COMMANDER KRAKEN

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Human technology user

Occupation: Criminal

Group Membership: Hydra (Blackwing, Dreadnought, el Jaguar, Fixer, Fox, Man-Killer, Mentallo, Supreme Hydra/Silvermane, others)

Affiliations: Armless Tiger Man, Artume, Baron Heinrich Zemo, Bird-Man, Cheetah, Cyclone, Edward, Firebrand (Gary Gilbert), Grappler, Hellrazor, Hijacker, Iron Monger, Jackal (Miles Warren), Jack O’Lantern (Steven Levins), el Jaguar, Kyknos, Letha, Mind-Wave, Nessus, Pluto, Rapier, Ringer, Scourge of the Underworld, Shellshock, Steeplejack, Turner D. Century, Vamp, Veranke

Enemies: Diane Arliss, Belag, Captain Powell, the Cat (Green Nelson), Dorma, Hercules, Iron Man (Tony Stark), Abraham Klein, Krissy Longfellow, Scourge of the Underworld, Sub-Mariner

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile

First Appearance: Sub-Mariner I#27 (July, 1970)

Powers/Abilities: A normal man with technological enhancements and access to vast resources, Commander Kraken began his criminal career with a hook for his left hand that was capable of delivering an electric shock. He later had a prosthetic hand put in place, one with super-strength and greater shock capabilities, as well as a "jet-peg" leg, a cybernetic leg that could propel him into the air. Kraken had employed technology to design ships that looked like sea monsters, pirate ships that could transform into submarines and brainwashing technology that made men his slaves. He also wielded a tech-enhanced sword capable of delivering electric shocks and covered with a reflective paint that could repel repulsor rays.

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black, dyed brown

History: (Sub-Mariner I#27 (fb) – BTS) – Styling himself after pirate and with an electric hook for his left hand, Commander Kraken designed a radium-powered submarine to look like a giant green sea monster, which he called the Kraken. He then began attacking ships, pulling them under the water to steal from them with giant mechanical tentacles.





(Sub-Mariner I#27) – Captain Powell reported the attack of the Kraken, blaming the Sub-Mariner in the media. Namor investigated and the Kraken ship attacked the ship of Diane Arliss. Sub-Mariner smashed his way into the Kraken, revealing it to be made of synthetic material, but was soon knocked out with an Explosi-shell. When he awoke in chains, he saw Commander Kraken threatening the craft bearing Dorma and Diane Arliss. Furious, Sub-Mariner broke free and destroyed the control panel then attacked Kraken's men. After shrugging off an electric shock from Kraken's hook, Sub-Mariner escaped and freed the women. He then lured the Kraken-ship into the grasp of a Behemoth sea monster, which destroyed it, killing Kraken's crew.

(The Cat I#3 (fb) – BTS) – All of Kraken's men perished but he escaped in a secret one-man submarine. Over a period of months, he rebuilt a crew, and an arsenal, and began pillaging again aboard a new Kraken vessel.

(The Cat I#3) – Kraken and his men attacked an undersea military base, a shelter under a dome, led by Belag. The Cat surprised the villains, attacking and defeating Kraken's men. Commander Kraken then shocked her with his hook and escaped aboard his ship.

(Daredevil I#121 (fb) – BTS) – Hydra formed a new team of division chiefs with Commander Kraken being selected for the Naval Action division. Other divisions were led by Mentallo, the Fixer, the Dreadnought, Blackwing, Man-Killer, El Jaguar, the Fox and Jackhammer.  

(Daredevil I#123 – BTS) – Kraken waited to escort the Hydra Supreme Commander and Blackwing to safety as Hydra's plans fell apart.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#16 (fb) – BTS) – Retaining Hydra technology and assets, Kraken had extensive plastic and bionic surgery, administered by Hydra scientists.

(Iron Man I#93 (fb) – BTS) – Kraken changed his appearance vastly with a cybernetic leg (left leg, which he called his "jet peg") and a prosthetic hand. In a new costume with a new hairstyle and a face full of scars, he assembled a new pirate crew and began robbing ships again, destroying them afterward. He set up shop at a base in undersea caves.

(Iron Man I#94 (fb) – BTS) – Kraken took the crews of the ships he had captured and locked them in cages. One by one, he brainwashed the men using a Cerebro-Scan device, making them his slaves. He had the men begin building state-of-the-art ships with plans to control his own pirate fleet in time.

(Iron Man I#93) – Kraken commanded an ancient pirate ship equipped with modern weaponry capable of firing energy attacks in attacking a ship outside of London. When Iron Man investigated, Kraken fought back, showing off his new weaponry including a sword that delivered an electric charge and a peg leg that could rocket-fire and propel him in the air. Iron Man disappeared under the water just as the British military set to attack so Kraken transformed his pirate ship into a golden submarine, submerged, then he destroyed the ship Iron Man had been on. Returning to his undersea base, Kraken waited for Iron Man to reveal himself then he showed the hero that he'd captured his allies Krissy Longfellow and Dr. Abraham Klein, and said that he'd kill them unless Iron Man became his slave.

