Crimson Dynamo (Russian: Багровое Динамо,Bagrovoe Dinamo; also Красное Динамо (Krasnoe Dinamo)) is the name of several characters appearing inAmerican comic books published byMarvel Comics who have all beenpowered armor–wearingRussian orSoviet agents who have clashed with the superheroIron Man over the course of his heroic career.[1]
The Anton Vanko incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inTales of Suspense #46 (October 1963), and was created by writerStan Lee and artistDon Heck.[2]
The Boris Turgenov incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inTales of Suspense #52 (April 1964), and was created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, andDon Rico.
The Alex Nevsky incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inIron Man #15 (July 1969), and was created byArchie Goodwin andGeorge Tuska.
The Yuri Petrovich incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inThe Champions #7 (August 1976), and was created by George Tuska andTony Isabella.
The Dimitri Bukharin incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inIron Man #109 (April 1978), and was created by writerBill Mantlo and artistCarmine Infantino.
The Valentin Shatalov incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inIron Man #255 (April 1990), and was created byGlenn Herdling,Fabian Nicieza, andHerb Trimpe.
The seventh Crimson Dynamo first appeared inCaptain America (vol. 3) #42 (April 2001), and was created byDan Jurgens.
The Gennady Gavrilov incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inCrimson Dynamo #1 (October 2003), and was created byJohn Jackson Miller andSteve Ellis.
The ninth Crimson Dynamo first appeared inSecret War #3 (October 2004), and was created byBrian Michael Bendis andGabriele Dell'Otto.
The tenth Crimson Dynamo first appeared inIron Man (vol. 4) #7 (June 2006), and was created byDaniel Knauf, Charles Knauf, andPatrick Zircher.
The Boris Vadim incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inHulk (vol. 2) #1 (March 2008), and was created byJeph Loeb andEd McGuinness.
The Galina Nemirovsky incarnation of Crimson Dynamo first appeared inHulk: Winter Guard #1 (February 2010), and was created bySteve Ellis andDavid Gallaher.
| Crimson Dynamo | |
|---|---|
 Anton Vanko as the original Crimson Dynamo Art byDon Heck. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Tales of Suspense #46 (October 1963) |
| Created by | Stan Lee Don Heck |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Anton Vanko |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth-616 |
| Notable aliases | Ivan Vanko |
| Abilities | Armored suit grants: Superhuman strength and durability Flight via boot jets Hand-blasters Small missiles on the back shoulder area Computer and radio transmitter and receiver |
Anton Vanko (Russian:Анто́н Ва́нко,Armenian:Անտոն Վանկո), the first Crimson Dynamo, was also the armor's creator. A Soviet scientist ofArmenian birth with aPh.D. in physics, Vanko was one of the world's foremost experts on electricity. At the behest of the USSR, Vanko built a powered exoskeleton capable of performing incredible feats. He also designed theUnicorn's helmet and instructed the Russian agent in its use.[3]
As the Crimson Dynamo, Vanko was sent by the Soviet Government to sabotageStark Industries and defeat his American counterpartIron Man in battle.[4] Vanko's armor allowed him to generate and control electricity in all of its forms, such as firing devastating bolts of lightning and flying using electromagnetic propulsion. Unlike Iron Man, who at the time had to regularly charge the chest plate powering his suit (and keeping him alive), the Crimson Dynamo was powered by a self-sustaining generator.
