The Red Skull is a name shared by several fictional characters, all supervillains from the Marvel Comics universe. All incarnations of the character are enemies of Captain America, other superheroes, and the United States in general.

The first two Red Skulls are Nazi agents and the third is a Soviet agent. The Red Skull was first introduced in Captain America Comics #1 in 1941. The first Red Skull (George Maxon) to appear in comics was an American industrialist turned Nazi saboteur. Maxon turned out to be an agent of the true Red Skull (Johann Schmidt), considered (according to S.H.I.E.L.D.) as one of the greatest threats to humanity,^[1] and a long-time archenemy of Captain America.^[2] The third Red Skull (Albert Malik) is best known for causing the deaths of the parents of Peter Parker, and thus orphaning the boy who would become Spider-Man. The Red Skull was ranked number 21 on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list and was also ranked as IGN's 14th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.^[3]

Publication history[link]

This section requires expansion.

Joe Simon was inspired at the moment he was considering an appropriate villain for Captain America. Coincidentally, he saw a hot fudge sundae melting and noticed how it was resembling a human-like figure in the process. Although Simon initially considered calling this character Hot Fudge, the cherry on top seemed like an exposed skull as its head and he decided that the Red Skull was a more appropriate moniker.^[4] The Red Skull was introduced in Timely Comics' Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941), written and drawn by the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

The more enduring Johann Schmidt version of the Red Skull was created by writer France Herron^[5][6] and artist Kirby (with Simon on inks); he first appeared in Captain America Comics #7 (Oct. 1941).

The character was subsequently revived in the Silver Age of Comic Books, first in Tales of Suspense #65 (May 1965) in the short-lived Captain America-early World War II-period story run, and then was established as a contemporary villain in issue #79 (July 1966).

For decades, the character's true face was hidden, but in Captain America vol. 1, #297 (Sept. 1984) the Red Skull unmasked in front of the superhero with his face, albeit extremely aged, fully revealed. In the next issue, the Red Skull retells his story with his face fully visible in his various ages. When the character was revealed to be alive in issue #350 (Feb. 1989), in a story called "Resurrection," by John Byrne, the face of Johann Schmidt's original body is hidden again, but the Skull's face is fully visible, albeit in his cloned copy of Captain America's body.

The character's origin was more fully illustrated in the limited series, Red Skull: Incarnate, with Schmidt's face fully visible again.

Fictional character biography[link]

This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (July 2011)

The Red Skull, Johann Schmidt (sometimes spelled Shmidt), was a former Nazi general officer and confidant of Adolf Hitler. He has been closely affiliated with HYDRA and is an enemy of S.H.I.E.L.D., the Avengers, and the interests of the United States and the free world in general. He was physically augmented by having his mind placed into the body of a clone of Captain America, the pinnacle of human perfection. He has been seemingly killed in the past, only to return time and time again to plague the world with schemes of world domination and genocide.

World War II era[link]

George Maxon[link]

Chronologically by publication date, the first Red Skull to appear in the 1940s comics was George John Maxon, an American businessman and Nazi agent who led a ring of spies and saboteurs. He faced Captain America during two of the latter's first missions.^[7] A formidable opponent in his own right, Maxon was thought killed during the last encounter, though he would reappear for one last encounter with Captain America in the Silver Age. Maxon was later revealed to be the agent of Johann Schmidt, the true Red Skull.

Johann Schmidt, the true Red Skull[link]

Johann Schmidt was born in a village in Germany to Hermann and Martha Schmidt. His mother died in childbirth and his father blamed Johann for her death. Johann's father tried to drown the baby, only to be stopped by the attending doctor; he later committed suicide, leaving Johann an orphan. The doctor took Johann to an orphanage, where the child led a lonely existence. Johann ran away from the orphanage when he was seven years old and lived on the streets as a beggar and a thief. As he grew older he worked at various menial jobs but spent most of his time in prison for crimes ranging from vagrancy to theft.

As a young man Schmidt was from time to time employed by a Jewish shopkeeper, whose daughter, Esther, was the only person who had treated Schmidt kindly up to that point. Seized with passion for Esther, Schmidt tried to force himself upon her, only to be rejected by her. In unthinking fury, Schmidt murdered her. Schmidt fled the scene in terror, but also felt ecstatic joy in committing his first murder. In killing Esther he had given vent to the rage at the world that had been building up in him throughout his young life.^[8] In reality, as depicted in Red Skull: Incarnate, he actually defended Esther from attackers and violently rejected her after the subsequent death of her father and merely claimed to have murdered her to disturb Captain America who was in his clutches at that time.^{[volume & issue needed]}

According to the official version of the story told by the Red Skull and the Nazis, Schmidt met Hitler while working as a bellhop in a major hotel. This occurred during his late teens, around the same time that the Nazi Party gained power in Germany. Schmidt wound up serving the rooms of Adolf Hitler himself. By chance, Schmidt was present by bringing refreshments when the Führer was furiously scolding an officer for letting a prisoner escape, during which Hitler pledged that he could create a better National Socialist out of the bellhop. Looking closely at the youth and sensing his dark inner nature, Hitler decided to take up the challenge and recruited Schmidt.^[8] In the series Red Skull: Incarnate, it has been revealed that Schmidt actually engineered his meeting with the Führer with himself disguised as a bellhop, tricking his fellow orphan Dieter into trying to kill Hitler and then taking this opportunity to save Hitler's life.^[9]

Dissatisfied with the standard drill instruction his subordinates used to train Schmidt, Hitler took over personally, and trained Schmidt as his right-hand man. Upon completion, Hitler gave Schmidt a unique uniform with a grotesque red skull mask, and he emerged as the Red Skull (in literal German: Roter Totenkopf or Roter (Toten-)Schädel) for the first time. His role was the embodiment of Nazi intimidation, while Hitler could remain the popular leader of Germany. To that end, The Red Skull was appointed head of Nazi terrorist activities with an additional large role in external espionage and sabotage. He succeeded, wreaking havoc throughout Europe in the early stages of World War II. The propaganda effect was so great that the United States government decided to counter it by creating their own equivalent using the one recipient of the lost Project Rebirth, Steve Rogers, as Captain America.^[8]

In Europe during the war, the Skull took personal command of many military actions and personally supervised the takeovers and lootings of many cities and towns; in various cases the Skull ordered and supervised the eradication of the entire population of such communities. The Red Skull also organized a "wolf pack" of submarines which preyed upon shipping across the world, often under the Skull's personal command.^{[volume & issue needed]}

At first Hitler took great pride in his protégé's successes and let the Skull have anything he wanted. Hitler thus financed the construction of secret bases for the Skull in various locations throughout the world, many of which were equipped with highly advanced experimental weapons and devices developed by Nazi scientists. The Skull was particularly interested in procuring technological weapons that could be used for the purposes of subversion and warfare. During the war he stole plans for the "nullatron," a device that could control human minds, adapted a space-warping device developed by the cyborg scientist codenamed Brain Drain, and commissioned Nazi scientists to develop a projector which could encircle and suspend sections of cities within spheres of energy.

But while the Skull always admired Hitler for his ideological vision, he was never content with being Hitler's subordinate. The Skull kidnapped and killed many of Hitler's closest advisers and eventually rose to become the second most powerful man in the Third Reich. Now Hitler could no longer effectively control the Skull and came to fear him, especially since the Skull had made little secret of his ambition to supplant Hitler someday.

After the renowned military officer Baron Wolfgang von Strucker had a falling out with Hitler, the Red Skull sent Strucker to Japan to found an organization that would prepare the way for takeovers in the Far East under the Skull's leadership.^{[volume & issue needed]} In the Far East Strucker joined a subversive organization that came to be known as HYDRA, broke his ties with the Skull, became head of HYDRA and built it into a major threat to world peace.^{[volume & issue needed]}

As World War II raged on, Hitler vowed, that if he could not conquer the world, he would destroy it. To achieve this end, the Skull proposed the construction of five gigantic war machines, to be called the Sleepers, which would be hidden in various locations while they generated and stored the power they would need, and then be released at a future date, "Der Tag" ("The Day"), to destroy the Earth if the Allies won. Hitler enthusiastically instructed the Skull to construct the Sleepers, unaware that the Skull intended to use them to conquer the world himself if Hitler's Third Reich fell. In the closing days of the war in Europe, Allied intelligence received reports of a Nazi doomsday plan code-named "Der Tag" to be implemented after Hitler's defeat. However, the Allies had no idea what the plan entailed.

