Whitney Frost is a paranoid criminal mastermind who hides her face as Madame Masque.[9][10] After learning her father was in fact the terrifying Count Nefaria, Frost inherited his position as a Maggia leader[11] interested in stealing technology from Stark Industries.[4] Following a disastrous heist against Stark, Frost succumbed in a plane crash during her escape and had her face permanently scarred.[9] Hiding her hideous visage under a golden mask, she grew to become infatuated with Tony Stark, the invincible Iron Man.[12] However, her roots eventually made her betray Stark[13] and since then she has been a prominent figure in the criminal underworld.[14]
History
Maggia
Whitney Frost grew up as the spoiled and frivolous daughter of the wealthy financier Byron Frost. In fact, her identity was crafted as part of a scheme designed by her real father Count Luchino Nefaria, the head of Maggia, who wished to create a respectable heir to his criminal empire. Having all advantages life could offer in education and social life, she forged an influential network of connections being totally unaware her reality was a façade. Being romantically involved with with Roger Vane, she prepared to establish an international position as part of a magnate family. However, following Byron Frost's death, she was contacted by Nefaria, who revealed her true heritage and shared that the man she believed to be her deceased father was merely an employee. In horror, she initially rejected Nefaria and turned to Vane for help, who abandoned her as a response. Finding herself alone, a bitter Whitney Frost joined Count Nefaria and was tutored into becoming a super criminal.[11]
As a promising figure, Whitney Frost assumed Nefaria's affairs after his imprisonment.[11] Appointed as the head of the Maggia, she became known as the Big M. Her influence in the criminal underworld allowed her to approach the indebted Morgan Stark. She manipulated him into giving her ways to access weapon-designing technology from Stark Industries and capture its security agent Iron Man,[4] who was forced to battle Big M's main operative Whiplash. Although Big M linked Iron Man's kidnapping with Tony Stark's simultaneous disappearance, she was unaware they were the same person.[15] When trying to separate Iron Man from his armor in her luxurious yacht to learn his identity, Big M was interrupted by A.I.M. agents, who tried to raid the ship.[16] The commotion led Iron Man to escape before Big M could reveal his identity.[17]
During the shipwreck, Big M hid her identity. As Whitney Frost, she was rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell, who was a liaison to Stark Industries, and used her charms to seduce him in order to achieve her plan.[1][18] Frost found an opportunity to infiltrate Stark's factory when it was attacked by Crusher. She was caught in the fight and saved by Iron Man and Sitwell, which caused her to secretly question her decision of deceiving them.[19] Still, she schemed to have her lackeys in Maggia raid Stark Industries. As part of her plan, Tony Stark was captured by Gladiator, leading him to counter attack as Iron Man.[20] In hesitation, Frost was challenged by Gladiator during the heist, as he wished to seize the control of Maggia from her. His opposition led the mission to fail, although Frost was able to run away since Sitwell could not harm her during her escape.[11]
Madame Masque
Following her escape, Whitney Frost was involved in a deadly airplane crash. Thanks to the greedy crime-lord Mordecai Midas, she had her life saved by a surgeon. However, the chemicals on board macabrely scarred her face, which became permanently disfigured[9] and was from then on covered by a golden mask. In gratitude, she affiliated herself with Midas under the name Madame Masque and helped him expand his empire by _targeting his wealthy competitors. Using intelligence provided by Morgan Stark, Madame Masque raided Stark Industries as Midas' agents failed in an attempt at assassinating Tony Stark.[21]
As an alternative plan, Madame Masque captured Tony Stark for Midas, believing him to be an impostor as reported by the media. In fact, he was the real Stark who had been replaced by rogue Life-Model Decoy version of himself.[21] Unaware of this fact, Midas ordered Madame Masque to train Stark to depose the doppelgänger and infiltrate Stark Industries to gain control of it. During their interactions, Madame Masque's impenetrable emotions flourished due to Stark's charming flirtations. In their mission, they were opposed by the Life-Model Decoy wearing the Iron Man armor. Madame Masque aborted the mission, but could not execute her partner, having developed feelings for him. In the end, the impostor was destroyed and Tony Stark returned to his life free from Midas.[9]
Realizing they had interacted with the real Tony Stark, Midas and Madame Masque resumed their ploy to acquire his riches by recapturing him. When captive, Tony Stark approached Madame Masque for help. She revealed her disfigured face to him, leading him to recognize her as Whitney Frost. Not being disgusted by her visage, he acknowledged her inner beauty. Romantically involved with each other, Madame Masque and Tony Stark joined forces to escape Midas. As Midas' island fortress collapsed, Madame Masque saved Tony Stark from death and vanished in the open ocean, not wanting to make him get involved with her tortured soul.[22]
