(Secret War#1 (fb) - BTS) - The US government got Lucia von Bardas elected as Latverian Prime Minister after the end of Dr. Victor von Doom's reign. Since her election she had done everything she could to mend the ties between America and Latveria. In return the US lent her country 72 million dollars in aid. The US Secretary of Defense had a pleasant relationship with Lucia.

   When a S.H.I.E.L.D. interrogation of Jason Macendale Jr. revealed that the Tinkerer was backed by somebody else Fury ordered to actively pursue the Tinkerer again.

   Observed by Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) the Tinkerer (Phineas Mason) was picked up at the Latverian airport by a car with government plates and brought to the castle of elected Prime Minister Lucia von Bardas.

   Nick Fury revealed S.H.I.E.L.D.'s results of their investigation of the Tinkerer to the US President and his staff. Fury made clear that everything pointed toward Lucia von Bardas as Tinkerer's financial backer, but the president and his staff assured Fury that the situation was under control and that it would be dealt with diplomatically. Fury was dismissed and angered by the fact that once again the US was doing nothing against a possible terrorist threat.

(Secret War#2 (fb) - BTS) - Acting on his own Fury put together a team consisting of Captain America (Steve Rogers), Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Luke Cage, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wolverine (James "Logan" Howlett) and Daisy Johnson to go on a mission in Latveria. After arriving in Latveria Steve Rogers, publicly known to be Captain America, was picked up at the airport by an ambassador while the other members of Fury's team were picked up by Black Widow, who brought them to a house where Fury met them and revealed that the Latverian government was funding tech-based criminals in the US and that this team was in Latveria to overthrow the Latverian government.

(Secret War#3 (fb) - BTS) - Fury and his team ended up fighting various Latverian soldiers armed with technology designed by the Tinkerer and based on designs of many of his US clients.

(Secret War#5 (fb) ) - Accompanied by Captain America, who von Bardas believed Fury sent to distract her, confronted Fury and his team knowing that they had come to her country and attacked her soldiers without permission of the US government causing an international incident. Spider-Man asked Fury if they should arrest von Bardas, but she made clear that they had no permission to do anything. Wolverine was ready to take von Bardas down, but Fury didn't want it to be Wolverine and instead ordered Daisy Johnson to use her seismic powers to bring down the whole castle. Fury's team, protected by their impact suits, based on Kree technology, survived unscathed, but von Bardas and her men were buried alive. Except for Daisy all of Fury's team were furious with him because they had not agreed to murder countless innocent people and von Bardas.

(Secret War#5 (fb) - BTS) - In the aftermath Fury had his team, except for Daisy, brainwashed to spare them the memory of murdering countless people, hoping it would never come back at them because von Bardas was believed dead.

   Lucia von Bardas somehow survived and had herself turned into a cyborg!

(Secret War#1/The Pulse#8 (fb)/The Pulse#6 (fb) - BTS) - <1 year later> Lucia von Bardas went to the US and broke into Luke Cage's Harlem home. When Luke and his girlfriend Jessica came home from picking up groceries Luke was angered that somebody had the audacity to break into his home. Lucia made clear that she knew where she was and then blew up the apartment with a powerful energy blast. Though Luke and Jessica both survived the explosion it left Luke in a coma.

(Secret War#3 - BTS) - Under von Bardas orders Tinkerer activated several agents all over the city to take revenge on Fury's team from one year ago. He sent Lady Octopus and a new Hobgoblin after Steve Rogers, who they attacked at his home. He held them off and smashed Lady Octopus in the face with Hobgoblin's glider.

   Somewhere else in the city Scorcher and Diamondback (Debbie Bertrand) ambushed Daredevil, but unfortunately for them Spider-Man was also present when they attacked. Scorcher fled after his equipment got webbed up by Spider-Man and Diamondback escaped as well.

