RED SKULL (communist)

Real Name: Albert Malik

Identity/Class: Human, technology user

Occupation: Terrorist, secret agent

Group Membership: Soviet Union

Affiliations: Electro, the Finisher, Brock Rumlow, Sandor, Charlie Shaddock;
    possibly associate of the Gentleman

Enemies: Betty Ross (Golden Girl), Bucky (Jack Monroe), Captain America ("Steve Rogers" imposter, William Burnside), Hawkeye, Mary Parker, Richard Parker, Le Peregrine, Red Skull (Johann Shmidt), Sandman, Scourge, Silver Sable, Spider-Man

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Senator Joseph McRooter

Base of Operations: New York of the 1950's; Algeria from the mid-50s to near present day; a castle in West Germany

First Appearance: Captain America Comics#61/1 (March, 1947);
(modern) Amazing Spider-Man Annual#5 (November, 1968);

Powers: Albert Malik had access to advanced technology, but did not possess the original Red Skull's tactical genius or cunning.

Physical Description: He wore a rubber or cloth mask of a red skull that looked nearly identical to the original Red Skull's face. In most of his appearances he was indistinguishable from the original, both in dress and appearance. At the time of his death, he was at least 65 years old.

History: (Captain America Annual#13 (fb))- Georgi Malenkov, a leading member of the Soviet Union’s government, appointed Albert Malik to be a special agent in 1953. Hoping to capitalize on the name and terror value of the Red Skull, but creating one loyal to international Communism, Malik was appointed the new Red Skull. (The German Red Skull, Johann Scmidt, at this time was in suspended animation and believed dead.) He was charged with recovering Adolf Hitler’s strongbox, believed to have been secreted in the U.N building.

(Captain America Comics#61/1) - Red Skull, disguised as an electrician, aided criminals in a breakout, but their escape is thwarted by Captain America and Bucky. Red Skull seemingly dies.

(Young Men#24/Captain America#155 (fb))- Pursuant to his goals, Albert Malik held up the United Nations building, taking its delegates hostage. However, he was surprised by the arrival of Captain America ("Steve Rogers") and Bucky (Jack Monroe). Malik was defeated by this new Captain America and Bucky.

(Captain Amerca: Red, White, and Blue, eighth story - see comments) In February 1954, Malik killed a senator named Joseph McRooter, and took his place. Recruiting war criminals to help him, Malik decided to pursue a strategy of crippling America from within by accusing honest, law-abiding Americans of being Communists; by this ruse, Malik presumably also hoped to distract attention from the activities of true Communist saboteurs. (Curiously, Malik recruited some former war criminals to aid him in this scheme.)

As part of this scheme, Malik (impersonating McRooter) called for investigations into the U.S. military for possible Communist infiltration. As part of this, he demanded that Captain America and Brigadier General Zwiller appear before him. Captain America appeared with lawyer Ken Levine in Washington. "McRooter" demanded that Captain America take off the mask during his next appearance.

Speaking with FBI agent Betty Ross, Captain America discovered that she suspected that the real McRooter had been killed and replaced. She showed him pictures of contacts McRooter had met with, who Captain America recognized as war criminals.

At the next hearing, Captain America unmasked "McRooter" as Malik. An agent of Malik's grabbed for a gun, but Betty Ross shot him.

(Young Men#27)- Some time later, Captain America and Bucky fought the Red Skull (who, as in Young Men#24, is wearing a green jumpsuit, boots, and red cape) and some henchmen at a US Govt. research facility, where the Skull was trying to "capture the secret of atom rockets" (what an "atom rocket" is is never explained). The Skull was carrying a handgun, but for some reason never thought of actually firing it at anyone. Nevertheless, he somehow escaped.

Months passed as Cap and Bucky break up other "spy and sabateur gangs," but with no sign of the Skull. Then, as Pvt. Steve Rogers and camp mascot Bucky, they decided one day while hanging around the base to relax and "go to the day room and watch TV" -- where, for some reason, the guy on the TV proceeded to give a personal message to Captain America to go to a specific spot to meet "a contact who has information vital to our country"!

