Karl Sarron (Mercurio host; Thor and Captain America character)

sarron-karl-m4d-th204-full KARL SARRON

Real Name: Karl Sarron

Identity/Class: Human (at least former host to an extraterrestrial)

Occupation: Landlord

Group Membership: None known

Affiliations: Unrevealed;
    he was the presumably unwilling host of Mercurio;
    he was only ever seen as a host/pawn of Mercurio
    Lou the doorman to the building that contained Dr. Blake's office was associated with Sarron, but only after he purchased the building while possessed by Mercurio

Enemies: Mercurio and the Gramosian scientists who beamed Mercurio's mind into Sarron's body;
on some level, he served as mild antagonist to Donald Blake (the human form/host of Thor), and he briefly encountered Sif;
he was also used to manipulate Captain America (Steve Rogers) sarron-karl-m4d-th204-face

Known Relatives: None known

Aliases: None known

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
at least formerly Manhattan

First Appearance: Thor I#204 (October, 1972)

Powers/Abilities: Karl Sarron had some wealth, and he owned a number of properties, which he rented to others.

While under Mercurio's control, Sarron had access to his Dimensional Oscillator equipment.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6')
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 200 lbs.)
Eyes: Light blue (when Mercurio's mind was in Sarron's form);
brown (when Mercurio more recently adopted Sarron's form)
Hair: Dark gray with light gray or white on the sides (presumably brown;
dark brown (in later appearance of Mercurio as Sarron)

History:
(Thor I#216 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#7: Mercurio entry) - In an effort to seal the space-warp that threatened their homeworld, the High Lord of Gramos dispatched the world's top psycho-explorer, Mercurio, to Earth.

Gramosian scientists beamed Mercurio's mind into the body of wealthy landlord Karl Sarron.

(Thor I#216 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#7: Mercurio entry) - Over a period of months, Mercurio used Sarron's wealth to find the necessary materials to build the energy transformer that would steal Earth's electromagnetic field.

(Thor I#204 (fb) - BTS) - Mercurio, as Karl Sarron, bought the building at which Dr. Donald Blake practiced.

(Thor I#216 (fb) / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe#7: Mercurio entry) - In the course of his mission, Mercurio detected unusual energy emanations coming from the office rented by Blake. He soon learned that energy came from Blake's transformation into Thor.

(Thor I#204 (fb) - BTS) - In Donald Blake's absence, Sarron had Blake's office closed and the door barred, despite Blake having allegedly paid rent months in advance, almost through the next year.

(Thor I#208 (fb) - BTS) - Mercurio accumulated energy residue left behind by Blake's transformations into Thor from inside Blake's office. He hoped to gain enough power to return him to his natural form, from which he could then transfer Earth's electromagnetic field to Gramos, restoring its polarity.

(Thor I#204 - BTS) - When Blake returned to Earth from a lengthy adventure in outer space as Thor, Lou the doorman was surprised by his arriving, noting that everyone had thought he had an accident or something. As Blake and Sif, the Asgardian goddess who was Thor's lover, entered the elevator, Lou called Mr. Sarron, having to note himself to be the doorman, telling him he was not going to believe who had just "waltzed in."

(Thor I#204) - Exiting on the 16th floor, Blake was shocked to see his door barred, and he mused aloud that he must have been gone longer than he had thought. Sarron replied, "Quite, Doctor Blake. That is...if you are Doctor Donald Blake. Be that as it may, I don't think we've ever met, sir...My name is Sarron...Karl Sarron. I'm the owner of this building."

Blake then asked if he could explain why his office had been closed as he had paid rent far in advance. Sarron replied that Blake appeared to be a sensible man, as was he himself, and he noted that he had acquired the building only recently as the previous management corporation could no longer afford the upkeep. He continued, "...and I swear to you, my friend, among all the papers forwarded to me...there was no mention of your lease...or any special arrangements you may have had with your former landlords. However, if you can produce your own copy..."