   Because the previous attacks had failed von Bardas ordered Tinkerer to send all her technology using US agents (Boomerang, Constrictor, Crimson Dynamo, Crossfire, Eel, Goldbug, Grim Reaper, Hobgoblin, King Cobra, Lady Octopus, Mentallo, Mr. Fear, Scorcher, Scorpion, Shocker, Spider-Slayer Mark 20, Trapster, Wizard) to ambush Nick Fury (actually an LMD), Daredevil, Captain America and Spider-Man at the piers next to Mt. Sinai Hospital. When the heroes saw them approach they called for backup.

(Secret War#4 - BTS) - Two agents dressed in Mandroid X armors attacked Wolverine for von Bardas.

   At the pier Fury's crew and von Bardas' tech-villains fought each other. Fury called Mr. Fantastic and the Fantastic Four soon joined the fight. When Daredevil used his radar sense on Scorcher and saw the energy floating through the armor Daredevil tackled Scorcher into the water and asked him who was leading them and what they were going to do. Scorcher revealed that he had traded his life for the armor and that now he was screwed. From afar von Bardas activated a chain reaction, which at first looked to the heroes present like the villains had been all out of energy.

(Secret War#4) - With the energy flux chain reaction started Lucia von Bardas finally arrived. The chain reaction was going to turn the armors of her agents, who were in pain throughout the process, into a giant bomb. She told the heroes that most of them were supposed to be dead by now. Fury told the others to take her out, but neither Captain America's shield, Spider-Man's net or Daredevil's staff could get through her force field. Von Bardas told those present that this was the culmination of her revenge on Fury so that everyone would finally see through his lies and betrayals. Mr. Fantastic realized what was happening to the tech-based villains and asked Invisible Woman to keep them separate with her force field before they blew up. Most villains were now begging the heroes to get their armors off of them. Hurt by the energies Invisible Woman couldn't keep the villains apart anymore. Von Bardas' force field easily deflected a punch from the Thing and while the heroes tried their best to break the chain reaction by each taking away one of the villains, von Bardas told everyone that this was all Fury's fault.

(Secret War#5/The Pulse#6 - BTS) - A gloating von Bardas was in the middle of the chain reaction when Daisy Johnson, under Fury's orders, appeared on the scene and hit von Bardas' power source with her seismic powers from the inside, destroying it because it surged the chain reaction. With most of her cybernetic implants ripped out of her body by Daisy's seismic powers the threat of Lucia von Bardas and her bomb was over.

   In the aftermath the heroes learned the truth from Fury about what they had done a year earlier in Latveria. Wolverine gutted Nick Fury, learning that the Fury that was with them that day was just an LMD, and Fury had been broadcasting to them via the LMD.

(Winter Soldier I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Lucia von Bardas survived and was put in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. When Norman Osborn dismantled S.H.I.E.L.D. Lucia disappeared from custody and dropped completely off the radar.

   Lucia reprogrammed a Doombot to follow her orders, then smuggled it out of Latveria.

(Winter Soldier I#1 (fb) - BTS) - Lucia allied with the Red Ghost and sent him to a black market auction in Russia with Latverian resources to buy the activation codes and locations of Russian sleeper agents programmed by Project Zephyr, which Red Ghost was a consultant on. The codes were sold by the Red Barbarian.

(Winter Soldier I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Lucia also had Red Ghost buy the inactive Doombot, which Lucia had previously smuggled out of Latveria.

(Winter Soldier I#1) - Red Ghost questioned von Bardas sending Arkady, one of the sleeper agents, to the Latverian embassy in Manhattan even before they heard back from their second extraction team, which was going to bring them the second sleeper agents. Lucia was sick of waiting any longer for her revenge on Doom and the US and hoped the sleeper agents would be worth their money. Red Ghost assured her they were.

(Winter Soldier I#2 - BTS) - S.H.I.E.L.D. investigated the attack on the Latverian embassy and Dr. Doom, realizing that the attack on Doom was only an attempt to enrage Doom.

