Ivan Petrovich (Marvel)

Ivan Petrovich is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Ivan Petrovich

During World War II, Ivan Petrovich served on the front lines near Leningrad in the Russian conflict against the Germans. Ivan launched a career as a technician and a scientist. He married, and fathered a son, Yuri where they made their home in Moscow. (Champions v1 #10)

In 1928, he was a soldier in the Red Army when they were dispatched to Stalingrad after the Imperialists destroyed several buildings. Petrovich arrived at the scene in order to look for his younger sister but she was not found. Instead, he found a woman sheltering a baby in a destroyed building where she passed the girl to Ivan asking him to look after her and stating that she was a Romanoff. Ivan managed to take the baby girl but the building collapsed on the woman thus killing her. Petrovich took the girl and began to care for her whilst looking into her background. By 1938, the young Natalia Romanoff became his ward where by this point he had left military service. Ivan was looking for someone to take a paternal interest in the girls care rather than have her at an orphanage in the USSR. During the meeting with a colleague, they encountered General Secretary Stalin who was present at the scene and decided that Natalia Romanova was to be taken to a school that was suitable for her. She thus went under the brutal training of Taras Romanoff and encountered a man called Logan. This remained the case until 1940 with Ivan not having any contact with Natalia but this changed when Logan killed Taras and fled with Romanova allowing him to escape. She fled the scene with Ivan learning of this and going AWOL from his unit to eventually find her. Thus, they went rogue from the Soviet government and went on the run but continued their war against the Nazi's in an effort to become free. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #1)

Hydra, under the leadership of Baron Strucker, kidnapped Natalia, determined to turn her into a soldier. Ivan, seeking to rescue her, tracked Hydra to Madripoor, where he was attacked by the Hand. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #268)

Ivan saw Natasha take ballet lessons from master teacher, Oksana Bolishinko. (Solo Avengers v1 #7) After the death of Josef Stalin, things in Russia began to change. Ivan was having a day out with his wife and son, who wanted to go to the zoo, when American agents approached him, offering him vast sums of money to defect from Russia and offer his talents to America. Ivan refused, stating that he wanted to change Russia from within. Ivan sent his wife and son to Moscow to live for a time, wanting to keep them safe. Lenya the dog was left behind with Ivan. Ivan was told that his wife and son had been killed in a car accident. He grieved deeply. (Champions v1 #10)

At Berlin in 1956, Petrovich was fatally wounded and was on the verge of dying with him urging Natalia to leave him. They were approached by Soviet super-agent known as the Winter Soldier who offered a chemical that would heal wounds and allow them to live longer in exchange for continued service to the Soviet Union. Despite Ivan's pleas to refuse, Natalia accepted the deal leading to Petrovich's life being saved. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #1) In 1957, he met with Natasha after hearing that she was due to marry Alexei Shostakov with her confiding in Ivan that she could no longer trust her memories. Afterwards, in 1963, Alexei was killed with Romanova seeking to be deployed on missions against the West. Petrovich met with Premier Kruschiev who agreed for Ivan and Natasha to be deployed on the assignments. Several years ago, he accompanied her to America where Natasha was engaged in numerous missions against the countries superheroes and was manipulating Hawkeye to help her on such missions. Ivan often met with her to dissuade her from being a femme fatale and from finding employers that had her make the superheroes fight one another. (Black Widow: Deadly Origin v1 #2)

Black Widow asked Ivan, who was working as her chauffeur, to drive her to a dangerous area of town. He worried about her as she headed off on her own. (Amazing Adventures v2 #1) Ivan drove Natasha to Spanish Harlem at her request. (Amazing Adventures v2 #2) Ivan drove Natasha home from a meeting, and she changed in the back seat, reminding Ivan not to watch her. (Amazing Adventures v2 #3) After seeing a teenage boy attempt suicide, Ivan forced the boy into his cab and took him back to Black Widow to get help. The boy talked about being forced by the Astrologer to commit crimes. Just then, the Astrologer's men attacked the apartment, and Ivan helped Natasha fight back. In the end, the boy sacrificed himself to take out one of the criminals, and both perished in a fall. (Amazing Adventures v2 #5) Ivan woke up from a nap in the car to find Black Widow sparring with two men who turned out to be policemen, Captain Lumas and Sgt. Doyle, who wanted to ask her questions about the Astrologer. The police predicted that Astrologer would be robbing the blood bank next, so Black Widow and Ivan went there, and she changed while reminding Ivan not to look. They battled Astrologer's men, and Ivan was quickly knocked unconscious. Astrologer and his men escaped, and Ivan drove Natasha home. (Amazing Adventures v2 #6)

Black Widow and Ivan got news that Dr. Lichenstein, the blood specialist, had been kidnapped by the Astrologer. Ivan, after working out and watching old movies, wanted to help Black Widow shake off her funk. He asked Lumas for help. Seeing Astrologer's thug Freddy in the street, Ivan violently questioned the boy and learned where Astrologer's hideout was. He called Black Widow to meet him there, but then was delayed by a traffic accident. He arrived in time to pull Black Widow from the water; she'd rescued Lichenstein, but Astrologer had been killed in the conflict, and she wondered if everyone around her was doomed to die. (Amazing Adventures v2 #7) Ivan was kidnapped by Watchlord, an armored man with telekinetic powers who hated Russians, and his two thugs, including Joe. They tricked Ivan into recording a message for Black Widow, luring her into a trap. Watchlord captured Black Widow and bantered about his hatred of Russians as he strung Ivan up. He set the building on fire to kill them both, then left to kill more Russians. Black Widow used her Widow's Bite to free Ivan, then he freed her, and they went after the Watchlord. In the subsequent battle, Ivan downed the henchmen and Widow defeated Watchlord; she chose not to kill him, but he seemingly died in a landslide anyway. (Amazing Adventures v2 #8)

Overview

Personality and attributes

It was said that he was born with the soul of a Russian but when driving a car he was more like an American. (Marvel Graphic Novel v1 #61)

He operated as a guardian angel to Natasha with some claiming that it was akin to a brother/sister one or a father/daughter. (Marvel Graphic Novel v1 #61)

Notes

• Ivan Petrovich was created by Mike Friedrich and John Buscema where he made his first appearance in Amazing Adventures v2 #1 (August, 1970).

Appearances

• Amazing Adventures v2: (1970)
• Daredevil v1:
• Champions v1:
• Black Widow: Deadly Origin:

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry

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