(Iron Man I#94) – When Iron Man threatened Commander Kraken, Kraken's henchman Edward shocked Krissy and Klein, making the hero more compliant. Kraken showed Iron Man how he had dozens of men in cages then revealed he knew the hero's true identity of Tony Stark. After having Stark change into civilian clothes, Kraken revealed his plan to have Stark produce massive weapons for him. Kraken had Edward knock Stark out with a sleep dart then release him on the surface to wait to be contacted. Stark snuck back into the caves, retrieved his armor, defeated the guards and freed Krissy and Klein before battling Kraken, who kept changing accents during the fight, demonstrating his madness. Though Kraken was able to reflect one of Iron Man's repulsor blasts back at him using the mirror polish on his sword, Iron Man broke Kraken's blade, shattering its delicate micro-circuitry. Kraken drew a laser pistol and fired, inadvertently striking his own machines and flooding the caves. When his peg leg got stuck in the flooring, Kraken was overcome by the water, leaving Iron Man to think him dead, but Kraken escaped and posed as the innkeeper at Iron Man's inn shortly afterward.

(Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition#16 (fb) – BTS) – Unable to rebuild his criminal empire, Kraken spent time as a solo criminal in the Great Lakes area.

(Captain America I#319) – Commander Kraken (with both his legs this time) attended a meeting at the Bar With No Name alongside several other criminals including Jaguar, Mirage, Hellrazor, Shellshock, Bird-Man, Cyclone, Ringer, Turner D. Century, Grappler, Cheetah, Vamp, Letha, Steeplejack, Mind-Wave, Rapier, Hijacker and Firebrand to discuss the threat of the Scourge. All of them were killed by the Scourge that night.

(Captain America I#320) –  The corpses of Commander Kraken and the other Scourge victims were discovered.

(Incredible Hercules I#129) – In Hades, Pluto put Zeus on trial. He selected 12 dead villains as the jury including Commander Kraken, Armless Tiger Man, Scourge, Kyknos, Veranke, Orka, Artume, Jackal, Baron Heinrich Zemo, Jack O'Lantern, Nessus and Cobalt Man.

(Incredible Hercules I#130) – Kraken and the jury voted against Zeus in the trial as Hercules fought against them.

(Incredible Hercules I#131) – Kraken and the jury turned on Hades when he refused to free them as he'd promised. The denizens of Hades planned to torture Hades for the punishments he had unleashed on them.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Sal Buscema and Joe Gaudiano.

Commander Kraken had profiles in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition#16 as well as the Iron Manual Mark 3#1.

Having recently profiled the Plunderer, I gotta say that everything Kraken tried, Plunderer did better (and Plunderer didn’t do it that great).

Profile by Chadman.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Commander Kraken has no known connections to:

The Kraken submarine

(Sub-Mariner I#27 (fb) – BTS) –  Commander Kraken designed a radium-powered submarine (out of synthetic materials) to look like a giant green sea monster, which he called the Kraken. He then began attacking ships, pulling them under the water to steal from them with giant mechanical tentacles.

(Sub-Mariner I#27) – Commander Kraken and his crew used their submarine in a series of plots against the Sub-Mariner. The hero soon escaped and lured the ship into the tentacles of an actual sea monster, who destroyed the ship and killed most of the crew.

--Sub-Mariner I#27 (27 (fb) - BTS), 27d

images: (without ads)
Iron Manual Mark 3#1, p (main image)
Iron Man I#94, p3, pan1 (scarred face)
Sub-Mariner I#27, p14, pan1 (Commander Kraken)
Iron Man I#93, p11, pan1 (new costume)
Sub-Mariner I#27, p16, pan3 (Kraken ship)

Appearances:
Sub-Mariner I#27 (July, 1970) – Roy Thomas (writer), Sal Buscema (penciler), Joe Gaudiano (inker), Stan Lee (editor
The Cat I#3 (April, 1973) – Linda Fite (writer), Paty Greer (penciler), Bill Everett (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Daredevil I#121,123 (May, July, 1975) – Tony Isabella (writer), Bob Brown (penciler), Vince Colletta (inker), Len Wein (editor)
Iron Man I#93-94 (December, 1976-January, 1977) – Herb Trimpe, Gerry Conway (writers), Herb Trimpe (penciler), Jack Abel (inker), Gerry Conway (editor)
Captain America I#319-320 (July-August, 1986) – Mark Gruenwald (writer), Paul Neary (penciler), Dennis Janke (inker), Bobbie Chase (editor)
Incredible Hercules I#129-131 (July-September, 2009) – Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente (writers), Ryan Stegman (penciler), Terry Pallot (inker), Mark Paniccia (Editor)

First Posted: 08/14/2018
Last updated: 08/14/2018

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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