Origin
Karen has not seen her own face since the day she fell into a Vibranium vat at one of the power centers Reed Richards created to empower the world. Shortly after becoming covered in Vibranium and learning how to manipulate it so that she could draw out its potential power, she christened herself Iron Maiden.
Creation
Iron Maiden was created by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and John Paul Leon and first appeared in Earth X #2.
Character Evolution
Iron Maiden appeared as a villain in the original Earth X story but returned as a hero in it’s sequels Universe X and Paradise X. She was the featured characters in the Universe X: Iron Men one-shot. Created for the Earth X series, Iron Maiden has no mainstream counterpart and has no relation to the Black Widow villain also called Iron Maiden.
Major Story Arcs
Earth X
Iron Maiden was manipulated by The Skull and forced to join his army. As a servant to The Skull she fought against Daredevil and later The Hydra. When Captain America assassinated the Skull, she was free of his control.
Universe X
After her friends Jade Dragon and Spiders Man elect to join the Universal Church of Immortus, Iron Maiden is summoned to the Savage Land by a voice only she can hear calling out to her. After being imprisoned by King Mortimer in Sentinel City, Iron Maiden discovers the person who brought her there was Cable who gives her a greater understanding of her powers and their application.
Alongside Magneto and the Iron Avengers, Iron Maiden helps the heroes of Earth battle the gigantic Absorbing Man who threatens the world. Although, Iron Maiden has ulterior motives, as with the help of Reed Richards, she realized that if the giant Absorbing Man absorbed her Vibranium, he would then have enough Vibranium to alter the Earth’s polarity closer to what it used to be and save Earth from destruction. Convincing Absorbing Man to save the Earth for the sake of his ex-girlfriend Titania, Iron Maiden and Absorbing Man were able to replace the missing Vibranium center of the Earth.