CAPTAIN MARVEL I: Page 2 of 7

Publication Date: 13th Mar 2019
Written By: Monolith.
Image Work: Douglas Mangum.
Biography

BIOGRAPHY - page 2

Eventually, the base commander General Bridges invited "Walter Lawson" into an off-limits hanger where Mar-Vell discovered the remains of Sentry #459, recovered by the military after its fight with the Fantastic Four. The Army and NASA wanted to determine the nature of the robot, and Bridges wanted Lawson's input on the project. The invitation was over the objections of security chief Carol Danvers, who had not yet been able to fully verify Dr. Lawson's credentials, given the reclusive nature of the scientist up until that point. Despite her suspicious nature and security concerns, Carol Danvers welcomed "Lawson" to the project.

When Mar-Vell observed the Sentry, Yon-Rogg observed it as well over the wrist monitor's feed. Seeing an opportunity, Yon-Rogg sent a stream of ionized electrons to Earth that reactivated the Sentry. The evil colonel knew the robot would lash out after its captivity, and reasoned Mar-Vell would attempt to oppose the Sentry, partially in order to maintain the sanctity of his infiltration mission but also because of his growing affection for humanity. Sure enough, Mar-Vell responded when General Bridges called for Lawson at his hotel, adopting his battle helmet and uniform and returning to the Cape at full speed. [Marvel Super-Heroes (1st series) #13]

When Captain Mar-Vell arrived at Cape Canaveral, he and the rampaging Sentry addressed each other by rank, but neither was willing to budge from their conflicting missions for the Kree. American soldiers overheard the exchange and misinterpreted Mar-Vell's name as a new super-hero named "Captain Marvel." Mar-Vell defended the base as he tried to keep the Sentry away from the nuclear stockpile that could destroy all of Cape Canaveral. In their running battle, he encountered Carol Danvers and twice saved her life from the sinister Sentry. Captain Marvel finally deactivated the Sentry with a magnetically-charged bolt from his Uni-Beam and proved himself a hero to the people of Earth. Additionally, when Yon-Rogg tried to report Mar-Vell's attack on the Sentry as a disloyal act, Imperial Minister Zarek and Prime Accuser Ronan revealed they knew Yon-Rogg had reactivated the Sentry for his own personal vendetta. They cautioned him against doing anything in the future to jeopardize the Kree mission. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #1]

Mar-Vell wasn't completely in the clear, however. When "C. Marvel" began receiving phone calls for Walter Lawson from Cape Canaveral, the hotel's night manager Jeremy Logan became suspicious that his two-named tenant might be a foreign spy. Logan rummaged through Mar-Vell's room and found his carryall cylinder of Kree design. Logan drove off towards the Cape with the cylinder as evidence of his suspicions, unaware the cylinder was equipped with a nuclear device to prevent tampering. On top of that, the Skrulls became aware of the Kree interest in Earth and Emperor Dorrek VII sent the Super-Skrull to determine what Captain Mar-Vell was doing on such a backwater planet.

All parties involved met on a deserted stretch of road, where Super-Skrull pinpointed Mar-Vell by the unique signal emitting from his cylinder, which was still in Logan's possession. Captain Marvel found Logan just as Super-Skrull ripped him from his car, stole the cylinder and tossed the manager over a cliff. Mar-Vell intercepted Logan's fall, but the brunt of the impact still knocked the man into a coma. Captain Marvel and Super-Skrull fought their way onto Cape Canaveral, only for Super-Skrull to overpower his foe and take him hostage. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #2]

Mar-Vell recovered from the attack and barely escaped his shape-changing pursuer. Seeking refuge aboard the Helion, Mar-Vell sought leave to return to Earth and prevent the nuclear detonation of his cylinder. Yon-Rogg petulantly refused to allow it, so Mar-Vell went over his head and contacted Zarek and Ronan. The Kree overseers had little concern for humanity, but they did grant Mar-Vell permission to return and seek vengeance on the hated Skrulls. Back at the Cape, Mar-Vell successfully deactivated his cylinder and tricked the Super-Skrull into turning his own hypnotic eyes on himself. Captain Marvel commanded the entranced Skrull to leave Earth behind, flying to the farthest reaches of space. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #3]