   Meanwhile Red Ghost pulled Dmitri, the second sleeper, from his stasis tube and readied him for the mission.

(Winter Soldier I#2) - Lucia showed Project Zephyr assassin Arkady the inactive Doombot. She promised Arkady that things would get interesting once they had activated the Doombot.

(Winter Soldier I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. soon realized that the only person crazy enough to want to cause a war between Latveria and the US was Lucia von Bardas.

(Winter Soldier I#4 (fb) - BTS) - Upon reactivating the Doombot Lucia learned the launch codes for Latveria's nuclear missiles from the Doombot.

(Winter Soldier I#3) - Lucia deactivated the Doombot again when he became too hostile and annoying. On Lucia's orders Arkady later took the reactivated Doombot to the UN Building in New York to frame Doom for what the Doombot was going to do.

(Winter Soldier I#4 - BTS) - Though Lucia's plan to frame Dr. Doom for an attack on the UN failed when the Winter Soldier and the real Dr. Doom stopped the Doombot and Arkady, she proceeded with her actual plan.

   Arriving in the Latverian Alps Lucia shorted out the surveillance system of Dr. Doom's secret nuclear missile facility.

(Winter Soldier I#4) - As Lucia, Red Ghost and Dmitri approached the facility, Dmitri shot the guards, but started to question the mission. Lucia wasn't pleased that Red Ghost, as Dmitri's handler, was struggling under Red Ghost's control. Inside the facility Red Ghost, his Super-Apes, Dmitri and Lucia took out all opposition. When only the guards inside the missile silo were left Lucia ordered Dmitri to kill them as well because she already had Doom's launch codes.

(Winter Soldier I#5) - Lucia asked Dmitri if she had to translate for him, but he could read Latverian and was able to reconfigure the missiles' target zones without Lucia's aid. Lucia told him to let her know when he was ready for the launch codes. She was impressed that Red Ghost's Super-Apes were trained to stand guard while Red Ghost was impressed by the incomplete weaponry designed by Doom in the facility. The facility was soon attacked by Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Dr. Doom, who personally went after von Bardas. Despite her electrical blasts Lucia was no match for Doom, who ripped out the cybernetic implants from her left eye socket, causing her powers to get out of control. She accidentally knocked out the Super-Apes before losing consciousness.

   With Lucia's plan to launch missiles at the US thwarted she was put into custody by S.H.I.E.L.D., who rushed her to a medical facility, after Fury came to an agreement with Doom to keep the bunker secret as long as Doom dismantled it.

(Winter Soldier I#5 - BTS) - At a secure holding facility Lucia received the medical attention she needed after her cybernetic parts were ripped from her head.

(Winter Soldier I#5) - While still in sickbay Jasper Sitwell asked Lucia what had happened to the third sleeper agent she had bought the codes for. Lucia revealed that the third sleeper's stasis tube was empty.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#7 - BTS) - Lucia von Bardas hired Geraldo Lucky to help her regain control over Latveria. He believed she wanted control over the country for the good of her people.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#6 (fb) - BTS) - In a restaurant in Paris Geraldo Lucky asked Max to help him and his and his partner for ways to gain control over Latveria. She suggested to fix the electric power system in the country, re-open schools and feed the starving population to gain control over the country. Lucky liked the ideas.

   Max's plans were put into motion. The schools in Latveria were re-opened and everything else was turned back on.

