Madame Masque

Madame Masque
Madame Masque. Art by Jim Cheung.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	(as Whitney Frost) Tales of Suspense #98 (February 1968) (as Madame Masque) Iron Man #17 (September 1969)
Created by	Stan Lee (writer) Gene Colan (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Giulietta Nefaria (originally), Whitney Frost (legally changed)
Team affiliations	Maggia Masters of Evil Inner Guard
Partnerships	Hood
Notable aliases	Big M, the Director, Kristine "Krissy" Longfellow
Abilities	Skilled hand to hand combatant Expert markswoman Master strategist and organizer Proficiency with robotics

Madame Masque (real name Giulietta Nefaria, legally renamed Whitney Frost) is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. An occasional love interest and enemy of Iron Man and the daughter of Count Nefaria, she originally wore a golden mask to cover up her disfigured face and continues to do so after her face was healed.

Over the years, Madame Masque has appeared in various forms of media, including animated television series and video games. Most notably, Whitney Frost appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series Agent Carter, portrayed by Wynn Everett.

Whitney Frost first appeared in Tales of Suspense #98 (February 1968), and was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. She first appeared as Madame Masque in Iron Man #17 (September 1969).

Madame Masque was born as Giulietta Nefaria, the daughter of the master criminal Count Luchino Nefaria, in Rome, Italy. Her mother died when giving birth and Luchino wanted his daughter to lead a respectable life, so he gave the child to Byron Frost, a wealthy financier and an employee of Nefaria, and Loretta Frost to be raised. Frost called the child Whitney and raised her as his own.

As a young adult, Whitney was a debutante and socialite, and became engaged to politician Roger Vane. Following the Frosts' deaths, Count Nefaria approached Whitney and revealed her true parentage, telling her that Nefaria wants her to take her true father's place as leader of the Maggia, a Mafia-like organization based on the East Coast of the United States. Whitney at first refused, but when she tells Roger about her father, Roger leaves her, afraid that her connections to a known criminal would hamper a political career.