Originally depicted as a supervillain who was part of the Serpent Society, she was first introduced in Captain America #310 (October 1985) and became a series regular for years afterwards.
Rachel Leighton made her debut as part of the Serpent Society and soon came into conflict with Captain America as the group carried out an assassination.
Later on Leighton started to develop feelings for Captain America, drawing her away from the Society to the side of the good guys.
Leighton, along with Black Mamba and Asp, formed BAD Girls, Inc. a trio of adventurers who would on occasion aid Captain America.
Rachel Leighton first appeared in Captain America #310 (October 1985), and was created by writer Mark Gruenwald and artist Paul Neary.
One of the members of the original Serpent Society,[1] Diamondback was a seductively sly woman with expertise in hand-to-hand combat, being trained by Anaconda at Taskmaster's academy.
[10] Diamondback and Captain America eventually went on their first date, aided by Rachel's friends in the Serpent Society, Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda.
[14] Along with her best friends Black Mamba and Asp, she formed "BAD Girls, Inc."[15] After a failed kidnapping attempt from Anaconda, Diamondback was taken aboard Superia's ship, and joined her Femizons under duress.
Diamondback suffered extensive neurological damage from the experience,[20] and spent an extended period of time recovering in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Upon claiming she would do anything to join the gang, Rachel was beaten and possibly raped by Bing,[23] who years later became Crossbones, kidnapped her, starved her and abused her until she agreed, with ulterior motive, to steal packages of Captain America's blood from Avengers Mansion.
[24] Bing/Crossbones murdered Danny/Cutthroat, who was attempting to replace him as aid to the Red Skull,[25] and also killed Rachel's third brother, Willy, when, despite being crippled in the military, he sought revenge by rifle for the brutality inflicted on his sister soon after she was originally mistreated.
Diamondback appears in Camp Hammond, as an official recruit for the Initiative, along with Ant-Man, Crusader, Melee, Geldoff, Dragon Lord, Geiger, and Red Nine.
[28] When Norman Osborn assumes control of the Initiative during the "Dark Reign" storyline, Diamondback agrees to work for him.
They witness Sentry killing Ares and Diamondback sees Steve Rogers entering the battlefield.
[33] As the Avengers begin to turn the tide in the battle, Diamondback tries to get Steve Rogers's attention and make sure he knows she and Constrictor are on his side.
After Osborn's defeat, Rachel attends a party at Avengers Tower where Rogers asks her to coordinate the remaining Fifty State teams.
For undisclosed reasons, apparently quitting this career to try her hand as a mercenary, she purchased equipment from the Tinkerer, which he had designed for Diamondback (Rachel Leighton).
[42] Truly loving Steve Rogers, but still willing to follow the plot, she was confronted and killed by the Red Skull himself,[43] only to "resurrect" herself with a biomechanical form able to take over pieces of technology, like the empowering armor worn by the Nazi villain.
[45] While regaining his franchises, Roderick Kingsley sold one of Diamondback's old costumes to an unnamed female criminal, who was then trained to replace her.
[volume & issue needed] An alternate universe variant of Rachel Leighton / Diamondback from Earth-1610 appears in All-New Ultimates #1.
This version is a teenage delinquent, member of the Serpent Skulls gang, and an enemy of Spider-Man and the All-New Ultimates.
[49] Diamondback was meant to appear in Captain America: Brave New World, portrayed by Rosa Salazar, before her scenes were cut.