Naturally, Cap and Bucky proceeded immediately to the spot without question! There they encountered their contact -- an old guy with a beard who just happened to be wearing... a green jumpsuit, boots, and a red cape! Obviously still having no reason whatsoever to be suspicious, they follow him to a castle filled with torture devices. (Bucky: "Wow! Look, Cap! Torture instruments! Racks, iron maidens, skull crushers!" Hmm, maybe Englehart and Nicieza were on to something in turning Jack Monroe into a psycho!)

As Cap and Bucky were admiring the hardware, the old man in the beard removed (what must have been) an extremely lifelike mask, to reveal... gulp, (gasp), SHOCK... THE RED SKULL!!

More goons appeared from behind some curtains, and they defeated our heroes, who were probably still too dazed at realizing what breathtakingly gullible morons they are to put up a good fight. Cap and Bucky were put on the torture racks, but in some moving dialogue, Bucky refused to crack: "Let him go jump in the lake, Cap! OOH! I'm not... UGH... telling him a thing!" (apparently because he's too busy enjoying himself! "OOH!" indeed!)

Cap apparently caved in, though. (Can it really be?! Can our hero REALLY have sold out? I wonder...) He and Bucky were loaded into a truck, where Cap proceeded to direct the Skull and his men to where they could find "rocket atom bombs" (with, again, no explanation of what the hell a "rocket atom bomb" is supposed to be).

As the truck went down a hill though, Cap suddenly punched the Skull and one of his henchmen (Wow! It was all a trick! Alright, Cap!) and he and Bucky jumped out the back of the truck. Then the truck inexplicably crashed: "A blank wall! He steered us right into a... AAARGH!" Apparently the driver must have been blind and didn't see the "blank wall" coming, (though why it's "blankness" matters is never explained -- did he expect a wall with some advertising on it?), trusting that his hated enemy Captain America would never give him bad directions.

Then, in one of the most powerful and dramatic death scenes of a major villain in all comics history, Cap and Bucky walk over to the Red Skull's body, the Skull having died off-panel by falling off the truck!

Cap and Bucky congratulated themselves for a job well done and chuckled over the Skull's corpse, before... they ran off and just leave it there!

(Captain America Annual#13 (fb))- Actually still alive, Malik revived another Communist agent, Electro, from the morgue two nights after the latter’s own apparent death to help him acquire Hitler’s strongbox. However, they again encountered the new Captain America and Bucky. During the battle, Malik did manage to acquire what he believed to be Hitler’s strongbox, but it turned out to be a fake.

Malik eventually acquired Hitler’s true strongbox, and placed it in his castle, located in West Germany.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual#5 (fb))- Years later, having moved his operations to Algeria, Malik was confronted by two American agents, Richard and Mary Parker. They claimed to be working for him, but realizing that they were still loyal to the U.S., Malik arranged their deaths in a plane crash.

BTS- Malik, at some point learning of the return of the original German Red Skull, decided to keep a low profile, as he knew the true Red Skull would seek revenge on the impostor who worked for the Communists.

(Amazing Spider-Man Annual#5)- The son of Richard and Mary Parker, Peter, ashamed that his parents were branded as traitors, sought to clear their names. He went to Algeria and discovered the truth about his parents’ deaths, and confronted Malik as Spider-Man. Malik summons his lackey Sandor to battle Spider-man while he makes his escape. Malik then hires the Finisher, a master assassin, to hunt and kill Spider-Man. Spider-Man manages to turn his traps on him, and right before he dies, the Finisher tells him of Richard and Mary Parker's true status as double agents for the U.S. Peter managed to acquire the evidence to clear his parents’ names in a final confrontation with the Skull.

(Captain America I#383/5 (BTS))- Albert Malik hired a group of mercenaries, including Brock Rumlow, to kill the true Red Skull. Towards that end, Rumlow and the other criminals attacked Arnim Zola’s Swiss castle, where the Red Skull was resting. The other mercenaries died, but Rumlow impressed Shmidt enough to become his chief subordinate for some time-- Crossbones.

