Red Skull (George Maxon)

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The Red Skull, birth name unknown, is a German Nazi spy. He wears a gruesome red mask to match his moniker. In 1941, after Nazis secretly killed American aircraft manufacturer George Maxon, Red Skull assumed his identity and lived in the U.S. as Maxon. His position allowed Red Skull to carry out domestic sabotage with greater ease.

In early 1941, Red Skull killed Major Croy and sabotaged a Maxon plane with two American soldiers aboard, escaping from the clutches of the heroes Captain America and Bucky in the meantime. He killed General Curtis in his home after Curtis began to deduce his true identity, and made a move to do the same to Mrs. Curtis. Cap and Bucky arrived in time to stop him, unmask him, and learn the truth, but Skull escaped before they could subdue him.[1][2][note 1]

Notes

  1. In Captain America Comics, Red Skull kills his victims with a syringe. In Tales of Suspense, he instead gasses them to give them memory loss. The original story is preferred in this case due to the nature of Comics Code sterilization in the 1960s. In Comics, Red Skull seems to accidentally kill himself in the climactic fight by rolling onto his syringe, but in Suspense he escapes. The retelling is preferred in this case, since Maxon returns anyway, and his apparent death is less cohesive with the larger narrative. In Comics, Red Skull is the real Maxon, an American traitor; in Suspense he is simply a Nazi posing as Maxon. The latter is preferred, as it seems to have been intended as a deliberate retcon. Maxon's original given name is preferred over that in the retelling, John, due to likely error.

References

  1. Captain America Comics #1e: "The Riddle of the Red Skull." (March 1941) Simon, Joe, and Jack Kirby (w, p), Herron, Ed (w), Simon, Joe, and Al Liederman (i).
  2. Tales of Suspense #65b: "The Red Skull Strikes!" (May 1965) Lee, Stan (w), Kirby, Jack (p), Stone, Chic (i), Rosen, Sam (let).