After Blake replied that it looked like he would have to do so and started to head out, Sarron told him that he would expect to see him in his office Monday..."and perhaps then they would straighten this matter out...to our...mutual...satisfaction!"

(Thor I#208) - During the early rush hour of another day, Karl Sarron returned to this building, where Lou greeted him and held the door open. Sarron told Lou that he was going up to Doctor Blake's office, and he instructed him to please see to it that he was not disturbed. Lou assured him he would, noting that he was the boss.

As he opened the lock on Blake's door, Sarron considered, "Quite true, you abysmal incompetent. I am indeed 'the boss.'" And soon, he would be not just the owner of this "over-priced office building" but of this whole pathetic planet. After receiving a potent charge from Blake's office into his Dimensional Oscillator, Sarron/Mercurio contacted the leader of Gramos, although he noted that his translation to this earthling's body was complete, as was the assimilation of his language, and that he could no longer comprehend the "high speech" (their native tongue).

Speaking English, the High Lord reiterated the urgency of his mission. Mercurio subsequently used the oscillator to restore his true form, but found it only possessed the charge to do so halfway, leaving only his left half his normal dark-blue, with his right half now red; additionally, he could project frigid blasts from his left half and heat energy from his right.

(Thor I#208 - BTS) - Realizing he needed more power directly from Thor to complete the transformation, Mercurio waited for Thor to return and then attacked him. Mercurio continued to accumulate power as they fought until Thor hurled a steel girder at Mercurio, who melted it, but was then coated in molten metal. The iron covering contained the forces within Mercurio so thoroughly that his powers overloaded, and Mercurio was seemingly consumed in the process.

(Thor I#214 (fb) - BTS) - Mercurio seemed to die, but was instead summoned to another level of space, where he found himself drawn into a mystic whirlpool that drew him to Xorr the God-Jewel. sarron-karl-m4d-capiii36-upper-do

(Maximum Security#2) - During the events of Maximum Security, Mercurio was one of the extraterrestrial criminals banished to Earth.

(Captain America III#36 (fb) - BTS) - Mercurio determined that his Dimensional Oscillator, powered by the unique sonic vibration of Captain America's Vibranium-steel alloy (see comments), would allow him to escape the barrier preventing the aliens from leaving Earth.

Mercurio further plotted to convince Captain America to let him use his shield because his device could transport off-Earth all of the aliens recently banished there. sarron-karl-m4d-capiii36-full

Mercurio rebuilt his Dimensional Oscillator in the torch of the Statue of Liberty, presumably because this would be a significant location to Captain America and because it might help him convince Captain America that the high site was perfect for worldwide effectiveness.

Presumably aware that Captain America would be familiar with his true identity but not that of his former host, Mercurio returned to the form of Karl Sarron.

Armed with an energy weapon, Sarron awaited Captain America near Avengers Mansion.

(Captain America III#36) - When Cap arrived and encountered a group of aliens, Sarron used a blaster to subdue the aliens, after which he introduced himself and told Cap that he could rid the entire Earth of these aliens.

Sarron then elaborated that he could use his Dimensional Oscillator to banish all of the aliens from Earth, though he required the energy of Cap's shield to do it (see comments).

Cap, suspecting a trap, accompanied Sarron to the Statue of Liberty and allowed him to plug his shield into his Dimensional Oscillator, but he also positioned himself to get free if anything went awry.

As the device charged, Sarron revealed his true identity as Mercurio and tried to destroy Cap.

(Captain America III#36 - BTS) - Avoiding Mercurio's blasts and fighting back, as the energies threated to destroy the Statue of Liberty, Cap tore his shield from the oscillator and leapt free of the Torch.

When Mercurio pursued him, Cap struck Mercurio with his shield, and the energies in the shield caused a feedback that seemingly caused Mercurio to explode.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, John Buscema, and Vince Colletta.

Whatever happened to Karl Sarron?