As Walter Lawson, Mar-Vell was on stand-by when Cape Canaveral launched the Argos III rocket into space. However, the Argos didn't reach space but flew off course, crashing in the seas near New York City, complete with its deadly bacteria payload. Yon-Rogg had received authorization to test human response to a potential germ warfare attack, and ordered Mar-Vell to prevent anyone from stopping the release of the bacteria. When Namor the Sub-Mariner came to the assistance of the Navy searching for the rocket, Captain Marvel was forced to confront the sea king directly, under the watchful eye of Yon-Rogg and his wrist monitor. During their struggle, Mar-Vell guided Namor to the rocket and, with a precision punch, struck Namor at just such an angle that he triggered the rocket's detonation without releasing the bacteria at the same time. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #4]

After this display, Yon-Rogg brought formal charges up against Mar-Vell, accusing him of the high crime of being Un-Kree. Ronan heard the arguments about Mar-Vell's behavior on Earth and weighed it against his decorated history as a loyal soldier to the Kree. The Prime Accuser decided to hold his decision in abeyance for the time being, warning Mar-Vell that his future actions would determine his fate. In the matter of Jeremy Logan, Ronan initially ordered the comatose night manager killed to maintain Mar-Vell's cover, but he accepted Mar-Vell's alternate plan to merely use a mind eraser on the man, avoiding the extra scrutiny a dead body might draw. Despite the menace of the Metazoid (ironically trying to kidnap Walter Lawson for a foreign power), Mar-Vell succeeded in infiltrating Logan's hospital room and erasing any suspicions about Walter Lawson or C. Marvel from the man's mind. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #5]

When another scientist at Cape Canaveral arranged an experiment using a solar amplification light cannon, "Walter Lawson" struggled to point out the potential dangers of Solam without breaking his vow not to reveal Kree science or knowledge to mankind. Unable to articulate his fears to Bridges or the still-suspicious Carol Danvers, Mar-Vell stood by helplessly as the solar weapon powered up and then unexpectedly summoned a Solam energy being from the depths of space. Captain Marvel made an appearance at the Cape in order to stop the creature, linking the computers of MIT, CalTech and Carnegie to the Cape and performing mathematics only theoretical on Earth in order to precisely overload the Solam creature without making it too powerful. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #6]

Again, Yon-Rogg brought Mar-Vell before Ronan on charges, lampooning his decision to share Kree knowledge for the humans' protection. Mar-Vell defended his actions by pointing out the destruction of Cape Canaveral would be the end of his infiltration, forcing the surveillance mission to start over from scratch. A sample of Kree knowledge was a small price to pay so that "Walter Lawson" still had access to Earth's scientific and military secrets. Ronan accepted Mar-Vell's reasoning, but agreed with Yon-Rogg that Mar-Vell's loyalty needed confirmation. He ordered Mar-Vell to release the lethal Virus Z-3 in a human community in order to determine if humans had the same chemical immunity to the airborne plague as Kree. Horrified by his orders, Mar-Vell nevertheless accepted the mission.

Carol Danvers' suspicions about Walter Lawson had only grown after he refused to back up her story about seeing a UFO (actually the Helion making an emergency landing on Earth for repairs). Carol ironically turned to the trusted Captain Marvel to help her investigate the suspicious Lawson. Mar-Vell got close to Carol in order to guide her investigation, and managed to alter a record of Lawson's fingerprints to match his own. However, Yon-Rogg saw their interactions as an opportunity and began pushing Una to watch Mar-Vell getting closer to the Earth woman, stirring feelings of jealousy in the medic.

