Victoria Hand

Victoria Hand
Victoria Hand. Art by Oliver Coipel.
Publication information
Publisher(s)	Marvel Comics
Debut	Invincible Iron Man #8 (2008)
Creators	Brian Michael Bendis Mike Deodato

Victoria Hand is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe.

Publication history

She was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato. Her first appearance was in The Invincible Iron Man #8, by the creative team of Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca, although her subsequent appearance in Dark Avengers #1, by Bendis and Deodato, predates this in continuity.

Victoria Hand appeared as a supporting character throughout the 2010-2013 New Avengers series, from issue #1 (August 2010) through the character's death in issue #32 (December 2012).

Fictional character biography

Working for Norman Osborn

Victoria first appeared as a S.H.I.E.L.D. accountant, dating a fellow agent named Isabelle. She had different beliefs on the war of terror and sent a letter to S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury about his war on terrorism and her concerns that he's not doing a good job. The result was her being transferred to Portland, Oregon. Also, Isabelle broke up with her, angry that she ignored her advice not to send the letter.

Norman Osborn was promoted from director of Thunderbolt Initiative to the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. upon which he dismantled it and transformed it into the operation known as H.A.M.M.E.R. He appointed Victoria to the position of Deputy Director of this organization due to her vocal opposition of previous S.H.I.E.L.D. directors Nick Fury and Tony Stark; also, she was given the task of finding an acronym for H.A.M.M.E.R. She willingly supported Osborn's agenda to subvert the heroes and place villains instead, believing that Osborn would bring peace to the world.

Victoria also has a certain level of authority over Norman's Avengers despite the fact Norman gave Moonstone the position of his second-in-command.

Victoria was sent with Moonstone to neutralize Bruce Banner (AKA the Hulk), Osborn reasoning that Banner's intellect is a greater threat than the Hulk's brute strength. She and Moonstone engaged a powerless Bruce Banner and Skaar. H.A.M.M.E.R. gave the duo the means to restore Banner's gamma powers, something Skaar was waiting for (as he had sworn to kill his true "father"). With Banner coated in gamma radiation the duo left, their mission accomplished.

Victoria was part of the attack that went after the Asgardians, where she was leading the helicarrier squad. During the attack, the ship she was on was heavily damaged and Victoria ordered the evacuation of the crew. When the Void took full control of Robert Reynolds' body, Iron Man informed her to leave the ship as he intended to use the hellicarrier as a giant bullet. After the battle, Victoria didn't resist arrest and was taken on to a helicarrier, where she was interviewed by Steve Rogers. Victoria said that she didn't regret anything and that she was trying to help the world. In response, Steve given her a position in his new team, which surprised Victoria.

Redemption with New Avengers and death

It was later revealed that she had been assigned by Steve Rogers to be the liaison for Luke Cage's team of Avengers, dubbed the New Avengers, because he feels that she can provide an important insight to the team, although Spider-Man in particular does not trust her due to her old contact with Osborn, to the extent that he refuses to reveal his secret identity to her even when it means that he will not get paid for his work on the team. Luke's wife Jessica Jones, too, does not trust Hand, mainly because she nervously pointed a cannon at her and their infant daughter when they met in the Avengers Mansion. She was recently contacted by the remnants of H.A.M.M.E.R. to ask her to join them, but she instead provided the meeting location to the New Avengers so that they could sabotage the meeting, although the subsequent assault resulted in the potentially fatal injury of Mockingbird. During a later confrontation with Superia (head of this branch of H.A.M.M.E.R.) in her apartment, Hand claimed that her betrayal of H.A.M.M.E.R. was actually a deception to convince Steve Rogers that her allegiance is with him after H.A.M.M.E.R. contacted her on a public line rather than through more secret channels. She then provided the New Avengers with the location where the H.A.M.M.E.R. agents were going to be recovered from, thus allowing them to capture Superia and use an experimental serum she was trying to steal to treat Mockingbird. His suspicions of her eventually prompted Spider-Man to leave the New Avengers (although this was also due to his new responsibilities in the Future Foundation), informing the rest of the team that she would eventually turn on them due to her old ties to Norman Osborn, although he returned to the team.

However, after Osborn's new Dark Avengers launched their attack, Hand revealed to the New Avengers during a confrontation with them that she was actually a triple agent, pretending to work for Captain America while pretending to work for Norman Osborn while really working for Captain America, subsequently helping the New Avengers set a trap for Osborn to try and rescue the captured Captain America after Daredevil's heightened senses confirmed that she was telling the truth.

Victoria is possessed and killed by Daniel Drumm during his revenge attack on the New Avengers. . At her burial, Captain America declared that she was "one of us"

References

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