Valentina Allegra De la Fontaine
Alias:
Agent 14
Status:
Active

Rank: Sub-Director (L-9)
Specialties: Field Operative (Undercover), Helicarrier technician, Administration

Personal Bio Data

Place of Birth- Italy
Marital Status: Single

Appearances

The Avengers (1): 67,118
Cable (1): 33
Captain America/ Punisher Blood & Glory: 2
Captain America (1): 145- 150, 152-153, 166-167,169, 188-191, 439, 449
Captain America (5): 27
Daredevil (1): 120, 122-123

Double Edge: Omega
Fury/Agent 13: 1-2
Fury of SHIELD: 1-4
The Incredible Hulk (1): 439
The Infinity Gauntlet: 1
Kitty Pyrde, Agent Of SHIELD: 1- 3
Marvel Fanfare: 47

Marvel Holiday Special 1994
Marvel Spotlight: 31

Marvel Team-Up: 82- -83
Marvel Two-In-One: 26
Mighty Avengers: 12**

Ms. Marvel: 17
New Avengers: 41-42**
Nick Fury: Agent Of SHIELD (1):  1,5, 12, 14-15

Nick Fury: Agent Of SHIELD (2): 1-9, 12-22, 25-27, 30-31, 42, 46-47
Nick Fury Vs SHIELD: 1-6
Punisher (3): 1, 7, 11
Punisher War Journal (2): 19-23
The Punisher POV: 4

The Scorpio Connection
Scorpio Rising
Secret Invasion #1 Director's Cut
Secret War: 1-2
Silver Sable: 24
Spider Woman (1): 37
Strange Tales (1): 157, 163-165, 167-168
Uncanny X-Men: 98, 182
Uncanny X-Men Annual: 7

Union Jack (2): 1-4
What If...(1): 17
X-Force (1): 55

** Life Model Decoy
** Skrull

Appearance Highlights

Strange Tales (1) #159
First appearance

Marvel Spotlight (1) #31
Saves Nick Fury's life by getting the Infinity Formula for him.

Nick Fury: Agent Of SHIELD (2) #1
Val returns Fury to active duty to investigate the Death's Head Commandos.

Marvel Holiday Special 1994
Fury and Val enjoy Christmas together


Double Edge Omega
Kills the SHIELD traitor working for Spook, who helped brainwash the Punisher into thinking Nick Fury killed his family.

The Incredible Hulk (1) #434
Speaks at Nick Fury's funeral

Punisher (1) #11
Commands the helicarrier as it crashes in NYC harbor

Fury/Agent 13 #1-2
Leads a task force in pursuit of Sharon Carter, who is investigating Nick Fury's death.

Union Jack (2) #1-4
Helps defend London from attacks from a RAID Dreadnought.

Cover Appearances
Marvel Age #77
Nick Fury Vs SHIELD #1-2, 5
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (2) #12
Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD (2) #1-4,  15-17, 21, 25
Punisher War Journal (2): 20
Strange Tales # 167
Union Jack (2) #2-3

Formerly a member of the European "jet set" and daughter of French Resistance fighters, the Contessa Valentina Allegra De laFontaine (commonly known as 'Val' to her friends) sought a more serious role in life, and eventually entered SHIELD Academy, with a firm commitment to fight injustice and tyranny in all its forms throughout the world as her parents did. As a raw recruit, she soon caught Fury's eye (the one without the eye patch) and the two exhibited an instant attraction, this despite Fury's involvement with Laura Brown.

As a result of her remarkable talents and skills in many areas, the Contessa soon became a leading member of SHIELD. Her first major assignment for the agency was her participation in the battles against the robotic duplicate of the Yellow Claw. Years later she would fight alongside Fury against the terrorist network known as The September, also run by a robotic Yellow Claw. Her dealings with the Claw also introduced another foil for Val, the villain known as Nightshade. Originally teamed with the Claw in a plot involving turning everyone into werewolves, Val faced Nightshade again when the villain took over a SHIELD base. Using her enhanced pheromone powers to enthrall all the men on the base, it was up to Val to help Captain America to defeat Nightshade.

Val
was a founding member of SHIELD's Femme Force, an all female squad of agents, under the command of Sharon Carter.

Val was frequently at Fury's side for some of the most earth-shattering events SHIELD faced, including the disappearance of millions due to the Infinity Gauntlet. Their numerous shared missions first brought Fury and Val together romantically in the 1960's. From there-on, their relationship would run from hot to cold over the next three decades.

