Winter Guard

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Winter Guard (comics)
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Winter Guard
Vanguard

Red Widow

The Winter Guard (

Russian superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics
.

The Winter Guard are noted for being "Russia's answer to the

Supreme Soviets
. Unlike those teams, which were often adversarial towards other costumed superheroes, the Winter Guard is much more heroic and representative in nature.

Unlike other superhero teams, the Winter Guard currently has a rotating pool of candidates to fill one of three roles on the team: Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo and Red Guardian.[citation needed]

Publication history

The Winter Guard first appeared during the Kurt Busiek run of Iron Man in (vol. 2) #9 (October 1998), where they had several guest appearances.[2] They would later appear in Busiek's stint on the Avengers.

The team made infrequent appearance in the Marvel Universe until Jeph Loeb brought them to attention in Hulk (vol. 2) #1. The Winter Guard soon appeared in She-Hulk and War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D..

Marvel Digital Comic[3] and was later reprinted as a comic book. Gallaher returned to writing the team with a 3-issue limited series called Darkstar and the Winter Guard in 2010.[4][5][6]

Fictional team history

The Winter Guard were originally known as

The Soviet Super Soldiers and appeared in various comics from the mid-1970s. That name lost meaning following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. The Winter Guard made their debut with that name in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9, and fought alongside the Avengers during both the "Maximum Security" crossover,[7] and the "Kang War".[volume & issue needed
]

Whilst investigating the murder of the

Abomination (who was killed by Red Hulk), Doc Samson, She-Hulk and Thunderbolt Ross encounter the revitalized Winter Guard, consisting of Ursa Major, Red Guardian, Darkstar and the Crimson Dynamo. When She-Hulk points out that Darkstar and Red Guardian were dead, Iron Man tells her that they were replaced with new people.[8]
It is unknown if the other members of the team are new as well.

After teaming up with

Chernobog and Red Widow.[14]

Members

Their current membership is:

Previous members

  • Darkstar II – Sasha Roerich, a red-haired & short-lived replacement for Petrovna who was bestowed Darkstar's power.
  • Darkstar III – Reena Stancioff, who was killed by a Dire Wraith.
  • Steel Guardian – Russia's counterpart to Captain America. The fourth Red Guardian (Josef Petkus) briefly used the name Steel Guardian.
  • Fantasma
    – A sorceress and illusion-caster. Also known as Fantasia. Revealed to be a Dire Wraith.
  • Powersurge – A nuclear-fueled giant who sacrificed his life to destroy the Russian supervillain
    Presence
    .
  • Sibercat
    – A ferocious feline mutant.
  • Crimson Dynamo XIII – The identity formerly worn by Galina Nemirovsky.

Collected editions

Title Material collected Published date ISBN
Darkstar and the Winter Guard Darkstar and the Winter Guard #1–3, Hulk: Winter Guard #1, X-Men Unlimited #28 November 2010 978-0785148678
Winter Guard: Operation Snowblind Winter Guard #1-4, Widowmakers: Red Guardian and Yelena Belova #1 January 2022 978-1302928759

Other versions

  • The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes tie-in miniseries has the Winter Guard appear in issue 2. They were called in by the Swiss government to arrest Crimson Dynamo, who is being pursued by the Avengers and into a fight with them. Their line-up consisted Vanguard, Darkstar, Ursa Major, and Titanium Man.
  • In X-Men '92 The Winter Guard are called "The People's Protectorate". They consist of Ursa Major, Omega Red, Darkstar, Vostok, and Red Guardian. They are turned into Vampires by Dracula's son, Janus, but rescued in the end.[17]

In other media

Television

  • The Winter Guard appears in the Avengers Assemble episode "Secret Avengers", consisting of Red Guardian, Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo, Ursa Major and Radioactive Man. This version of the group work for Central Command, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Russian counterpart. Crimson Dynamo obtains a key to a Hydra capsule used to imprison Radioactive Man, and attempts to evade the Secret Avengers and Power Princess to get it to the Winter Guard. The Secret Avengers and the Winter Guard meet at the facility, but it becomes destabilized and threatens a nearby village, forcing the two teams to work together to minimize the damage.
  • The Winter Guard appears in Marvel Future Avengers, consisting of Red Guardian, Darkstar, Crimson Dynamo, and Ursa Major.

Video games

The Winter Guard appear as playable characters in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2.

References

  1. ^ She-Hulk (vol. 2) #34 (2008). Marvel Comics.
  2. .
  3. Marvel.com
    . Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  4. ^ Gourley, Jim (April 20, 2010). "The Sword and Script Interview: David Gallaher". Sword and Script. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2010.
  5. ^ Mahadeo, Kevin (May 21, 2010). "Gallaher Thaws Out the Winter Guard". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved May 21, 2010.
  6. ^ a b Rogers, Vaneta (May 25, 2010). "From High Moon to DARKSTAR: Zuda Alums Talk Russian Heroes". Newsarama. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  7. ^ Iron Man (vol. 3) #9 (1998).Marvel Comics.
  8. ^ Hulk (vol. 2) #1 (2008). Marvel Comics.
  9. ^ Iron Man: Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D. #34
  10. ^ Darkstar & the Winter Guard #1 (2010). Marvel Comics.
  11. ^ Wolverine and the X-Men #27. Marvel Comics.
  12. ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #676. Marvel Comics.
  13. ^ Monsters Unleashed (vol. 2) #2. Marvel Comics.
  14. ^ Avengers (vol. 8) #10. Marvel Comics.
  15. ^ Avengers (vol. 8) #10
  16. ^ Darkstar and the Winter Guard #2–3
  17. ^ X-men '92 1–4

External links