She was washed by the Aegean Sea into the clutches of the bizarre Miklos Vryolak, who had been turned into a Minotaur creature by his insane scientist father. For weeks, Whitney Frost was under the care of Doctor Vryolak, an experience that degraded her mental stability. After S.H.I.E.L.D. secured her mask, Sitwell became aware of her situation and led a mission to save her, being joined by Iron Man in the process. Doctor Vryolak wanted to replicate the process that turned his son into a monster using Frost as a subject. Sitwell and Iron Man were able to stop him and defeat his monstrous son. In the end, Madame Masque reacquired her mask and left one more time, being confident and hopeful she could get hold of her life.[23]
Hiding her identity of Madame Masque, Frost attempted to lead a normal life until learning that Sitwell had been severely injured by the Spymaster. When trying to approach Sitwell and locate the Spy-Master for revenge, Madame Masque was caught in an attack by the Zodiac against S.H.I.E.L.D. along with Daredevil.[24] Teaming up with Iron Man and Nick Fury, they broke free and defeated their enemies.[25] After the crisis was finished, Madame Masque asked for advice from Iron Man about her heart being split between Sitwell and Stark. Since he could not merge his existences as Iron Man and Tony Stark, he rejected her and chose to focus on moving on with his life, rekindling his relationship to Marianne Rodgers. Sitwell and Madame Masque also drifted apart as he was removed as S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to Stark due to his injuries.[26]
Krissy Longfellow
Madame Masque infiltrated Stark Industries to secretly help the man who inspired her,[27] posing as his new executive secretary Krissy Longfellow.[8] She soon proved to be a charming and competent addition to Stark Industries. When debriefing Tony Stark about his technology being patented by his competitors, Longfellow was attacked by the Melter along with Abe Klein. They were saved by Iron Man.[28] When attempting to meet Iron Man as they investigated the accusations of theft, Longfellow and Klein were abducted by Commander Kraken.[29] They were rescued by Iron Man and brought back to safety.[30] Amidst this corporate crisis, Stark started to admire Longfellow's steadiness in front of the convoluted incidents related to his company.[31]
Longfellow investigated the mysterious sabotaging in Stark Industries by herself. When following a suspicious infiltrator, she was confronted by Michael O'Brien, who wore a Guardsman Armor to get revenge at Stark for the death of his brother.[32] His attack led her to use her skills to free herself in secrecy. She met Iron Man after he defeated Guardsman, only to find Sitwell had returned as an ally to Stark again.[33] Sitwell's presence as the new security advisor had an impact in her ruse.[34]
When Tony Stark had to confront the atomic knight Sunfire in an attack at Stark Industries, Madame Masque secretly helped him access one of his old armors.[34] This was followed by Stark taking the fight to the Mandarin alongside O'Brien, during which Longfellow was granted temporary command over Stark Industries.[35] She took the opportunity to move her plan[36] to meet O'Brien's former partner Harry Key, who was linked to the sabotaging. She pretended to take part in the scheme to ruin Stark. However, Sitwell was able to observe her actions[37] and follow them, under the suspicions Longfellow was behind the leaked patents.[38] Longfellow took a useless Iron Man armor to a Flying Fortress, where Midas shared he had been behind the undermining of Stark's empire. Harry Key was disposed of for his inefficiency, and Madame Masque finally revealed her true identity.[27]
Stark Industries succumbed to Midas, being absorbed into his empire. Having no one left, Iron Man departed with Madame Masque.[27] Tony Stark revealed his secret life as Iron Man to Whitney Frost and they consummated their love. Tony Stark decided to abandon his company to enjoy his love with Whitney Frost, but they owed explanations to Sitwell, who had followed them and wished to bring Madame Masque to justice. Iron Man battled his friend for Madame Masque's freedom and love. In the end, Frost declared her intentions of being with Iron Man and convinced Sitwell to depart in misery.[12]
Masked Love
Stark's allies could not let Midas triumph over the company. Through S.H.I.E.L.D., and Sitwell's machinations, they interrupted Iron Man's retirement period with Madame Masque.[39] Holding Masque at gunpoint, Sitwell forced Iron Man to war for the control of Stark Industries. After he took the bait, Madame Masque joined Jean DeWolff to support Iron Man, abandoning Sitwell.[40] Madame Masque and other allies of Iron Man were turned into solid gold statues by Midas. During the fight, it was revealed Abe Klein was had been forced to betray Stark and leak his projects to Midas. Unexpectedly, Midas was defeated by Iron Man's old flame Marianne Rodgers.[41] Madame Masque was cured from her condition soon after and was finally ready to enjoy her romance with Iron Man without Midas' influence.[42]
At Tony Stark's side, Madame Masque assisted him in his adventures as Iron Man especially by helping him hide his identity from others.[43] She supervised the reconstruction of Stark Industries after the final stand against Midas[44] and took charge of important decisions when Tony Stark was not available during a Rigellian invasion.[45] Following the inauguration of the brand-new Stark International complex,[46] Stark and Frost shared a luxurious penthouse apartment in Manhattan, solidifying their relationship.[47]