(Solo Avengers#6)- Still active in Algeria, Albert Malik had managed to appropriate a sophisticated timing device used to detonate nuclear warheads. Silver Sable had sent the Sandman to reacquire the device, but he had been captured by Malik. Hawkeye, allied with Silver Sable International, infiltrated the Red Skull’s headquarters with French adventurer Le Peregrine. Baffled, they discovered Malik gloating in front of a large dome containing sand about how he would use the detonator, coupled with his own nuclear warhead, for international blackmail. Hawkeye and Le Peregrine battled Malik’s minions, and during the struggle, the dome of sand was cracked-- freeing the Sandman. Fleeing, Malik left a bomb behind to deal with his enemies. However, Hawkeye disabled his craft, and Le Peregrine captured Malik. Telling them that the bomb would kill them all, Malik ate his words when the Sandman used his malleability powers to "gum up the works" and prevent the bomb from detonating. Malik was turned over to the authorities.

(Captain America I#347)- Malik, still in prison, was broken out by men he had hired. Entering a helicopter provided by them, he was then shot by the pilot-- a rogue Scourge of the Underworld. The pilot then contacted the true Red Skull, who laughed with glee upon hearing of the death of Malik.

Comments: Created by Stan Lee and John Romita... or maybe Steve Engelhart, depending on how you look at it.

Information from Young Men#27 provided by Crusher Hogan who comments: "As Cap and Bucky disappeared into the darkness and the the Skull's leering corpse stares up at us, the final panel asked "But... is the Red Skull gone? Or is that evil heart stilled just until it gets another chance to cross brain and muscle with Captain America?" Another chance to "cross brain" with Cap?! Seems to me there wasn't even a first chance -- ain't much brain there to cross with, seeing as our hero didn't even so much as bother to check whether that "evil heart" still had a heartbeat! My bet is that the Skull was simply too stunned by the sheer lameness of Cap's performance this issue to do anything but lie there in a death-like trance. We can imagine his thoughts as he lay there quietly waiting for the Sentinels of Liberty to run away: "What TOTAL A--HOLES!!! I can't BELIEVE these guys ever beat me the first time!"

The Spider-Man Encyclopedia confirms that the Finisher's real name is indeed Karl Fiers. The All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Premiere (HC)#10 entry for the Sinister Six refers to the Spider-Man: Secret of the Sinister Six novel, confirming it as canon.
--David A. Zuckerman

Complications with the Red Skull’s history go back to the beginning. In Captain America Comics#1, the Red Skull made his first appearance. The Skull was defeated in that story, to be unmasked as George Maxon, an American industrialist who became an agent for the Third Reich!

To which, understandably, many readers may say, "Who?! I thought he was Johann Shmidt, German-born agent of the Third Reich?".

To which, one must respond that much of the Red Skull’s history has been retconned from how he was depicted in the original stories. This came about due to his unexpected prominence: it is not clear that Captain America’s creators, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, consciously intended that the Red Skull would serve as the ultimate enemy of Captain America. The Red Skull did not appear on the cover of Captain America Comics#1. Nor is it clear that the Red Skull was designed to serve as the ultimate National Socialist warrior; his name and mask did not incorporate any symbol that had particular ties to the Third Reich, and, after all, the color red gets more closely identified with Communism than National Socialism. It seems quite probable that Simon and Kirby just desired a striking, horrific image when they came up with the Red Skull. (I should mention that a possible influence from the 1930’s exists for the creation of the Red Skull: one of the original Doc Savage novels is titled The Red Skull-- although the title referred to Red Skull canyon, and not a character.)

In any event, Captain America Comics#3 showed that Simon and Kirby had chosen their horrific image with success, as the Red Skull appeared on the cover of a comic book for the first time. Picking up directly after the events of the Red Skull story from Captain America Comics#1, this issue showed that George Maxon had faked his death, and had him return to challenge Captain America and Bucky. At the end of the story, Maxon was apparently killed.

