M147--Moonstone by Green-Mamba on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

Moonstone

Real Name: Karla Sofen

First Appearance: Captain America #192 (December 1975)

Doctor Karla Sofen was a psychiatrist and former student of the controversial Johann Fennhoff. Hired as a psychotherapist for SWORD agents who were involved in making first alien contact, Sofen quickly proved her worth in helping Carol Danvers come to terms with her abduction at the hands of the Kree and her newfound powers. Thereafter, Carol became SWORD's premier hero as "Ms. Marvel," and Sofen felt it was all thanks to her. In the coming years, Dr. Sofen developed a fixation on Carol Danvers. At first it seemed Sofen desired recognition for her role in her birth as a superhero, but more and more it became about Danvers' power; the power to have absolute control over one's own destiny. Sofen's fixation on her former patient became so unhealthy that when she saw an opportunity, she took it--even if it meant dealing with the Masters of Evil.

Secretly obtaining a SWORD cache of Kree weaponry obtained during one of their attacks, Sofen had it delivered to Zemo's associates in exchange for subjecting her to a treatment with something the SWORD techs called a "moonstone." A type of incredibly powerful crystal created by the Kree in an effort to replicate the effects of an Infinity Stone--albeit, at many magnitudes of power lower--they were highly sought after technology the Kree used to power their accuser class biomechanical sentries. SWORD had drawn up plans to hypothetically use their one obtained moonstone to empower agents, and Sofen requested Zemo have his people conduct the procedure on her. Implanted directly into her spinal fluid, the energies of the moonstone transformed Sofen's body into a dynamo of incredible power, with energy manipulation powers seemingly near those of her former patient, Carol Danvers. But before she could fully get used to her transformation, SWORD agents lead by Danvers herself, having tracked her smuggling scheme, arrived and shut the operation down.

Arrested and held within the supermax Raft facility without trial, Sofen's resentment only grew in confinement. Following the fall of the Avengers, Sofen was among the super powered criminals given a chance on the government's Thunderbolts initiative. At first unsure of the move to playing hero, Sofen was convinced to join by the Thunderbolts' chosen field leader, Zemo, who let her in on his plan to destroy the team and super hero credibility. Records of her betrayal of SWORD were wiped clean, and she was introduced to the world as the Thunderbolts' second in command: Moonstone.

----

But would she really go along with Zemo's plan or would she find it hard to give up the power that comes with being on a super team...? Probably the latter.

I had a lot of ideas for Moonstone that I had to get through so there's a lot up there. I always think of her as one of the central Thunderbolts members, so I had to work that in there (see the Red Hulk entry for more on the Thunderbolts in my universe), but that comes with a lot of baggage as she has to be a supervillain first. So it's like writing two origins at once! I also kind of like the dichotomy between her and Carol Danvers that erupted from the Dark Reign era in the comics and thought it would be a fun way to reimagine her--Danvers' own therapist who becomes super obsessed with her. And then there is the matter of the moonstone itself. Lots of things to juggle. I think I got the important parts all down.

What is funny about Karla is that for such a prominent character in the comics she doesn't really have a singular iconic look. She's got her original Masters of Evil look, her Meteorite look from the original Thunderbolts run, her old school Ms. Marvel look from Dark Reign, the white and gold outfit that originates from Civil War, etc. So I had to pick just one. I went with her white and gold look as I thought it felt the most "moonstone" to me, if you catch my drift--like, the white of the moon, the gold of a valuable stone. If that makes sense. Here I have interpreted it as a Kree made uniform, probably one the Thunderbolts got from SWORD or something--something they could use to sell the public on her being a hero, as it resembles Danvers' Captain Marvel outfit. The gold parts are intended here to be an exposed undersuit of sorts that might be something that helps control her moonstone powers--the sinewy texture of the undersuit is intended to kind of resemble some of her Meteorite looks. The markings on her face were a late design addition I made. They're supposed to be exposed portions of the moonstone physically altering her body, like she's slowly turning into the moonstone itself. It helps make her look ever so slightly twisted in comparison to her more heroic outfit.