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ANYA MAKAROVA

Real Name: Anya Makarova

Identity/Class: Human, citizen of Russia, defected to the United States of America

Occupation: Ballet dancer

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Colossus (Peter Rasputin)

Enemies: Ryskov, Dmyatin, unidentified others

Known Relatives: Unidentified father

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Brooklyn, New York
                                  formerly Saint Petersburg, Russia

First Appearance: Classic X-Men I#5/2 (January, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: Anya Makarova possesses no known superhuman abilities. A naturally gifted athlete, she had a talent for ballet.

Height: Unrevealed, approximately 5'4"
Weight: Unrevealed, approximately 100 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Blonde

History:

(Classic X-Men I#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - Anya Makarova was born into a wealthy St. Petersburg family. Her strict father demanded much of his free spirited daughter, pushing her to pursue ballet at a young age. Anya excelled and became the youngest prima ballerina in the history of the Kirov ballet in Saint Petersburg.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - Despite her success and social status, life in Russia felt like being trapped in a cage. Seeking freedom to dance to the fullest extent of her talent, Anya chose to follow her heart. She left the motherland to study at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Her father, however, hired several men to take her back.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2 (fb) - BTS) - On a nice Summer's day, Anya decided to once again follow her heart. She skipped classes to hang out at Brighton Beach, an area of New York City known as Little Odessa because of its large population of Russian speaking immigrants. Unbeknownst to her, she was being followed by her father's underlings Ryskov and Dmyatin.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2 - BTS) - Ryskov and Dmyatin managed to get the drop on Anya, quickly knocking her out with a chloroform rag and yanking her into a car. From the boardwalk, Peter Rasputin witnessed the kidnapping and jumped into action. Discreetly using his strength as Colossus to get the car to stop, he chased off Anya's assailants without her knowing he was a mutant.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2) - When Anya came to, Peter formally introduced himself. Grateful for the assist, Anya explained who she was: not a defector, simply a true artist and true artists can not be told by authorities when and where to perform. Quickly forming a friendly bond, Peter and the impulsive Anya spent the rest of the day together while she got ready for her debut performance at Lincoln Center, appearing in the season premiere of the renowned Handel company.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2 - BTS) - Anya's performance was greeted with thunderous applause and she received enough flowers to open a shop in her dressing room. It took her two hours to get ready to meet Peter Rasputin who had attended the ballet and dutifully waited by the stage door for her to show.

(Classic X-Men I#5/2) - Anya was touched by Peter's gift: a sketch he had made of her performance. In return, she handed him a single rose which seemed to spark an instant romance. Calling the big Russian 'her bear', she yet again followed her heart and kissed Rasputin. The young couple spent the night walking back to Anya's home in Brooklyn. Arriving as the sun came up, they ran into Anya's assailants from the other day. This time, they wasted no time in pulling a gun on them to force the issue. Peter instantly turned into Colossus to firmly deal with the attackers. Thinking the matter dealt with, Peter was shocked to find Anya was horrified at seeing he was a mutant. Calling him a monster, she felt betrayed that he kept this from her and pretended to be human when he wasn't. Even worse: she'd acted on what her heart told her and if it was wrong about Peter, it could have been wrong about everything else. She tore up his sketch and ran off crying, leaving a heartbroken Peter Rasputin to watch the sun rise.

(Classic X-Men I#6/1 (fb) - BTS) - Anya continued her ballet career in the United States. She remained with the Handel Ballet throughout the rest of the season, gaining sufficient notoriety to receive name billing on the publicity posters.

(Classic X-Men I#6/1 - BTS) - Peter Rasputin strolled along the newly opened South Street Seaport with Kurt Wagner, Betsy Wilford and Amanda Sefton. Though he had fun talking with Betsy about her work as a flight attendant, he suddenly grew sad when his eye caught the Handel Ballet poster. Wistfully thinking back to the moment they shared, he hoped Anya was doing well. 

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), John Bolton (pencils, inks).

Other love interests of Colossus include Kitty Pryde, Betsy Wilford, Nereel, Zsaji Callisto and Kayla.

    This profile was completed 8/17/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by MarvellousLuke & Norvo

CLARIFICATIONS:
Anya Makarova has no known connections to

images: (without ads)
Classic X-Men I#5/2, p9, pan3 (main image)
Classic X-Men I#5/2, p2, pan2 (abducted)
Classic X-Men I#5/2, p8, pan2 (ballet)
Classic X-Men I#5/2, p11, pan6 (dismissed Colossus)

Appearances:
Classic X-Men I#5/2 (January, 1987) - Chris Claremont (writer), John Bolton (pencils, inks), Ann Nocenti, Terry Kavanagh (editors)
Classic X-Men I#6/1 (February, 1987) - Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum, James Fry (pencils), Sam Grainger, Jack Abel, Mike Esposito (inks), Marv Wolfman, Ann Nocenti, Terry Kavanagh (editors)

First Posted: 09/11/2021
Last Updated: 09/09/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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