Their partnership ended with the return of a moribund Count Nefaria, who was freed from his captivity in the Avengers Mansion after Iron Man battled Arsenal.[47] He had Madame Masque ambush Stark at their own penthouse with the help of the Ani-Men in order to force him cure Nefaria's ionic induced, life-threatening aging.[48] Stark escaped Madame Masque's plot and steadfastly refused to release her father from incarceration. Madame Masque responded by confronting Iron Man with weapons from Stark International. In the ensuing battle Count Nefaria was believed killed. As a final straw for Madame Masque, she left Tony Stark.[13]
Behind the Masque
Once more feeling betrayed by a man she had deposited her trust in, Madame Masque became intensely paranoid. She retreated to a hidden base in the Nevada Desert that counted with state-of-the-art technology and a crew of robotic minions. Using her resources, she created multiple bio-duplicates of herself to act on her behalf in the open world.[49] Focusing on isolating herself, she managed to reestablish her criminal mastermind ways by once again operating Maggia as the Director. Having access to Dreadnoughts, Madame Masque employed them for her goals.[10] A Dreadnought under her command attempt to invade Project 13, but was stopped by Iron Man.[50] One of her installations was then attacked by Wonder Man, who had clashed with Dreadnoughts as well, but he was unable to take the Director away or learn her identity.[5]
Madame Masque decided to actively torment Iron Man by stealing his technology after her failures as a hidden mastermind. She hired Spymaster to torture Ling McPherson, partner of Stark's newest love interest Bethany Cabe. As her next move, she invaded Stark International, restrained Cabe and directed her Dreadnoughts against Stark.[14] Having had her forces subdued, Madame Masque attempted to ruin Stark's relationship with Cabe by sharing the information about him being Iron Man. Cabe was not affected by the revelation, which triggered a mental breakdown in Madame Masque and led her to retreat.[10]
The obsessive Madame Masque forged an alliance with Stark's nemesis Obadiah Stane to hurt him,[51] and they became infatuated with each other.[6] Having contacts on the West Coast, she commissioned the Enforcer to finish Stane's ineffective agent, the Termite, but he was executed by the Scourge before he could complete his mission.[52] Masque and Stane also failed when trying to harm Cabe,[53] though ultimately manage to have her under custody.[6] Obadiah Stane had Madame Masque's psyche swapped with Bethany Cabe's using Doctor Atlanta's technology.[54] Wearing a new suit, Iron Man invaded Stane International in retaliation for the recent transgressions. Following his failure, Stane committed suicide.[55] Madame Masque took the opportunity to impersonate Cabe and approach Iron Man.[56] Seeking an opportunity to murder Tony Stark, Madame Masque patiently waited for the right moment to strike. However, the real Bethany Cabe, in Madame Masque's body, saved Tony Stark's life.[54] As the truth was disclosed, Iron Man gathered Dr. Atlanta and had him revert the process.[57]
Eventually, Madame Masque replaced her puppet doppelgänger with another version of herself.[58] When Tony Stark contacted the succeeding Madame Masque to ask her for information about the recent criminal underworld's activities involving Dreadnoughts, she coldly rejected him, which sparked his suspicions. Soon after, he was contacted about Whitney Frost's body being found in the East River.[59] Believing the new Madame Masque to be an impostor, Iron Man investigated the situation.[60] In secrecy, Madame Masque's Maggia cooperated with FBI to combat Hydra and A.I.M., which led these organizations to hire the Hulk to capture her. Iron Man managed to free Madame Masque, but she subdued him and escaped, revealing her connections to FBI.[61] Iron Man and the Hulk planned to trick Maggia by staging a fight. Having Maggia's trust, Iron Man attempted to restrain Madame Masque, but failed again.[62]
Unmasked
Madame Masque's elaborate scheme to use clones of herself as puppets started to erode[49] when one of her duplicates went rogue and acted heroically as Masque. This doppelgänger acted when Stark had his reason tampered with by Kang the Conqueror, saving him from an insane Marianne Rodgers.[63] Both women were restrained by Stark[64] when, in a burst of insanity, he attacked the Avengers Mansion. Revealing herself to be Bethany Cabe, this Masque impersonated Rodgers to escape.[65] She met the Avengers to help them deal with the traitorous Stark.[66][67] Partially thanks to her contribution,[68] a version Stark prior to his corruption was brought from the past[69][70] to help the Avengers stop Kang.[71]
Afterwards, Masque joined the Avengers.[72] During her tenure, the Avengers Mansion was invaded by the robot Benedict,[73] which captured her in exchange for intel about Maggia he delivered to the Black Widow.[74] Benedict was a robot that served the real Madame Masque, who wished to remove her erratic clone from the Avengers.[49] Soon after, Madame Masque had her replica in Maggia replaced twice.[75][76] The disposed corpses attracted Iron Man's attention.[3][77]
