POWERS
Vostokoff wears a flexible metal costume protecting her from impact, penetrating injury and energy attack, and doubling her strength (to lift 1000 lbs.). She is a master combatant, assassin, and espionage agent.
ORIGIN
A Russian espionage agent, Iron Maiden (Melina Vostokoff) despised legendary Russian spy-turned-defector the Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), in whose shadow she lived. Becoming a freelance agent, Vostokoff was one of several — including Black Lotus, “Deadshot” Darrance, N’Kama, Kono Sanada, and Snapdragon — hired to assassinate the Widow. In an en masse assault, Iron Maiden outlasted the others and nearly overpowered the Widow but fled when James Woo arrived with a SHIELD squadron. She ambushed Woo when he followed her into sewers, but he blasted a hole through the floor below her and she was sucked down to the next level. Vostokoff was later part of Superia’s Femizons, a female super-criminal army plotting to sterilize the rest of the world’s women and gain power for their Femizonia Isle nation of still-fertile women. Vostokoff helped defeat Captain America and Paladin when they tried to infiltrate Superia’s ship. Captain America ultimately foiled the plot and most of the Femizons dispersed, but Vostokoff was part of a smaller group that stayed on with Superia as her lieutenants.
She accompanied Superia to AIM’s Boca Caliente Weapons Expo, where Superia attempted to assassinate AIM executive Alessandro Brannex, but Brannex’s agent MODAM overpowered Superia before Vostokoff could react. Active in the USA following Superia’s apparent death, Vostokoff sought fake identification to sneak into Canada to avoid the new Superhuman Registration Act, but she was captured by the Thunderbolts’ Joystick. A robot mimicking Iron Maiden was part of the Soviet Super-Soldiers Alpha Strike Team. Mistakenly activated in recent years by the destructive energies of the Infernal Man, they clashed with California’s Order team and were destroyed.
