Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)

Iron Maiden
Name	Melina Vostokovna (birth name); Melina Vostokoff (anglicized name)
Current Alias	Iron Maiden
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Former member of the Femizons; Thunderbolts former partner of Black Lotus, Blackbird, Damon Dran, "Deadshot" Darrance, Wrangler, N'Kama, Snapdragon, Kono Sanada, Superia, KGB, Black Widow Ops Program
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5′9″ (1.75 m)
Weight	145 lbs (65.77 kg)
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Human
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Serov, Sverdlovsk Oblast, U.S.S.R.
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	Russian
Occupation	Assassin, mercenary, former agent of espionage for Russian government
Education	Foreign Intelligence Service training
Base of Operations	Formerly Femizonia Island, formerly Damon Dran's undersea base
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Ralph Macchio, George Perez
First	Marvel Fanfare #11 (July, 1983)
First	Marvel Fanfare #11 (July, 1983)

History

Melina Vostokoff (Russian: Мелина Востоков), also known as the Iron Maiden, was originally an agent of the Russian government. She was forced to live in the shadow of the legendary Black Widow. This caused her to develop a deep hatred for the Widow. Eventually, she left the service of Russia and became a freelance assassin and mercenary.

Iron Maiden was one of a group of assassins sent by Damon Dran to assassinate the Black Widow. The Iron Maiden outlasted the other assassins, and was on the verge of overpowering the Widow when she was interrupted by Jimmy Woo and a squadron of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Melina fled, and was followed into the sewers by Woo and the Widow. She ambushed them, but Woo used his energy blaster to blow a hole in the floor she was standing on, which generated a powerful whirlpool and sucked her down to the next level.

Iron Maiden was one of the army of superhuman female criminals, the Femizons, gathered by Superia as part of her plot to sterilize the rest of the world and gain power for her potential nation of all women. She was part of the army that defeated and captured Captain America and Paladin when they tried to sneak aboard the ship to Superia's island Femizonia. Melina was one of the small group that stayed by Superia, as her "lieutenants" following the defeat of her initial plot.

Iron Maiden accompanied Superia and the other remaining Femizons to Boca Caliente for the AIM Weapons Expo. Superia attempted to execute AIM's head Alessandro Brannex, to take over AIM for her own uses, which brought her group into conflict with M.O.D.A.M. and the other security forces of AIM. In addition, the assassination failed because Superia did not realize Brannex was an Adaptoid. M.O.D.A.M. overpowered Superia and Blackbird, and Iron Maiden was unable to reach her to even try to stop her.

When the U.S. became embroiled in its Superhuman Registration Act, Iron Maiden attempted to obtain a fake ID and sneak into Canada. She was pursued by the Fixer, Joystick, and Mach IV of the Thunderbolts, and Joystick brought down Iron Maiden, while the Fixer and Mach IV made wagers on the fight.

Attributes

Power Grid

Abilities

Master Martial Artist: Melina has mastered many fields of hand-to-hand combat.

Master Assassin: Melina is heavily skilled in assassination techniques.

Master Spy: Melina is a dangerous secret agent trained in espionage, stealth, disguise, infiltration, and demolitions.

Weapons Expert: Melina is an expert with most weapons and vehicles.

Multilingual: Melina is fluent in Russian, English and many other languages.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Iron Maiden Armor: the suit increases Melina's strength and protects her from physical and energy damage.

Weapons

Internal weapons of the Iron Maiden armor.

See Also

• 15 appearance(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 3 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 1 minor appearance(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 11 image(s) of Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)
• 2 quotation(s) by or about Melina Vostokoff (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Iron Maiden at Marvunapp.com