The investigation came to a conclusion when the Avenger Vision assembled the Avengers to deal with the Grim Reaper contacting leaderships of Maggia from all over the world, including the division in Las Vegas ruled by Madame Masque. She rejected the Grim Reaper's proposition and unleashed her Dreadnoughts as the Avengers intervened. When trapped by the Reaper, Madame Masque killed herself and asked Iron Man to help the real Madame Masque.[78] The Grim Reaper attacked Madame Masque in her hidden base in Nevada, but was followed by the Avengers and a repowered Count Nefaria.[49] She attempted to activate an ionic lock to stop her father, but he managed to overpower her and destroy her hideout. After learning Nefaria wished to detonate an ionic bomb that would threaten the planet, Madame Masque decided to help the Avengers by recreating the device that could stop Nefaria.[79][80] However, she provided the Avengers with a faulty device, not fully trusting them. The actual weapon was in her possession. The heroic Masque duplicate resurfaced to use the ionic lock on Nefaria, but he murdered her in cold blood. Realizing her father would have done the same to her, the real Madame Masque activated the ionic lock that foiled Count Nefaria's plans. Without her resources, the distrustful Madame Masque disappeared once again.[81]
Hood's Gang
As a crime lord, Madame Masque was contacted by John King about his cousin, the mysterious Hood, who took advantage of the split in the super hero community caused by the Superhuman Registration Act[82] to unite the criminal community under his protection, founding a Gang to perform heists.[83] Their activities caught the attention of the New Avengers,[84] who fought them and managed to get them under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s custody.[85] However, the Hood rescued his people from prison and organized a retaliation. During their revenge, Madame Masque alerted the Hood that he should be careful with the demon that empowered him. Doctor Strange overpowered the criminals and they were arrested once again.[86]
When being tortured by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in captivity, Madame Masque was rescued by the Hood. As he killed the aggressors, they were revealed to be a group of disguised Skrulls trying to impersonate her. The Hood took a surviving one for interrogation, and Madame Masque tortured him until he revealed that that the Skrulls planned on taking over Earth as part of a secret invasion.[87] The Hood's crime syndicate actively decided to combat the Skrull infiltrators to protect their planet[88] joining humanity in a last stand against the aliens.[89] The Skrull Queen was killed by Norman Osborn,[90] who supplanted Tony Stark as the chief of the Initiative program.[91] As a result, the Hood and his Gang gained Osborn's support to fight the Avengers, who were forced to retreat.[92] Madame Masque admired the Hood's competence and spoke for him when other criminals challenged his leadership. As his most royal ally, she became his main partner in his operations.[93]
One of Osborn's _targets was Tony Stark. As part of his new alliance, he personally offered the Hood and Madame Masque a bounty to find Stark.[94] After their operative Shockwave failed in completing the task, Osborn decided to deal with Madame Masque only. He granted her access to the archive of Stark Tower to accomplish her mission.[95] Madame Masque tracked Stark to Russia, which Pepper Potts had also done.[96] Blinded by jealousy, Madame Masque lost her reason and tortured Potts to blackmail Stark into professing her love for her.[97] In a bizarre exchange, Stark admitted that he had always loved her, to which Madame Masque reciprocated.[97] However, when faced with a direct choice between Potts or Frost, he chose the first, prompting a violent reaction from the latter.[98]
To escape Osborn, Tony Stark fled as Madame Masque and Pepper Potts went hand-to-hand with each other.[98] Madame Masque was imprisoned in Stark's discarded Crimson Dynamo Armor,[99] while Potts, disguised as Madame Masque, reported to Osborn that she had killed her opponent in combat and returned to the United States.[100] When the Crimson Dynamo was examined by Osborn's agents, Madame Masque was freed,[99] but hospitalized for dehydration, burns, abrasions, and broken bones.[101] The bounty on Stark's head was revoked after Osborn captured him himself, but Madame Masque still contacted the Ghost to kill Stark in secrecy regardless.[102] When the Ghost failed, Madame Masque severed their ties to protect herself from Osborn.[103]
The Hood faced problems with his demonic possession. Out of gratitude for his support, Madame Masque chose to help him, revealing her true face and confessing her feelings for him. In his quest to eliminate competitors to become the new Sorcerer Supreme, the Hood counted with Madame Masque's assistance.[104] He clashed with Doctor Strange, prompting the Avengers to strike back. Madame Masque exploded their Quinjet when they hunted the Hood. She was knocked out by Bucky, only surviving the shot by being shielded by her mask.[105] The new Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Voodoo exorcized the Hood of Dormammu.[106]