Captain America and his teenage partner Bucky Barnes fought against and thwarted the Skull and his plans many times during the war, both working on their own and operating as members of the Invaders. Once they were captured by him, and Captain America was placed under Nazi control by a drug and told to assassinate a high-ranking officer, but thanks to Bucky he broke free.^{[volume & issue needed]} During the final days of World War II in Europe, Captain America and Bucky were assigned to England to prevent desperate Nazi efforts at sabotaging Allied supply bases there.^{[volume & issue needed]} The Red Skull sent a number of his subordinates, who became known as the Exiles, and a large contingent of loyal German soldiers and their wives to a secret island base ("Exile Island"), where they would organize an army for use in the future.^{[volume & issue needed]}

The two counterparts soon clashed for the first time.^[10] The Skull later temporarily brainwashed three of the Invaders into serving him.^[11] The Red Skull and Captain America continued to engage in a series of skirmishes throughout the war. On one occasion the Skull captured Captain America and told him his origin. He placed Captain America under his control and tried to use him to kill a high-ranking officer, but with Bucky's help Captain America broke free.^[12] Now that the German defeat was becoming a reality, the Red Skull was more determined than ever to obtain vengeance for his numerous personal defeats by Captain America and Bucky. The Skull assigned Baron Heinrich Zemo to go to England, and, under the cover of stealing an experimental Allied drone plane, to capture or kill Captain America and Bucky. However, the Skull was unaware that the Allies had just secretly parachuted Captain America into beleaguered Berlin to investigate "Der Tag."^{[volume & issue needed]}

Finally, Captain America tracked the Skull down to his hidden bunker. The Skull was about to hurl an armed hand grenade at his nemesis when Captain America threw his shield at him. The grenade went off, but the Skull was not killed, thanks to his body armor. He was, however; seriously hurt and partially buried in debris. Thinking he was dying, the Skull defiantly told Captain America that the Sleepers would avenge the Nazis' defeat. Then, suddenly, an Allied attack on Berlin began. An Allied plane dropped a huge blockbuster bomb on the bunker, causing a cave-in that Captain America barely escaped. Captain America was picked up by the Allies and returned to England only to fall into Zemo's trap, which led to Captain America's falling into suspended animation for decades. Support pillars that crisscrossed over the Red Skull when the bunker caved in saved him from being struck by tons of rubble when the bomb hit. The cave-in released an experimental gas from canisters in the bunker which put the Skull into suspended animation during which his wounds slowly healed.^[13]

Post-World War II era[link]

Albert Malik[link]

With Schmidt's disappearance after 1945, the reputation of the Skull was still formidable enough to prove useful. In 1953, a Soviet Russian KGB agent named Albert Malik set up his spy/criminal organization in Algeria and assumed the identity of the Red Skull, pretending that he was the original, when he was actually serving Soviet interests. During the 1950s, he faced the then active version of Captain America who was also using the identity of Steve Rogers, pretending to be the original. The two impersonators continued to battle each other throughout the decade. While the Captain and Bucky (Jack Monroe) were placed into suspended animation when his flawed replicate of the Super-Soldier formula seriously affected his and Bucky's minds, Malik continued his activities, and over time cut his links to the Soviet Union. Among other notorious deeds, he was responsible for the deaths of Richard Parker and Mary Fitzpatrick-Parker, the parents of Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man), tipped off by the super-criminal Gustav "The Gentleman" Fiers.

Johann Schmidt's legacy continued to cause trouble in the years of his absence. This primarily came in the Sleepers which were activated by his agents as scheduled. Captain America was able to neutralize all the machines in turn.

Modern era[link]

Johann was eventually rescued and revived from suspended animation in modern times by the terrorist organization, AIM with his henchman. The Skull quickly subverted a cell to his own ambitions of world conquest and the death of Captain America. He stole the Cosmic Cube after taking control of its Keeper's mind with a device he planted while shaking hands, and revealed that he gave Zemo the order to steal the bomb plane that led to Bucky's death. He had had a rivalry with Zemo, and hoped to set his two foes against each other. Captain America found out from the dying pilot of a plane that had been following the Keeper's plane of the Cube, which had been used to destroy the plane. Schmidt told another AIM member of his plans after getting a mind control device on him, then caused him to shoot himself. He fought Captain America again for the first time in years after getting the Cube on an island, and created a superstrong humanoid monster to fight Captain America. Captain America began defeating it, so the Red Skull sent it away. He began sending Captain America to another dimension when Captain America offered to become his servant. The Red Skull encased himself in a golden suit of armor, and talked of creating a new order of knights. He planned to take over the world with the Cube, then create spaceships to conquer other worlds. Captain America defeated him by getting close to him while the Red Skull prepared to knight him. Captain America tried to get the Cube, and in the fight the island split apart due to the Cube's power, and the Skull fell off a cliff while trying to get the Cosmic Cube.^[14] When Johann reappeared, he and Malik, though his age was starting to catch up with him, started to antagonize each other while both claiming the identity of the Red Skull.^{[volume & issue needed]} Finally Albert was the victim of an assassination organized by Johann, at the hands of a rogue agent of the Scourge of the Underworld.^[15]

Thus the two enemies resumed their war, with Captain America, among other opponents, frustrating the Skull's schemes. The Skull captured part of Manhattan Island,^[16] unleashed the fourth Sleeper, and captured Captain America on Exile Island.^[17] The Skull then regained the reality-altering Cosmic Cube and temporarily switched bodies with Captain America. He also used the Cube to alter the personality of "Snap" Wilson, the future Falcon.^[18] Some time later, he first fought Doctor Doom.^[19] The Red Skull then fomented racial hatred in New York,^[20] and was revealed as the true power behind the Las Vegas HYDRA faction, and first clashed with the Kingpin.^[21]

Some time later, the Skull killed the would-be Captain America, Roscoe, while Rogers had temporarily given up the role. He also revived the use of his "dust of death."^[22] The Skull later fought Doctor Doom on the moon but was defeated.^[23] With Arnim Zola, the Skull sought to transplant Hitler's brain into Captain America's body.^[24] He transformed a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents into his skull-faced slaves.^[25] The Skull teamed with the Hate-Monger, a clone of Hitler, and trapped him in a flawed Cosmic Cube.^[26] The Skull led the Nihilist Order for a brief time.^[27] Establishing a Nazi colony on a deserted island, the Skull fathered a daughter who would eventually become known as Mother Superior.^[28]

The war between Captain America and Red Skull in the modern era reached a breaking point when Red Skull discovered that the gas that had placed him in suspended animation was wearing off and his body was rapidly aging to what would be Skull's normal age. Now physically in his mid-80s, a weak and feeble Red Skull planned for a final showdown with his arch-rival. Kidnapping Captain America's closest allies, he forced Captain America to surrender himself and forcibly undergo a medical treatment that aged Captain America's body to its rightful age. The two men, their bodies now ancient, fought one last battle to the death. Captain America refused to kill the Red Skull, who died cursing Captain America as his elderly body shut down.^[29] Dead at last, it seemed like the threat of the Red Skull had finally ended and The Avengers were able to restore Rogers' youth.

Resurrection[link]

The Red Skull would not stay dead for long; Nazi geneticist Arnim Zola, who had obtained DNA samples of Captain America years earlier, arranged for Skull's mind to be transplanted into a clone body of Captain America at the moment of his death. Assuming the identity of "John Smith" (the English equivalent of his natural German name), Skull decided that he would reinvent himself and his quest for absolute power as a means to celebrate his cheating death. The Red Skull abandoned his longstanding beliefs in National Socialism and Hitler, on the belief that the Nazi philosophy made him look like a relic of the past. Skull instead turned towards American ideology for his new motivation. Skull saw much potential in the American dream of capitalism and self-determination and set about establishing his own foothold inside Washington DC, culminating in him gaining control over "The Commission", a government body in Washington that monitored and regulated superhero activities.

Skull also changed his mode of operations: rather than "living from one grand scheme to the next", he began financing a score of evil organizations that reported directly to him, most notably the militia group the Watchdogs. He also employed one of the Scourges, an organization who terrorized supervillains with a killing spree.

