Objective: Seize The Power of the Kree!

 

Can YOU

Name This Marvel Villain??

Having had his fill of supplying subversive organizations like Hydra with weapons, Professor Kerwin Kormin* (say that name five times fast--you and your silly alliterative names, Marvel) strikes a deal with Mac Gargan, the Scorpion, to sell his lab and enjoy his "retirement." But whatever he may tell Gargan, be assured that this man isn't interested in moving to Florida and settling into a condo on the beach.

*Or Korman--in his first appearance, the name is given both ways. You might want to call him by his villain name, just to be on the safe side.

Instead, as he explains to his new cronies in another subversive organization, Advanced Idea Mechanics, he's targeting the new super-heroine who calls herself Ms. Marvel--having segued to setting up a new criminal career for himself, complete with a deadly outfit and, to go along with it, a deadly name.

Yes, the Destructor**, whose formidable attack beam can scatter A.I.M. agents and, as we'll see, even give Ms. Marvel pause. But what specifically does he want with this new hero on the block? For the answer, we need to backtrack a little to a battle which took place at a Kree outpost within a Florida cavern between Captain Marvel and his former Kree superior, Yon-Rogg, in the shadow of an outlawed device called the Psyche-Magnetron.

**Not to be confused with the Disruptor, or the Destructor you may know from Atlas Comics.

Soon enough, Kormin locates his prey battling the Scorpion and takes her by surprise. Barely out of the gate at this point, Ms. Marvel is conducting her affairs in learn-as-you-go mode, still discovering the curious fluctuations in her abilities; nevertheless, Kormin finds out the hard way that he battles a resourceful young woman.

Unfortunately for Ms. Marvel, A.I.M. forces prevent her from capturing Kormin (and thus learning about their own operations)--having their own plans for this man who has failed them, for the first and last time.

Later, in a battle between Ms. Marvel and the Doomsday Man in space, the two come crashing down to Earth and eventually end up in a certain Florida cavern where she finally regains her memories and realizes that she and Carol Danvers are one and the same. To the Doomsday Man, however, she's still a prime target, and they re-engage in battle--but guess what interloper has escaped his captivity and is now close to the power he craves?

Kormin's moment comes when Ms. Marvel finally downs the Doomsday Man but is herself overcome by Kormin before she can act. Yet in finding what he seeks, he learns that he's helpless to control it, and pays the price. And in his rage and frustration, he lashes out at the cavern in all directions, giving Ms. Marvel only moments to escape what becomes Kormin's tomb.

In a later Avengers issue, we would find that Kormin had survived his fate, only to have bonded to the Doomsday Man's shell as a power source. Both would have further dealings with A.I.M. as well as Ms. Marvel before the latter finally separated the two, with Kormin's gratitude apparently an indication that the criminal career of the Destructor was finis.