Contributed by Ronald Byrd

Born in Romania and raised by Romany (Gypsies), teenage mutant Sybil Dvorak is seduced by American actor Jason Reed, who brings her back to Hollywood with him as his mistress. Kept isolated in Reed’s home while her citizenship papers are stalled, she rebels and takes to robbing society parties under the identity of Gypsy Moth, leading her to clash with the heroine Spider-Woman. Eventually she gains her citizenship and inclusion in Reed’s will; he dies soon after of a burst blood vessel (implicitly caused by Gypsy Moth), leaving her a wealthy socialite who uses his money to start a drug cult of worshippers. Later, she is among the many superhumans kidnapped and imprisoned by the insane Locksmith, and after she escapes with the help of Spider-Woman and others, she joins the Night Shift, an apparent criminal organization which the vigilante called the Shroud is secretly using to fight crime. The Night Shift eventually separate from the Shroud and gain augmented from the demon Satannish, only to be defeated by the West Coast Avengers. Next seen among the Femizons of the would-be conqueror Superia, Gypsy Moth eventually drops out of crime and becomes the manager of a string of sex clubs.

However, the lure of criminal activity proves too much for Gypsy Moth, who joins the Crimson Cowl’s Masters of Evil “just for kicks” and clashes with the reformed villains called the Thunderbolts. Later, when most of the Thunderbolts are temporarily away from Earth, the remaining members, Hawkeye and Songbird, recruit her and several other former Masters to defeat the Cowl; as a member of this informal second group of Thunderbolts, she uses the new name of Skein. After the Cowl is defeated, the Thunderbolts return to Earth and the former Masters are offered a place on the team, but they decline. Skein suggests that Songbird accompany her to Casablanca; she flirtatiously strokes Songbird’s hair as she does so, suggesting that, although she has demonstrated overt sexual interest in men, she is also attracted to women. Songbird refuses the offer, and Skein leaves for parts unknown.

Skein can telekinetically manipulate fabrics and organic tissues, enabling her to entrap people in their own clothing or hair and to induce muscle cramps, burst blood vessels, and other injuries. She can mentally control and reweave any form of cloth, with a power range of threading a needle to moving about 120 pounds worth of fabric. She is also able to fly via telekinesis and to levitate another person under 120 pounds; as Gypsy Moth she used her power to interweave non-functional silken wings from her own skin tissue, but the wings were purely ornamental.

Skein first appeared in Spider-Woman #10 and is revealed as lesbian in Thunderbolts #75. Skein has been included in promo art for issues of Avengers: Initiative.

© and ® Marvel Comics. All rights reserved.

Contributed by Ronald Byrd

Katrina Luisa Van Horn, who sometimes used the simple alias Wilma,  was a European Olympic-class skier who was crippled in an accident when a male skier deliberately attempted to sabotage her performance. Restored to health and given an augmenting exoskeleton by the criminal scientists of AIM, Van Horn began a new career as the terrorist called the Man-Killer.

Following her initial clash with Spider-Man and the feminist heroine the Cat, the Man-Killer finds employment first at the subversive organization HYDRA, where she clashes with Daredevil, and then with industrialist Justin Hammer as part of a task force sent to battle Iron Man. Returning to her roots as a “militant feminist,” she led a band of female terrorists called the Women Warriors against Spider-Man and She-Hulk, only to apparently be electrocuted. However, her exoskeleton apparently protected her from death, since she is next seen as a member of the second Crimson Cowl’s Masters of Evil, in which capacity she battles the Thunderbolts, themselves former members of an earlier incarnation of the Masters. When these efforts also fail, she abandons the Cowl and lies low as Wilma the bartender, but she eventually returns to the criminal life, only to consider reformation as a member of a new team led by Hawkeye, in which she changes her alias to “Amazon.”

As a rather stereo-typical example of 1970s concept of “militant feminism” in her earlier appearances (contrasted by such feminist heroines as the Cat and the She-Hulk), the Man-Killer was initially quite unstable, harboring an insane hatred of men, and she might well have been identified as a lesbian if the comic books of the time had permitted such identification which would have made her even more of a stereotype. She appears to have mellowed somewhat over the years to the extent that she seems capable of forging friendships with men; however, when the Thunderbolt Atlas became attracted to her and attempted to persuade her to reform with the Thunderbolts, she disdainfully rejects both ideas, noting that “I call myself Man-Killer—how do you think I really feel about you?” This exchange is inconclusive, but it is at least suggestive. More so is an exchange in Thunderbolts #71: when fellow Masters of Evil alumnus Cyclone, referring to Amazon’s willingness to aid the heroic Hawkeye, remarks that “one more goes to the other side” (i.e. “good” instead of “evil”), Amazon responds “I was born on that side,” implying that she interpreted the remark in a different way.

As Man-Killer, she formerly wore an exoskeleton granting her superhuman strength and resistance to injury, and she was in top physical condition even without it; she has subsequently demonstrated super-strength and resistance while not wearing the exoskeleton, indicating that prolonged use of it (or perhaps being nearly electrocuted while wearing it) somehow transferred its abilities to her personally.

Amazon makes her first appearance in Marvel Team-Up #8 and is confirmed as lesbian in Thunderbolts #42 and #71.

© and ® Marvel Comics. Used without permission.