(Darkhawk I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Volga was one of Professor Vonya's subjects in the Russian superhuman program.
VOLGA BELLE
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human mutant or mutate (see comments)
Occupation: Mercenary; former terrorist
Group Membership: Lethal Legion (Moonstone/Karla Sofen, Skullbuster/Cylla Markham, Unicorn/Milos Masaryk);
formerly Remont Six (Iron Maiden, Snow Leopards/Ilya & Ioakim Koblev, Titanium Man/Boris Bullski, Unicorn/Yegor Balinov); Peristrike Force (Psi-Wolf/Nikolai Vonya, Scattershot, Siberion)
Affiliations: Count Nefaria (Luchino Nefaria), unidentified terrorists
Enemies: Beatrice, Darkhawk (Chris Powell), Hibbert, New Mutants (Escapade/Shela Sexton, Cerebella/Martha Johansson, Mirage/Danie Moonstar, Wolfsbane/Rahne Sinclair, Karma/Xuân Cao Mạnh, Scout/Gabby Kinney, Galura/Elle Diwa), Morgan Red, Anatoly Vonya, Winter Guard (Crimson Dynamo/Galina Nemirovsky, Darkstar/Sasha Roerich, Red Guardian/Anton, Ursa Major/Mikhail Ursus)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: Volga
Base of Operations: Mobile
First Appearance: Darkhawk I#16 (June, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: Volga was a naturally strong woman. She can transform at will within a few seconds into a heavily armored form with superhuman strength (lifting 5 tons) and durability. Her armored form added extra mass to her body.
Height: (Volga) 7'; (human form) 5'11" (all by approximation)
Weight: (Volga) 800 lbs.; (human form) 190 lbs. (all by approximation)
Eyes: (Volga) White; (human form) unrevealed
Hair: (Volga) Black; (human form) blonde
History:
(Darkhawk I#16 (fb) - BTS) - Volga was one of Professor Vonya's subjects in the Russian superhuman program.
Volga joined the Peristrike Force under the leadership of Professor Vonya's brother Nikolai aka. Psi-Wolf to put a new dictator in charge after the fall of the Soviet Union. On their first mission they went to the US to kidnap defected Professor Vonya.
(Darkhawk I#16) - Volga joined her team in Queens, New York where they were joined by several armed terrorists under Psi-Wolf's command. Asked why they didn't arm themselves Scattershot replied that they were weapons themselves. Volga, in her human form, stood next to Siberion.
Volga arrived with the Peristrike Force at Midtown High at a side entrance to the school and transformed into her armored form and punched through the wall to create an entrance for her team and their armed allies.
Back in human form she watched as the armed operatives took over the school and confronted Professor Vonya, who was giving a speech about the development of superhuman powers in adolescents at the school. Scattershot and Volga entered the stage and while Scattershot told the student crowd that they were some of Vonya's bred superhumans, Volga transformed into her armored form. As a demonstration of their powers Volga tossed a piano into the air, which Scattershot blew to pieces. Volga then watched Siberion attack Professor Vonya with his freezing powers. Volga had Vonya in her clutches when student Chris Powell made his way to his locker to retrieve his amulet to transform into Darkhawk.
(Darkhawk I#17) - Volga was holding down Professor Vonya when Scattershot received a call to inform her that the authorities were called in. Scattershot ordered to kill any hostage resisting and to wire explosives all over the school. At Scattershot's command Volga released Vonya. Scattershot then shot at Vonya several times. Called by the FBI Scattershot demanded a helicopter and a 747 for Peristrike Force's escape or else she would blow up the school.
Volga held down Vonya while her team waited for the FBI to meet their demands. Darkhawk offered himself as hostage when Scattershot tried to kill his girlfriend Cheryl. Scattershot didn't care and ordered the others to attack Darkhawk. Volga hit him hard, but Darkhawk returned the favor by using his force-shield as battering ram against her. Darkhawk surrendered for a moment when Scattershot reminded him of the explosives, but when she once again threatened to kill Cheryl he attacked again. Meanwhile Professor Vonya had grabbed Scattershot's communicator and adapted it to cause a feedback to immobilize the non-powered terrorists. Avoiding Darkhawk's shots Volga reached Vonya and knocked him out after criticizing his misguided idealism. Scattershot stopped Volga from killing Vonya reminding Volga that Vonya would be their ticket out of the US. Volga got hold of Darkhawk and covered his amulet to avoid any more attacks. She could barely keep her hand on the amulet to contain the energy. When Scattershot was going to shoot him Darkhawk tossed Volga over his shoulder and Scattershot hit Volga instead. Volga lost consciousness and Darkhawk knocked Scattershot out with another force-shield blast. It seemed like a victory, but then Vonya's brother Psi-Wolf arrived and took control over Darkhawk with his psi-powers.
(Darkhawk I#18) - Volga and her Peristrike Force teammates regained consciousness. Unable to detonate the explosive charges because the authorities had captured their armed allies and disarmed the bombs, the Peristrike instead formed a new plan to escape the school. Psi-Wolf mind-controlled Darkhawk to deliver them to authorities only to surprise attack them along with Darkhawk. Volga tossed around police cars before joining the others in their escape helicopter. They got rid of Darkhawk mid-flight before making their way to JFK International Airport.
