H. WARREN CRADDOCK
imposter
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Extra-terrestrial (Skrull)
Occupation: Skrull spy, Head of the Alien Activities Commission
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Three other unnamed Skrulls, Skrull emperor
Enemies: Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Impersonated H. Warren Craddock and members of the Fantastic Four
Base of Operations: Formerly the Skrull Homeworld;
(presumably), New York City
First Appearance:
(skrull): Fantastic Four#2 (January 1962)
(as Craddock imposter): Avengers I#92 (September, 1971)
Powers/Abilities: As a deviant Skrull, he possesses the ability to shape-shift.
History: (Fantastic Four I#2) - Four Skrulls came to Earth and framed the Fantastic Four by shape-shifting into their forms and committing crimes. According to their plan, the military would destroy the Fantastic Four, leaving the Earth open for conquest. Long story short, the FF foiled the Skrull plot, and cleared their names. Mr. Fantastic then hypnotized three of the Skrulls into believing that they were cows, and he sent them off to graze in the fields of King's Crossing. However, one Skrull got away...
BTS - The remaining Skrull stayed active in his infiltration of Earth, and at one point captured, imprisoned, and replaced the politician H. Warren Craddock.
(Avengers I#92) - After the Avengers defeated Ronan the Accuser and the Kree, the news got out to the public, who quickly became terrified of alien invasions. As a result, the President created a new commission called the Alien Activities Commission to find and contain any alien invaders. "H. Warren Craddock," or rather the Skrull pretending to be him, was appointed as the head of this commission. When asked by reporters, "Craddock" said he would hunt down any and all aliens, and since the Avengers had befriended Captain Marvel, one of the aliens, he would go through the Avengers if he needed to. "Craddock" swayed the public to agree with him through a form of verbal hypnosis.
Later, "Craddock" issued a summons to the Avengers to come to a courthouse for a public hearing about the aliens. "Craddock" headed up the hearing himself. Witnesses were called, including the Fantastic Four, Avengers, and some men who were present when the Avengers fought the Kree. "Craddock" accused the Avengers of aiding the Kree. The meeting ended when Rick Jones dashed out of the room.
(Avengers I#94) - "Craddock" tortured some men trying to get them to admit they were aliens, which they were not. Later, after the Avengers didn't show up for a hearing of the Alien Activities Commission, "Craddock," complete with SHIELD air-ships, tanks, and a court order, surrounded the Avengers Mansion and demanded they come out (What's the crime they committed to necessitate that kind of stuff....who knows?). "Craddock" unleashed three Mandroids upon the Avengers. The Mandroids were men in special suits of armor made my Tony Stark, and trained to take on Avengers.
(Avengers I#95) - "Craddock" looked on in anger and surprise as the Avengers defeated the Mandroids and left. 
(Avengers I#97) - "Craddock" was in the middle of an anti-alien speech, when he was hit by a blast from the mind of Rick Jones, who had accessed the Destiny Force (long story). The blast reverted him to his true form--that of a Skrull. It also paralyzed him, and he was beaten and trampled to death by the alien-fearing crowd. When the Avengers returned to Earth after the conclusion of the Kree-Skrull war, they met the real H. Warren Craddock, who had been captured by the imposter and imprisoned the whole time.
Comments: Skrull version created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, H. Warren Craddock created by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema.
The continuing saga of the Skrull-cows!
Actually, the other three Skrulls overcame their hypnosis and "got away," too. In Avengers I#92, those three impersonated Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, and they demanded the disbanding of the Avengers. In Avengers#93, they posed as the Human Torch (Storm), Mr. Fantastic, and the Thing. They were defeated and their true natures exposed by the real Avengers. I think one of the Avengers remembers: "Weren't there four of those Skrulls?" foreshadowing the appearance of the fourth, the Craddock imposter.
In addition, the people of King's Crossing, who drank the milk from the Skrulls in cow form--which was not actually milk, but rather cells of the Skrulls mimicking milk--were affected by the Skrull DNA, which attempted to take over and remake the body of its hosts. The people gained shape-changing powers, just like the Skrulls, and developed Skrull personality traits, such as xenophobia and military-type organization. Ironically, this type of infection would be closer to a Prion than a virus, which is actually along the same lines as BSE, or Mad Cow Disease!
call this affliction Pseudo-Milk Induced Skrullophilia (PMIS), which is not to be confused with PMS, although the two are not mutually exclusive.
(Skrull Kill Krew#2 (fb) - BTS) - The remaining three former cow-Skrulls were handed over to the Alien Activities Commission, who forced them to become cows again. This time, however, they sent the Skrulls to the slaughterhouse, along with the rest of the beef. The Skrulls were slaughtered and mixed with other, real beef meat and distributed across the country. In the form of hamburgers, the Skrull meat was consumed by an unknown number of Americans. Some of the people who ate the beef proved immune to the Skrull DNA. Some died horrible deaths. A small number, were "infected" and developed metamorphic powers, along with progressive and terminal neurologic disease.
Among those infected/empowered were the Skrull Kill Krew, who went on to try and kill every Skrull on Earth. I have called this affliction Skrullovoria Induced Skrullophobia (SIS), perhaps better known as Mad Skrull-Cow Disease (MSCD).
--Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS: None
images: (without ads)
Avengers I#97, p21, pan2 (main image)
p17, pan1-3 (head shots)
Other appearances:
Avengers I#94-95 (December, 1971 - January, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (#94) & Neal Adams (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Avengers I#97 (March, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Stan Lee (editor)
Last updated: 07/18/13
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and
© 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you
like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com