An opportunity to use Ronan's deadly virus arose when Quasimodo attacked the Cape, seeking the computer energy generated during the Solam incident. Captain Marvel battled the Living Computer and his ability to animate machines to do his bidding. Their battle carried them to an animatronic amusement park filled with life-like robot mannequins. Through some sleight-of-hand with his wrist monitor, Captain Marvel defeated Quasimodo and caused the robot people to fall lifelessly to the ground while simultaneously releasing Virus-Z-3, leaving Yon-Rogg and Ronan satisfied that he had killed a community of genuine humans with the virus. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #7]

When an Aakon trading vessel crashed down near Earth space, Colonel Yon-Rogg was eager to seize personal glory and attacked the injured band of traditional Kree enemies. During the fight, Yon-Rogg ordered the release of unsafe nuclear weaponry against Mar-Vell's objections, but was fortunately cut down before the order was carried out. Mar-Vell leapt into the fray, killing the Aakon commander to save Yon-Rogg and leading the Helion crew in a tactical retreat to protect the fallen colonel.

Captain Marvel's investigation into Walter Lawson with Carol Danvers led to some surprising revelations. The real Lawson's home residence was an elaborate cliff side chalet, far beyond Lawson's expected income. Mar-Vell discovered the mold for an android assassin called Cyberex inside the home laboratory, and evidence that Lawson had been building weapons for a sinister criminal group known as the Organization. Indeed, the Organization was now hunting Lawson for cutting contact with the group in the middle of his work, and the Cyberex had been activated with programming to hunt down and eliminate Lawson.

Cyberex kidnapped Carol Danvers while both were looking for Walter Lawson. Captain Marvel pursued Cyberex but was stymied by the Aakon, whom Yon-Rogg had lured to Mar-Vell by sending radio impulses to his wrist monitor. Captain Marvel managed to turn the Aakon and Cyberex against one another, then defeated Cyberex after the Aakon weakened it. Having once again rescued the beautiful security officer, Captain Marvel received the passionate gratitude of Carol Danvers, which Yon-Rogg made sure Una was there to witness. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #8-9]

Ronan the Accuser became aware of the Organization through Yon-Rogg's reports, and ordered Mar-Vell to make friendly contact with the criminal cell, as potential allies in the overthrow of Earth's legitimate governments. However, Number One of the Organization had Carol Danvers kidnapped again in order to lure out Walter Lawson. While rescuing Carol from the Organization, Mar-Vell completely dismantled the group, exposing them to the lethal effects of Lawson's temporal weapon, the Eon Ray. In doing so, he had now directly contradicted the orders of the Prime Accuser. Mar-Vell had finally gone a step too far, and Ronan had Yon-Rogg order the execution of Captain Mar-Vell for treason. [Captain Marvel (1st series) #10]

Chaos ensued during the final moments before the Kree firing squad executed Mar-Vell. The Aakon arrived seeking revenge and killed Mar-Vell's executioners. Yon-Rogg was forced to retaliate against the Aakon for the death of his men, despite knowing that the conflict would provide Mar-Vell with cover to escape. Meanwhile, Una had traveled down to Earth in an attempt to stop the execution, but was struck by a stray shot during the battle and was mortally wounded.

A furious Mar-Vell saw her fallen form and finally lashed out at Yon-Rogg directly, blaming his commanding officer for Una's fate. When he realized Una was still alive, Mar-Vell broke off his attack and tried to get her to treatment. Believing only Kree medicine could save her, Mar-Vell desperately broke into Cape Canaveral and stole a lunar rocket off the launch pad in full view of Bridges and Carol Danvers. Mar-Vell sacrificed his reputation in a futile hope of getting Una to a Kree medical center galaxies away and Captain Marvel was branded a traitor by the people of Earth. All this was in vain, however, for Una soon expired aboard the rocket before Mar-Vell could find a way to stabilize her condition. Mar-Vell landed on an asteroid and fashioned a tomb for his beloved, leaving her body in the near-vacuum of space to rest for all eternity.