COLDSTEEL

Real Name: Josef Stalin

Identity/Class: Deceased, soul-enhanced by magic; Ethnic Georgian

Occupation: Agent of Satannish

Group Membership: Lethal Legion

Affiliations: Hangman (field director), Satannish;
former possession of Mephisto;
(as Stalin) Red Guardian of the 1940's, Klaus Fuchs, Georgi Malenkov

Enemies: Avengers West Coast (Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, US Agent, War Machine), Mephisto;
(as Stalin) Bob Brant and the Troubleshooters, Adolf Hitler

Known Relatives: Ekaterina (first wife, died three years after their marriage), Yakov (son by Ekaterina), Nadya (second wife), Vassily and Svetlana (children by Nadya)-see Real World History

Aliases: Joe (possibly, See Comments), Man of Steel

Base of Operations: Satannish's Hell, formerly Mephisto's Hell, Russia @ 1940s-50s (World War II era and Post-World War II era)

First Appearances:
(Stalin): (Timely) Human Torch I#5b (Fall 1941);
    (Atlas) Adventures Into Weird Worlds#3 (March 1952);
    (modern Marvel) Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos#51 (February 1968);
(Coldsteel): Avengers West Coast#98 (September 1993)

Powers: Stalin's physical abilities were all enhanced by the demon Satannish. He possessed an immense, solid steel frame with great superhuman strength. His powers could be augmented or drained by Satannish as the demon saw fit

History: Josef Stalin was notorious for his iron-handed communist rule of the Soviet Republic during and after the time of World War II. He was particularly known for ordering the murder of Russian peasant farmers who did not obey his orders. Real World History

(Namor Annual#1 (fb) <chronology uncertain>) - Stalin appointed a brave Soviet citizen who had risked his life to save people in a burning building as the Soviet patriotic hero the Red Guardian.

(Human Torch Comics#5b) - Stalin learned of the great battle going on between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner.

(Invaders I#32-33) - Stalin was observed during World War II. Due to a Nazi device, Hitler was able to reach into Asgard itself and pull Thor into Nazi Germany. Hitler coaxed Thor into fighting for the Germans against the Communists and sent him to kill Josef Stalin. Thor battled and trounced the Invaders. However, Thor then learned that Hitler did not truly worship him. Thor offered an apology to the Avengers and then left for Asgard. He erased the memory of this incident from the minds of the Invaders.

(Sgt. Fury#51 <December 1943>) - Stalin attended the Teheran conference, where he was protected by the Howling Commandos from Third Reich assassin Jorgen Kline.

(Human Torch Comics#14/5) - Stalin was observed when the Sub-Mariner undertook a mission to Moscow in which he faced an enemy agent called the Cobra.

(Captain America Annual#13 <April 30, 1945>) - Stalin dispatched the Red Guardian to join various American operatives on an attack on the Red Skull's bunker. Thanks to a spy named Klaus Fuchs, Stalin knew that Hitler had entrusted the Red Guardian with a special strongbox. However, the Red Guardian revealed in a meeting with Stalin that he had not acquired the strong box. Stalin blew smoke in his face, telling him that only his role as a great patriotic hero saved the Red Guardian from being shot for failure.

(Namor Annual#1 <July 6th, 1945>) - The first atomic bomb tests took place in the New Mexico Desert. Simultaneously in Potsdam, Germany the leaders of the United Kingdom, USA, and USSR were meeting alongside their respective heroes the Invaders Captain America and The Sub-Mariner for the UK and USA with Red Guardian for the USSR.

(Namor Annual#1 < July 17th, 1945>) - Red Guardian, Captain America, and the Sub-Mariner defeated General Brinkhaus from taking over the minds of the Allied leaders leading to victory for the Third Reich. They saved the Allied Leaders, and General Brinkhaus killed himself.

(Man Comics#27) - Stalin addressed his underlings, including a general, about the plan for the Soviets to launch shuttles to the moon to set up missile silos. This plan was thwarted by Bob Brant and the Troubleshooters.

(Captain America Annual#13 (fb) - BTS) - Stalin died in 1953. Eventually Georgi Malenkov became leader of the Soviet Union and appointed Albert Malik as the Communist Red Skull.

