The Red Skull has regained the Cosmic Cube! And you know what that means: REVENGE!
But if that's the case, why would the Skull be behaving as if his world has come to an end? Let's listen in and find out:
So that's the explanation--it's Cap who's folding like a cheap tent, and not the Skull. And that's cause for concern, since it represents a fundamental shift in his character; after all, it was Cap who fought on against the Skull when he previously held the Cube, and eventually triumphed... nor did he allow himself to succumb to panic and despair when he again found himself the victim of an apparent body/mind swap. So why is he all but ready to throw in the towel here? And on the subject of odd behavior, what's with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sharon Carter, who doesn't raise a single objection when "Cap" doesn't bother to take the Red Skull--the Red Skull, mind you--into custody, to be turned over to SHIELD? No war crimes trial for this guy? No prison time? A swat on the wrist for his atrocities as a Nazi?
Later, however, the Skull definitely takes an interest in Cap, if only to make the man's life miserable--and surely Captain America finding himself the object of a manhunt provides the Skull with sufficient cause for amusement.
Nor is the dragnet limited to the police force, it seems:
But what of Rick Jones, now Cap's costumed partner? With Cap having recently gone missing, Rick begins to wonder if Cap is intentionally keeping his distance from him; but when he believes he's caught up with him, Rick receives the impression that, to "Cap," he's just loose baggage.
Consequently, Rick would hang up his Bucky costume and pivot to a new association with Captain Marvel. As for Cap, with nowhere else to turn, he heads for Avengers Mansion in the hopes that they can help to reverse what the Cube has done to him. Of course, if the Red Skull invades your headquarters, one isn't likely to be inclined to put out the welcome mat.
Cap catches a break with the SHIELD alert diverting the Avengers, though that depends on how you look at it. With the Skull monitoring via the Cube the developments with Cap, he decides to give his foe even more grief by transporting him to the island where the Skull's associates, the Exiles, await--but so, too, does Cap's first meeting with the Falcon, the man who would become his friend and one of his closest allies. Together, they eventually overcome the Skull's machinations--and soon, a new partnership is born.
That certainly seems to be going around...
NEXT:
Rick Jones shazams his way into the life of--Captain Marvel!
17 comments:
Looking at this story, I can't help wondering what it would have been like without Colan on the pencils. With Kirby art, I think we'd have been cringing at the shallowness of the plot.
The same applies to Whiplash's first appearance against Iron Man in TOS. With Heck or Tuska on pencils, that story would have been laughable. But Colan could take any old story and turn it into a cinematic masterpiece. Makes you wonder what he could have done with some of those awful early Thor stories.
The Avengers refuse to believe that the Red Skull is really Cap even though weird stuff like that happens all the time in the Marvel Universe. If I lived in the MU I'd be prepared to believe anything, no matter how incredible it seemed.
Exactly!
I am cringing at the shallowness of the plot dangermash, despite Gene Colan's excellent artwork.
Hang on - dangermash? Colin? Its like theres been a blog identity swap too, and this is secretly SteveDoesComics.
I remember this story - or, rather, the next part of it - from the British reprint in Titans. Thats where I found out - spoiler alert! - that the Red Skull wears a mask and he doesn't actually have a red skull. Which was disappointing.
-sean
Peerless Power is the thinking man's Steve Does Comics, Sean. Does Charlie agree?
No response. Charlie's not here. I rest my case.
The thinking man's comic blog... and yet somehow here I am in the comments dangermash.
Who knows, perhaps Comicsfan's current interest in Rick Jones will draw Charlie into turning up to lower the tone even more...
If its caves and nega-bands next time, that could do it.
