Madame Masque

Madame Masque
File:Madamemasque.gif Madame Masque by Mark Beachum (artist)
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Tales of Suspense #97 (January, 1968)
Created by	Stan Lee Gene Colan
In-story information
Alter ego	Giulietta Nefaria (birth name) Whitney Frost (legal name)
Team affiliations	Maggia, Count Nefaria, Mordecai Midas, Iron Man, Ani-Men (employees)
Notable aliases	Big M, the Director, Kristine "Krissy" Longfellow, Bethany Cabe (impersonation)
Abilities	None

Madame Masque (Whitney Frost) is a fictional character, occassional love interest, and sometimes enemy of Iron Man in the Marvel Comics universe.

History

Madame Masque was born as Giulietta Nefaria, the daughter of the master criminal Count Luchino Nefaria. Her mother died when giving birth and Luchino wanted his daughter to lead a respectable life, so he gave the child to Byron Frost and his wife Loretta to be raised. Byron Frost was a wealthy financier and an employee of Nefaria. He called the child and Whitney and raised her as his own.

As a young adult, Whitney became engaged to politician Roger Vane. The Frosts died and Count Nefaria approached Whitney and revealed her true parentage. He told Whitney that he wanted her to take his place as leader of the Maggia, a Mafia-like organisation running the East Coast of the United States. Whitney at first refused, but when she told Roger about her father, he left her, afraid that her connections to a known criminal would hamper his political career.

Whitney accepted her father's offer and was trained by him in strategy, criminal activities and combat. She turned out to be a brilliant student and when her father was imprisoned, she became the new Big M, the leader of the Nefaria Maggia. Her role as Big M brought her into conflict with Iron Man and after a raid on his company, Stark Industries, Whitney was forced to flee. Her plane crashed though and Whitney's face was scarred during the accident. She was saved by the criminal Mordecai Midas and started to work for him. Midas was obsessed with gold and Whitney hid her face behind a golden mask and used the alias "Madame Masque".

Madame Masque met Tony Stark, Iron Man's alter-ego and he showed concern for her, despite her scarred face. She turned on Midas to save Stark, but left Stark, because of her criminal past. Unable to forget him, she returned as Krissy Longfellow, Stark's personal secretary. Both came to know of each other's secret identity and started a romantic relationship. Their happiness was short-lived though; her father was dying as the result of an attempt to gain superhuman powers. Whitney hired the Ani-Men to bring her father to her and then asked Stark to find a cure for him. Nefaria tried to use violence to force Stark though and a battle started between the Ani-Men and Iron Man. During the battle Whitney was unable to chose between her father and her lover and when Nefaria's life-support was damaged in the fight, she went insane with guilt and grief.

Whitney returned to the Nefaria Maggia and as "The Director" became its leader. She often fought Iron Man and his friends. At one point, Whitney became paranoid and started to create copies of herself, known as bio-duplicates. One of her bio-duplicates known as Masque, was an ally of the Avengers. Whitney later ordered Masque exterminated for its aberrant behaviour. She continues to be a criminal figure of importance, but has assisted the Avengers and the Thunderbolts against her father, who returned from the death as a superhuman and destroyed his daughter's base.

Powers and abilities

Madame Masque has no superhuman powers, but is a skilled combatant and marksmen. She has access to advanced technology like her bio-duplicates.

External Links

• Women of Marvel Comics Madame Masque Page