He either perished when Mercurio's powers overloaded while encased in steel in Thor I#208, in which case Mercurio generated a new body; or, Mercurio retained possession of his body.

Either way, Mercurio is essentially guilty of murder or, at least, stealing Sarron's body.
At the end of Thor I#216, Thor and Mercurio parted as friends. Perhaps Thor just assumed that Sarron was just an alias of Mercurio and did not realize he had been a real person.

Nobody cares about that? I guess since he was wealthy, he must have been evil and deserved to die...that's pretty much the story current writers are telling; however, this story was over 50 years ago.

In Captain America I#36, Mercurio stated that Sarron was merely a human guise that he had used to ensnare others.

    That would certainly be a ret-con, and it may turn out to be the case.
    I feel like the writer to remove the idea that Mercurio had murdered Sarron.
    Regardless, that idea has at least a couple significant holes in it:

Mercurio certainly was not trying to dupe the High-Lord of Gramos when he forgot his ability to speak Gramosian after having his mind had been trapped in Sarron's body for an extended time period.
Mercurio certainly was not trying to fool anyone when he was by himself and used the energies he had gained from Thor to try to restore his own form and ended up in the original dark blue/red form of the classic Mercurio.

I personally think:

Mercurio's mind was projected into Sarron's body and took it over.
Sarron's knowledge and contacts helped Mercurio to function in society, make the necessary arrangements to obtain the building that contained Don Blake's office.
I would ASSume that his desire to obtain energies for his homeworld led him to detect the energies of Thor's transformations, and that led him to Blake's office.
At some point, he learned that Don Blake was Thor.
When the High Lord of Gramos expressed urgency, Mercurio used the energies he had previously absorbed into the Dimensional Oscillator to transform Sarron's body into his original form, although it instead transformed him into his blue and red form.
Mercurio's form was either destroyed in Thor I#208, destroying what was Sarron's body, and then Mercurio's mind formed a new body; or Mercurio was not destroyed but just teleported away, in which case he has continued to occupy Sarron's transformed body.
If the former, then Mercurio used some means to mimic Sarron's form.
If the latter, then Mercurio reverted his form back to Sarron's briefly.

    Other than being a wealthy landlord, who was Karl Sarron?
    Does his mind still exist, trapped in Mercurio's body?
    WTF, yo?

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Karl Sarron should be distinguished from:

SAURON (Dr. Karl Lykos) - Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Weapon X, occasional ally of Savage Land Mutates, mutated by injection with virus from mutant pteradactyls--X-Men I#60
other "Karl" or "Sarron" characters, groups, items, events, races, or places...

images: (without ads)
Thor I#204, pg. 11, panel 5 (face);
          panel 6 (full, with Blake);
    #208, pg. 6, panel 2 (face in profile);
Captain America III#36, pg. 13, panel 4 (upper, with Dimensional Oscillator rifle);
       pg. 14, panel 1 (full, oblique, with Captain America)

Appearances:

Thor I#204 (October, 1972) - Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Jim Mooney (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Thor I#208 (February, 1973) - Gerry Conway (writer), John Buscema (pencils), Vince Colletta (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe I#7 (July, 1983) - Mark Gruenwald (editor/head writer/designer), Peter Sanderson, Mark Lerer, Tom DeFalco (writers), Joanne Harras, Fred Baumann, Robert Simpson (researchers), Butch Guirce (Mercurio penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Eliot R. Brown (technical advisor/typesetter), Michael Carlin (associate editor/design)

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition#7 (June, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald, Glenn Herdling, Len Kaminski, Peter Sanderson, Murray Ward (writers), Keith Pollard (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Anna Mazzarelli & Mark Power (editorial assistants), Eliot R. Brown (technical consultant), Mark Gruenwald (concept/editor)

Captain America III#36 (December, 2000) - Dan Jurgens (writer/pencils), Art Thibert (inks), Bobbie Chase (editor)

First posted: 02/23/2024
Last updated: 02/23/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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