Since this week saw Veterans Day, I thought it would be appropriate for this week's comic review to focus on a character who was a veteran. And who better than Captain America, huh? Since the 1940s, various incarnations of the Captain have fought crime and supervillains. One of the most enduring was the Red Skull.
Like Cap himself, there have been several incarnations of the Red Skull. However, like Steve Rogers is considered the "true" Captain America, the "true" Red Skull is one Johann Schmidt. The two men had had an enmity that lasted for what seemed like years, even enduring after the end of World War II. But all enmities must come to an end at some point. Let's take a look at what seemed to be the end of their endless battle in Captain America #300!
The cover is a Mike Zeck and Paul Neary piece, and it's a good one. It depicts Captain America and Red Skull fighting each other. You get the impression that they're desperately trying to get one up on one another. Their being on their knees gives the impression that they're exhausted, like they're trying to end their battle before they end up falling asleep.
"Das Ende"
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis (credit for plot. He used the "Michael Ellis" name for script)
Penciler: Paul Neary
Inker: Dennis Janke
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Diana Albers
Editors: Maek Gruenwald, Howard Mackie
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins in...Queens, New York of all places. It's here we look in on an apartment building, a man named Jesse Black Crow.
The man is haunted by visions, visions of Captain America in danger. These vision supposedly come from the spirit of the Earth itself, calling for the Native American man to come to the Star-Spangled Avenger's aid. They call the man to fly, fly to him. A mist overcomes him, and he flies out of his wheelchair into the night...in the form of a giant black crow. Meanwhile, in the Red Skull's headquarters, our man Steve Rogers and his old nemesis the Red Skull are playing a game: Who can break the other's face with their hand first?
During their punchfest, the Red Skull is ranting and raving about how he and Cap are two gods locked in eternal struggle and Cap is just like, "Shut up, you delusional psychopath!" Meanwhile, in a New York hospital, a man named David Martin Cox lies comatose. His wife Julie and son Cody are with him trying to get him to wake up.
You see, Cox was a friend of Cap's, and a former war vet turned pacifist. However, he ended up in this state due to events in Captain America #293-294 (May-June 1984). Basically, as part of a plan to demoralize Cap, the Red Skull had brainwashed Cox to take up the cloak of the Devil-Slayer (although Cox called himself simply "The Slayer"). He was able to fight off the brainwashing, but a battle with Cap and a psionic attack by one of the Skull's minions left him in the state he is here. He's not doing very well, his life signs unstable.
Back to Cap and Skull. The two still are in the middle of their slugfest. Like David Cox, they're both dying. The Red Skull had secretly slipped a poison to Captain America that is causing him to age rapidly. Recently, the Nazi supervillain had discovered that he was starting to age rapidly himself. At the end of World War II, the Skull had ended up trapped in a bunker and exposed to gases that put him in suspended animation. This was the reason the Skull was able to continue being a menace to the world even (at the time) nearly forty years after the war ended.
But the gas wore off, and Father Time was catching up with him. But the Skull refused to die until he could take Cap with him. Hence why he schemed to make Cap age. Skull wants to die locked in combat with his old nemesis, but Cap vows to live. As the two brawl, Dave's condition seems to get worse and worse, getting closer to death.
Cap demands that Skull give him the antidote to the poison afflicting them both. Skull is like "Ha ha, there is no antidote." The Star-Spangled Avenger manages to overpower the Skull, admitting that he does hate the Nazi villain. Not hard to imagine why. I mean, he is a Nazi agent.
Cap has fought a lot of bad guys at this point. Criminals, madmen, and tyrants, in his own words. But the Red Skull? He's the outright worst. He's a true monster, likely the most evil man Cap has ever encountered. The Skull taunts our hero. Kill him! The dying Cap raises his fist to deliver the final blow...but refuses.
No. That's what the Red Skull wants. He's not going to give this old monster what he wants. The Red Skull wants to die in combat, but Cap is not going to do that. Besides, the Skull's dying anyway.
The Skull angrily throws off his mask, revealing the aged face of Johann Schmidt, the once-unremarkable man who became one of the greatest monsters of the Marvel Universe. He screams at Cap to kill him, but the poison finishes the villain off. At that moment in the hospital, Dave Cox wakes up much to Julie's delight. He claims Cap was helping him fight to live. This is watched by Jesse Black Crow in the form of, well...a crow.
Back in the Red Skull's bunker, Cap looks at the Red Skull's corpse. They were no gods, just a pair of tired old men. The Skull wanted to bring Cap down to his level, but he failed. Did come close, though. Cap carries the dead villain out of the bunker, determined to live. Cap discovers that Skull-House, the villain's twisted home, is still standing. You see, in a previous issue, Schmidt had faked the destruction of his home and death of some of Cap's allies at the time as part of his plan to demoralize the American Avenger. Rogers tries to push onward, but the poison within him is about to finish him off, too. Until some help arrives.
Yeah, that's...something. Black Crow looks over the two dead men. Skull is gone, but Steve still has a fragment of life left. The Native American mystic uses some yucca plant leaves and powder made from cornmeal, blossoms, and pollen to contact the spirits. He then takes his magic spear and plunges it into Cap's heart.
That could have ended disastrously. The two have some kind of spirit talk, Steve seeing visions of American history and imagery like Native Americans battling settlers, protests, and the Liberty Bell as well as his allies and friends at the time: Bernie Rosenthal. Jack Monroe, the second Nomad. Arnie Roth. And Sam Wilson, the first Falcon. Black Crow tells Cap that he can't beat this poison purely by will. But he can beat it with trust. Trust in him. Trust in the spirit of America. Okay...
Speaking of Cap's friends, they managed to escape the confines of Skull House. They make their way to the Skull's home. Nomad offers to go in first to find Steve, as a bit of penance for being the one to slip Cap the aging serum in the first place. He did it under the control of a hypnotic command, I believe. Jack is able to find Steve, who is feeling a bit weak, but otherwise alright...as alright as an aged old super-soldier can be. Jack doesn't recognize the Red Skull without his mask, but it doesn't matter. As far as Steve is concerned, he's the past. The story ends with him taking the dead Red Skull out of the building, saying that it's time to bury the past for good.
This to me is one of those comics that is really best when it's read as part of the whole "Death of the Red Skull" storyline. Reading the whole story really gives the climax a lot of its power. My big issue with this was the appearance of Black Crow. It feels like he's just here to be a deus ex machina. Also, I'm kind of mixed on Black Crow. On one hand, it's pretty awesome to see a Native American superhero. Always nice to see more of those. On the other, his costume does come off as a bit stereotypical, with the paint and the feathers, and all that.
I liked it when DeMatteis juxtaposed Cox's struggles with getting out of his coma with Cap's final battle with the Red Skull. I do like this, as it shows how influential and symbolic of showing that tyranny can be overcome. Paul Neary also turns in some good artwork here. His work here is really strongest in the closeups, where he can really show the emotions of the characters. He also does some decent storytelling. I do think it is a bit cartoony for the story, though.
The Red Skull would return from the grave, in Mark Gruenwald's run. If you want to read this for yourself (and I do recommend it. "Death of the Red Skull" is an underrated storyline in that deserve more love), I suggest tracking down the 2012 trade paperback Captain America: Death of the Red Skull. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, and wear a mask! Join me next time when we join a certain lucky mutant in her first one-shot solo adventure..