Despite all of this, Skull's biggest move would be his plot to remove Rogers from the position of Captain America and replace him with a jingoist named John Walker. Although Walker initially attempted to live up to his predecessor's ideals, The Skull arranged for the murders of Walker's parents, driving him insane and into a downward spiral of murder as part of his plan to blacken the name of Captain America.^[30]

Yet like all things, Skull's plans fell apart when Skull's chief pawn in the Commission was killed by Skull, right in front of Captain America. About to be exposed, Skull tried to manipulate Walker into killing Rogers. When Rogers defeated Walker, the Skull appeared to gloat at what he had done to Rogers and Walker and the reputation of Captain America. The Skull explained that this is part of his new operational method of engaging in multiple concurrent projects instead of investing consecutive grand schemes that his enemies could focus all their energies on stopping. Furthermore, these projects include killing Rogers at a time of his own choosing and that he could not touch Skull due to his status as a wealthy American businessman. Rogers, disturbed and puzzled by this mystery man with a face identical to his own and claiming to be his dead archenemy, noted that the Skull was not inhaling from the cigarette holder he had in his mouth. The cigarette turned out to be holding a lethal dose of the Skull's favorite poison, the Dust of Death, intended for Rogers - but the trap backfired against Schmidt when Walker suddenly hit him from behind with his shield. As a result, Schmidt suffered the facial disfigurement attributed to the Dust, as his face took on the appearance of a living red skull; his head is hairless and its skin has shriveled, clinging tightly to his actual skull, and has taken on a red discoloration. Skull did not die though, due to the effects of the Super-Soldier formula.^[31]

After this, the Skull masterminded a conflict between the United States and Symkaria, the nation of Silver Sable^[32] He joined the "Acts of Vengeance" conspiracy, but was attacked by the mutant terrorist Magneto, a Holocaust survivor who wanted to punish him for his involvement in Hitler's regime. Magneto buried him alive with enough water for a few months. The Skull remained imprisoned, close to death and beginning to see the error of his ways, until he was rescued by his henchman Crossbones.^[33]

The Red Skull's relationship with other villains was fraught with problems due to many villains shunning him because of his Nazi background. In the "Streets of Poison" storyline, the Skull proposes an alliance with the Kingpin to bring a new designer drug to New York but the Kingpin refuses to ally with the Nazi and the two engage in a drug war. He then defeats a weakened Skull in hand to hand combat, sparing his life on the condition he never come near the Kingpin's territory again.^[34] In the "Acts of Vengeance" crossover, the Skull demands the Wizard apologize for an insult to which the Wizard replies "You'll see yourself welcomed into Heaven before I speak those words!"^{[volume & issue needed]} Not long after that, he was kidnapped by Magneto. One prominent exception is fellow Nazi, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, leader of the terrorist organization HYDRA. After the Skull's agents allow Strucker to be reborn, a grateful Strucker allows the Skull the use of HYDRA resources.^[35]

On the run[link]

Skull's tenure in Washington came to an end when Skull was captured by Hauptmann Deutschland, and taken to Germany to stand trial for crimes against humanity, stemming from his days as an agent of the Third Reich. Skull narrowly escaped and was rescued by Arnim Zola, and was forced to fake his death and go into hiding in a Rocky Mountain compound. He recruited the female sociopath "The Viper", a move that alienated his minions and was further rocked when his chief henchman Crossbones kidnapped Captain America's girlfriend Diamondback, resulting in Captain America finding Skull's new lair. Skull fired Crossbones, and went into hiding while the Viper, using funds she plied from Red Skull as part of a scheme to use televisions across America to blind TV viewers, was defeated by Captain America.^[36]

Skull resurfaced during "Operation: AIM Island", where Skull discovered that he was facing the same permanent paralysis that Captain America was facing due to their exposure to the Super-Soldier formula.^[37] When the evil scientist Superia offered Captain America a cure, Captain America refused it because Superia said that Captain America would "owe her". Skull took the cure and apparently killed Superia, then arranged for Captain America to be kidnapped by his remaining forces and given a blood transfusion that cured him.^[38]

Reluctant allies[link]

Captain America's recovery would segue into a reluctant team-up with the Red Skull; a Nazi cult that worshiped Adolf Hitler as a god had discovered a Cosmic Cube that contained Hitler's mind, put there by Skull himself. The two sought to stop the cult from fully powering the Hitler Cosmic Cube but Skull opted instead to send Captain America (against his will) into the cube to kill Hitler, imprisoning Captain America in the cube while he used its power to conquer humanity. Captain America escaped and in the process used his shield to sever one of Skull's arms, causing him to drop the cube. The Cube then became unstable, destroying Skull.^[39]

Cosmic resurrection[link]

Trapped in a hellish nightmare dimension and forced to serve as a bellhop to a world of non-European immigrants, Skull's will ultimately was so great that he was able to escape his prison. As a result, Skull now possessed limited reality warping powers that made him a truly cosmic threat. He was further aided by Korvac, who was posing as Kang the Conqueror. He was sent to Galactus' ship to steal more power (in particular the power of omniscience), which would remove all limits to Skull's reality warping powers. This led to Skull's undoing as he was ambushed by Korvac. Korvac stole Skull's cosmic powers and banished Skull back to Earth.^[40]

The Red Skull later manipulated his way into the position of Secretary of Defense as Dell Rusk (an anagram for "red skull") to develop a biological weapon he tested at Mount Rushmore.^[41] He was exposed and defeated by the Avengers. The Black Panther beat him so badly that he broke the Skull's jaw in half.^[42]

Aleksander Lukin and the Winter Soldier[link]

The Red Skull was assassinated by the mysterious Winter Soldier, under orders from the renegade former Soviet general Aleksander Lukin, who wanted to possess the new Cosmic Cube the Skull had manufactured.^[43] When the Skull was shot, he attempted to use the Cube to switch bodies with Lukin to survive, but as the Cube was still weak he only managed to transfer his mind into Lukin's body, so that the two enemies are trapped together, waging a constant war for dominance which the Red Skull seems to be progressively winning. During a plot to lure out Captain America, Red Skull/Lukin recruited several German skinheads and made them the successors to the Master Man. He then had these soldiers, dubbed the "Master Race," launch an attack on London, which was thwarted by Captain America, Spitfire, and Union Jack. Then, Red Skull/Lukin activated a Sleeper, a robot programmed for mass destruction, that was presumably created by Doctor Doom. The robot damaged a significant portion of the new London Kronas HQ, and was ultimately destroyed by Captain America and Bucky. In the aftermath, Red Skull sent a videotape, announcing to the world his return, followed by Lukin holding a press conference condemning the actions of both the Red Skull and Captain America, and supporting the Superhero Registration Act. Then, in his office, Red Skull introduced Lukin to his old/new associates, Crossbones and Sin.^{[volume & issue needed]}

With America's superheroes divided over the act, the Skull manipulates events to his own ends, with the aid of Doctor Faustus, Doctor Doom, and Arnim Zola. His plans involved the reunion of Captain America and his former lover Sharon Carter, who is being manipulated by Faustus.^{[volume & issue needed]}

In the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, the Skull puts his plans into action, arranging for Crossbones to shoot Captain America as he enters a courthouse in New York City; in the ensuing chaos, Carter, acting under Faustus' mental directive, assassinates Captain America. This is only the first phase of the Skull's evil plan. Upon the discovery of his identity as Lukin, the Skull fakes his death, and initiates the second part of his plan: using Kronas Corporation's vast holdings to economically cripple the United States, before having S.H.I.E.L.D. agents brainwashed by Doctor Faustus open fire on crowds of protesters in front of the White House. The Red Skull continues his assault by engineering a riot by placing Kronas security troops and drugged water in a protest on the Lincoln Monument.^[44]

All of this has apparently been to elevate his puppet politician, Gordon Wright, elevated in the public's eye with being credited as "resolving" the situations, as well as surviving a (staged) attack by the Serpent Squad. Once elected, Wright will lead the country directly into a police state secretly controlled by the Red Skull. The Skull also plans to transfer his consciousness into Sharon's unborn child, apparently sired by Steve Rogers himself and potentially having inherited his Project Rebirth enhancements.^[45]