After losing to Iron Man, Vanko defected to theUnited States out of fear that his superiors would kill him for failing. Vanko began to work forTony Stark as one of his chief scientists. Eventually, the two became friends and Vanko developed pride and admiration for his new home. Unfortunately, soon the Soviets came for Vanko, just as he predicted. The KGB sent their top agentBlack Widow as well as Boris Turgenev to apprehend him. Vanko died saving Iron Man by firing an unstable, experimental laser pistol at Turgenev, killing himself in the process.[5]
Boris Turgenov, the second Crimson Dynamo, had a very short career as a supervillain. Turgenov came to the United States with theBlack Widow to kill Anton Vanko, Tony Stark and Iron Man (at the time Stark kept his identity secret, with Iron Man posing as his most trusted bodyguard - Turgenov believed them to be separate people and planned to kill both). Turgenov almost carried out his mission, virtually defeating Iron Man with the stolen Crimson Dynamo suit. He was killed when Vanko sacrificed his own life for the cause of freedom by firing an experimental and unstable laser pistol at Boris.[5] Both Vanko's heroic sacrifice and Turgenov's death were revisited in the Iron Man miniseriesEnter the Mandarin, where it is revealed thatTemugin (the Mandarin's son) witnessed the event.[volume & issue needed]
| Crimson Dynamo | |
|---|---|
 Alexander Nevsky as the third Crimson Dynamo | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Man #15 (July 1969) |
| Created by | Archie Goodwin George Tuska |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Alexander Nevsky |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth-616 |
| Team affiliations | Titanic Three |
| Notable aliases | Alex Niven |
| Abilities | Armored suit grants: Superhuman strength Flight Invulnerability Electric and laser blasts Smokescreen Backpack rocket launcher |
Alexander Nevsky was Anton Vanko's up-and-coming protege, with a greatly admired and respected scientific genius. However, his promising career was ruined when the Soviet government discredited Vanko after he fled to the West. Sent into exile for his association with the turncoat, Nevsky grew to hate the Soviet Union as well as Iron Man for besting Vanko. Nevsky also sought vengeance against Tony Stark, whom Nevsky felt exploited Vanko under the American capitalist system (not knowing that Stark and Iron Man are the same person). Disguised as brilliant new scientistAlex Niven behind Cord Industries, he planned to help the struggling competitor beat out Stark Industries in the marketplace.[6] From there, Nevsky used a new and improved Crimson Dynamo armor and bested Iron Man.[volume & issue needed] Finally, he worked towards undermining Tony Stark by romancing Janice Cord, Stark's girlfriend at the time and a relative of Cord Industries'sCEOEdwin Cord.[volume & issue needed]
After he donned the Crimson Dynamo armor in public, his old Soviet masters sent theTitanium Man to kill him. When Titanium Man killed Janice, Nevsky blamed Iron Man for the tragedy and swore to avenge her.[7] Although he held Titanium Man just as responsible for Janice's death, Nevsky was forced by circumstance to partner with him andRadioactive Man in Vietnam, where all three Communist-aligned fugitives formed theTitanic Three.[8] After defecting to Vietnam, Nevsky made one final attempt to kill Iron Man and was once again unsuccessful.[9] As a result, he was found and assassinated by theKGB and they confiscated his armor for their own purposes.[10]
"The Beginning of the End,"—Nevsky's original story arc inIron Man #17-23—is considered one of the best Iron Man stories and, alongside Tony Stark's origin inTales of Suspense #39, the best Iron Man story of theSilver Age of Comics.[11][12]
Yuri Petrovich, the fourth Crimson Dynamo, first appeared inThe Champions #7 (Aug. 1976) as the son ofIvan Petrovich - a friend of the Black Widow (now-reformed). When Western agents (presumably Americans) failed to convince Ivan to defect to the West, they assassinated Yuri's mother; in the chaos that followed, Ivan and Yuri each believed the other dead. Yuri was brought to the West, where Soviet agents posing as Westerners indoctrinated him to hate the West. When Black Widow and Ivan defected to the United States, Yuri was "rescued" by the Soviets, returned to Russia, and trained as a KGB assassin. He was given the Crimson Dynamo armor and sent to kill the Black Widow and Ivan. Yuri and his allies (his girlfriendDarkstar, theGriffin,Rampage, and the originalTitanium Man) fought the Black Widow and her teammates, theChampions. When Yuri learned of the true nature of his "Western" captors, he went berserk. Darkstar teamed up with the Champions to subdue Yuri, and after he and his other allies were defeated, Yuri was returned to Russia, convicted by the Soviet government, and exiled to aSiberian labor camp.[13]
Dmitri Bukharin, the fifth Crimson Dynamo, was given Yuri Petrovich's armor by his masters in the KGB. He joined theSoviet Super-Soldiers, but was expelled after his teammates decided to sever their connections to the Soviet government. Afterward, he received a new, redesigned suit of armor. He later joined theSupreme Soviets, a group of superhumans who were loyal to the Soviet government; the group became the People's Protectorate after the USSR dissolved. When the new government confiscated his armor, he was given another suit and adopted the codenameAirstrike. By the events ofDark Reign, however, he had returned to the identity and armor of the Crimson Dynamo, albeit as an ally of Iron Man instead of an enemy. He is currently a member of theWinter Guard, a Russian counterpart of theAvengers.
