"LASKO BUSCEMITCH"

Real Name: Unrevealed

Identity/Class: Extraterrestrial (Dire Wraith), impersonating human citizen of Russia

Occupation: Infiltrator posing as Russian Commissar of State Security

Group Membership: Dire Wraiths

Affiliations: (as "Lasko") Devastator (Gregori Larionov), Soviet Super Troopers (see comments), Soviet Super Soldiers (Darkstar/Laynia Petrovna, Ursa Major/Mikhail Ursus, Vanguard/Nikolai Krylenko)

Enemies: Gremlin (Kondrati Topolov), Rom, Starshine (Brandy Clark)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: KGB Headquarters, Moscow

First Appearance: (behind the scenes) Rom#44 (July 1983) (see comments);
   (seen) Rom#45 (August 1983)

Powers/Abilities: As a Dire Wraith, Lasko could shapeshift to assume almost any form, including gaining non-superhuman abilities tied to a given form - e.g. flight if he became a bird. As Lasko Buscemitch he commanded considerable state power and had access to high level KGN intelligence.

Height: (as Dire Wriath) 5'5 (variable); (as Buscemitch) 6' (by estimation)
Weight: (as Dire Wraith) 220 lbs. (variable); (as Buscemitch) 200 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: (as Dire Wraith) Yellow (variable); (as Buscemitch) Unrevealed 
Hair: (as Dire Wraith) None (variable); (as Buscemitch) None

History:
(Rom#45 (fb) - BTS) - At some unrevealed juncture a shapeshifting Dire Wraith took the place of the Russian Commissar of State Security (KGB head) Lasko Buscemitch; whether this involved eliminating the real Lasko to permanently replace him or simply substituting for him in his absence for a short term infiltration remains unrevealed, but it probably took place as part of a wider swathe of such replacements that the Russian mutant genius Gremlin subsequently detected. Among Lasko's duties to his Wraith superiors was to ensure nobody discovered a major Dire Wraith base that had been constructed in the radioactive Forbidden Zone in northern Khystym. When Gremlin fled his state masters because he realized his life was in danger from the Wraiths, intelligence reports soon past over Lasko's desk informing him that it was suspected the mutant had fled to the Forbidden Zone.

(Rom#44 - BTS) - When a unit of soldiers dispatched to the Forbidden Zone failed to check in the Commissar in Charge of Military Mysteries (likely Lasko - see comments) sent in the armored Devastator and his Soviet Super Troopers to investigate. However, they discovered not only the Gremlin tbut his new allies, the Spaceknights Rom and Starshine, and were soundly defeated.

(Rom#45) - With the defeat of Devastator and the Soviet Super Troopers Lasko turned to the Soviet Super Soldiers, who at that time had severed ties with the Russian government, and requested they help despite their antipathy for the KGB, falsely claiming the mission was vital to save their homeland (when in fact their success might instead ultimately doom Russia to conquest by the Wraiths). Lasko informed the Super Soldiers that Gremlin was an enemy of the state and had set up a base in Khystym's Dead Zone. Leaving the Super Soldiers to discuss whether or not they would carry out the mission, Lasko quietly gloated to himself, sure that the patriotic trio would go, unaware that doing so would probably destroy both themselves and Russia.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo, Sal Buscema, Ian Akin and Brian Garvey.

   Only identified as the Commissar of State Security in Rom#45, his human identity of Lasko Buscemitch was revealed in the Winter Guard's handbook profile in the hardcover Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z#13; the name is a nod to one of his creators, artist Sal Buscema. The same handbook entry also confirmed that Lasko was a real person that the Wraith was impersonating, rather than a purely fictional cover. What remains unknown is whether the Wraith merely adopted the role just long enough to trick the Soviet Super Soldiers, or if the real Lasko had been killed or captured and the Wraith was a long term replacement infiltrating the Russian government. If the former, then he might well have departed KGB headquarters immediately after completing his mission, and so might have been among the Wraiths in the Khystym base who battled the Spaceknights and Soviet Super Soldiers the next issue.

   The KGB no longer exists, so per the sliding timescale Lasko would now have been affiliated with the FSB (Federal Security Service).

   In Rom#44 it is the "Commissar in Charge of Military Mysteries" who sends the Devastator to the Forbidden Zone. The next issue Lasko, the "Commissar of State Security," is aware of Devastator's failure and sends in the Soviet Super Soldiers instead. Thus, while it's by no means definite, it does seem that there's a good chance that both Commissars are one and the same, the former title just an unofficial synonym for the latter.

   This profile was completed on 05/10/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Soviet Super Soldiers.  

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Lasko Buscemitch has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Rom#45, p8, pan1 (main image)
Rom#45, p7, pan7 (headshot)
Rom#45, p9, pan5 (Wraith shadow)

Appearances:
Rom#45 (August 1983) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Sal Busema (pencils), Ian Akin and Brian Garvey (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First Posted: 09/30/2026
Last updated: 05/10/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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