   Meanwhile Lucia von Bardas received a massive upgrade to her cybernetic implants. Happy helped her return to Latveria.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#6) - Welcomed with open arms Lucia von Bardas landed in General Karadick's camp in Latveria in a helicopter. Karadick asked if she was responsible for re-opening schools and turning everything back on and she replied by telling him that Latveria had suffered long enough from Doom's selfishness and carelessness (not answering the actual question). Von Bardas then told Karadick that she would turn Latveria the world power it was meant to be even if they had to prove their might by force against Capitalists, Communists, Inhumans, Mutants and S.H.I.E.L.D. and any others stupid enough to stand up against them. Karadick and his men hailed the return of Lucia von Bardas.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#8 (fb) - BTS) - Von Bardas also hired Lady Octopus to attack the Smithsonian after the bomb attack for reasons.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#7 - BTS) - Lucia von Bardas had Lucky turned into a bomb and sent him to a benefit gala at the Smithsonian where he approached S.H.I.E.L.D. director Sharon Carter and revealed that he had helped Lucia von Bardas regain power in Latveria. He claimed he was tricked by Lucia, who made him believe she wanted to help Latveria for the good of the people, but he wasn't so sure anymore and even feared for his own life. When Happy collapsed Sharon had the building evacuated. He detonated moments later.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#8 - BTS) - Lady Octopus attacked and was taken down by Ironheart. The surviving Sharon Carter, whose personal force field had saved her from the detonation, ordered to detach Lady Octopus' arms immediately while she revealed that she was hired by Lucia von Bardas for this attack.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#8) - In Latveria Lucia watched American news to hear about the death of Carter and was disappointed when it was revealed that Carter actually survived. Ironheart then survived to face off with her.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#9) - Lucia von Bardas fought against Ironheart, who was warned of her force field generators by the Tony Stark A.I., forcing Ironheart to flee for the moment only to be attacked from behind by Doombots under von Bardas' control. While Ironheart fought the Doombots Lucia returned to the camp to get her damaged tech, which was apparently damaged in Ironheart's first attack, fixed (maybe it overloaded because the art showed nothing). Ironheart's Stark A.I. pointed out that they only needed to go after Lucia because she was controlling the Doombots and was apparently damaged. Ironheart returned to the camp where Lucia ordered Karadick to film her taking down the American heroine so the whole world could see it. Ironheart pretended to have a malfunction and dropped to the ground and Lucia walked right into her trap. Lucia tried to take of Ironheart's helmet because she wanted to see her face when she died and in return got blasted in the face by Ironheart. The battle was still filmed while Ironheart shot Karadick and then approached Lucia, who was still pretty self-confident about winning. Ironheart asked her to stay down while Lucia called Ironheart's attack an act of war because she was the ruler of Latveria and Ironheart had just invaded her country. Without thinking Ironheart claimed that she was the new Queen of Latveria after defeating Lucia von Bardas.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#10 (fb) - BTS) - While General Karadick and his men immediately accepted Ironheart as their new leader, the Tony Stark A.I. hacked Lucia's force field generators and turned them against her. She didn't take the humiliation well.

(Invincible Iron Man VIII#10) - Imprisoned by her own force fields generators Lucia was kept in a tent in Latveria at the camp were Ironheart had defeated her. Ironheart led Sharon Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D. to Lucia, who was officially arrested for terrorist attack on the Smithsonian. While S.H.I.E.L.D. agents transported her with the force field generators surrounding her to the Helicarrier, Carter mocked her being defeated by the teenage Ironheart in her homemade armor.

BTS - The American Government and the United Nations turned Latveria into a puppet democracy after Ironheart voluntarily relinquished her title as ruler of Latveria.

(Invincible Iron Man I#593/Spider-Man II#239 (fb) - BTS) - After S.H.I.E.L.D. was disbanded Lucia was for some unknown reason released back into the world and became allied with animal mutates (possibly creations of the High Evolutionary, Miles Warren or whoever else could have created them).

(Invincible Iron Man I#593) - Lucia and a group of animal mutates battled the Avengers (Falcon, Hercules, Spider-Man, Thor, Vision), who were searching for the missing Tony Stark.

(Spider-Man II#239 (fb) - BTS) - Lucia hired the Sinister Six to steal a Helicarrier for her.

