(Thunderbolts I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Doctor Vasily Khandruvitch worked for the Russian government at a nuclear facility in the Forbidden Zone. He designed and built a device that converted human beings into elemental composites. Initially deemed a major success, the new beings quickly rebelled against the Russian leadership.
(Avengers I#188 - BTS) - Khandruvitch stayed out of the way when Carbon, Chloine, Neon, Phosphorus, Plutonium, Radium, Titanium and Vanadium engaged both the Russian army and the Avengers who happened to be in the area. Beast and Ms. Marvel defeated the Elements when they destroyed a fusion reactor with a laserbeam, which covered the Elements in plasma.
(Thunderbolts I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Russian officials placed the blame for the Elements' failure on Khandruvitch. He was banned from working in the Forbidden Zone and forced to do menial labor. Eventually escaping to the United States, he found that he had no credentials because he did all his groundbreaking research in the Forbidden Zone. As a result, he offered his services to the underworld until he had accumulated sufficient funds to resurrect the Elements of Doom. Reasoning that they rebelled because of their human elements, he came up with a way to recreate the creatures as pure chemical elements.
(Thunderbolts I#6 (fb) - BTS) - Carbon was the first pure Element that Khandruvitch managed to awaken. Soon Disprosium, Erbium, Cadmium, Phosphorus, Scandium, Barium, Bromium, Cobalt, Iron, Sodium, Chlorine, Thallium, Arsenic, Nobelium and Hafnium followed.
(Thunderbolts I#7 (fb) - BTS) -
Khandruvitch and his Elements constructed a massive underground lair in
Central Park from which he directed the Elements. Khandruvitch planned
to have the Elements cause mayhem in the city to show local crimelords
how useful their services would be. (Thunderbolts I#6 - BTS) - Khandruvitch sent out the Elements to strike fear in the hearts of New Yorkers and make a name for themselves. First, he had them attack and sink the Dutch freighter Zandvoort, blocking the Verrezano Narrows which led to millions of dollars of damage. Next, the Elements announced attacks on both Madison Square Garden and LaGuardia Airport. The Thunderbolts went out to stop the Elements, but the creatures still managed to escape and return to Khandruvitch.
(Thunderbolts I#7 - BTS) - Khandruvitch and the Elements raised their headquarters, causing the massive construct to occupy a large part of Central Park. This drew the attention of the Thunderbolts who ignored a direct order from Citizen V and renewed their attack. Without their leader to help guide them, the T-Bolts were captured and taken inside the Elements' citadel like base.
(Thunderbolts I#7) - Khandruvitch appeared before the heroes on a video screen to explain his origins and his new goals. Instead of looking to work for others, he would now be holding the world hostage in order to force the United Nations to give him and his Elements a nation of their own. His ruminations about leading a technocracy on a radioactive atoll in the Pacific were interrupted by the Elements Cadmium and Europium who announced he, their creator, was a disappointment and would now be working for them. They ordered Khandrovitch to recreate his original transformation process so they could convert the world's population into element-drones, starting with the Thunderbolts.
(Thunderbolts I#7 - BTS) - After Khandruvitch was taken away to work in a lab, Songbird managed to free herself. She ventured out to explore the citadel, guided by Techno who had hacked the base's mainframe. All went well until the Elements caught on and seemingly killed Techno.
(Thunderbolts I#8) - Khandruvitch considered refusing cooperating with the Elements. He reconsidered when they assured him they would continue the work themselves based on his notes and that he would be their first trial subject. Moments later, Songbird arrived and managed to take down the Elements guarding them. Songbird, with help from the newly revived and digitized Techno, worked with Khandruvitch to come up with a way to take down the Elements once and for all. Khandruvitch hoped to get amnesty, but Songbird would hear nothing of it. His reward would be living on a planet free of these things. After Techno freed his teammates, the Thunderbolts defeated selected Elements to retrieve resources Khandruvitch needed for his weapon. He looked on as Songbird cut up Silver and Gold, pounding them some more when they rose up again. In the end, Khandruvitch' aid allowed Techno to come up with a blaster that destabilized the Elements' crystalline cerebral matrix, causing them to break apart.
(Avengers III#56 (fb) -
BTS) - Vasily Khandruvitch was sentenced for his crimes and sent to a
Philadelphia prison facility. (Avengers III#56 (fb) ) - Khandruvitch was contacted in his cell by members of a rogue AIM cell. They had come across his research notes and wanted the doctor's help in resurrecting the Elements. When he refused, they promised Khandruvitch the price for his refusal would be death at the hands of his own creations.
(Avengers III#56 - BTS) - When news broke of the Elements' return, Khandruvitch began working on research notes for a way to destabilize the creatures' crystalline brains again. Unbeknownst to him, AIM had sent Platinum to Philadelphia to kill him.
(Avengers III#56) - Captain America and Jack of Hearts arrived at the Philadelphia prison in time to halt Platinum's advance. While Jack dealt with the Element, Cap met with Khandruvitch who explained the role of AIM and was ready to hand the Avenger the research needed to stop the Elements.
(Avengers III#56 - BTS) - Jack of Hearts flew the information to St. Louis where Iron Man, Beast and Wonder Man used Khandruvitch's formula to build a chemical destabilization cannon that quickly shut down the Elements' brains.