Both schemes fail because of the impatience and incompetence of the Skull's daughter - her near-fatal attack on Sharon Carter causes her to lose the baby, and she intentionally botches her pseudo-assassination of Gordon Wright by attempting to kill him for real. As Faustus has surreptitiously tampered with Sharon's programming, she is able to rebel, and before escaping shoots Lukin to death. This is not the end of Red Skull, since Arnim Zola had seconds earlier transferred his mind to one of his spare robotic bodies, but after having his current form damaged by the imposter Captain America, he's unable to return back to Red Skull, essentially trapping him in his current robotic form for the time being.^[46]

Captain America: Reborn[link]

It has been revealed that Red Skull did not actually kill Steve Rogers, but trapped his body in a fixed position in space and time. He was planning on using Sharon and a machine created by Doctor Doom to return his body back to their time, but since Sharon destroyed the machine, his body is now drifting through time and space.^[47] Apparently, it is presumed that the Red Skull intended to transfer his mind into Rogers' body. Norman Osborn decides to assist in completing his plan as Captain America leading his team of Avengers would increase his popularity in his stolen Iron-Man suit.^[48] Sin and Crossbones find him and take him to Latveria in order to place the Red Skull's mind in a living body.^[49] The Red Skull, Sin, and Crossbones land in Latveria and Doom confronts them, saying that he would kill them if he was not a man of his word. Doom and Zola complete the machine and, after Ms. Hand brings Sharon to them, they strap her in. They activate the machine and soon Steve Rogers' body returns. When Steve opens his eyes, they are shown to be red, signifying that the Red Skull is now in control.^[50] Steve Rogers still resides in the body, and during the Red Skull's invasion of Washington D.C., he and Steve battle in the mind of Steve's body.^[51] Steve eventually forces Red Skull out, placing him back into his robot body. To prevent him from escaping the immediate area, Sharon Carter hits the Red Skull with a shot of Pym Particles, making him a massive robot who cannot elude any pursuer's attention. While Rogers and the Avengers keep Schmidt occupied with a team attack, he is destroyed by a missile barrage fired by Sharon Carter on a hijacked AIM battleship. In the epilogue, it was shown that Sin was too close to the exploding robot, and her face was heavily scarred, leaving her looking just like her father.^[52]

Powers and abilities[link]

Although the Red Skull has no superhuman abilities, he possesses an intellect and inventive genius on the level of supervillains such as Doctor Doom, and is a highly gifted subversive strategist and political operative. At one point, the Red Skull's mind inhabited a body cloned from Captain America's, and hence possessed the mutagenic alterations induced by the Super-Soldier formula. He was thus endowed with a body that was in perfect physical condition, with strength, speed, durability, agility, dexterity, reflexes, coordination, balance, and physical endurance that exceeded that of any Olympic athlete who ever performed. Despite the scar tissue covering his face and head, his senses were still above-average. He has been shown as a superb martial artist, though he was never on par with Captain America himself; he was originally trained by German athletes appointed by Hitler, and is heavily trained as a skilled marksman with various forms of handguns, and well-versed in the use of fire arms and explosives.

While sharing Alexander Lukin's body, he lost his superhuman abilities. Since then he resides in one of the android bodies engineered by Arnim Zola, with enhanced endurance and resilience.

He typically armed himself with a trick cigarette that could fire fatal poison gas — his trademark "Dust of Death" — toward his victim. The "Dust of Death" is a red powder which kills a victim within seconds of skin contact. The powder causes the skin of the victim's head to shrivel, tighten, and take on a red discoloration, while causing the hair to fall out. Hence the victim's head resembles a "red skull". He also carries a large arsenal of conventional and advanced fire arms and explosives.

Other versions[link]

Earth-110[link]

Red Skull allied with Doctor Doom, Hulk, Magneto, Namor, and Ultron in order to take over Manhattan.^[53]

Heroes Reborn[link]

In the Heroes Reborn universe, the Red Skull is revealed to be the banker of the Master Man's World Party. This version references his fights with Captain America during World War II,^[54] but is stopped by Nick Fury, Captain America, and Falcon.^[55]

JLA/Avengers[link]

Red Skull is among the foes defending Krona's stronghold in #4 and is defeated by Jay Garrick the Golden Age Flash.^[56]

Earth X[link]

Johann Schmidt was killed by Captain America some time previous to Earth X. After the Red Skull killed Bernie Rosenthal and then hailed Captain America as the realization of the Nazi dream, Captain America decapitated the Red Skull using his trademark shield. As a result of his disillusionment from taking a life, Captain America retired from the Avengers, only to further spiral into depression after the Avengers were killed in Washington, D.C.^[57] Schmidt was later seen in the Land of the Dead, and then as one of those in Mar-Vell's Paradise waiting to live in his own personal version of Heaven.^[58]

Despite his death, the Red Skull's legacy lived on in the Earth X universe. Ben Beckley took on the identity of the Skull (not the Red Skull, as he had no idea who the Red Skull was) and set out to conquer the world, starting with a coast-to-coast drive across America. Using his power of control over the cerebrum (and thereby actions) of anyone, he gathered an army of thousands, only to come into conflict with Steve Rogers in his identity of Captain America. Insulting Captain America as old and out of date, the Skull spared him but took several of Captain America's allies as part of his army.^[59] After reaching New York City, the Skull was opposed by Captain America and other heroes, with Captain America breaking the Skull's neck in order to stop him.^[60] Beckley would later be seen in the Land of the Dead with his father, Comet Man, and would help the heroes to convince the dead that they were deceased.^[61]

Elseworlds[link]

In the 1997 DC/Marvel special "Batman/Captain America", the Skull hires the Joker to steal an atomic bomb during World War II. Joker evades Batman, Cap, Bucky, and Robin and delivers it to the Skull, but is horrified when he learns that the Skull is a Nazi (saying "I may be a criminal lunatic but I'm an American criminal lunatic!"). When the Skull threatens to drop the bomb on Washington D.C., the Joker actually fights him in the plane's cargo bay. When Captain America and Batman take over the plane and bring it over the ocean, the two villains are dropped out with the bomb just before it explodes. Both Captain America and Batman are convinced the two are still alive somehow.^[62]

Marvel Zombies[link]

In Marvel Zombies, Red Skull is an undead zombie with an unquenchable hunger for the flesh of the living. In issue #5, he finally manages to kill Colonel America, by ripping out the last of the Colonel's exposed brain before being decapitated by Spider-Man, and his head crushed by Giant Man's boot. His last words were "It was worth it, all of it, just for this."^[63]

Old Man Logan[link]

In a possible future where a final battle between the heroes and villains ended with the villains winning, the Red Skull is revealed as the mastermind of the villains' conquest and has made himself President of the United States. Living in the Nazi redecorated White House, Red Skull had taken to wearing Captain America's old bloodstained uniform and collecting gruesome trophies from fallen heroes. When his men bring in a wounded Wolverine, Logan and the Red Skull fight in his trophy room. Unwilling to pop his claws during the fight, Wolverine decapitates the Red Skull with Captain America's shield, ending his villainous rule.^[64]

Ultimate Red Skull[link]

The Ultimate Red Skull first appears in Ultimate Comics: Avengers created by Mark Millar. This Red Skull is the illegitimate son of Captain America and Gail Richards, conceived before the Captain's presumed death during WWII. Taken from Richards, the son is raised on an army base where he appears to be a well-adjusted, physically superior, and tactically brilliant young man who greatly resembles his father. His easy-going personality is a ruse. Around the age of seventeen, he kills over 200 men on the base, and then cuts off his own face, this last act being interpreted as part of his efforts to reject his father.^[65] As a final symbol of his rebellion against the system that created him, he assassinates President John F. Kennedy in 1963.^[66]

After decades of working as a professional assassin, the Red Skull joins A.I.M. He and his men steal the blueprints of the Cosmic Cube at the Baxter Building. There he finally meets his father in his helicopter and brutally attacks him. Before throwing Captain America out of the helicopter, Red Skull reveals his true identity. At the A.I.M. headquarters in Alaska, the Red Skull has his men kill the leading officer, and takes charge of the operation. With control of the Cosmic Cube he gains great power; as a sadistic display of his power he has the entire Alaskan A.I.M. team cannibalize each other. When the Avengers arrive on the scene they immediately try to destroy him but the Cube imbues him with nearly unlimited power, making him absolutely invulnerable. During the battle with the Avengers he beats them mercilessly. Captain America arrives in a stolen Teleporter Jet, but Skull forces the jet to crash. Cap survives the crash and teleports the jet to the Red Skull's exact coordinates, impaling him on one of the two rods that protrude from its nose.^[67]

