Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Sleek, sophisticated, and unmistakably Bronze Age Marvel, Countess Valentina Allegra de Fontaine made her entrance in The Avengers #118 in 1973, courtesy of Steve Englehart and Bob Brown, and she's been a fixture of the espionage corner of the Marvel Universe ever since. A proud member of S.H.I.E.L.D., she moves through the shadowy world of spies and operatives with ease, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Colonel Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce, and the enigmatic Network Nina across titles like Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. — the kind of company that tells you everything about where she belongs. Nearly four and a half decades of appearances, from the Bronze Age through to 2018, speak to a character with genuine staying power in Marvel's intelligence community. If you love your comics steeped in Cold War intrigue and populated by characters who carry themselves with Continental flair, the Countess is absolutely worth tracking down.