Depowered, the Hood hungered for power. He was manipulated by Loki into acquiring the Norn Stones in a journey Madame Masque accompanied him,[107] despite not agreeing with the deal. Without his supervision, the Hood's Gang rebelled against Osborn due to Jonas Harrow's intervention.[108] The Hood, Madame Masque and King reasserted their control by killing Harrow and having the Gang being granted official sanction in the Initiative.[109] As part of the Initiative, Madame Masque joined Osborn's siege on Asgard.[110] After Osborn was defeated by the Avengers[111] and the Hood was depowered once more, Madame Masque made their escape. The Hood was pessimistic for being powerless and expected to be betrayed by his fallen comrades.[112] The desperate Madame Masque sought out her father Count Nefaria in California for help in repowering the Hood. The Avengers tracked them and, after a battle with Nefaria, the criminals were taken to be arrested for their crimes.[113]
West Coast Queenpin
Whitney Frost did not stay incarcerated, making her way out of the legal system. She was approached by the Hood, who took possession of the Reality Gem in his quest to collect the Infinity Gauntlet. He healed her scars, restoring her face.[114] Count Nefaria also reestablished his activities, which led him to be injured in a conflict with the vigilante Moon Knight. Nefaria's men Madame Masque to recollect the head of an Ultron drone from Moon Knight to help him.[115] Despite a strong effort, Madame Masque failed after being defeated by Moon Knight.[116]
Madame Masque showed up in Madripoor for the auction of a videotape showing Hawkeye assassinating an Asian dictator (which was actually a simulation to protect the identities of the Navy Seals that actually carried out the murder). Hawkeye himself flew to Madripoor under the orders of S.H.I.E.L.D. to retrieve said tape, but he was kidnapped by Masque's men. At some point during her stay in the hotel, Masque was ambushed and subdued by Kate Bishop, Hawkeye's protégé who had followed him to Madripoor. Bishop tied up Masque and impersonated her during the auction for the tape.[117]
When the real Masque tried to escape from her room's bathroom, her guards noticed her, blowing up Kate's disguise. Madame Masque took Bishop to the hall for her guards to get rid of her, but Hawkeye arrived in time and saved her. Before escaping the hotel, both Hawkeyes recovered the tape, which was ultimately destroyed by accident by Masque, when she tried to shoot Barton. Masque vowed vengeance on Kate for her actions.[118]
Even since their encounter in Madripoor, Madame Masque's minions had been keeping an eye on her. When Kate temporarily left Barton and moved to Los Angeles, she made a reservation in a hotel. Masque tracked her down, encountered her, and posed as an ally to Kate while a series of unfortunate yet planned events ruined Bishop's stay. Whitney lured Kate to her mansion, without knowing that Kate had already discovered she was actually Madame Masque. Kate escaped from the mansion, wrecking the house in the process, causing Masque to swear that Kate would die in Los Angeles.[119]
Masque was made aware of Bishop's subsequent whereabouts in Los Angeles by an associate of hers,[120] and tracked her down once more.[121] Masque burned down Kate's house and killed one of her allies, Harold H. Harold, pinning the murder on her. The police let her go, and Bishop started an investigation that led her to Madame Masque's illegal operations in L.A. which consisted in using LMD technology to extend the life span of the high class. Kate infiltrated Masque's mansion to recover information to incriminate her, leading to her arrest by S.H.I.E.L.D. and the shutdown of her business.[7] Shortly afterward, Madame Masque became a member of the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil in Bagalia, and worked as Baron Helmut Zemo's right-hand woman.[122]
Magic Curator
In order to empower herself, Madame Masque decided to work on collecting different magical objects.[123] She acquired items from all over the globe. In Osaka, her activities led her to be pursued by a mysterious group of ninja agents. After stealing a decoy of the Wand of Watoomb from Castle Doom in Latveria, Madame Masque was identified by Tony Stark's artificial assistant Friday, prompting his intervention.[124] As soon as she discovered the artifact she had stolen was fake, she confronted and killed her informant in a hotel in Montreal. With Doctor Doom's assistance, Tony Stark was able to locate Masque in the hotel room. He unsuccessful tried to reason with her, but she was startled by his presence unleashed a surprising display of enormous magic power at him.[123] Having huge advantage, Madame Masque almost killed Stark, who was forced to retreat with Friday's support. Madame Masque took the opportunity to teleporte herself away.[125]
Doctor Strange tracked her energy signature as she lost control of the mystic rituals she performed in Marina del Rey. As Iron Man went to her location, he did not meet her. Instead, he fell to a trap as she had anticipated his arrival. In an attempt to have her enemies destroy each other, Masque had Iron Man find the ninja agents who pursued her.[125] In Chicago, she caused mayhem as she killed a former business partner of her in the inauguration of Mary Jane Watson's nightclub Jackpot. The incident caught the attention of Iron Man and Doctor Doom.[126] As Madame Masque engaged in battle against the two allies, she fell into possession by demonic forces. In order to hold her down, Iron Man encased her in his own armor, while Doctor Doom performed an exorcism. After being defeated, Madame Masque was taken by Doctor Strange to fix her metaphysically and then hand her over at S.H.I.E.L.D..[127]
