Nazi Germany, late 1940
Adolph Hitler is berating his generals and staff over their latest failures. The room seethes with Hitler's venomous words. He swears that he could take any man and turn him into the deadliest and most ruthless killer and propaganda tool the world has ever seen. Just then there is a knock on the door, and a nondescript bellboy delivers the food ordered up. Hitler seizes on this nothing of a man as the perfect example of what he is talking about. Hitler goes on with his rant as the man stands there passively but with a hateful glare in his eyes. Hitler notices this and decides then and there that he will make this man his tool of destruction. Later that night when Hitler's staff has reassembled, he unveils his creation, and out from behind the curtain steps the Red Skull! With a crimson skull headpiece and those hateful eyes, the Red Skull strikes terror in the hearts of Hitler's staff. Indeed, the Red Skull would go on to make everyone fear him for his cunning and ruthless deeds. Even Adolph Hitler himself would come to fear his own creation. Only one man could stand up to the Red Skull--his arch-nemesis and moral opposite, Captain America. Indeed, Captain America would go on to thwart the evil Red Skull time and again throughout their numerous confrontations.
Comments
Timely had only one villain who appeared more than a few time. But the one they had was a winner. The Red Skull was one of the scariest bad guys in Golden Age comics and is one of the great comic-book villains of all time.
Like the Joker, the Red Skull transcends any natural purpose and is simply a walking malignity. The Skull was Captain America’s relentless enemy. Though he was a German agent, the Skull never seemed like a loyal German or a Nazi ideologue; he enjoyed evil for its own sake. The Skull at one time played Chopin’s Funeral March on the flute to signal the death of his enemies. It was a great movie-inspired gimmick.
The Skull’s skull was supposed to be a mask, not a deformity like Dick Tracy or Batman’s enemies, but it might just as well have been, since readers almost never saw him take it off. He was the Red Skull full-time. And fortunately, Marvel revived the Skull in the Silver Age and since then he has continue to give Captain America his greatest adventures.
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