The Red Skull is taken to a hospital and kept alive long enough for Gail Richards (his mother) to say her goodbyes. Skull explains to Nick Fury that all he wanted to do with the Cosmic Cube was to turn back time and prevent Steve Rogers (his father) from being lost during the war so that he could grow up with him and lead a normal life, rather than the one he was given. Petra Laskov (a woman whom he forced to kill her husband then her infant son himself during his career) enters the room dressed as a doctor and shoots the Red Skull in the head, killing him. When Gregory Stark asks Fury if he was responsible for calling out the Red Skull from his retirement and hiring him in order to regain his position in S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury does not give an answer.^[67]

Unlike the Nazi/military costume of the 616 counterpart, Ultimate Red Skull wears simple khaki pants and a white tee shirt.^[65]

In other media[link]

Animation[link]

• The Red Skull appears in several episodes of the Captain America segment of The Marvel Super Heroes 1960s animated series, voiced by Paul Kligman.^{[citation needed]}
• He appears in the 1981 Spider-Man animated series, in the episode "The Capture of Captain America", voiced by Peter Cullen.^{[citation needed]}
• Cullen reprises his role of the Red Skull^{[citation needed]} in the animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, in the episode "Quest of the Red Skull".
• The Red Skull appears in a flashback in the "Old Soldiers" episode of the animated series X-Men, voiced by Cedric Smith.^{[citation needed]}
• The Red Skull appears in the 1994 Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Earl Boen.^{[citation needed]} He first makes a cameo in the episode "The Cat", in which he is voiced by David Warner. Later, he appears during the "Six Forgotten Warriors" story arc, which reveals that after Red Skull and Captain America fought, they were trapped in a time vortex. Fifty years later, his son Rheinholt Schmidt and stepson Chameleon free him from the vortex, only for one of the captive scientists to also free Captain America. He also appears in the "Secret Wars" arc.
• The Red Skull appears in the "Wrath of the Red Skull" episode of the children's animated series The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Mark Hamill.^[68] He also appears in the episode "World War Witch".
• The Red Skull appears in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode "Meet Captain America", voiced by Steven Blum.^{[citation needed]} In this show, he is depicted as HYDRA's founder and it's super-soldier. He plans to win the war by unleashing the armies of Asgard to destroy the allies. His Dell Rusk persona also appears in the present day in the episode "Nightmare in Red".

Film[link]

This section's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (August 2011)

• In the 1990 low-budget film, Captain America, Scott Paulin portrayed Red Skull. In this adaptation, the character is an Italian Fascist officer called Tadzio de Santis, who had been kidnapped by the Italian army stormtroopers for their experiments when he was a child; his family is murdered immediately afterward. Cooperating with German scientists, they succeed in creating their first (and only) "übermensch", albeit deformed with scarred red skin and no hair by the process. After the war, he receives elaborate plastic surgery to gain a more normal appearance, albeit still badly scarred. He is still nearly as strong and agile as Captain America in 1993 when the film takes place, despite being well into his 70s. The scientist responsible for the super-soldier procedure is disgusted by the Axis using a child as its subject and escapes to America, creating a greatly improved version of the serum and testing it on a polio stricken adult volunteer named Steve Rogers.

• The Red Skull is featured in Captain America: The First Avenger,^[69] portrayed by Hugo Weaving.^[70] He is the commander of the Nazi Research Division HYDRA. Johann Schmidt was an ex-Schutzstaffel Officer with the rank of Obergruppenführer who was closely affiliated with Adolf Hitler. The two shared a passion for Norse Mythology according to Abraham Erskine, a German scientist developing the super soldier serum. Schmidt had supervised Erskine's initial work, and injected himself with an unfinished prototype of the serum. The prototype had the desired effect of making him physically superior, but burned much of his flesh away, leaving his face a disfigured red skull. Adopting a synthetic mask that resembles his former appearance to disguise the deformity, Schmidt steals the tesseract, a powerful artifact believed to be of Asgardian origin, from a monastery in Tønsberg, Norway and uses its energy to power his armaments and weaponry. With the tesseract's energy, he makes HYDRA into a powerful and terrifying army, but is unprepared for the guerrilla tactics waged by Captain America and his forces. After his final battle with the Captain, the Red Skull is seemingly destroyed after holding the tesseract. His body appears to disintegrate and is transported through a portal to the Tree of Life as seen in Thor and his scheme of nuclear annihilation is thwarted by Captain America.

Video games[link]

• The Red Skull is the final boss of the video game Captain America and the Avengers.

• Red Skull appears in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet, voiced by Mark Hamill.

• Red Skull appears in the video game, Captain America: Super Soldier (based between events of the feature film),^[71] voiced by Keith Ferguson.

• Red Skull appears as a villain character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online.

• Red Skull appears as a non-playable in Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat returns, voiced by Mark Hamill.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Red Skull (disambiguation) at Marvel.com
• Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) at Marvel.com
• Red Skull (Albert Malik) at Marvel.com
• Red Skull II at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe
• Red Skull at the Internet Movie Database

Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics,^[1] and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. As of 2007, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books had been sold in 75 countries.^[2] For nearly all of the character's publication history, Captain America was the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with an indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon.^[3]

An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series.

Steve Rogers was purportedly assassinated in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), although he was later revealed to be alive. The comic-book series Captain America continued to be published,^[4] with Rogers' former sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, having taken up the mantle, and keeping it at the insistence of Rogers, who upon his return began operating as an intelligence agent in the Secret Avengers title, and in the limited series Steve Rogers: Super Soldier, before resuming the identity after Bucky was killed in the line of duty.

Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character adapted into another medium with the release of the 1944 movie serial Captain America. Since then, the character has been featured in several other films and television series, including Chris Evans' portrayal in Captain America: The First Avenger, released on July 22, 2011, and The Avengers, released on May 4, 2012. Captain America was ranked sixth on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in 2011.

Publication history[link]

In 1940, writer Joe Simon conceived the idea for Captain America and made a sketch of the character in costume.^[5] "I wrote the name 'Super American' at the bottom of the page," Simon said in his autobiography. "No, it didn't work. There were too many 'Supers' around. 'Captain America' had a good sound to it. There weren't a lot of captains in comics. It was as easy as that. The boy companion was simply named Bucky, after my friend Bucky Pierson, a star on our high school basketball team."^[6]

Simon recalled in his autobiography that Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman gave him the go-ahead and directed that a Captain America solo comic book series be published as soon as possible. Needing to fill a full comic with primarily one character's stories, Simon did not believe that his regular creative partner, artist Jack Kirby, could handle the workload alone:

I didn't have a lot of objections to putting a crew on the first issue.... There were two young artists from Connecticut that had made a strong impression on me. Al Avison and Al Gabriele often worked together and were quite successful in adapting their individual styles to each other. Actually, their work was not too far from [that of] Kirby's. If they worked on it, and if one inker tied the three styles together, I believed the final product would emerge as quite uniform. The two Als were eager to join in on the new Captain America book, but Jack Kirby was visibly upset. 'You're still number one, Jack,' I assured him. 'It's just a matter of a quick deadline for the first issue.'

'I'll make the deadline,' Jack promised. 'I'll pencil it [all] myself and make the deadline.' I hadn't expected this kind of reaction ... but I acceded to Kirby's wishes and, it turned out, was lucky that I did. There might have been two Als, but there was only one Jack Kirby.

