Creation

The Corporation first appeared in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #23 by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen

Major Story Arcs

Merger Proposal with Fu Manchu

The Corporation attempted to blackmail Dr. Phillip Hart to not release his new, extraterrestrial energy source, Zero Fluid. It would have disastrous financial consequences for those that are still invested in fossil fuels, and The Corporation wanted to use it as a bargaining chip with Fu Manchu. They threatened to reveal his connection to South American socialists, but Hart stood strong. The Corporation's assassins killed him and then chased his son, Jack, through his lab. A stray shot exposed Jack to the Zero Fluid and turned him into the hero Jack of Hearts.

As the Jack of Hearts, Jack mistook White Tiger, the Bronx superhero, as the killer of his father. Their rivalry drew both of them to The Corporation, as did the son of Fu Manchu, Shang Chi, and his ally, Iron Fist. They four heroes crossed paths investigating the ship, El Tigre, a secret meeting place of the Corporation. They did battle with their army of mercenaries.

With the mercenary army defeated, the heroes found the boardroom of the Corporation. They had all committed suicide after being rejected by Fu Manchu.

New Leadership

The Corporation moved on with split leadership. West coast operations were run by businessman Curtiss Jackson, the Power Broker. He had an interest in replicating Machine Man’s technology and tried to apprehend him. Meanwhile, east coast operations were run by crimelord Kligger, who was actually US Senator Eugene Stivak. He had an interest in controlling The Hulk and hired Constrictor to try and kidnap him. When both attempts failed, they tried turning the two heroes against each other, but that failed too. Hulk and Machine Man teamed up and nearly ended the Corporation.

The were also attempting to infiltrate SHIELD. They had a number of undercover members of the Super-Agent division, specifically Vamp and Blue Streak. Nick Fury caught on when The Corporation tried to frame Captain America and Falcon as double agents. Because of Fury’s interrogations looking for the infiltrators, The Corporation made multiple attempts on Cap’s life to cover up their plans. When none of them were successful, Stivak retreated to the west coast headquarters on Alcatraz with friend of The Hulk and uncle of The Falcon, Jim Wilson. Cap and Hulk crossed paths trying to rescue Jim, eventually teaming up and destroying the headquarters.

With Stivak’s identity and plans on the verge of being revealed, Jackson killed him and made his own safe getaway.

Mississippi Branch

The Corporation would change leadership again to Dr. Karl Malus, who moved the headquarters to Taylor, MI. Under his direction, The Corporation focused on research and development of superhumans, however, old business was up over 300% thanks to their private army, The Assassination Nation, and their 92.7% successful termination rate.

Their first mistake was when they kidnapped Luke Cage’s father and brother as test subjects for Operation: Flame. Luke found this out from The Tinkerer, whose son, Rick Mason, was also taken by The Corporation. Tinkerer leveraged Luke’s family’s imprisonment to motivate him.

With the help of private investigator Dakota North, they break into The Corporation’s facility. They rescue Tinkerer’s son and Cage’s father, however, James Jr. was given superpowers as Coldfire and manipulated into an agent of The Corporation. After a brief fight, Coldfire was convinced to help them save his dad, and he ultimately sacrificed himself so they could escape.