Volga stood by while Psi-Wolf organized their escape with the cooperative authorities, who didn't want to risk the destruction of the airport. Chris Powell stole the food delivery truck to get near Peristrike Force and fled from them into a nearby shed to transform back into Darkhawk. He knocked out the surprised Volga and Scattershot immediately with a force-shield blast. Unfortunately Professor Vonya got killed by Siberion's icy powers during the fight. After he had defeated the whole Peristrike Force Darkhawk left them behind for the authorities.
(Hulk: Winter Guard#1 (fb) - BTS) - Volga joined the Soviet revolutionaries Remont Six.
(Hulk: Winter Guard#1) - As part of Remont Six Volga raided an AIM facility outside the Forbidden Zone. When the Winter Guard was sent in to stop them Volga and the Snow Leopards concentrated their attacks on Ursa Major, who easily knocked them all out.
SECRET WARS III HAPPENED
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#5 (fb) - BTS) - She lost weight (in her human form).
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#2) - Volga Belle participated in a tryout for Count Nefaria's newest iteration of the Lethal Legion. She was one of the last five remaining after the combat trials and was invited to dinner by Nefaria, who was going to interview each of them to determine the new roster for the Lethal Legion. Volga mumbled "kill, kill, kill" while FistiCuss (Gabby Kinney in disguise) enjoyed the cold cuts and seafood.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#3) - Volga crashed through a wall during the chaos that erupted when it was revealed that FistiCuss (actually Scout/Gabby Kinney) and BlasterDame (actually Escapade/Shela Sexton) were actually members of the New Mutants working with their teammate Cerebella to steal from Count Nefaria. She tried to help Unicorn to stop Cerebella and Escapade from escaping with the stolen Weird Engine, but actually caused Unicorn to fall down the stairs. The mutants escaped with the weapon.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#3 - BTS) - Volga joined the Lethal Legion.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#3) - Count Nefaria and his Lethal Legion (Moonstone, Skullbuster, Unicorn, Volga) stopped the escaping New Mutants on a street.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#4) - Count Nefaria and the Lethal Legion attacked the New Mutants (Cerebella, Escapade, Galura, Karma, Mirage, Scout, Wolfsbane) and Morgan Red. Volga revealed to her teammates that she shouted "kill" all the time because it was her catchphrase. Cerebella and Karma used their psychic powers to force the Lethal Legion to turn on each other. The New Mutants fled with the Weird Engine to the closed Mandrake Carpetmill building, but the Lethal Legion was close behind them. After a lengthy battle Moonstone destroyed the building with the New Mutants still inside while Skullbuster, Unicorn and Volga took the Weird Engine from Mirage and then delivered it to Count Nefaria.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#5) - Volga had snacks while guarding Count Nefaria's "Energy Source of the Future" stand at the Future Expo at the Chavetz Center in New York City. The New Mutants, who were aware that Nefaria was going to use the Weird Engine to kill everyone to empower himself once again, infiltrated the expo. Escapade got close enough to Volga to switch powers with her. Volga and Unicorn were then both knocked out by Cerebella.
(New Mutants: Lethal Legion#5 - BTS) - Volga presumably regained her powers when Escapade returned to human form during the battle that stopped Nefaria and his evil scheme.
Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth, Mike Manley & Ricardo Villagran.
Volga was named after the Volga River, the longest river in Europe that runs through Russia.
Though the members of the Peristrike Force were referred to as mutants in a "next issue" box some of them were clearly not mutants. Psi-Wolf was a technology using cyborg and Siberion seemed to be a mutate. This calls into question if Volga was a mutant as well or just another mutate created by the Russian superhuman program.
Though Volga's human form was seen it was always in shadows. Therefore her human form's eye and hair color can't be determined.
This changed with her recent appearances in New Mutants: Lethal Legion. Her eye color is still a mystery, but it is pretty clear that she has blonde hair.
While Volga originally dressed in a stretchy costume she wasn't as modest in her later appearance with Remont Six and decided to just go naked (in mutated form at least). She was back in her red singlet in Lethal Legion, but the Russian hammer and sickle symbol was gone.
Her appearance in the Winter Guard one-shot reminded me a bit of the Critters.
Volga Belle originally had a small sub-profile in Flank Mclargehuge's Peristrike Force profile.
Profile by Markus Raymond.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Volga has no known connection to:
images (without ads)
New Mutants: Lethal Legion#4, p21, pan3 (main)
Darkhawk I#16, p19, pan3 (head shot, in shadows)
Darkhawk I#16, p19, pan4 (in uniform)
Hulk: Winter Guard#1, p38, pan6 (with Remont Six)
New Mutants: Lethal Legion#5, p10, pan3 (human form)
Appearances:
Darkhawk I#16 (June, 1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley (pencils/inks), Ricardo Villagran (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk I#17-18 (July-August, 1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Hulk: Winter Guard#1 (February, 2010) - David Gallaher (writer), Steve Ellis (artist), Jordan D. White (editor)
New Mutants: Lethal Legion#2-5 (June-September, 2023) - Charlie Jane Anders (writer), Enid Balám (pencils), Elisabetta D'Amico (inks), Sarah Brunstad (editor)
First Posted: 11/10/2015
Last updated: 09/26/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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