(Spider-Man II#239) - The Sinister Six arrived in Latveria with the Helicarrier (after kicking Hobgoblin over board for trying to sell them out). and were welcomed by their employer Lucia von Bards along with a bunch of soldiers, who came on board the Helicarrier. She whined about the current status of Latveria as a democracy and thanked the Sinister Six for delivering the Helicarrier to her because it would aid her in changing the world. She was in the process of handing over several cases that included the payment for the Sinister Six when she saw the Champions arrive, calling off the deal because the Sinister Six had reneged on the deal by allowing themselves to be followed (Spider-Man/Morales actually found out about it by breaking into the safe of his uncle Aaron aka. the Iron Spider). A fight between the Champions against Lucia, her soldiers and the Sinister Six. Lucia was glad Ironheart was one of them because it would save her put a bounty on her head. Lucia fought Ironheart, electrocuted Ms. Marvel and then kept going after Ironheart. She decided to change plans and ordered her soldiers to shoot anyone on board the Helicarrier, which at this point was high in the sky because Iron Spider's ally Ceres remote-controlled from back home in Paramus, New Jersey. Lucia's soldiers shot Iron Spider and Spider-Man, who both fell overboard, then turned their weapons on the other Champions.

(Spider-Man II#240) - Lucia ordered everyone to take out Ms. Marvel, leader of the Champions, but decided to do it herself while the remaining Sinister Six and the soldiers fought the Champions. Spider-Man returned to ferociously attack Lucia for killing his uncle, the Iron Spider, knocking her out. Bombshell (Lana) turned against the Sinister Six, including her mother Bombshell (Lori), knocking out Lucia's soldiers by exploding her mother into them. The Avengers then arrived.

(Spider-Man II#240 - BTS) - Lucia lost the Helicarrier and...

Comments: Created by Brian Michael Bendis (writer) & Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist).

The cybernetic implants in her face switched sides between Secret War and Winter Soldier appearances. Maybe she had her left side completely restructured and her right side was further destroyed at the end of Secret War and she put the cybernetic stuff in there!?

Profile by Markus Raymond.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lucia von Bardas has no known connection to:

• Lucia Callasantos, aka Thornn, sister of Feral @ X-Force I#6
• Sister Lucia (Corinthia de Lucia) of Earth-928 ca. 2099, Sisterhood of Tears, transformed Lachryma @ 2099 Unlimited#4
• any other character with a similar name

images:
Spider-Man III#239, p11, pan1 (main)
Secret War#1, p21, pan1 (head shot, original appearance)
Secret War#4, p14, pan1 (Lucia cyborg, upper body)
Secret War#4, p15, pan2 (Lucia cyborg, full body)
Winter Soldier I#5, p1, pan5 (cyborg eye)
Winter Soldier I#3, p9, pan5 (downgraded)
Invincible Iron Man VIII#9, p1, top left (post-Secret Wars upgrades)

Appearances:
Secret War#1 (April, 2004) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Secret War#2 (July, 2004) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Secret War#3 (October, 2004) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
The Pulse#6 (January, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Brent Anderson (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
The Pulse#8 (May, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Lark (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Secret War#4 (May, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Secret War#5 (December, 2005) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Gabrielle Dell'Otto (artist), Andy Schmidt (editor)
Winter Soldier I#1-2 (April, 2012) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Butch Guice (artist), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)
Winter Soldier I#3-5 (May-July, 2012) - Ed Brubaker (writer), Butch Guice (pencils/inks), Stefano Gaudiano & Brian Thies (inks), Lauren Sankovitch (editor)
Invincible Iron Man VIII#6 (June, 2017) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stefano Caselli (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Invincible Iron Man VIII#8-10 (August-October, 2017) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stefano Caselli (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Invincible Iron Man I#593 (December, 2017) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Stefano Caselli & Alex Maleev (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Spider-Man III#239-240 (June-July, 2018) - Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Oscar Bazaldua (artist), Nick Lowe (editor)

First Posted: 08/24/2015
Last updated: 06/10/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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