The Contessa uncovered on her own the blackmail that Nick Fury had endured since the end of his war service to Dr. Sternberg for the Infinity Formula. She managed to pose as a buyer for the Formula and was in time to save a rapidly aging Fury dying. Despite this show of loyalty on her part, their relationship was sorely tested during the Deltite Affair where Val was convinced to betray a rouge Nick Fury she believed was going to be apprehended peacefully. Following the incident, Val, together with Dum Dum Dugan and Gabe Jones set about investigating the strange events within their agency. The Deltite Affair was soon resolved, but Nick and Val’s relationship was beyond repair. SHIELD and their romance was at an end by 1988; Val left Nick and Nick would retire with Kate Neville and become her lover.

Val went to work for the CIA and during this time she would become involved with Al Mackenzie. A year would pass before Nick and Val would once more cross paths. After attacks by the Death’s Head Commandos, Val and Al sought out Nick to request his assistance on stopping them. Following their mission, Val helped convince Nick Fury to return and lead a new SHIELD. Val, along with Mackenzie left the CIA and served as agents in the new agency. The early months of this stripped down and smaller scale SHIELD placed in direct combat with several villains, including Leviathan and Lohan as well as undercover work in Russia.

As Fury grew more and more distant and unstable after the 1993 SHIELD Central massacre, Val tried to mend their relationship. Following her kidnapping by Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker and the Baron's murder of Kate Neville, Val and Fury rekindled briefly their love affair.

By the late 1990's she had risen to second in command under Nick Fury, but their relationship once again cooled. When the Punisher was brainwashed into believing Fury had killed his family, Val hunted down the mole (Beth Lockhart) who was responsible for drawing the Punisher to Fury and shot her dead.

Following Fury's 'death' she took command of the third SHIELD Helicarrier and served as both interim and deputy director during the months following the siege of Onslaught on the world's heroes. She helped oversee the entry of mutant Kitty Pride as a short-lived agent of SHIELD and later headed a task force to track a rouge Sharon Carter as she searched for Nick Fury in the ruins of SHIELD Central.

With Nick Fury's return from operation Back Slide, the Contessa's seems to have settled into a more low-key role at the agency, no longer appearing at Fury's side during SHIELD's various actions. The status of their personal relationship remains unclear, however she continues to serve as one of Fury's closest confidantes in the organization in her role as deputy director.

The Contessa was present following the Presidential briefing that forced Nick Fury to undertake what would become known as his 'Secret War' and although she had no operational knowledge of what happened, SHIELD files indicate Fury meant for her to command SHIELD in his absence. In case of his death, Fury left behind a full briefing and a contingency plan for her to follow.

As events transpired, the Contessa was branded a Fury 'loyalist' and assigned as SHIELD's United Kingdom liaison. This new assignment lead her to team with Union Jack against efforts by RAID, a splinter group from AIM, to attack London. The Contessa, alongside Union Jack and others proved instrumental in defeating a Dreadnought from destroying Trafalgar Square. Following this, Val joined G.W. Bridge's taskforce to capture the Punisher, which included Silver Sable and Domino.

At some undisclosed time, DeFontaine is replaced by a Skrull and begins to keep tabs on Nick Fury in an attempt to neutralize him. . Fury learns of this and kills the Skrull. Its unclear if DeFontaine is dead as a result of having been replaced by a Skrull. Earlier a Skrull-Val is responsible for the replacement of Dum Dum Dugan. This Skrull poses as both Dugan and Val and was overseeing the Vibranium mining operation in the Savage Land which the 'new' Avengers discovered.

Thanks to Stacy Rico for portions of this bio.

Other Appearances


Nick Fury, Empyre by Will Murray


Lisa Rinna as Contessa Valentina de Allegro Fontaine
Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (tv movie)

Notable Alternate appearances
Avengers (2): 12
Captain America (2): 7

Fantastic Four (2): 2,11
Fantastic Four - The End: 3-6
Spider Girl (2): 9
What If? (1): 17

Non-Narrative Appearances
Civil War Files
Civil War Battle Damage Report
Secret War: From the Files of Nick Fury
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1): 10

Handbook of the Marvel Universe '89: 7
Marvel Age: 77

The Marvel Encyclopedia (DK) 2006

Placed #10 in the Best-Dressed List in Marvel: 1989 The Year in Review

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Last Updated 11/26/2008