CHEMISTRO

Real Name: Calvin Carr

Identity/Class: Human technology user;
    United States citizen with a criminal record

Occupation: Professional criminal

Group Membership: Hood's army,
    former pawn in the Acts of Vengeance

Affiliations: Former employee of Mingo and the Wizard;
    loose affiliation with Electro and the other inmates at the Raft

Enemies: Luke Cage (formerly Power Man), Captain America (Steve Rogers), Curtis Carr, Bob Diamond, Iron Fist (Daniel Rand'Kai), Iron Man (Tony Stark), New Avengers, Jim Rhodes, Rafael Scarfe, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Colleen Wing

Known Relatives: Curtis Carr (brother, formerly Chemistro)

Aliases: "Circles" (from Cage)

Place of Birth: Kansas City, Kansas

Base of Operations: Presumably SHIELD custody (prison 42?);
    lformerly the Raft Prison sub-section of Ryker's Island;
    active in New York City, New York

Extent of Education: High School graduate

First Appearance: Power Man/Iron Fist#93 (May, 1983)

Powers/Abilities: Calvin's primary weapon was the Alchemy Gun (see right), a handgun-like device that fired an unknown form of radiation that transmuted one substance into another. Transformations have included turning boxes into hot tar, water into steel, metal into glass, paper to diamond, and flesh into glass. These transmutations were unstable and the transmuted object would turn to dust anyway after a certain period of time. The Gun typically transformed its target into a single chemical, compound, etc., and it could not be used to turn an inanimate object into a living being. While the Gun could not alter the shape of its target, it could raise or lower its temperature, turning a solid to a liquid, etc. The barrel of the Gun was coated with a special mist that rendered it immune to transmutations, and the same mist could be used to coat other objects or even living beings to render them at least temporarily immune to transmutation.
    The exact mechanism of the gun's function is unknown. Curtis has described radiation as the source of the transmutations, but as nuclear fission or fusion seems unlikely in such a small device, it may be that it tapped into extradimensional power. Or something else altogether...
    The Wizard later rebuilt Calvin's Alchemy Gun as a pair of wrist-blasters.

    Calvin's Chemistro uniform is composed of synthetic stretch fabric (Lycra).

    Calvin Carr was of athletic build and abilities, and he was experienced in basic streetfighting techniques.

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 225 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

History:
(Power Man/Iron Fist#94 (fb) - BTS) - Calvin Carr spent ten years in prison.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#94 (fb) - BTS) - Calvin's brother, Curtis Carr (formerly the villain Chemistro) began work on a new Alchemy Gun to keep his mind occupied.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#94 (fb)) - After his release from prison, Calvin visited Curtis, forcibly taking the Alchemy Gun from him. Curtis tried to warn him about how the gun might make him feel invincible, but Calvin left with the Gun anyway.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#93 (fb) - BTS) - After being run off by Luke Cage (Power Man), the criminal Mingo hired Calvin Carr as Chemistro to serve as his hired muscle.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#93) - When Cage and Iron Fist--who had been hired by Amalgamated Chemical & Pharmaceutical Company--confronted Mingo in mid-robbery, Mingo sent Chemistro against them. Initially confident, Chemistro turned the floor below the heroes into an adhesive; but both heroes got free, and Cage sent Iron Fist to deal with Mingo's other men while he went after Chemistro. He tried to cover Cage with hot tar, and when Cage dodged and the tar rushed towards Chemistro, he panicked. After turning the tar into rubber, Chemistro fled, but Cage followed him. Becoming increasingly distraught, Chemistro  fruitlessly hurled diamonds at Cage, and then trapped the hero in solid steel. Still flustered, Chemistro escaped.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#93 (fb) - BTS / Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89#2: Chemistro) - Chemistro ran out of the building and towards the Gem Theatre, home to Cage. Encountering Bob Diamond and Colleen Wing, Chemistro turned them both into solid glass. He taped a message to Diamond's leg, "Don't mess with Chemistro, Cage. Ever."

(Power Man/Iron Fist#93) - His confidence restored, when Cage and Iron Fist confronted him again, Chemistro smugly directed them to look in Cage's office, and he escaped while they stared at their transformed friends.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#94) - Calvin kept tabs on Cage and Iron Fist, noting that they visited his brother, Curtis, and vowing that Cage would die for ignoring his warning.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#94 (fb) - BTS) - Chemistro turned the Port Authority's access ramps to tin, instructing the authorities that he would not restore the ramps to normal until Cage was delivered to him. While Lt. Rafe Scarfe summoned Cage, a bus fell though a ramp.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#94) - Cage and Iron Fist scouted on Chemistro's vantage point. The two heroes ambushed Chemistro, who fled after they dodged his first blast, then regained his confidence and attacked anew, opening up a steam pip against them. After Cage crushed the pipes back together, Chemistro took off again, waiting for them to follow and then turned Cage's shirt to steel. Cage broke free, and the heroes overcame several more attacks, after which Chemistro surrendered, returning the Port Authority to normal. The terrified Chemistro told the angry heroes that there was no way to restore their friends to normal, but Chemistro was saved by the timely arrival of Bob and Colleen, who had been restored by Curtis Carr. While everyone else was distracted, Chemistro blasted a hole in the ground and escaped.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#96 (fb) - BTS) - Chemistro was paid (by Mingo?) to make sure an appliance heist went off without a hitch.

