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History

To the glory days. I guess it's fair to say they're dead... but there's no way they're ever gone. -- Dominic Fortune src

Early Career

Born in New York City, Duvid Jerome Fortunov grew up on that city's Lower East Side during the 1920s. As a youth, Fortunov was frequently in trouble with the law, spending more time in the downtown federal building then he would later care to recall.[2] After ratting out Olga Cimaglia, a powerful gangster, Fortunov relocated to California shortly after the stock market crash of 1929 and changed his name to Dominic Fortune. Living aboard the Mississippi Queen, a floating casino moored just outside of US territorial waters, Fortune set up shop as an acrobatic costumed adventurer. He also enjoyed a romantic relationship with the Mississippi Queen’s owner Sabbath Raven with whom he shared many of his adventures.

In the mid-30s, Fortune joined the Chaco War as a mercenary. Solely involved in the conflict for money, Fortune first sold his services as a pilot to the Paraguayans, but switched sides when the Bolivians offered him more money. Finally, he switched back to the Paraguayan side after it became apparent that they would inevitably win the war. It was during his second stint with Paraguay that Fortune met Delatriz Betancourt, a fellow pilot. In the closing days of the war, she offered him a job working for her partner Malcolm Upshaw, but the offer was quickly rescinded when the pair learned of Fortune's Jewish heritage.[3] After also meeting Hollywood starlet Hazel Fontaine during his time in Paraguay, Fortune quickly began an affair with the beauty after the pair returned to Los Angeles. Her husband, Hollywood producer Irwin Oppenheim, had no idea of this and offered him a job to essentially bodyguard and babysit three drunken actors for three weeks, offering to pay him $20,000 for his services. Too tempting to refuse, Fortune accepted the job, though he would later regret it. The three actors were drunk, disorderly and depraved, causing Fortune more trouble than he had bargained for.[3]

After an attempt on his life while taking the men out for dinner, Fortune thought that it would be safer to bring them to New York City, reasoning that the men wouldn't be so disorderly if taken out of familiar surroundings. He was wrong as the actors took him on a day-long trip of debauchery prompting Fortune to call in a favor from an NYPD sergeant, having the men arrested and delivered to the zeppelin that they were to take to Berlin in order to watch the 1936 Summer Olympics. On the zeppelin, Fortune again runs across Delatriz Betancourt, going to bed with her during the long journey.[4] In Berlin, Fortune uncovered a plot to overthrow the American government which was headed by Malcolm Upshaw and informed the American ambassador. The ambassador, however, was a co-conspirator of Upshaw's and didn't pass on any of the evidence which Fortune turned over to him.[5] Upon his return to America, Fortune learned that Upshaw was going to attempt a coup d'etat at the White House during the Columbus Day Parade. He arrived in time to rescue FDR and his wife and took down Upshaw and Betancourt, gaining the thanks of the president in the process. He then returned to Los Angeles and resumed his affair with Hazel Fontaine.[2]

Fortune was later involved with and considered a candidate for Operation Rebirth in 1941, but was discounted due to his "immoral" lifestyle. Steve Rogers, however, was eventually chosen and became Captain America. While his exact actions during World War II have not yet been revealed, it is known that he stole something valuable from the Nazis during this period.[6] He was also involved in transporting conveys across the Murmansk Run, a dangerous convoy route across the Arctic Ocean to the Soviet Union. Here he met the Sub-Mariner in 1942 while he was protecting the convoy ships from German submarines.[7]

Avengers 1959

After surviving an assassination attempt in Paris by former Nazi agents seeking retribution for something that he had stolen from them during the war, Fortune was approached by Nick Fury and recruited into his new Avengers covert ops team in 1959.[6] As part of this group, Fortune traveled to Helsingborg, Sweden to put a stop to the Red Skull and the new Fourth Reich's secret plans.[8] After infiltrating the Red Skull's castle headquarters, the group came face-to-face with what appeared to be Captain America, really a Nazi empowered by a variation of the Super-Soldier Serum and the Infinity Formula, while the Red Skull attempted to escape. Fortune, alongside Fury and Bloodstone, managed to defeat the Nazi super-soldier before meeting up with the rest of the team and capturing the Red Skull impostor, whom Victor Creed promptly beheaded.[9] Fury then took the Red Skull's briefcase and took off, telling the rest of the group that he would meet up with them. A month later, Fortune found himself in London answering questions as part of an inquiry into the actions of the Avengers and Nick Fury. Here he discovered that as pay for his participation in the Avengers, his name had been cleared in many outstanding international incidents that he was wanted for questioning in.[10]