Bukharin's tenure is the longest of anyone in the Crimson Dynamo's publication history and occurred during such seminal Iron Man storylines as "Demon in a Bottle", "Doomquest", and "Armor Wars".
| Crimson Dynamo | |
|---|---|
 Valentin Shatalov as the sixth Crimson Dynamo | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Iron Man ##255 (April 1990) |
| Created by | Glenn Herdling Fabian Nicieza Herb Trimpe |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Valentin Shatalov |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth-616 |
| Team affiliations | Remont 4 Lethal Legion |
| Abilities | Armored suit grants: Superhuman strength Invulnerability Flight Electric and laser blasters Electrical shock when touching or grappling with an opponent Gatling gun contained in right arm Missiles A 'fusioncaster' chest beam |
Valentin Shatalov, a Colonel-General in the Soviet Army and a KGB agent, is the sixth Crimson Dynamo. He used his rank to obtain the Crimson Dynamo armor from Dmitri Bukharin for his own use. He was the founder of Remont-4, a group of Russian superhumans who sought to return theSoviet Union toStalinism. Shatalov and his allies (the cyborg Firefox and the originalUnicorn among others) recruited the originalTitanium Man to their cause. The Remont-4 fought the Soviet Super Soldiers and a group of Russian mutant exiles in addition to plaguingIron Man.[14]
In Shatalov's first appearance as the Crimson Dynamo, he was in a training session withDevastator inRussia at the same time Iron Man had encountered an out-of-control mutant dubbing himself Freak Quincy in Los Angeles. Quincy's out-of-control powers tapped into Devastator's satellite uplink from the other side of the world, and he managed to switch the minds of Stark and Shatalov. His unfamiliarity with the Iron Man armor resulted in Shatalov firing pulse bolts that destroyed Quincy's arms, although the mutant survived. After Stark and Shatalov struggled to maintain each other's identities, Shatalov was able to get the hospitalized Quincy to recreate the transmission that switched their minds. Out of respect for Stark, Shatalov did not reveal Stark's identity.[15]
Sometime after the fall of the Soviet Union, Shatalov received an upgraded Crimson Dynamo armor. Less bulky than Bukharin's model and with silver accents, this was the first Crimson Dynamo armor that was not completely crimson. Shatalov later met Tony Stark in person, when the latter traveled to Russia to oversee the opening of the first Stark Enterprises branch in the country, and revealed to Stark that he had kept his identity as Iron Man a secret. Stark's trip to Russia was interrupted by the rampage of the Titanium Man, Boris Bullski, who still could not accept the new Russia, and saw Stark's presence in his homeland as an affront to everything he believed the U.S.S.R. stood for. As the Titanium Man fought Iron Man, Black Widow, and Crimson Dynamo, Shatalov's leg was broken. He begged Iron Man not to finish the fight with Bullski, as he felt having the American Avenger take down a former Soviet hero would be too damaging to his country's morale. Stark volunteered to wear the Dynamo armor in Shatalov's place, and with radio assistance from Shatalov and the Widow, fought Bullski. When Bullski refused to surrender, Shatalov overrode Stark's control of the Dynamo armor, firing a blast that killed Bullski. Shatalov took the fall with his superiors, who had wanted to recover Bullski alive, and he was relieved of his duties as the Crimson Dynamo.[16]
Like many of Iron Man's Cold War-era villains, the Crimson Dynamo fell into a degree of obscurity after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since Shatalov, there have been seven people to bear the Crimson Dynamo mantle, almost all of them anonymous, short-lived, or otherwise unremarkable foes.