(Power Man/Iron Fist#96) - When Lt. Scarfe and his NYPD squad prepared to break up the theft, Chemistro ambushed them, setting their jackets on fire and forcing them to flee. Upon learning that Chemistro was the cause of Rafe's severe burns, Cage and Iron Fist went to coerce Chemistro's location from bartender/information source McGruder, only to find Chemistro waiting for them. Chemistro summoned them both outside, and then used his weapon to easily defeat them. Telling them he could have killed them, he instead left, warning that he would kill them in the near future.
    Cage and Fist then contacted Curtis Carr, who treated them with the same chemical used to coat the inside of the Alchemy Gun's barrel, granting them immunity to direct effects of Chemistro's weapon. The two went out looking for Chemistro, and he soon confronted them. This time the heroes were better prepared for him, and they held their own against him. When Iron Fist was stunned by an attack, local residents--who had begun to see Chemistro as their own hero--held him down, so that Cage could face Chemistro alone. Irritated by the people who had turned their backs on him, Cage broke free of a concrete trap, then forced his way past several attacks and shattered the Alchemy Gun. With Chemistro powerless, Cage dropped him with a single punch.>

(Iron Man I#252 (fb) - BTS) - Calvin's Alchemy Gun was repaired and converted into wrist-blasters by the Wizard, who then sent him to attack Iron Man as part of the "Acts of Vengeance."  Calvin hoped to establish himself as a major player by killing Iron Man.

(Iron Man I#251) - The Wrecker attacked Stark Prosthetics.  Panicking, Curtis Carr sought assistance from his brother Calvin, leading Chemistro to Stark Prosthetics to face Iron Man (Tony Stark), who had exhausted his power narrowly defeating the Wrecker.

(Iron Man I#252) - Jim Rhodes tried to stop Chemistro, who overcame his assaults, destroyed his weapon, and dropped him with mace. He then turned Iron Man's armor to lead. Before he could finish Iron Man off, Curtis stepped in the way and tried to dissuade him. After explaining himself to Curtis, Calvin turned the air around Iron Man into acid, which melted the armor, only to find it empty (Jim Rhodes had peeled the back open and escaped with Tony Stark).
    Chemistro next assaulted Stark Enterprises, turning buildings into water while demanding Iron Man. Wearing a Curtis Carr-designed force field protecting him from direct injury by the Alchemy weapon, Iron Man confronted Chemistro, blasting him off of the top of a building. Cushioning his fall, Chemistro blasted Iron Man's armor repeatedly, overloading the shield and destroying it. Chemistro then turned the ground below Iron Man into water, causing him to sink into it, and then turned it into solid steel. Curtis then appeared and blasted Calvin with his jamming rifle, but he struck Chemistro in the chest, which left his gauntlets unaffected. Chemistro then destroyed Curtis' other foot, followed by the jamming rifle. Having super-heated his steel prison, which caused the unstable transformations from the Alchemy Gun to degenerate, Iron Man then broke free. He used a tractor beam to shatter Chemistro's wrist-blasters, and Calvin dropped to his knees and gave up.

(New Avengers#2 (fb)) - Calvin Carr was sent to the Raft prison.

([New Avengers#1 - 3 - BTS] / 4 (fb) - BTS) - Carr was freed from his cell and took part in a breakout attempt, battling the as yet unformed New Avengers when they arrived to quell the breakout. Calvin apparently escaped.

(New Avengers#35) - Chemistro was one of a large number of super-villains who met with the Hood, hearing and apparently accepting his position as the new Kingpin of super-villain crime. For his attendance, he was given $25,000.

(New Avengers#35) - Chemistro informed the Hood about the Owl's plans to sell a new Deathlok cyborg, and the Hood shot the Owl and claimed this Deathlok for himself, then sacrificed Deathlok to rob Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., divides cut up amongst the other criminals, giving Chemistro a nice finders fee.

(New Avengers#36-37) - Chemistro was present along with the Hood, Madame Masque, Wizard, and the Wrecking Crew when the "New" Avengers broke in and attacked them. All but the Hood were captured and taken into SHIELD custody, but the Hood then broke them all out.

(New Avengers Annual#2) - Chemistro was part of the Hood's super-villain army that ambushed the "New" Avengers' base at Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. He was incapacitated by the Zom-powered Dr. Strange and then taken into custody by SHIELD.

Comments: Kurt Busiek, Denys Cowan, and Ricardo Villamonte.

Chemistro (all three of them) had an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update'89#2, as well as the Master Edition#24.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Chemistro (Calvin Carr) should be distinguished from:

 

images:
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89#2: Chemistro
Power Man/Iron Fist#94, p5, panel 3 (Calvin Carr, face)
Power Man/Iron Fist#96, p15, panel 5,

Power Man/Iron Fist#93 (May, 1983) - by Kurt Busiek, Denys Cowan, and Ricardo Villamonte, and Denny ONeil (editor)
Power Man/Iron Fist#94 (June, 1983) - by Kurt Busiek, Ernie Chan (artist), and Denny O'Neil (editor)
Power Man/Iron Fist#96 (August, 1983) - by Kurt Busiek, Ernie Chan, Mike Mignola, and Denny O'Neil (editor)
Iron Man I#251 (December, 1989) - by Dwayne McDuffie, Herb Trimpe, Al Milgrom, and Howard Mackie
Iron Man I#252 (January, 1990) - by Dwayne McDuffie, Herb Trimpe, Al Milgrom, and Howard Mackie
New Avengers#1-4 (January-April, 2005) - by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), David Finch (pencils), Danny Miki (inker), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers#35 (December, 2007) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Leinil Yu (artist), Molly Lazer  (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers#36-37 (January-February, 2008) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Leinil Yu (artist), Molly Lazer  (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)
New Avengers Annual#2 (March, 2008) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Carlo Pagulayan (penciler), Jeff Huet (inker), Molly Lazer  (assistant editors), Tom Brevoort (editor)

Last updated: 02/11/08

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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