Valentina
Allegra De la Fontaine Personal
Bio Data |
Appearances The
Avengers (1): 67,118 Appearance
Highlights
Strange
Tales (1) #159 Nick
Fury: Agent Of SHIELD (2) #1 Marvel
Holiday Special 1994 The
Incredible Hulk (1) #434 Punisher
(1) #11 Cover
Appearances
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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. 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. 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. 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. |
Other Appearances
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Notable
Alternate appearances Non-Narrative
Appearances Placed #10 in the Best-Dressed List in Marvel: 1989 The Year in Review |
Last Updated 11/26/2008 |