The Winter Guard are noted for being "Russia's answer to the Avengers". Several members of the group formerly belonged to the Soviet Super-Soldiers, the People's Protectorate, and the Supreme Soviets. Unlike those teams, which were often adversarial towards other costumed superheroes, the Winter Guard is much more heroic and representative in nature.
The Winter Guard first appeared during the Kurt Busiek run of Iron Man in (vol. 2) #9 (October 1998), where they had several guest appearances. They would later appear in Busiek's stint on the Avengers.
The team made infrequent appearances in the Marvel Universe before being featured in Jeph Loeb's Hulk (vol. 2). The Winter Guard soon appeared in She-Hulk and War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D..
David Gallaher brought the team back in Hulk: Winter Guard which first appeared as a Marvel Digital Comic and was later reprinted as a comic book. Gallaher returned to writing the team with a three-issue limited series called Darkstar and the Winter Guard in 2010.
Fictional team history
The Winter Guard were originally known as the Soviet Super Soldiers and appeared in various comics from the mid-1970s. That name lost meaning following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. The Winter Guard made their debut with that name in Iron Man (vol. 3) #9, and fought alongside the Avengers during the "Maximum Security" and "Kang Dynasty" events.
Whilst investigating the murder of the Abomination, Doc Samson, She-Hulk, and Thunderbolt Ross encounter the revitalized Winter Guard, consisting of Ursa Major, Red Guardian, Darkstar, and Crimson Dynamo. The Winter Guard are apparently killed by the Intelligencia, but are later revealed to have survived.
The Winter Guard is later reassembled with Ursa Major, Crimson Dynamo, Red Guardian, Darkstar, Vostok, Perun, Chernobog, and Red Widow.
Members
Current members
Ursa Major (Mikhail Ursus) – A mutant who can transform into a humanoid bear.
Crimson Dynamo (Dmitri Bukharin) – Russia's answer to the Iron Man armor. Bukharin is the current leader of the Winter Guard.
Darkstar (Laynia Petrovna) – A mutant who can manipulate the Darkforce.
Red Guardian (Nikolai Krylenko) – Also known as Vanguard, Krylenko formerly led the Winter Guard as Red Guardian. He is Darkstar's brother and possesses the mutant ability to generate force fields.
Vostok – A robot who can manipulate other machines. Also known as Sputnik.
Chernobog - The Slavic god of chaos and the night.
Red Widow - The product of the same Red Room as Black Widow, Red Widow is the team's contact with the Russian government and has been known to overrule Crimson Dynamo's leadership on this basis.
Previous members
Darkstar (Sasha Roerich) – A short-lived replacement for Darkstar who was given her powers.
Darkstar (Reena Stancioff) – The third Darkstar, who was killed by a Dire Wraith.
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