Dr. Karl Kort was a scientist employed at the Desert Base of New Mexico where the Hulk was created. He was secretly a communist agent and used the Wrecker robot to destroy various military bases and research installations in the United States. The damage was blamed on the Hulk.

Base commander General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross summoned the Fantastic Four to apprehend the Hulk. Kort was introduced to the arriving adventurers but was visibly nervous and dropped his wallet during introductions. Rick Jones picked it up and discovered Kort's membership card to a communist organization. Kort had to abduct Jones to keep him silent. He later interfered in a battle between the Thing and the Hulk by using an atomic-powered ray gun to knock out the latter and unleashing the Wrecker on the former. Thing easily destroyed the robot while the Invisible Girl disarmed Kort.

The Wrecker's Robot relied on super strength to destroy its targets. But it was built on conventional steel and could not endure direct hits by the Thing. The ray gun had enough blast power to knock out the Hulk.