After escaping from prison, Masque decided to create a black market for magical artifacts and, with the aid of various demons and magical items, she stole all sorts of raw magical materials and resources from Doctor Strange's Sanctum Machina.[128] These were then forged into Black Artifacts, magical items which didn't have the proper charms, seals, and sigils to bind their power and were consequently extremely unstable.[129] These magical artifacts were so unstable that some could even bend reality.[130][131] With the aid of Doctor Druid, Doctor Strange was able to put an end to her operation and, as a result, the magical artifacts that she had sold were destroyed, making all of her customers feel cheated and betrayed. Doctor Strange offered to protect her from those former customers but in return she would have to wear the Mask of Morriand, which would cure her of her mental illness which he had gleaned from reading her mind. She refused his offer and fled, taking her chances with being hunted down.[132]
King's Ransom
Moving her operations to New York City, Madame Masque found Wilson Fisk's mayorship to be an obstacle, since the former Kingpin regulated the criminal underworld tightly, leaving no room for turf wars or power grabs. Whitney partnered with the new Crime Master, an up-and-coming criminal who also struggled in Kingpin's New York City underworld. Together they set up an operation, offering power upgrades and cuts of territory.
When the Kingpin enlisted New York's mob bosses to track down Boomerang for the pieces of the Tablet of Life and Time in his possession, Madame Masque and Crime Master took advantage of the chaos incited by the manhunt and kidnapped Boomerang's roommate Randy Robertson and his girlfriend Beetle. Knowing that the Beetle was the daughter of crime lord Tombstone, Madame Masque and Crime Master intended to lure him into attacking them so they would kill him and then claim his territories.[133] Masque and Crime Master cornered Tombstone when he arrived at the trap alongside Randy's father Robbie Robertson, but he had enlisted the help of Beetle's team, the Syndicate, and they arrived to help. Spider-Man joined the fight shortly afterward, and both Madame Masque and Crime Master were defeated.[134]
Gang War
Madame Masque was one of the many crime lords attending the wedding of Bettle and Randy. The wedding was soon crashed by Shotgun who shot at Bettle's father Tombstone using special bullets, having been secretly mind-controlled by Madame Masque herself.[135][136] The crime bosses began blaming each other for the sudden attack, but when Madame Masque proceeded to leave on her limousine, only for Hammerhead to set off the bomb hidden inside her vehicle which appeared to kill her.[137] Count Nefaria took the blame for her apparent death and took complete control of the Maggia.[138]
In truth, Madame Masque had foreseen Hammerhead's assassination attempt and had a random woman pose as her to be killed in the explosion. She then disguised herself as Hammerhead's new girlfriend and while he was distracted she knocked him out in his home with a combination of magic and an Adamantium bar. Bettle soon broke inside Hammerhead's home where she was met by Madame Masque alive and well. She told Bettle how she managed to evade her assassination and immediately declared the war between gangs.[135] As the gang war raged on, Madame Masque imprisoned Hammerhead who warned her that the other mobsters would soon come for her.[139]
Arriving to Downtown Manhattan, Madame Masque had Hammerhead to call all of his men to her. Upon their arrival, Madame Masque called them all a failure before having Shotgun bring them a defeated Nefaria and Silvermane, with the latter declaring her as the new leader of Maggia.[140] As Maggia's new leader, Madame Masque oversaw the entirety of the gang war, and planned to make her own move.[141] She made contact with Crime Master's former AIM allies, and scoured the territories that had been involved in the war. She then broke inside the Syndicate's base in Harlem where Madame Masque challenged Bettle over control of Harlem in Central Park. Armed with Rabble's gauntlets and with the mind-controlled Shotgun, Silvermane, and Nefaria by her side, Madame Masque waited for Bettle and her subordinates to arrive.[136]
Upon their arrival, Bettle's gang went to fight Madame Masque's gang and allies, allowing Bettle and her new ally Digger to confront Madame Masque. Thanks to her gauntlets Madame Masque made quick work of them, but unfortunately for her Spider-Man and his allies arrived and defeated most of the criminals. Spider-Man fought Madame Masque, and despite sending a mind-controlled Owl at him, the hero quickly defeated him and prepared to take her down.[142] Tombstone took back control of Harlem's gang and ordered them all to retreat. In the retreat, Spider-Man was electrocuted by Electro, giving Madame Masque the opportunity to strike him, until Shotgun broke the magical sigils that allowed her to control Nefaria and Silvermane, and Mayor Cage with his allies also arrived to the heroes' aid. Madame Masque lamented that her grand plan was ruined and vowed vengeance on everyone. Spider-Man was able to take away her gauntlets and destroy them, finally bringing her down and surrendering her to the heroes.[143]Attributes
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Powers
None.