The seventh Crimson Dynamo,Gregar Valski, was defeated byNick Fury andCaptain America.[17] He wore Dmitri Bukharin's former armor, though his skill piloting it was minimal.
| Crimson Dynamo | |
|---|---|
 Gennady Gavrilov as the eighth Crimson Dynamo | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Crimson Dynamo #1 (October 2003) |
| Created by | John Jackson Miller Steve Ellis |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Gennady Dmitreivich Gavrilov |
| Species | Human |
| Place of origin | Earth-616 |
| Notable aliases | Trouble Magnet, Iron Gennady, Gyena, Kulakh42 |
| Abilities | Armored suit |
In Marvel Epic's six-issue 2003 seriesCrimson Dynamo, Russian collegiateGennady Gavrilov becomes the eighth Crimson Dynamo after he finds the helmet of a "Beta unit" designed by Anton Vanko based on but improved over the original, with its very own recharging satellite in orbit. Believing the helmet to be a sophisticated gaming system, Gavrilov caused the dormant armor to awaken and make its way towards the helmet, inadvertently leaving a trail of destruction. He would eventually, if briefly, wear the entire armor in a standoff with the Russian military. He kept the armor afterward.[18]
Theninth Crimson Dynamo appeared in theSecret War miniseries as a member ofLucia von Bardas's army of villains which she gathered to defeat the Avengers. This Crimson Dynamo's armor was created by theTinkerer.[19]
Thetenth Crimson Dynamo is introduced inIron Man (vol. 4) #7 (June 2006), where he is apprehended by Iron Man after attempting to rob a bank. It was later revealed that this armor had been bought on the black market and that the designs for Crimson Dynamo-based technology have been for sale for a while.[20] This Crimson Dynamo was later slain by thePunisher.[21]
Theeleventh Crimson Dynamo was a member of the "Alpha Gen Soviet Super-Soldiers", a group of Russian superhumans put into cryogenic stasis after the Cold War ended. During a fight betweenthe Order and the Infernal Man, Order member Corona set off an enormous explosion which awakened the Super-Soldiers. This Crimson Dynamo was apparently destroyed by Order members Supernaut and Aralune.[22]
Boris Vadim, the twelfth Crimson Dynamo, first appears in the premiere issue ofHulk vol. 2 (March 2008). AS.H.I.E.L.D.-sanctioned team consisting of Iron Man,Doc Samson andShe-Hulk encounters theWinter Guard, a Russian superhero team of which Vadim is a member, while investigating the apparent murder of theAbomination in Russia.[23] Vadim later flees to the United States seeking political asylum, joining theRed Hulk's mercenary group.[24] Some time later, Vadim was killed by a mutatedIgor Drenkov.[25]
Galina Nemirovsky replaced Boris Vadim to become the thirteenth Crimson Dynamo.[25] She is considered by her Russian masters to be one of the best Crimson Dynamo pilots ever and was a graduate of their "Federal Dynamo" program. As Dynamo, Galina battled the Presence, theDire Wraiths,Warlord Krang, Iron Man, and the Remont Six.[26] Galina was apparently recruited byMandarin andZeke Stane to join Iron Man's other villains in a plot to take down Iron Man. Mandarin and Zeke Stane gave Galina a new Crimson Dynamo armor.[27]
The Crimson Dynamo wears an armored battle suit that serves as an exoskeleton, providing the wearer with superhuman strength and durability. The suit's outer layer was composed of a carborundum matrix alloy, and is equipped with hand-blasters that can fire high-frequency electrical bolts, small missiles contained in the back shoulder area of the battle-suit, computers and radio transmitter and receiver and boot jets that allow flight. Subsequent versions of the battle-suit have featured upgrades of various kinds, by theGremlin and other Russian scientists. As the Crimson Dynamo, Valentin Shatalov's version of the armor was equipped with a powerful chest-mounted fusion-caster weapon.
An alternate universe variant of Anton Vanko / Crimson Dynamo from a pocket dimension created byFranklin Richards appears inHeroes Reborn as a member ofLoki'sMasters of Evil.[28]
An unidentified alternate universe variant of Crimson Dynamo from Earth-2149 appears inMarvel Zombies 2.[volume & issue needed]
An alternate universe variant of Yuri Petrovich / Crimson Dynamo from Earth-58163 appears inHouse of M as a member of the Soviet Super-Soldiers.[29]
Two characters based on the Crimson Dynamo from Earth-1610 appear in theUltimate Marvel universe:Alex Su, a Chinese member of theLiberators who was fused with his armor under unspecified circumstances and controls an army of drones; and an alternate version of Valentin Shatalov who is a government agent and the first Crimson Dynamo.[30][31]
Anton Vanko appears in media set in theMarvel Cinematic Universe (MCU):
The Alexander Nevsky incarnation of the Crimson Dynamo is referenced inPaul McCartney and Wings's song "Magneto and Titanium Man".[40]
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