-sean
That's an interesting observation about Colan's contribution to what would otherwise read as a shaky plot, dangermash, though I'd add that even such a talent as Colan being on board is no guarantee of a cohesive story that reads more smoothly. One such example in this story can be found in the panels that had the Avengers preparing to confront the Skull--and Colan, for whatever reason, has Goliath shrinking down to normal size, even though he's back to a giant stature when the Skull makes his entrance. Somehow, to Colan, that made sense for the scene that he laid out; yet Lee felt the need to back up those visuals by cobbling together a rationale by Goliath that he'd be able to capture the Skull at his normal height, a decision which Yellowjacket advises against and which prompts Goliath (off-panel) to return to giant-size. Lee's dialog didn't really help the situation, IMO, since Goliath's decision would be akin to, say, Yellowjacket deactivating his stingers. Perhaps the best way to have handled it would have been to remove that Goliath panel entirely, since the prior and latter panels read from one to the next with no problem--though I'd surely wince at seeing a nice piece of Colan art go to waste.
Colin, that's a good point, though keep in mind that this was only 1969, and the Avengers hadn't yet experienced "weird stuff like that" all that often; I think that the only remotely similar situation they'd faced was their encounter with the Space Phantom, though that involved a foe in "disguise" and not someone who was trying to convince them of his true identity.
Sean, about the Skull and his mask... I suppose if you look at it another way (heh, get it? :) ), the fact that he chooses to wear his mask as if he considers it his normal appearance/persona says a great deal about the kind of man we're dealing with--as opposed to Dr. Doom, whose mask is worn out of necessity and who is mostly judged by his actions rather than his hideous visage (though just how hideous is up for debate).
If the Red Skull switches bodies with you:
Step One-take off Red Skull mask
Step Two-change out of funky green Red Skull jump suit
Step Three-plan out what to say to Avengers before hand
Step Four-proceed with caution
Step Five-if Avengers don't buy it, tell them to get Xavier or Doc Strange in there to verify your wild story
Step Six-if none of this works, then panic
M.P.
Good point there ComicsFan. I made the easy mistake of judging Colan by his individual panels and forgetting that with the Marvel metnod he was also a film director/co-plotter/story teller.
M.P., yes, on all points! (And wouldn't you think Cap would have taken Step One regardless, even if he was unaware there was an APB out on him?)
Well M.P., as I recall Cap didn't even realize it was a mask til the next issue, when he actually took it off. My suspicion is that neither did Stan Lee, and he was just making it up as he went along.
(Or maybe it was Gene Colan, but as he wasn't credited - or paid - for writing any of it I don't see why he should get any of the blame).
Comicsfan, I take your general point about the mask, but it still seems regrettable that the Red Skull didn't actually look like that - there was something creepy about it, that hinted at all kinds of dark events in his past.
Its particularly disappointing if was just a writer's cop out to make plotting that issue easier.
Now I think about it though, it does seem like the kind of thing that might not be consistent with earlier continuity, or was probably revised later...
-sean
Sean, as to the Skull's past, I've always found his origin story (which Cap heard from the horse's mouth) to be enlightening, as Lee made it clear that this man knew what he was getting into and knew what he wanted. For the Skull, his rise to power stemmed from a desire to escape his destitute and lowly status. But Hitler only threw Johann Schmidt the lifeline he craved--it was Schmidt who grabbed it and fully embraced the role thrust upon him as well as the new identity that came with it. The fact that there is a man beneath that mask has almost been rendered moot for him, IMO, as it's the Red Skull that history remembers and fears--something that I feel certain Schmidt realizes with no small amount of satisfaction whenever he steps in front of a mirror.
So it was already established as a mask then?
Well don't I feel like an eejit - its back to SteveDoesComics for me.
-sean
So Cap swaps bodies with Red Skull and doesn’t check whether he's wearing a mask?
Looking forward to that issue where he swaps bodies with Dolly Parton when a fan asks him whether they’re real and he answers that he doesn't know. Checking they were real would be the first thing I’d do.
I suppose I'm too genre-savvy, but if I were the Skull in Cap's body I'd figure there'd be a good chance it was only temporary - so I'd go get a big ol' swastika tattoo - just to annoy my greatest nemesis when he got his body back.
Yes, the Gene Colan art is the best part of this. I just love the evil smirks on Cap/Skull's face!
Also, yes, how could Cap not realize that he's wearing a mask?!
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