KRAGGOOM

Real Name: Kraggoom

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (unidentified race; 16th Century to Pre-Modern Era)

Occupation: Would-be conqueror

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: None

Enemies: His brethren, Derek Wolfington

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Kraggoom the Destroyer

Base of Operations: Earth's orbit

First Appearance: Journey into Mystery I#78 (March, 1962)

Powers/Abilities: Kraggoom normally existed in a gaseous form like a sentient cloud. He could cause his form to grow in size (which apparently increased his strength) and render himself vaporous in order to pass through tightly confined spaces. In this form, he did not require food or oxygen. He could merge his consciousness with that of an organic being, placing the organic mind under his domination.

Height: Variable
Weight: Variable
Eyes: None
Hair: None

History:
(Journey into Mystery I#78 (fb)) - Kraggoom flew his spaceship to Earth in the 16th century and landed in England, intending to find a human there with whom he could merge his mind and then use that human as a proxy in conquering the world. Just as Kraggoom saw a lone human riding up to him on horseback and prepared to strike, he saw two ships from his homeworld in the sky. More members of Kraggoom's race emerged and pursued him. Kraggoom attempted to hide from his people in a nearby village, but his pursuers surrounded him. They promised they would not harm him, but the elders of his brethren judged that he should spend the rest of his life adrift in outer space. Venturing above Earth's orbit, they ejected him from their spacecraft and left him helpless in space. Kraggoom vowed he would have revenge but knew he could not escape his position unless another being came to him.

(Journey into Mystery I#78) - In the 1960s, the wealthy young man Derek Wolfington cheated his way into becoming an astronaut for a moon launch by replacing a medical report which would have disqualified him with a forged copy that made him seem the ideal candidate. Venturing into space, Wolfington's rocket was sighted by Kraggoom, who realized he now had a means of escaping his unusual prison. Traveling towards the rocket, Kraggoom grasped the vessel then began to seep in through the hull and into the cockpit. Inside the cockpit, he confronted Wolfington and boasted that soon Wolfington would be under the control of his superior mind. Wolfington struck a panic button just as Kraggoom seized him and merged their minds. However, Wolfington had been disqualified as an astronaut because of his nervous condition and had already been on the verge of mental collapse when Kraggoom confronted him. When Kraggoom confronted him, Wolfington lost his sanity. Within Wolfington's mind, Kraggoom realized with horror that Wolfington was blacking out. As Wolfington lost his mind, Kraggoom was completely destroyed. Wolfington was brought back to Earth as a complete amnesiac to live the rest of his live in a mental hospital.

Comments: Created by an unidentified writer (likely Larry Lieber or Stan Lee), Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

    He's a lot like Diablo, isn't he?

Profile by Prime Eternal.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Kraggoom should not be confused with:

Kraggoom's brethren

Kraggoom's brethren were members of the same (unidentified) extraterrestrial species he belonged to. When Kraggoom came to Earth in the 16th century with the intent of conquering it, they pursued him in their own spaceships and cornered him in an English village. They promised not to harm him but to protect humanity from him, the elders of their race judged that Kraggoom should be cast adrift into space. They released Kraggoom from their spacecraft in Earth's orbit, hoping that he would float helplessly for an eternity.

Kraggoom's people have the same abilities he possessed of appearing in a gaseous state, yet able to become solid. Like him, they used spacecrafts for interplanetary travel.

--Journey into Mystery I#78 (fb)



Derek Wolfington

Derek Wolfington was a rich and conceited young man. Deciding he wanted glory for himself, he resolved to become an astronaut. Derek was put through tests to see if he was an ideal candidate but in his medical exam, it was determined that he was too nervous and unstable to be considered for a space flight. Undeterred, Derek hired a safecracker to break into the vault where his medical report was stored and replace it with a forgery that would identify him as the best possible candidate among the others who applied. The forgery passed muster and Derek was assigned as a solo astronaut for a moon flight aboard a rocket. As the rocket exited Earth's atmosphere, Derek began to feel stress and to experience isolation sickness. In this state, his rocket was assaulted by the exiled extraterrestrial Kraggoom, who announced he intended to merge his mind into Derek's then use his body to conquer the world. Derek hit a panic button which transmitted a signal back to Earth. Realizing something had gone wrong, the space agency arranged for the rocket to autopilot back. As Kraggoom merged his mind with Derek's, Derek's mind blacked out, unable to handle the stress of space flight. To Kraggoom's horror, he was destroyed as Derek's mind shut down. When the space agency retrieved Derek, they found him a complete amnesiac. He was sent to a mental hospital where, ironically, he achieved the glory he had sought - the orderlies who tended to him considered him "one of the bravest men of our time!"


--Journey into Mystery I#78


images: (without ads)
Journey into Mystery I#78, page 1 (Kraggoom, main)
Journey into Mystery I#78, page 2, panel 4 (Kraggoom, face)
Journey into Mystery I#78, page 3, panel 2 (brethren)
Journey into Mystery I#78, page 2, panel 9 (ships)
Journey into Mystery I#78, page 4, panel 3 (Wolfington)

Appearances:
Journey into Mystery I#78 (March, 1962) - unidentified writer, Jack Kirby (pencils), Steve Ditko (inks), Stan Lee (editor)

First posted: 02/18/2023
Last updated: 02/24/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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