Captain America Comics#7, however, featured another Red Skull story, confirming the pre-eminence of the Red Skull as Captain America's main villain. This story, however, did not directly follow on the events of the Red Skull story from Captain America Comics#3, nor was the Red Skull’s identity as George Maxon ever mentioned. Subsquent stories in the Golden Age also ignored the issue of the Red Skull’s identity as George Maxon.

The Red Skull continued to make appearances in the Captain America stories even after World War II ended. An example would be in Captain America Comics#61, released in 1947. Later in 1950, Captain America Comics became Captain America’s Weird Tales due to the falling popularity of adventurer comics and the rising popularity of horror comics. That issue featured an eerie, menacing picture of the Red Skull looming as if a giant over Captain America, with Captain America teetering on the craggy edge of the world. Inside, the readers discovered a story in which the Red Skull dragged Captain America down to Hades for a confrontation.

Captain America’s Weird Tales#74 featured Captain America’s last appearance for some time, as Timely (the name of Marvel at the time) turned to other genres. In the mid-1950’s, a brief Captain America (and other Marvel Heroes) revival took place starting with Young Men#24. Steve Rogers was shown as having become a history teacher at some point, with Bucky as one of his pupils. When the Red Skull returned, joining forces with the Communists (the "Nazis of the 1950s") to hold up the U.N. building in New York, Captain America and Bucky confronted the Red Skull. The Red Skull apparently died in their next encounter in Young Men#25. Captain America soon was cancelled yet again.

To which some of you may say "Huh! I though that Captain America was in suspended animation after WWII? What about Zemo?"

Again, retcons line our path. When Stan Lee brought back Captain America in Avengers I#4, he showed how Captain America and Bucky, in 1945, had pursued a bomber launced by Baron Heinrich Zemo. The bomber exploded, killing Bucky, and placing Captain America in suspended animation until his discovery years later by the Avengers. This story, by establishing that Captain America had not been active after 1945 until the then-present, had an unforeseen impact. Namely, if Steven Rogers had been in suspended animation after 1945, who had been Captain America during those years?

These questions were left aside for the moment, though. Although Lee had, for whatever reason, denied the Red Skull the honor of killing Bucky, he did remember the original George Maxon origin of the Skull, as shown by Tales of Suspense#65, (May, 1965). This story featured an adaption of the first Red Skull story from Captain America Comics#1. In this story, the Red Skull is revealed to be industrialist John (not George) Maxon, who, unlike in the original, escapes at the end of this story. Also unlike in the original, the Red Skull in this story is revealed to be a pawn, an impostor authorized by the true Red Skull-- who in the next issue captured Captain America and, whiling away the time, revealed his origin.

Tales of Suspense#66 established the now familiar origin of the Red Skull as the impoverished German bell-hop who had a lucky run-in with the Fuehrer. This story firmly established that the true Red Skull had been active for some years in Europe before the creation of Captain America, as well as his having been German-born. Thus, the true Red Skull could not have been the same person as George Maxon, who had been presented as an American industrialist, and who could not have been active much earlier than 1941, since the United States had not entered World War II before that time.

The Red Skull appeared in other flashback stories to World War II in Tales of Suspense, but did not get revived in the modern day until Tales of Suspense#79-80. This story revealed that, in 1945, Captain America and the Red Skull had had a battle at some point before Bucky died, in which the Red Skull had been caught in an explosion that Captain America escaped. The Skull was saved when columns from the building crisscrossed in falling, shielding the Skull from falling debris. However, the explosion released 'special' gases in the building that placed the Skull in suspended animation. In then contemporary times, AIM discovered the Skull and released him. However, if the Skull had been in suspended animation since 1945, who had been the Red Skull in the post-World War II Captain America stories?

The situation was aggravated by Amazing Spider-Man Annual#5 (1968). In this story, readers discovered that Peter Parker’s parents had worked as secret agents, but died during a mission, and were believed to have been killed while acting as traitors to the U.S. Spider-Man traveled to Algeria to discover the truth. He ended up confronting the Red Skull, who revealed that he had killed Spider-Man’s parents after World War II. Though Spider-Man proved his parents' innocence, a question left dangling in the minds of readers: if according to Tales of Suspense#79, the Skull had been in suspended animation for decades since the end of World War II, how could he be responsible for killing Spider-Man’s parents?