I wrote the first Captain America book with penciled lettering right on the drawing boards, with very rough sketches for figures and backgrounds. Kirby did his thing, building the muscular anatomy, adding ideas and pepping up the action as only he could. Then he tightened up the penciled drawings, adding detailed backgrounds, faces and figures.^[6]

Al Liederman would ink that first issue, which was lettered by Simon and Kirby's regular letterer, Howard Ferguson.^[7]

Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organized. We wanted to have our say too."^[8]

Captain America Comics #1 — cover-dated March 1941 and on sale in December 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, but a full year into World War II — showed the protagonist punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the jaw; it sold nearly one million copies.^[9] While most readers responded favorably to the comic, some took objection. Simon noted, "When the first issue came out we got a lot of... threatening letters and hate mail. Some people really opposed what Cap stood for."^[8] The threats, which included menacing groups of people loitering out on the street outside of the offices, proved so serious that police protection was posted with Mayor Fiorello La Guardia personally contacting Simon and Kirby to give his support.^[10]

Though preceded as a "patriotically themed superhero" by MLJ's The Shield, Captain America immediately became the most prominent and enduring of that wave of superheroes introduced in American comic books prior to and during World War II,^{[citation needed]} as evidenced by the unusual move at the time of premiering the character in his own title instead of an anthology title first. This popularity drew the attention and a complaint from MLJ that the character's triangular shield too closely resembled the chest symbol of their Shield character. In response, Goodman had Simon and Kirby create a distinctive round shield for issue 2, which went on to become an iconic element of the character.^[11] With his sidekick Bucky, Captain America faced Nazis, Japanese, and other threats to wartime America and the Allies. Stanley Lieber, now better known by his pen name Stan Lee, contributed to the character in issue #3 in the filler text story "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge," which introduced the character's use of his shield as a returning throwing weapon.^[12] Captain America soon became Timely's most popular character and even had a fan-club called the "Sentinels of Liberty."^[8]

Circulation figures remained close to a million copies per month after the debut issue, which outstripped even the circulation of news magazines like Time during the period.^[13] After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC in late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (January 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencillers of the celebrated title, with one generally inking over the other. The character was also featured in All Winners Comics #1-19 (Summer 1941 – Fall 1946), Marvel Mystery Comics #80-84 and #86-92, USA Comics #6-17 (Dec. 1942 – Fall 1945), and All Select Comics #1-10 (Fall 1943 – Summer 1946).

In the post-war era, with the popularity of superheroes fading, Captain America led Timely's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad, in its two published adventures, in All Winners Comics #19 and #21 (Fall–Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). After Bucky was shot and wounded in a 1948 Captain America story, he was succeeded by Captain America's girlfriend, Betsy Ross, who became the superheroine Golden Girl. Captain America Comics ended with issue #75 (Feb. 1950), by which time the series had been titled Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale being a horror/suspense anthology issue with no superheroes.

Atlas Comics attempted to revive its superhero titles when it reintroduced Captain America, along with the original Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, in Young Men #24 (Dec. 1953). Billed as "Captain America, Commie Smasher!" Captain America appeared during the next year in Young Men #24-28 and Men's Adventures #27-28, as well as in issues #76-78 of an eponymous title. Atlas' attempted superhero revival was a commercial failure,^[14] and the character's title was canceled with Captain America #78 (Sept. 1954).

Silver Age revival[link]

In the Human Torch story titled "Captain America" in Marvel Comics' Strange Tales #114 (Nov. 1963),^[15] writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby depicted the brash young Fantastic Four member Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, in an exhibition performance with Captain America, described as a legendary World War II and 1950s superhero who has returned after many years of apparent retirement. The 18-page story ends with this Captain America revealed as an impostor: it was actually the villain the Acrobat, a former circus performer the Torch had defeated in Strange Tales #106, who broke two thieves out of jail, hoping to draw the police away while trying to rob the local bank. Afterward, Storm digs out an old comic book in which Captain America is shown to be Steve Rogers. A caption in the final panel says this story was a test to see if readers would like Captain America to return.

Captain America was then formally reintroduced in The Avengers #4 (March 1964), which explained that in the final days of WWII, he had fallen from an experimental drone plane into the North Atlantic Ocean and spent decades frozen in a block of ice in a state of suspended animation. The hero found a new generation of readers as leader of that superhero team. Following the success of other Marvel characters introduced during the 1960s, Captain America was recast as a hero "haunted by past memories, and trying to adapt to 1960s society."^[16]

After then guest-starring in the feature "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense #58 (Oct. 1964), Captain America gained his own solo feature in that "split book," beginning the following issue. Issue #63 (March 1965), which retold Captain America's origin, through issue #71 (Nov. 1965) was a period feature set during World War II and co-starred Captain America's Golden Age sidekick, Bucky. Kirby drew all but two of the stories in Tales of Suspense, which became Captain America with #100 (April 1968); Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr., each filled in once. Several stories were finished by penciller-inker George Tuska over Kirby layouts, with one finished by Romita Sr. and another by penciller Dick Ayers and inker John Tartaglione. Kirby's regular inkers on the series were Frank Giacoia (as "Frank Ray") and Joe Sinnott, though Don Heck and Golden Age Captain America artist Syd Shores inked one story each. The new title Captain America continued to feature artwork by Kirby, as well as a short run by Jim Steranko, and work by many of the industry's top artists and writers. It was called Captain America and the Falcon from #134-222 (although the Falcon's name was not on the cover for issues #193, 200, and 216).

This series — considered Captain America volume one by comics researchers and historians,^[17] following the 1940s Captain America Comics and its 1950s numbering continuation — ended with #454 (Aug. 1996).

After the Silver Age[link]

This series was almost immediately followed by the 13-issue Captain America vol. 2 (Nov. 1996 – Nov. 1997, part of the "Heroes Reborn" crossover),^[18] the 50-issue Captain America vol. 3 (Jan. 1998 – Feb. 2002),^[19] the 32-issue Captain America vol. 4 (June 2002 – Dec. 2004),^[20] and Captain America vol. 5 (Jan. 2005 – July 2009).^[21] Beginning with the 600th overall issue counting these series, Captain America resumed its original numbering, as if the series numbering had continued uninterrupted after #454.

As part of the aftermath of Marvel Comics' company-crossover storyline "Civil War", Steve Rogers was ostensibly killed in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007). Series writer Ed Brubaker remarked, "What I found is that all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the street corner against the George W. Bush administration, and all the really right-wing fans all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam Hussein."^[22] The character's co-creator, Joe Simon, remarked, "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now."^[22] Artist Alex Ross designed a slightly revised Captain America costume that former sidekick Bucky Barnes began to wear as the new Captain America in vol. 5, #34 (March 2008)^[23]

The storyline of Rogers' return began in issue #600.^[24][25] Rogers, who was not dead but caroming through time, returned to the present day in the six-issue miniseries Captain America: Reborn (Sept. 2009 – March 2010).^[26]

After Rogers' return, Barnes, at Rogers' insistence, continued as Captain America, beginning in the one-shot comic Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? (Feb. 2010). While Bucky Barnes continued adventuring in the pages of Captain America, Steve Rogers received his own miniseries (Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier) as well as taking on the leadership position in a new Secret Avengers ongoing series.

Spinoff series included Captain America Sentinel of Liberty (Sept. 1998 – Aug. 1999) and Captain America and the Falcon (May 2004 – June 2005). The 1940s Captain America appeared alongside the 1940s Human Torch and Sub-Mariner in the 12-issue miniseries Avengers/Invaders.^[27][28] The 2007 mini-series Captain America: The Chosen, written by David Morrell and penciled by Mitchell Breitweiser, depicts a dying Steve Rogers' final minutes, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, as his spirit guides James Newman, a young American Marine fighting in Afghanistan. The Chosen is not part of the main Marvel Universe continuity.^[29][30]

Marvel stated in May 2011 that Rogers, following the public death of Bucky Barnes in the Fear Itself miniseries, would resume his Captain America identity in a sixth volume of Captain America, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve McNiven.^[31]

Fictional character biography[link]

This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2011)

1940s[link]

Steve Rogers was born July 4, 1920, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, to Irish immigrants Sarah and Joseph Rogers.^[32] Joseph Rogers died when Steve was only a child and his mother, Sarah, died of pneumonia while Steve was a teen. By early 1940, before America's entry into World War II, Rogers is a tall but scrawny fine arts student specializing in illustration, and a comic book writer and artist, a career he willingly set aside upon his transformation into Captain America. Despite some forays into graphics, Steve Rogers never created another character^[33]

Disturbed by the rise of the Third Reich, Rogers attempts to enlist, only to be rejected due to his physically frail body. His resolution however allows him to be noticed by U.S. Army General Chester Phillips and "Project: Rebirth." Rogers is used as a test subject for the Super-Soldier project, receiving a special serum made by "Dr. Josef Reinstein",^[34][35] later retroactively changed to a code name for the scientist Abraham Erskine.^[36]

The serum, coupled with the stabilizing "Vita-Rays," is a success, and transforms the frail Steve Rogers into a perfect specimen--a nearly perfect human being with peak strength, agility, stamina, and intelligence. The success of the program leaves Erskine wondering about replicating the experiment on other human beings.^[35] The process itself however has been inconsistently detailed: while in the original material Steve Rogers is shown receiving injections of the Super-Serum, when the origin was retold in the sixities, the Comic Code Authority had already put a veto over graphic description of drug intake and abuse, and thus the Super-Serum was retconned into an oral formula.^[37] Later accounts hints at a combination of oral and intravenous treatments, culminating in the Vita-Ray exposure and a strenuous training regimen.

