Iron Man Villains: Crimson Dynamo

Unlike most other super villain nomenclature in the "Marvel Comics" or the "Iron Man" world, "Crimson Dynamo" has been more of a position or a name fashioned by several negative characters, rather than the name of an individual rogue.

This Stan Lee and Don Heck creation first revealed itself in 1963 in the October issue of the "Tales of Suspense".

Though the traits and features vary with each of their incarnations, the common thread about Crimson Dynamo lies in the fact that they are all Soviet (later on, Russia) agents and are always armed with a powered armor.

Among the series of Crimson Dynamo(s), the first was US born Soviet agent Prof. Anton Vanko, who himself created the fabled armor.

His encounter with Iron Man ends in Vanko redeeming himself and finally dying a heroic death which resulted in Boris Turgenev (the 2nd Dynamo) gaining the armor, though for a short span of time. His arrival in the US along with his partner Black Widow was with the objective of terminating Iron Man which ironically resulted in his on death at the hands of Vanko.

The third Dynamo to don the armor was Vanko's protégé Alex Niven who had to flee his nation because of his mentor's defection. His hate in the process turned to Iron Man that led to an unsuccessful confrontation with the superhero. Finally he had to flee from both Iron Man as well as the Soviet agents and was assassinated by the KGB.

This way, the Crimson Dynamo power armor kept on changing hands giving rise to Yuri Petrovich, Dmitri Bukharin and Valentin Shatalov, as the fourth, fifth and sixth Dynamo respectively.

The Crimson Dynamo(s) who came next in line were all comparatively insignificant as they dealt mainly with allies like Fantastic Four, Captain America, etc. rather than Iron Man himself. The last Dynamo that has been revealed so far is the twelfth incarnation of this super villain. His attack on Iron Man coincides with the investigation of a murder in Russia by an S.H.I.E.L.D sanctioned team.