Moonstone

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Doctor Karla Soften first appeared in Captain America issue 192. Back then, she had no powers but she was still as evil as her future identity, the villainous Moonstone, would be. Karla began her life in high society only to become the poorest of the poor after the death of her father. Her mother was forced to work three jobs just to attempt to keep them afloat. Karla’s relationship with her Mom was far from a good one. Her mother, stressed and overwhelmed, became abusive. Karla promised herself one day she would be wealthy again and make a name for herself in the world. Her hatred for her mother was intense and only grew as the years passed by. Karla managed to make it through college and became an extremely proficient psychologist and psychiatrist. Later she ran across Lloyd Block, the original Moonstone, and manipulated circumstances so that the moonstone which gave him his abilities fell into her possession. In Hulk 228, with the moonstone under her command, she took the name Moonstone after the source of her power and battled the Hulk himself. Soon there after, she joined the Masters of Evil and spent years as part of that team under various leaders, such as Baron Zemo and Egghead, battling the Avengers.

After the events the Onslaught saga, while most of Marvel’s flagship characters such as Dr. Doom, The Fantastic Four, and The Avengers were presumed dead and existing on an alternate Earth created by Franklin Richards, she served as part of a team villains who took the guise of heroes known as the Thunderbolts led by Baron Zemo under the new identity of Citizen V. She eventually betrayed the team in attempt to gain more power, a running theme throughout the course of her life. None-the-less, the team continued to exist and she remained a part of it.

Eventually, Karla became involved in a romantic relationship with the hero known as Hawkeye. She turned on him as well and ultimately used Zemo’s experimental “transnormal energy” grow even more powerful. It took the combined might of both the Thunderbolts and the Avengers working together to stop her.

The Thunderbolts’ team was once again broken apart only to be reformed, this time in service to the US government, as part of the legislation passed during Marvel’s Civil War event. The Thunderbolts mantle of leadership was passed to the borderline insane Norman Osborne. Its members included the likes of the psychotic Venom, the Radioactive Man (on loan to the US from his home country), Songbird (one of the team’s remaining good-natured characters), a hyper powered Speedball seeking “Penance” for his part in the events leading to Marvel’s Civil War, and the serial killer and long time Daredevil foe, Bullseye. These dark and homicidal characters give the Thunderbolts title new life and returned the comic to its roots of villains pretending to be heroes.

During the events of Secret Invasion, much changed for the Thunderbolts team. Thunderbolts Mountain was attacked by a skrull super-warrior who had been programmed to fully and firmly believe he was the late Captain Marvell. This skrull revealed to Moonstone that the stone which gave her the powers she wielded was of Kree origin and promptly turned off her abilities for the course of his battle with the team.

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