Abilities
- Martial Arts: Madame Masque is proficient and hand to hand combat, being able to hold her own against several opponents.
- Firearms: Madame Masque is skilled in the use of firearms.
- Disguise: Madame Masque and her clones are able to pass themselves off as other women.
- Gymnastics: She has shown significant ability as a gymnast.
- Telepathic Resistance: Madame Masque has trained her mind to be resistant against most mental attacks. She also backs up her memories daily, via a cerebra-scanner, to safeguard against their being tampered with.[79]
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Notes
- The prestigious creators from the Iron Man series David Michelinie and Bob Layton intended to introduce a second Madame Masque whose identity was going to be revealed as Tony Stark's newest love interest Rae Lacoste. Lacoste was created by the duo in Iron Man #223, Whitney Frost was murdered in Iron Man #238 and her mysterious substitute had a full appearance in Iron Man #245. The last Iron Man issue Layton and Michelinie wrote together was issue Iron Man #250, before the new Madame Masque's identity could be revealed. The subsequent regular writer John Byrne, who took up the book by issue Iron Man #258, did not work with Madame Masque. The plot was left abandoned and untouched until creator Kurt Busiek replicated Madame Masque's murder in Iron Man (Vol. 3). In the Nefaria Protocols storyline written by Busiek, it was revealed that the original Madame Masque was behind her own murders, as she disposed of cloned bodies of herself she had created to fool her enemies. For that purpose, all appearances of Madame Masque from Iron Man #116 to Avengers (Vol. 3) #32 should be assumed to be one of her cloned doppelgängers acting on her command.[144]
- Madame Masque's name and title as part of the Nefaria family is "Countess Giulietta Nefaria".[2] The name was misspelled as "Giuletta" in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #6 and as "Guiletta" in the Gamer's Handbook of the Marvel Universe #2. Entries from other handbooks list her name as "Giulietta".[2][145][146][147] In actual source material, Madame Masque is referred to as Giulietta Nefaria in a narration box in West Coast Avengers (Vol. 3) #6.
Trivia
- Madame Masque has used LinkedIn.[134]
- Artist David Marquez, on Madame Masque's redesign for Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3), declared that "Clearly Madame Masque's face mask is her defining feature. Just like with the Iron Man armor, I wanted the design to be a forward-thinking homage. In this case I leaned on a lot of modern fashion design, and in particular the work of the late Alexander McQueen. He was, to me, by far one of the most inventive and inspiring designers of the last several decades and did some really interesting work with masks. So, instead of a solid gold mask I thought it would be interesting to combine the creepiness of a glass facemask with a gold filigree masquerade mask that gives it a hint of elegance and also homage to the original design. Similarly, I wanted the rest of her costume to be a study in juxtaposition; in this case violence and sex. I started with a semi-militaristic/special ops-style outfit, but combined it with shapes that are meant to very purposefully evoke lingerie. Masque has historically made it a point to use her sexuality as a weapon every bit as dangerous as any gun or blade, and hopefully that all comes across in the new design."[148]
See Also
- 170 appearance(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 16 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 17 minor appearance(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 34 mention(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 105 image(s) of Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 23 quotation(s) by or about Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
- 1 item(s) used/owned by Whitney Frost (Earth-616)
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Iron Man #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (Vol. 2) #7
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Iron Man (Vol. 3) #11
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Tales of Suspense #97
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Marvel Premiere #55
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Iron Man #198
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #20
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Iron Man #91
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Iron Man #18
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Iron Man #139
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Iron Man #8
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Iron Man #104