Erskine refused to write down every crucial element of the treatment, leaving behind a flawed, imperfect knowledge of the needed steps. Thus, when the Nazi spy Heinz Kruger killed him, Erskine's method of creating new Super-Soldiers died as well. Captain America, in his first act after his tranfsormation, avenges Erskine. In the 1941 origin story and in Tales of Suspense #63, Kruger dies when running into machinery but is not killed by Rogers; in the Captain America #109 and #255 revision, however, Rogers causes the spy's death by punching him into machinery.^[35]

Unable to create new Super-Soldiers, and willing to hide the Project Rebirth fiasco, the U.S.A. Government casts the now-powerful Rogers as a patriotic superhero, able to counter the menace of the Red Skull as a counter-intelligence agent. As such, he's supplied with a patriotic uniform (designed by Rogers himself) ^[32]) a bulletproof shield, a personal side arm, and the codename Captain America, while Steve Rogers himself poses as a clumsy infantry private at Camp Lehigh in Virginia. He forms a friendship with the camp's teenage mascot, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.^[34]

Eventually Barnes learns of Rogers' dual identity and offers to keep the secret if he can become Captain America's sidekick, being trained himself to act as the perfect partner. During their adventures, Franklin D. Roosevelt presents Captain America with a new shield, forged from an alloy of steel and vibranium, fused by an unknown catalyst, so effective that it replaces his own firearm.^[36] Throughout World War II, Captain America and Bucky fight the Nazi menace both on their own and as members of the superhero team the Invaders (as seen in the 1970s comic of the same name).^[38] Captain America also battles a number of criminal menaces on American soil, including a wide variety of costumed villains: the Wax Man,^[39] the Hangman,^[40] the Fang,^[40] the Black Talon,^[41] and the White Death,^[41] among others.

In late April 1945, during the closing days of World War II, Captain America and Bucky try to stop the villainous Baron Zemo from destroying an experimental drone plane. Zemo launches the plane with an armed explosive on it, Rogers and Barnes in hot pursuit. The pair reach the plane just before take off. When Bucky tries to defuse the bomb, it explodes in mid-air. The young man is believed killed. Rogers is hurled into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. Neither is found, and both are presumed dead. It is later revealed that neither character actually died.^[42]

Late 1940s to 1950s[link]

Captain America continued to appear in comics for the next few years changing from World War II-era hero fighting against the Nazis to trying to defeat the United States' newest enemy, Communism. The revival of the character in the mid-1950s is short-lived, and events during that time period are later retconned to show that multiple people operated using the code name in order to explain the changes in the character. These Post World War II successors are listed as William Naslund and Jeffrey Mace.

The last of these other official Captains, William Burnside,^[43] was a history graduate enamored with the Captain America's mythos, going so far to have his appearance surgically altered to resemble Rogers and legally change his name into "Steve Rogers", becoming the new "1950s Captain America".^[44] Furthermore, he self-administered to himself and his pupil James "Jack" Monroe a flawed, incomplete copy of the Super-Serum, which made no mention about the necessary Vita-Ray portion of the treatment. As a result, while Burnside (now known as Steve Rogers) and Monroe became the new Captain America and Bucky, they also became violently paranoid, often raving about innocent people being communist sympathizers during the height of the Red Scare of the 1950s. Their insanity forced the US Government to place both of them in indefinite cryogenic storage by the US Government until they could be cured of their mental illness.^[45] The 1950s Bucky would be cured ^[46] and go on to be the original Steve Rogers' Captain America partner for a time under the Nomad identity.

1960s to 1970s[link]

Years later,^[42] the superhero team the Avengers discovers Steve Rogers' body in the North Atlantic, the Captain's uniform under his soldier's fatigues and still carrying his shield. After he revives, they piece together that Rogers had been preserved in a block of ice since 1945, surviving in such a state only because of his enhancements from Operation: Rebirth. The block had begun to melt after the Sub-Mariner, enraged that an Arctic Inuit tribe is worshiping the frozen figure, throws it into the ocean. Rogers accepts membership in the Avengers, and although long out of his time, his considerable combat experience makes him a valuable asset to the team. He quickly assumes leadership,^[47] and has typically returned to that position throughout the team's history.

Captain America is plagued by guilt for having been unable to prevent Bucky's death—a feeling that does not ease for some time. Although he takes the young Rick Jones (who closely resembles Bucky) under his tutelage, he refuses for some time to allow Jones to take up the Bucky identity, not wishing to be responsible for another youth's death. Insisting that his hero finally move on from that loss, Jones eventually convinces Rogers to let him don the Bucky costume,^[48] but this partnership lasts only a short time; a disguised Red Skull, impersonating Rogers with the help of the Cosmic Cube, drives Jones away.

Rogers also reunites with his old war comrade Nick Fury, who is similarly well-preserved due to the "Infinity Formula." As a result, Rogers regularly undertakes missions for the security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. for which Fury is public director.^[49] Through Fury, Rogers befriends Sharon Carter, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent,^[50] with whom he eventually begins a romantic relationship.

Rogers later meets and trains Sam Wilson, who becomes the superhero the Falcon,^[51] the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books.^[52] The characters established an enduring friendship and adventuring partnership, sharing the series title for some time as Captain America and the Falcon.^[53] The two later encounter the revived but still insane 1950s Captain America.^[54] Although Rogers and the Falcon defeat the faux Rogers and Jack Monroe, Rogers becomes deeply disturbed that he could have suffered his counterpart's fate.

The series also dealt with the Marvel Universe's version of the Watergate scandal, making Rogers so uncertain about his role that he abandons his Captain America identity in favor of one called Nomad, emphasizing the word's meaning as "man without a country". During this time, several men unsuccessfully assume the Captain America identity.^[55] Rogers eventually re-assumes it after coming to consider that the identity could be a symbol of American ideals and not its government; it's a personal conviction epitomized when he later confronted a corrupt Army officer attempting to manipulate him by appealing to his loyalty, "I'm loyal to nothing, General... except the [American] Dream." Jack Monroe, cured of his mental instability, later takes up the Nomad alias.^[56] During this period, Rogers also temporarily gains super strength.^[57] Immediately after witnessing Number One's suicide, he is summoned to the future to participate in the Destiny War between Kang the Conqueror and Immortus (it is revealed over the course of the story that Rogers was selected from this time frame as, had he been taken from any other time period, his strong personality- shaken at this point by the events he had just witnessed- would have dominated the team and deprived them of the flexibility required to succeed in their mission, although his presence alone still brought cohesion to the group).^[58] He also learns of the apparent death of Sharon Carter.^[59]

1980s to 1990s[link]

The early 1980s included runs from such creators as Roger Stern, John Byrne, and J. M. DeMatteis. Stern had Steve Rogers consider a run for President of the United States in Captain America #250 (June 1980), and introduced a new love interest, law student Bernie Rosenthal, in Captain America #248 (Aug. 1980). Stern also revisited and expanded Captain America's origin story.

