Victoria Hand

A sharp-minded S.H.I.E.L.D. analyst who rose through the ranks on the strength of her administrative brilliance, Victoria Hand became Norman Osborn's fierce and loyal deputy director when he assumed control of the agency and rebranded it H.A.M.M.E.R.

Victoria Hand arrived on the Marvel scene in 2009's The Mighty Avengers #20, a sharp Modern Age creation from the acclaimed Brian Michael Bendis, and she's made every one of her 84 catalogued appearances count. She's built her reputation in the pages of New Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Invincible Iron Man — some of Marvel's most high-stakes real estate — rubbing shoulders with titans like Norman Osborn, Captain America, Wolverine, Ms. Marvel, and Hawkeye. With three key issues to her name and a presence stretching across fifteen years, she's proven herself a genuinely compelling figure in the modern Marvel tapestry, the kind of character whose appearances serious readers learn to track. If you haven't dug into her story yet, those Dark Avengers and New Avengers runs are a very rewarding place to start.