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Iron Man #116
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Iron Man #138
- ↑ Tales of Suspense #98
- ↑ Tales of Suspense #99
- ↑ Iron Man and Sub-Mariner #1
- ↑ Iron Man #3
- ↑ Iron Man #6
- ↑ Iron Man #7
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Iron Man #17
- ↑ Iron Man #19
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Iron Man #24
- ↑ Iron Man #35
- ↑ Daredevil #73
- ↑ Iron Man #36
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Iron Man #103
- ↑ Iron Man #92
- ↑ Iron Man #93
- ↑ Iron Man #94
- ↑ Iron Man #95
- ↑ Iron Man #96
- ↑ Iron Man #97
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 Iron Man #98
- ↑ Iron Man #99
- ↑ Iron Man #100
- ↑ Iron Man #101
- ↑ Iron Man #102
- ↑ Iron Man #105
- ↑ Iron Man #106
- ↑ Iron Man #107
- ↑ Iron Man #108
- ↑ Iron Man #109–110
- ↑ Iron Man #111
- ↑ Iron Man #112
- ↑ Iron Man #113
- ↑ 47.0 47.1 Iron Man #114
- ↑ Iron Man #115
- ↑ 49.0 49.1 49.2 49.3 Avengers (Vol. 3) #32
- ↑ Iron Man #129
- ↑ Iron Man #190
- ↑ Iron Man #194
- ↑ Iron Man #195
- ↑ 54.0 54.1 Iron Man #203
- ↑ Iron Man #200
- ↑ Iron Man #201
- ↑ Iron Man #204
- ↑ Iron Man #238
- ↑ Iron Man #245
- ↑ Iron Man #246
- ↑ Iron Man #247
- ↑ Incredible Hulk #361
- ↑ Iron Man #321
- ↑ Iron Man #322
- ↑ Iron Man #323
- ↑ Avengers #393
- ↑ Iron Man #324
- ↑ Avengers #394
- ↑ Iron Man #325
- ↑ Age of Innocence: The Rebirth of Iron Man #1
- ↑ Avengers #395
- ↑ Avengers #397
- ↑ Avengers #398
- ↑ Avengers #399
- ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #10
- ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #20
- ↑ Iron Man (Vol. 3) #21
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #31
- ↑ 79.0 79.1 Avengers (Vol. 3) #33
- ↑ Thunderbolts #44
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 3) #34
- ↑ New Avengers #33
- ↑ New Avengers #35
- ↑ New Avengers #36
- ↑ New Avengers #37
- ↑ New Avengers Annual #2
- ↑ New Avengers #46
- ↑ Secret Invasion #4
- ↑ Secret Invasion #6–7
- ↑ Secret Invasion #8
- ↑ Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1
- ↑ New Avengers #50
- ↑ New Avengers #55
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #12
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #13
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #14
- ↑ 97.0 97.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #15
- ↑ 98.0 98.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #16
- ↑ 99.0 99.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #18
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #17
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #19
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #20–21
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 2) #23
- ↑ New Avengers #52
- ↑ New Avengers #53
- ↑ New Avengers #54
- ↑ New Avengers #56
- ↑ New Avengers #57
- ↑ New Avengers #60–61
- ↑ Siege #3
- ↑ Siege #4
- ↑ New Avengers #64
- ↑ New Avengers Finale #1
- ↑ Avengers (Vol. 4) #9
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 6) #10
- ↑ Moon Knight (Vol. 6) #11
- ↑ Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #4
- ↑ Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #5
- ↑ Hawkeye Annual #1
- ↑ Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #14
- ↑ Hawkeye (Vol. 4) #16
- ↑ Avengers Undercover VOl 1 1
- ↑ 123.0 123.1 123.2 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #1
- ↑ 125.0 125.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #3
- ↑ Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #4
- ↑ 127.0 127.1 Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #5
- ↑ Dr. Strange #3
- ↑ Dr. Strange #5
- ↑ Dr. Strange #1
- ↑ Dr. Strange #2
- ↑ Dr. Strange #6
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #64
- ↑ 134.0 134.1 Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 5) #65
- ↑ 135.0 135.1 Amazing Spider-Man Gang War: First Strike #1
- ↑ 136.0 136.1 Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #42
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #31
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #37
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #39
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #40
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #41
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #43
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 6) #44
- ↑ Comic Legends: The Mystery Identity of Iron Man's Foe, Madame Masque
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Master Edition #22
- ↑ All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #6
- ↑ Beard, Jim (September 17, 2015) Armor Up with David Marquez' Iron Man Sketchbook Marvel.com. Retrieved on December 5, 2021.
- ↑ Marvel Avengers: The Ultimate Character Guide #2
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol 1 6