DeMatteis revealed the true face and full origin of the Red Skull in Captain America #298-300, and had Captain America take on Jack Monroe, Nomad, as a partner for a time.^[56] It is also around this time that the heroes gathered by the Beyonder elect Rogers as leader during their stay on Battleworld in the 1984 miniseries Secret Wars

Also during the 1980s, Mark Gruenwald wrote 137 issues of the book for 10 consecutive years from 1985 to 1995, the most issues by any single author in the character's history. Gruenwald created several new foes, including Crossbones and the Serpent Society. Other Gruenwald characters included new love interest Diamondback.,^[60] Super Patriot (who would go on to become a replacement Captain America in a two-year story arc ^[61] and became USAgent at that arc's conclusion), and some short-lived new partners that included Demolition Man.^[62]

Gruenwald explores numerous political and social themes as well, such as extreme idealism when Captain America fights the anti-nationalist terrorist Flag-Smasher;^[63] and vigilantism when he hunts the murderous Scourge of the Underworld.^[64] Homophobia was also dealt with as Steve Rogers runs into a childhood friend named Arnold Roth who is gay.^[65][66]

Rogers receives a large back-pay reimbursement dating back to his disappearance at the end of World War II, and a government commission orders him to work directly for the U.S. government. Already troubled by the corruption he had encountered with the Nuke incident in New York City,^[67] Rogers chooses instead to resign his identity,^[68] and then takes the alias of "the Captain".^[69] A replacement Captain America, John Walker, struggles to emulate Rogers' ideals until pressure from hidden enemies helps to drive Walker insane. Rogers returns to the Captain America identity^[70] while a recovered Walker becomes the U.S. Agent.^[71]

Sometime afterward, Rogers avoids the explosion of a methamphetamine lab, but the drug triggers a chemical reaction in the Super-Soldier serum in his system. To combat the reaction, Rogers has the serum removed from his body, and trains constantly to maintain his physical condition.^[72]

A retcon later establishes that the serum was not a drug per se, which would have metabolized out of his system, but in fact a virus-like organism that effected a biochemical and genetic change. This additionally explained how arch-nemesis Red Skull, who at the time inhabited a body cloned from Rogers' cells, also has the formula in his body.

Because of his altered biochemistry, Rogers' body begins to deteriorate, and for a time he must wear a powered exoskeleton and is eventually placed again in suspended animation. During this time, he is given a transfusion of blood from the Red Skull, which cures his condition and stabilizes the Super-Soldier virus in his system. Captain America returns both to crime fighting and the Avengers.^[73]

Following Gruenwald's departure on the book, Mark Waid took over and resurrected Sharon Carter as Cap's love interest. The book was then relaunched under Rob Liefeld as Cap became part of the Heroes Reborn universe for 13 issues before another relaunch restored Waid to the title in an arc that saw Cap lose his shield for a time using an energy based shield as a temporary replacement. Following Waid's run, Dan Jurgens took over and introduced new foe Protocide, a failed recipient of the Super Soldier serum prior to the experiment that successfully created Rogers.

2000s[link]

In the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Rogers reveals his identity to the world and establishes a residence in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, as seen in Captain America vol. 4, #1-7 (June 2002 – Feb. 2003). Following the disbandment of the Avengers in the "Avengers Disassembled" story arc, Rogers, now employed by S.H.I.E.L.D., discovers Bucky is alive, having been saved and deployed by the Soviets as the Winter Soldier. Rogers also resumes his on-again, off-again relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter.

In the 2006-2007 company-wide story arc "Civil War", and its anchoring, seven-issue miniseries, Civil War (July 2006 - Jan. 2007), Rogers opposes the new mandatory federal registration of super-powered beings, and leads the underground anti-registration movement. He adopts the alias "Brett Hendrick", a mall security guard. After significant rancor and danger to the public as the two sides clash, Captain America voluntarily surrenders and orders the Anti-Registration forces to stand down.

In the story arc "The Death of Captain America", Rogers is indicted on criminal charges for his anti-registration efforts, and in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (April 2007) is shot outside a federal courthouse; taken to a hospital, he is pronounced dead. The assassination, orchestrated by the Red Skull, involves Crossbones as a sniper and Dr. Faustus, who poses as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist and gives Carter a hypnotic suggestion to surreptitiously shoot Rogers at close range during the chaos surrounding the sniper shot.

The miniseries Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1-5 (June–Aug. 2007) follows the stunned superhero community after the apparent assassination. Captain America is purportedly laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, but Tony Stark (Iron Man) and others have actually returned Rogers' body to the Arctic where Rogers had been found years before.

In vol. 5, #30 (Sept. 2007), Stark receives a letter containing Rogers' request that Bucky become the next Captain America, which Bucky agrees to do four issues later. Adopting the original shield, he dons a new costume incorporating a pistol and a knife. The Norse god superhero Thor communicates with what appears to be Rogers' spirit on the first anniversary of Rogers' death, in Thor vol. 3, #11 (Oct. 2008).

Captain America: Reborn #1 (Aug. 2009) reveals that Rogers did not die, and that the gun Sharon Carter had been hypnotized to use had actually caused Rogers to phase in and out of space and time, appearing at events in his lifetime and fighting battles. The Skull returns Rogers to the present, where he takes control of Rogers' mind and body. Rogers eventually regains control, and with help from his allies, defeats the Skull in the fourth and final issues of this miniseries. In the subsequent one-shot comic Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?, Rogers formally grants Bucky his Captain America shield and asks his former sidekick to continue as Captain America. The American President grants Rogers a full pardon for his anti-registration actions.

2010s[link]

Following the company-wide "Dark Reign" and "Siege" story arcs, the Steve Rogers character became part of the "Heroic Age" arc.^[74] The U.S. president appoints Rogers, in his civilian identity, as head of the nation's security, replacing Norman Osborn. The Superhuman Registration Act is repealed and Rogers reestablishes the superhero team the Avengers. In the miniseries Steve Rogers: Super Soldier, he encounters Jacob Erskine, the grandson of Professor Abraham Erskine and the son of Tyler Paxton, one of Rogers' fellow volunteers in the Super-Soldier program. Shortly afterward, Rogers becomes leader of the Secret Avengers, a black-ops superhero team.

During the Fear Itself storyline, Steve Rogers is present when the threat of the Serpent is known.^[75] Following the apparent death of Bucky at the hands of Sin (in the form of Skadi), Steve Rogers ends up changing into his Captain America outfit.^[76] When the Avengers and the New Avengers are fighting Skadi, the Serpent ends up joining the battle and breaks Captain America's shield with his bare hands.^[77] Captain America and the Avengers teams end up forming a militia for a last stand against the forces of the Serpent.^[78] When it comes to the final battle, Captain America uses Thor's hammer to fight Skadi until Thor manages to kill the Serpent. In the aftermath of the battle, Iron Man presents Captain with his reforged shield now stronger for its uru-infused enhancements despite the scar it bears.^[79] It is then revealed that Captain America, Nick Fury, and Black Widow are the only ones who know that Bucky actually survived the fight with Skadi as Bucky resumes his identity as Winter Soldier.^[80]

Powers and abilities[link]

Captain America has no superhuman powers, although as a result of the Super-Soldier Serum and "Vita-Ray" treatment, he is transformed from a frail young man into a "perfect" specimen of human development and conditioning.^[81] Captain America's strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing are at the zenith of natural human potential. Rogers' body regularly replenishes the super-soldier serum; it does not wear off.^[82]

The formula enhances all of his metabolic functions and prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles, giving him endurance far in excess of an ordinary human being. This accounts for many of his extraordinary feats, including bench pressing 1200 pounds (545 kg) and running a mile (1.6 km) in 73 seconds (49 mph/78 kph).^[83] Furthermore, his enhancements are the reason why he was able to survive being frozen in suspended animation for decades. Rogers cannot become intoxicated by alcohol, drugs, or impurities in the air and is immune to terrestrial diseases.^{[citation needed]} He is also highly resistant to hypnosis or gases that could limit his focus.^[84] The secrets of creating a super-soldier were lost with the death of its creator, Dr. Abraham Erskine.^[85] However, in the ensuing decades there have been numerous secret attempts to recreate Erskine's treatment, only to have them end in failure. Even worse, the attempts have instead often created psychopathic supervillains of which Captain America's 1950s imitator and Nuke are the most notorious examples.

Rogers' battle experience and training make him an expert tactician and an excellent field commander, with his teammates frequently deferring to his orders in battle. Thor so highly regards Rogers' courage, leadership, and combat abilities that he has stated that Rogers is one of the very few humans he will take orders from and follow "through the gates of Hades".^[86] Rogers' reflexes and senses are also extraordinarily keen. He has blended judo, western boxing, kickboxing, and gymnastics into his own unique fighting style and is a master of multiple martial arts. Years of practice with his indestructible shield make him able to aim and throw it with almost unerring accuracy. His skill with his shield is such that he can attack multiple targets in succession with a single throw or even cause a boomerang-like return from a throw to attack an enemy from behind. In canon, he is regarded by other skilled fighters as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe, limited only by his human physique.^[87][88] Although the super-soldier serum is an important part of his strength, Rogers has shown himself still sufficiently capable against stronger opponents, even when the serum has been deactivated reverting him to his pre-Captain America physique.^[89]