax is a British mutant and former radio DJ who was recruited by the British intelligence agency FI6. After his formal training to become a secret service agent, he encountered the British mutant team known as Excalibur while on a stakeout watching Druid artifacts after a number of museum thefts. He accidentally named Rachel Summers as the thief after witnessing her fight the actual thief, an invisible superhuman, who was a pawn to sorcerer, Necrom. He was criticized greatly by his handler for this mistake. Desperate to make up for his actions, Micro joined Excalibur in the field until Rachel Summers overwhelmed the sorcerer with the Phoenix Force.

Creations

Micromax was created by writer/artist Alan Davis and first appeared in Excalibur issue 44 (1991). According to Alan Davis, Micromax was slated to become the newest member of the Excalibur team, but plans never materialized since Alan Davis left the book before he could bring him into the team.

Major Story Arcs

Excalibur

After Micro's handlers demise, Micro was reluctantly transferred to Rescourses Control Executive (RCX). Disinterested in continuing to work for the government, Micro left the service after being mindcontrolled during a conference on super-human affairs. Soon after, he was ambushed by the Cherubim, who were working for the RCX, and brought back into the fold. After he was knocked unconscious, Micro's true form (short, paunchy, and balding) proved shapeshifting was an aspect of his powers.

Scientists working for RCX took a special interest in testing the limitations of his powers. These tests were torture for Micro. Among his fellow prisoners were other members of Excalibur. Luckily, when Nightcrawler and Cerise ran a rescue mission to save their teammates, they liberated Micro at the same time. Once freed, he was extended membership to the team.

During his initiation training session with Nightcrawler, they were approached by the Starjammers, who were sent to retrieve Cerise, a fugitive from the Shi'ar Empire. Cerise went willingly, but Micro joined a group of Excalibur members who followed after her. After locating her on a prison planet, the truth of her actions was revealed: she witnessed the military overreach and felt guilt for not doing anything. Her verdict was upheld, but Lilandra gave her a new sentence to serve by her side, sending the Excalibur team home.

After returning home, he resigned from the team to take a security role at the Brand Corporation in America.

Civil War

On M-Day, almost every mutant on Earth lost their powers. There was only 198 of them remaining, Micromax being one of them. Most of them retreated to the X-Mansion for sanctuary. To make matters worse, Iron Man had sponsored a Superhuman Registration Act, to force every superhuman to register with the government. As a result, the X-Mansion turns into an internment camp, surrounded by ONE Sentinels. Most of the mutants want to remain neutral, but Micromax accepts an invitation from Bishop to join ONE, along with Sabra.

Micromax’s team tries their best to bridge the gap between the government and the mutants, fighting for amnesty. However, an anti-mutant bigot in ONE, General Lazer, has been abusing Johnny Dee’s powers to force certain mutants to act out, including Cyclops’ assault on Bishop. Micromax was forced to fight back and ultimately got stabbed by Shatterstar. It forces him to revert to his true form, a chubby little person.

During the fight Lazer’s true intentions were revealed, causing Bishop’s team to defect. Working with the other mutants they were able to stop Lazer and lock up Johnny Dee.

Vanguard

Micromax joined a US superhuman black ops team called Vanguard. Unfortunately, he was captured while infiltrating an al-Qaeda cell in miniature form. Under threat to his niece, Maya, Scott revealed secrets of his team to the terrorists resulting in the presumed death of Colonel America. Instead, the Colonel had survived and was given new orders to take out the team now that they were compromised. The team’s psychic, Retcon, warped his memories into believing he was successful. To keep the illusion, the other members, including Micromax, agreed to fake their deaths.

Secret X-Men

Micromax wouldn’t resurface until Professor X and Magneto tamed the sentient island, Krakoa, into a safe nation for all mutantkind. There, the premiere X-Men were chosen by popular vote at The Hellfire Gala. At the second Hellfire Gala, Micromax was one of the mutants to campaign but lose.

While chatting with Siryn, they decided to take care of Gorgon, who was acting erratically after a run in with some gala guests. These guests turned out to be Orchis snake monsters who exposed Gorgon to a gas that overloaded his stone gaze. It started to affect inanimate objects, so Micromax and Siryn brought him to the beach where they hoped no one would be. They found the other election losers fighting the snake monsters.

The snakes tried using more gas on these X-Men, exposing a few of them. Micromax started to grow uncontrollably, ripping through his gala attire which was not made of unstable fabrics. On Bling’s recommendation, Micromax shrunk down past his typical size until the effects wore off.

Ultimately, they used Gorgon’s stone gaze to defeat the snake monsters.

Coven Akkaba

Scott attempted a radio comeback with a podcast back in the United Kingdom. He ended up getting dragged into a conservative media hit piece against Betsy Braddock’s tenure as Captain Britain. He specifically questioned her devotion to the country since she was neither living there or featuring the Union Jack flag on her costume. When he pitched a hit piece against sexual indecency at Krakoa’s Green Lagoon bar to the propaganda masterminds, Morgan Le Fay and Rueben Brousseau of Coven Akkaba, they snapped at him for being a mutant. Scared of where that might go, he attempted to shrink and escape but was snatched by Le Fay. His blood would power Le Fay’s location spell to find variants of Betsy across the multiverse.

When Scott’s home universe variant of Betsy caught on to Coven Akkaba’s plans, she put together a new STRIKE team. One member, Kevin Mulhearn, was tasked with saving Micromax, which was quite easy thanks to jar he was placed in.

Powers & Abilities

Size Manipulation: Micromax can increase or decrease his size and mass at will.

• Shapeshifting: By selectively changing the size and mass of parts of his bodies, he can manage a limited amount of shapeshifting.
• Limitation: Shrinking to fast can cause him to blackout.

Density Manipulation: Micromax has a limited control over his density, increasing his strength along with his size.

Power Suit: Micromax's suit is made of unstable molecules so that it matches his size and density.

• Bluetooth Audio: Micromax has an MP3 player built into his suit so that he can listen to music in the field.

Character Profile

• Height: Variable, typically 6'1"
• Weight: Variable, typically 175 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair Color: Brown
• Citizenship: British, Krakoan
• Place of Birth: Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England
• Marital Status: Single
• Occupation: Podcast host; Formerly MI13 Agent, FI6 Agent, Radio 1 DJ, Brand Corporation Security Guard
• Known Relatives: Maya (niece)
• Distinguishing Features: Scott's normal body is a chubby little person.

Variants

• House of M: When Scarlet Witch recreated the world with mutants as the politically dominant class, Micromax was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Ultimate Universe: On Earth-1610, the original Ultimate Universe, Scott Wright was one of 20 mutants recruited by Kitty Pryde for Utopia, a mutant sovereign state on a Utah reservation granted to them by President Captain America.