In Autumn of the same year, Fury reappeared and gathered his team together at the Stork Club in New York City in order to celebrate a job well done. After dinner, the Avengers each went their separate ways to attend to personal matters. Fortune wished to return home to the west coast, leaving on the first leg of his journey, along with a female companion, in his personal plane. Shortly after takeoff, however, the plane came under fire from a fighter plane painted with a skull shaped blazon. While his plane was shot down, Fortune and his guest were able to strap their parachutes on in time and escape.[11] Fury got the team together again when it became obvious that many of them had also been the targets of attacks by skull emblazoned enemies. The enigmatic Powell McTeague then used his magical abilities to transport Fortune, Namora, Kraven the Hunter and Sabretooth to a ship in the South China Sea which was commanded by the Nazi super-humans Baron Blood and Brain Drain.[12] Before the Avengers were able to capture the superhuman war criminals, however, they were teleported away, leaving nothing behind but a fiery skull symbol. Still on board the Nazi ship, the four Avengers next came to the rescue of Fury and the Blonde Phantom who were being attacked by the Ubermadchen while travelling by boat to Madripoor.[13]

Namora and Dominic Fortune next broke into the government building in Madripoor's Hightown in order to find records which would lead them to the rest of the former Nazi super-soldiers that they were seeking. They then launched an assault on ICON'sheadquarters, capturing their strategist Innsbruck the Planner.[7] Innsbruck revealed that ICON's forces were going to invade the scientifically advanced African nation of Wakanda. As a result, the Avengers were able to get there in time to stop the attack. During the ensuing struggle, Fortune destroyed ICON's advanced aircraft with a bazooka. The Avengers then confronted ICON's leader Geoffrey Sydenham and his associates in Washington where Fortune destroyed Brain Drain's brain casing with armor-piercing ammunition. After defeating ICON's forces and capturing Sydenham, the Avengers disbanded again, seemingly for good. Fortune accompanied the Blonde Phantom and Sabretooth on a train ride bound for Los Angeles.[14]

Modern Era

Eventually retiring, Fortune returned to being Duvid Fortunov and established himself as a Pontiac salesman in Nassau County, New York where he married and had two children. Retirement didn't suit him very well and he reclaimed his identity as Dominic Fortune in order to aid Iron Man in his battle with the Iron Monger. Fortune's son Jerry witnessed the battle and swore vengeance when he was incorrectly told that his father had been killed. Donning his father's costume, Jerry Fortunov became the new Dominic Fortune.[15]

Unfortunately, Jerry Fortunov's career as Dominic Fortune was short. Discovering that his father was alive Jerry, with help from Iron Man, attacked the estate of Simon Steele -- the current Iron Monger. Jerry was fatally injured in the battle and died in his father's arms.[16]

Seeking vengeance for his son's murder, Dominic Fortune tracked Steele to New York where he was hiding aboard the aging remains of the Mississippi Queen. Fortune captured Steele with help from Silver Sable and her Wild Pack.[17]

Fortune would later work with Sable again, though he had somehow become young again at this time through unknown means. Together they located innocent people who had unknowingly been made into sleeper assassins by rogue members of Sable's Wild Pack.[18]

After the Civil War, he was listed as a sympathizer to the Superhuman Registration Act.[19]

Fortune was part of the black ops superhero team, Vanguard, when he failed to assassinate Stacy Dolan for her role in the murder of Trenton Craft. He was forced to go into hiding when Craft returned alive and attempted to destroy all the members of the team who knew about his existence.[20]

Now retired, Fortune focused on running business in the Mississippi Queen. Just in time for the Annual Mississippi Queen 1937 gala charity, he was drugged in order to make him sell the boat to financial advisor Tug Freeland. Dominic contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., suspecting the events to have been an exploit of Hydra.

When he attended the gala accompanied by S.H.I.E.L.D. Field Director Phil Coulson, Dominic learned that while Tug wasn't part of Hydra, he was going to use the charity as a front for stealing valuable data from the phones of the attendees. Dominic was found spying on Tug and sent to a cell along with Coulson. Before Tug could escape with the data, S.H.I.E.L.D. reinforcements arrived and freed Coulson and Dominic. In order to stop Tug, Dominic took an explosive charge which had been left in his cabin and threw it at Tug's escape helicopter, causing it to explode. Once the dust settled, Dominic re-acquired the boat.[21]



Powers and Abilities

Power Grid [23] Intelligence 2 Strength 2 Speed* 3 2 Durability 2 Energy Projection 1 Fighting Skills 4 * Higher speed in his prime

Powers

Peak Human agility

Strength level

Normal Human

Weaknesses

Aged. Duvid is slowing down due to his age as he had already retired once.



Paraphernalia





Weapons

Guns



Notes

Fortune is of Jewish descent.[3]

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