IVAN THE TERRIBLE
Real Name: Ivan Pushkin
Identity/Class: Human, citizen of Russia
Occupation: Crime Czar (or Tsar, depending on your preference); former Soviet Counterintelligence agent
Affiliations: Employer of Hammer and Sickle; One-time employer of the Confessor; lover of Natalya Kedrov; former employer of Dr. Etta Langstrom and Omega Red; former agent of SMERSH (Contraction for Smiert Spionam, meaning "Death to Spies")
Enemies: Maverick, Elena Ivanova, Isabel Ferguson, Red Guardian (Krassno Granitsky), AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), presumably HYDRA
Known Relatives: None known, although he has many mistresses
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Russia, Canada
First Appearance: Maverick II#1 (September, 1997)
Powers: Ivan the Terrible is a criminal mastermind with no scruples, being Russia's counterpart to the Kingpin of Crime. As such he is notoriously brutal, ruthless, and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He is a strong motivator, though largely through fear. He usually relies on his underlings to deal with things, seldom dirtying his own hands.
History: BTS- Ivan Pushkin got his start as a Soviet Counterintelligence agent in SMERSH (Contraction for Smiert Spionam, meaning "Death to Spies"). After the the disbanding of SMERSH he became involved heavily with the Russian Mafia and through his ruthlessness and cunning, quickly rose to become one of the heads of the Russian criminal underworld.
(Maverick II#1 (BTS))- Ivan the Terrible's criminal enterprises were under investigation by the Canadian government. He sent his henchmen, Hammer and Sickle, to interrogate Francois Perigeux, a Parisian cellist with some unrevealed ties to Pushkin. After finding out that the Canadian government's Major Barrington was behind the investigation. the thugs murdered their target.
Later, Ivan the Terrible sent Hammer, Sickle and some men to forcibly retreive Maverick and Elena Ivonova from their room at the Chateau Frontenac, in Quebec, Canada. They failed and Maverick and Ivonova escaped.
(Maverick II#1)- Ivan the Terrible caught up to Maverick and his ally in Saint Jean Sur Richelieu, a suburb of Montreal, at the home of another of Maverick's allies, Isabel Ferguson. After capturing Ivonova, Ivan the Terrible forced Maverick to surrender.
Maverick II#2)- Ivan the Terrible had Dr. Etta Langstrom "brainwash" Maverick to believe whatever he had to say. Ivan told Maverick that Major Barrington was behind his wife Ginetta's betrayal (a lie) to get Maverick to assassinate the Major before the inquest into Ivan's criminal dealings began. Maverick accepted what he said and set out to kill Barrington.
((Maverick II#3 (BTS))- Ivan the Terrible sent Hammer and Sickle to kill Barrington if Maverick's conditioning failed. It did and Hammer murdered the Major.
(Maverick II#8 (BTS))- Ivan the Terrible hired the Russian mercenary the Confessor to break his henchman, Sickle, out of the Canadian maximum security prison, the Ice Box.
(Maverick II#8)- Upon successful completion of his assignment, Ivan the Terrible offered the Confessor another mission; The capture of Maverick.
(Maverick II#10)- Ivan confronted the captured Maverick and explained that he intended to torture him until he broke. He was interrupted by his mistress, Natalya Kedrov, who he beat. He then sent Maverick to his prison, the Cooler, but Maverick escaped on the way there. Ivan then threatened to shoot an innocent child unless Maverick surrendered. After recapturing Maverick, Ivan chained him up in the prison.
Ivan then attended a meeting with some agents of AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics) and had a dinner prepared for them. He said he could not enter into a venture with them at that point as his funds were in litigation, but that he wanted there to be no hard feelings. In reality the food contained nano-transmitters designed so that Ivan could trace the AIM agents back to their base and take all their weapons for himself.
Ivan then introduced Hammer and Sickle to their partner for this mission: Omega Red.
(Maverick II#11)- Ivan the Terrible instructed Hammer, Sickle, and Omega Red in their mission: Using a bunch of his men, to follow the nano-transmitters' signals back to the AIM base and attack it, taking all the weapons for themselves. To prevent his involvement being known, his troops would wear HYDRA uniforms, framing that terrorist organization. The troops took off in a plane, while Ivan remained at his estate.
(Maverick II#12)- Ivan the Terrible communicated with his troops after their mission failed and the plane crashed, both due to Maverick. He appeared displeased, but did not seem to want to kill Hammer and Sickle for failing. He also mentioned that he planned to deal with Maverick in the future.
Comments: Created by Jorge Gonzalez and Jimmy Cheung.
The historical Ivan the Terrible was Russia's 1st Czar (or Tsar, depending on your preference) and lived from 1530-1584. He made Moscow Russia's capital and conquered the Volga region, while reducing nobles to servants of the Czar (or Tsar, depending on your preference), thus consolidating his own power. He is called "the Terrible" due to his harsh policies, his use of a secret police and the fact that he killed his own son with his bare hands!
Is is just me or does Ivan strongly resemble John Rhys Davies of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame?
I have referred to him as Ivan the Terrible as I see it as his title, the same way that Wilson Fisk's is the Kingpin.
Dr. Etta Langstrom, was Ivan the Terrible's chief scientific advisor. She was a multi-talented genius who won many prestigious awards for her work in the fields of engineering and medcal science. She engineered Maverick's conditioning through a system of disoreintation, audiohypnotic implants, drugs, and making him relive his worst memories. Maverick broke through his conditioning and as a result, Ivan the Terrible had her killed. Her body was found in the Cooler. -Maverick II#2-3, 10
Natalya Kedrov, was one of Ivan the
Terrible's mistresses at his estate in Borivichi, Russia. She
walked in on him and Maverick and was beaten by Ivan for this.
When Maverick offered her aid, she spat on him. Later, however,
after Maverick had escaped Ivan's prison, she aided him in hiding
him from guards and told him the whereabouts of his equipment as
Maverick had surrendered rather than let Ivan kill a boy-- her
own nephew. -Maverick II#10-11
The Cooler, Ivan the Terrible's prison at his estate in Borivichi, Russia. It appeared to be an underground cave in which Ivan's worst enemies, or failures, were kept and tortured. Maverick and the Red Guardian V were imprisoned here briefly. Dr. Langstrom's corpse was also shown laying in here as well, indicating that she was a prisoner here for a while before her death. -Maverick II#10
by The Squid
Clarifications:
Ivan the Terrible should not be confused with:
Ivan the Terrible, imaginary opponent of
Captain America, @ Captain America Comics#4
Ivan, opponent of Frankenstein's Monster, @ Monster of
Frankenstein#10
Ivan, agent of the Psycho-Man,
@ Fantastic Four Annual#5
Ivan Petrovitch, the man who raised the
Black Widow, @ Amazing Adventures II#1
Or any other Ivans...
Last updated: 08/02/02
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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