(Avengers West Coast#100 (fb) - BTS) - After his death, Stalin was consigned to Hell, specifically a branch controlled by the demon Mephisto.

(Avengers West Coast#98) - Another demon, Satannish, stole his soul, along with four others to create his Lethal Legion in an effort to gain vengeance on the Avengers West Coast for their previous defeat of him. Satannish imbued him with power, transforming him into Cold Steel, and promised him and his allies they could return to true life if they could bring him the souls of the Avengers West. Coldsteel participated in two brutal beating of US Agent.

(Avengers West Coast#99) - Coldsteel and Zyklon attacked Mockingbird and US Agent at Sunset Medical Center. He nearly beat US Agent to death, but was stopped by War Machine. He returned with the rest of the Lethal Legion and Mockingbid to Satannish's realm.

(Avengers West Coast#100) - As Satannish had planned, this drew the Avengers to his realm, where the Legion and Hangman defeated them. However, Mephisto had sneaked into Satannish's realm within the form of Hawkeye, and attacked Satannish, demanding the stolen souls back. Stalin and the other members had their powers drained by Satannish to return himself to full power to battle Mephisto. Powerless, they were easily rounded up by the Avengers. However, Stalin and the rest of the Legion had their souls destroyed as both Mephisto and Satannish struggled to obtain them.

Comments: Stalin adapted by Hank Chapman, Carl Burgos, Bill Everett, and Jack D'Arcy (script) with the middle two also providing art; in addition Mike Roy, Harry Sahle, and George Kapitan also provided art. Coldsteel created by Roy Thomas and David Ross.

Why is there a listing for a Human Torch#5b? Due to a numbering error, both the summer and fall 1941 issues of Human Torch were numbered #5.

The chronology of Stalin's appointing the original Red Guardian is hard to place, since the original Red Guardian's origin was only shown in a one-panel flashback. The Third Reich invasion of the Soviet Union started on June 22, 1941, but the first confirmed appearance of the original Red Guardian occurs in 1945-so when he began his activities remains unclear.

Stalin also made quite a few Atlas appearances. Often he was not even specifically named. Often an interstellar space alien, demon, or other weird entity set on a global hegemony would reveal himself in the last few panels as Stalin. Sometimes stories involving Communists or "Commie stories," which turned up quite a few times at Atlas, would have Stalin in the denouement. One story names Stalin as the special agent of Satan on Earth (which aren't considered canonical but easily could be given Coldsteel's history--Kyle).

Among specific Stalin Atlas appearances, one can note:

Adventures Into Weird Worlds#3 (March 1952)
Astonishing#19 (November 1952)
Battle#17 (February 1953)
Marvel Tales I#111 (February 1953)
Kent Blake of the Secret Service#13 (May, 1953)
Menace#4 (June 1953)
Adventures into Weird Worlds#21 (August 1953)
Uncanny Tales#17 (February 1954)

In Astonishing#19, one of the longest Atlas horror stories ever published, the ghost of a Soviet citizen who died due to the Stalinist purges returns to seek lethal revenge on Stalin. In Adventures Into Weird Worlds#21, the ghost of Adolf Hitler is in Hell, attempting to get out of eternal damnation. The Devil offers him an out, if he can present a soul to vouch for him. However, Napoleon I, Julius Caesar, and Alexander the Great refuse to defend Hitler. So, Hitler tries to get in touch with Stalin in the world of the living. However, to his horror, Hitler discovers that Stalin has died, and has descended to Hell to assume a place of power there, going by the name Joe, in turn. (Of course, this is currently purely conjecture. This agent of Satan may have also been Joe or somebody else.) In Uncanny Tales#17, in a similar story, Satan's lieutenant who runs torture in Hell frets because Satan has been unimpressed by his recent efforts. Though he attempts to create innovative forms of punishment, the lieutenant finds out that someone with greater talent has replaced him. In the last panel, the lieutenant is revealed as Hitler, the replacement, Stalin.

(Kent Blake#13/4) - An enraged Stalin listened angrily to a broadcast by a guerilla fighter.