John the Skrull

John the Skrull is a fictional character, a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appears in Wisdom #1 (November 2006), and was created by Paul Cornell and Trevor Hairsine. As a Skrull, he normally takes the shape of John Lennon.

Fictional character biography

John the Skrull's birth name and background have not been revealed. In 1963, four Skrull agents were sent to Earth, ordered to disguise themselves as the Beatles and facilitate a Skrull invasion of Earth. The four "Skrull Beatles" decided that they would rather remain on Earth, where there was "money and power", rather than help the Skrulls conquer it. John, notably, fell into a relationship with a Kree, Captain Boko of the Kree Liberation Army.^[1]

Some decades later, John comes to be in the employ of the British secret service agency MI-13, investigating paranormal occurrences throughout the British Isles. In this capacity he meets Pete Wisdom, and helps thwart, among other things, a Martian invasion of Britain from an alternate universe.^[2]

At the time of the Secret Invasion, as the Skrull Empire mounts a new invasion of Earth driven by religious prophecy, John, considered a traitor by the Skrull high command, finds himself a target. A Skrull agent posing as Mr. Grimsdale, the chair of the Joint Intelligence Committee, attempts to have the Skrull Beatles all killed as potentially disloyal to the British; only John survives this purge, and the Skrull Grimsdale is unmasked and killed by Wisdom. John joins Wisdom, Captain Britain, and Spitfire, all now recruited by MI:13 to fight off the Skrull attack on the Siege Perilous.^[3][4]

John and the others are captured by the invading Skrulls in Avalon, an interdimensional location central to British magic. This is after multiple battles against many Skrull forces. While angrily insulting the captors, John is executed by a Skrull as an example. Ultimately, all British based Skrulls are killed via a deal Wisdom makes with formerly imprisoned demonic forces.^[5]

Powers and abilities

John's Skrull physiology enables him to shapeshift into virtually any form that he chooses. He normally favours the shape of John Lennon, but has been shown to, for example, grow wings and tentacles to better participate in battle.

Notes

References