It was left to continuity-conscious writer Steve Englehart to tie up these loose ends. In Captain America#153-155, he revealed how a dissatisfied government employee had released two figures from suspended animation who had been in stasis since the 1950’s. The figures were revealed as Captain America and Bucky! This Captain America and Bucky confronted the original Captain America, the Falcon, and Sharon Carter, accusing them of being traitors. The false Captain America revealed that he had been a boy who idolized Captain America in the 1940’s who felt dismayed when Captain America disappeared. Devoting his studies to Capatain America, he gained a P.H.D. in history... and something else. While doing research on Captain America in captured German files, he discovered that a German agent had acquired the super-soldier formula by surreptiously stealing a copy of the formula that its creator had intended to destory. This piece of intelligence was lost in the shuffle of Berlin files due to the carpent bombing of that city by the Allies.

Ecstatic, the P.H.D. swore he would be the Captain America for the Cold War, even having his vocal cords altered to match the original’s voice, plastic surgery performed, and, after discovering the original Captain America’s true identity, changing his name to Steve Rogers. Primed for the Korean War, he lost his chance to battle Maoism and Juche when the conflict ended early. Dejected, he used his history P.H.D. to become a teacher at a school for boys, where he met a young man named Jack Monroe who idolized Bucky and Captain America. The two became friends.

However, also during this time, the Communists had decided to exploit the terror associated with the name of the Red Skull to their ends by creating a Red Skull loyal to Communism. Thus, Captain America#155 (which even incorporated a partial reprint of Young Men#24 into the story as a flashback) established that the Red Skull active in the 1950’s was nothing more than a Communist agent, not the original Red Skull. However, this Red Skull was now established as the one who had killed Spider-Man’s parents as depicted in Amazing Spider-Man Annual#5.

Still, it took some time before the Communist Red Skull was seen again. In the meantime, the 1940’s Red Skull continued his conflicts with Captain America in the present. The fact that the German Red Skull had been active before Captain America provided an interesting oppurtunity for some writers. Namely, since the Red Skull had emerged as the pre-eminent Captain America villain, would it not be appropriate if Captain America had been created specifically to defeat the Red Skull? Thus, when Roger Stern and John Byrne did Captain America#255 in the 1980’s, they retold Captain America’s origin with the addition of a scene in which Steve Rogers, after his having received the super-soldier serum but before receiving his costume, was shown a picture of the Red Skull. He was informed that he shall become the counterpoint to the Red Skull-- and then was presented the Captain America costume.

This story, firmly reinforcing that the Red Skull had been active before the emergence of Captain America, reemphasized that the true Red Skull was not George Maxon. Instead, George Maxon got designated, as happened with John Maxon, as a pawn authorized to impersonate the Red Skull by the true, German Red Skull. Thus, the first appearance of the true, German Red Skull, as stated by OHOTMUDE Update’89#6, must have been Captain America Comics#7. OHOTMUDE Update ‘89#6 also noted that George Maxon may possibly have been the same person as John Maxon, as well as noting that the Red Skull from Young Allies Comics#1 was probably also an impostor serving the true Red Skull. By Captain America#300, published around 1983, it had been established that the true, German Red Skull’s real name was Johann Shmidt.

After his death, the Communist Red Skull received one final story that fleshed out further details of his life. In Captain America Annual#13, we discovered that Georgi Malenkov had appointed the Communist Red Skull in 1953. By then, it had been established that the Communist Red Skull’s true name was Albert Malik.

As regards Malik’s first appearance, The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe '89 entry for the Red Skull confirms that it was indeed Captain America Comics#61/1. However, since Captain America Annual#13 established that Malik did not start as the Red Skull until 1953.

Ron Byrd adds: The ghost could always have been an illusion by Charon, of course, but it might've been the ghost of Maxon or another impersonator.  Or it might have been the ghost of the real Red Skull; there's nothing to say that a person in suspended animation can't be active as a ghost until he's revived.