Crimson Dynamo
The Crimson Dynamo is a villainous persona that has been adopted by various Soviet operatives, bearing a mechanical suit that contrasts that of the Dynamos' American nemesis, Iron Man. The original Dynamo, Anton Vanko, defected to the United States and worked for Tony Stark after his defeat to Iron Man. His replacement, Boris Turgenov, stole Vanko's suit and attacked Iron Man himself. Vanko and Turgenov both died when Vanko fired a potent, experimental weapon at Turgenov in defense of Iron Man and the U.S. at large.
History
Anton Vanko
In 1963, Anton Vanko was tasked by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to sabotage the efforts of leading American weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, and in doing so defeat Stark's friend, the hero Iron Man. To do this, Vanko developed a full-body metal suit, much like Iron Man's, but painted communist red, dubbing himself the Crimson Dynamo. The Dynamo suit primarily allowed him supreme control over electronic devices in the vicinity. What the Soviets did not realize was that Stark and Iron Man were in fact one and the same, a fact that would greatly complicate Vanko's mission. Vanko made his way to one of Stark's plants in the United States where a test launch of a manned rocket was taking place. He used the Dynamo's electronic capabilities to cause the rocket to go haywire, but its pending crash was buffered by the arrival of Iron Man, who positioned himself underneath the rocket and allowed its passengers to escape safely. But as Vanko reasoned, Iron Man could not be at all of Stark's plants at once: over the next several weeks, Vanko systematically sabotaged Stark's plants one by one, drastically damaging his company's output. Iron Man himself never showed up however, and so Vanko took the battle straight to Stark's main plant in Flushing. Iron Man indeed did show up, and anticipated Vanko's electrical attack, easily countering his onslaught. Iron Man grabbed hold of Vanko and carried him to the bay, where a drop in the water would kill him. Vanko surrendered, and Iron Man played a radio message for him, supposedly of Khrushchev ordering his men to kill Vanko upon his return, as he was becoming too threatening and popular. The message convinced Vanko of the Soviet Union's lack of loyalty to him, and Iron Man persuaded Vanko to defect to America, hiring him as a top researcher. The message had in fact been a fabrication, recorded by Iron Man during a lull in the battle. However, it must be said that Khrushchev did in fact plan to kill Vanko on his return.[1]
Boris Turgenov
In early 1964, Boris Turgenov and the Black Widow were sent to the U.S. to kill Tony Stark, Iron Man, and the defector Anton Vanko. The two came posing as simple foreign visitors, and Widow occupied Stark as Turgenov made his way to Vanko in Stark's plant. He incapacitated and kidnapped Vanko, deciding to take him alive in an attempt to achieve greater glory. He claimed Vanko's Crimson Dynamo suit, effectively taking his identity. He left the bound Vanko on a Soviet submarine off the coast and began sabotaging Tony Stark's plant, where he was soon met by Iron Man. The hero assumed that the man in the Dynamo suit was Vanko, which gave Turgenov the opportunity to attack him unaware and kidnap him as well. He left Iron Man in the submarine with Vanko and returned to the plant to find Tony Stark, unaware that Stark and Iron Man were one and the same. Iron Man soon returned with Vanko in tow, and his ensuing battle with Turgenov proved to be hard-fought, especially as Widow distracted him. Vanko grabbed a prototype laser-light gun and fired it at Boris, knowing that it was unfinished and would kill himself in the process. Vanko gave his life to defend American interests, successfully killing Turgenov and protecting Iron Man. Widow meanwhile was forced to flee in the confusion.[2]