Moonstone
Moonstone is a comic book character that first appeared in Captain America Vol. 1 #192
Dr. Karla Sofen is a founding member of the "heroic" Thunderbolts and former member of the Masters of Evil. As a member of Osborn's "Dark" Avengers, she has taken up the mantle of Ms. Marvel.
Origin
Growing up in a California mansion, Karla watched as her father put others before himself while he worked as a butler. After her father's death, Karla's mother was forced to work three jobs just to put her through the best colleges. During this time, Karla vowed to always place herself first, so that she would never end up like her parents. She also vowed to only be around people that she could control. After she Graduated from high school, Karla moved onto college and attended many lectures taught by Doctor Leonard Samson. She ultimately received an M.D. in Psychiatry and built a successful practice for herself. However, Karla was still dissatisfied with having to depend on her clients for income, so she began to work with Dr. Faustus and other criminals to fulfill her lust for power and control. During this time, Doctor Faustus taught Karla some of his methods of psychology in an unofficial capacity, giving her extensive knowledge in this area. Karla was asked to help the prison board with the original Moonstone, Lloyd Bloch, due to the outlandish cost of the cell he was required to be contained in. After learning of it's powers, she devised a way to make him reject the Moonstone, using a hallucinogenic gas which caused him to believe that he was a monster and he reject the stone. When Karla picked up the stone, it was absorbed into her body and she took on it's powers. A new Moonstone was born. Moonstone then joined the Corporation and briefly controlled the Hulk and caused General Thunderbolt Ross to have a nervous breakdown. Craving more power, she stole the Enervator from Dr. Curt Conners in order to go to the moon to attain more Moonstones. After being recruited by Egghead and Baron Heinrich Zemo she joined the Masters Of Evil until she was jailed for her crimes.
Thunderbolts
Fighting against the Secret Empire, Karla became involved with Hawkeye but began to have nightmares about an alien woman. The team was attacked by Scourge and Jolt was unfortunately killed. Karla took her death the hardest and went in search of answers after a fight with the V-Battalion. After trying to get help from the Inhumans she went to the Kree and received the answers she was looking for. The alien woman in her dreams was the previous owner of the moonstone and was influencing Karla's desires to be a hero. The Thunderbolts and Captain Marvel found her and attempted to help her. After talk of removing the stone from her body was rejected, the group opted to leave it in place and instead wipe all the memories of the previous owner from it. This left all of Moonstones decisions and the consequences of them to her. Returning to Earth the team found Jolt alive and well. In spite of this good news Moonstone discovered that Hawkeye's promise of pardons were fake. She exposed him to the rest of the team and went after Scourge and the man controlling him, Henry Gyrich. Their defeat of the Redeemers lead to the revelation that Henry Gyrich was being controlled as well. The team eventually received a full pardon from Valerie Cooper once they gave up their dreams of becoming heroes.
Graviton soon emerged and hired Karla as his teacher. She taught him how to better control his powers and made him fall in love with her. He attacked and killed the Redeemers and held most of the worlds heroes in place, relocating many major cities to the sky. The Thunderbolts reformed only to find Karla at Graviton's side in her hesitation to fight them Graviton's powers imploded and sent the team to Counter-Earth. While there the Thunderbolts had their chance to be true heroes. They helped to save many people and Karla even reshaped the minds of the political leaders in order to give them a new way of thinking. While there, Moonstone took another moonstone from the Phantom Eagle which greatly augmented her powers. The team returned to Earth shortly after leaving the younger members there to continue their work. When her plot against Baron Heinrich Zemo backfired she was left in a coma after he took her stones from her. After some time she was taken by the Commission on Superhuman Activities who used their resources to link her mind with Songbird. The stones were returned to her and she awoke from her coma.
During the Civil War Moonstone was blackmailed into becoming the leader of the team by Norman Osborn ( Green Goblin). Well aware of how important the teams public image was she was very careful to hide the more ruthless side of the team, but was still a less-than-capable leader. Moonstone often clashed with Songbird and even convinced SHIELD agents to give Norman Osbourne placebos rather than is prescribed medication. In a recent battle with American Eagle she was shot through the wrist by a crossbow and ordered Bullseye to cripple him. When four psychic super villains invade the Thunderbolts mountain, they manipulate Karla into attacking Doc Samson, who she had professed a deep seated hatred for. Moonstone managed decently against Sampson, however, when she attempted to attack Penance, he deflected her beam and knocked her through several walls. Although she did manage to survive, it was noted that Moonstone would still require nanosurgery although it would be about two weeks before her body was healthy enough to under go the operation.
Dark Reign
Karla was next seen meditating on Thunderbolt Mountain when Norman Osborn appeared and tossed the original costume of Ms Marvel in her lap. He then convinced her to join his new team of Avengers after he informed Karla that as "Ms Marvel" she would live in a penthouse in New York City, rather than being forced to remain in the Mountain under house arrest. Though curious as to whether she would retain her position as field leader of the team, Karla took the time to appreciate the fact that she was now officially an Avenger. Later, Karla, along with the rest of the "Dark" Avengers were revealed to the public, lead Norman Osborn as the Iron Patriot. As Ms. Marvel, Karla helped to assist Osborn in providing aid to Doctor Doom when he battled with Morgan le Fay. Karla also faced the X-Men in San Fransisco, where she and the rest of the Dark Avengers attempted to deal with the rebelling mutants before they were ultimately defeated on the resurfaced Asteroid M.
War of the Marvels
When Karla later infiltrated an AIM facility in an effort to serve as a liaison for Osborn, she was surprised when their new Storyteller system of genetically-modified MODOC fetuses telepathically asked her for help. After she destroyed the AIM splinter group by redirecting a meteor onto their building, she retrieved the "babies" and stored them at HAMMER HQ. She was later attacked by a mysterious energy being, who also seemed to seek the babies for itself. The conflict over possession of the reality-altering Storyteller fetuses grew and eventually included Deadpool, Wolverine and Spider-Man.
Powers
Karla possesses an M.D. in Psychiatry, however, she also holds extensive knowledge in the area of psychoanalysis due to her time studying under Dr. Faustus. This has helped to make her an expert manipulator.
Karla also has perfect control over her voice. She can alter her pitch and modulation to varying degrees to literally drive a man crazy, as shown with what she did to General Thaddeus Ross.
Characteristics
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 130 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde
Status
Known Relatives: Karl August Sofen (father, deceased), Marion (mother)Citizenship: U.S.A.
Place of Birth: Van Nuys, California
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Former criminal, Psychologist
Education: M.D. in Psychiatry
Alternate Versions
Marvel Zombies
Moonstone appears alongside the Thunderbolts in the Dead Days one-shot of the Marvel Zombies mini-series using her alias of Meteorite. She attacks Thor, pouncing on him but is stunned with a blast of lightning and then destroyed when Thor smashes her head.
Other Media
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Moonstone appears as a villain and boss enemy in the video game, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.
The Avengers: United They Stand
Moonstone appears as a member of the Masters of Evil in the 6th episode of the animated series. the episode was titled Command Decision, in it the Avengers were torn between two leaders, Hank Pym and Captain America. Moonstone along with Absorbing Man and a few other villains worked for Baron Zemo in the animated series episode.
| Super Name: | Moonstone |
| Real Name: | Karla Sofen |
| Aliases: |
Kate Sorenson Meteorite Ms. Marvel Lloyd Bloch Dr. Sofen Karla Sofen Catherine Donovan |
| Publisher: | Marvel Publishing |
| Gender: | Female |
| Character Type: | Human |
| 1st Appearance: | Captain America Vol. 1 #192 |
| Appears in: | 269 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
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