Skullbound

The Red Skull and his Skeleton Crew have been extradited to Germany to stand trial for the war crimes he committed during World War II. However, as the trial is beginning, the Machinesmith manages to break free and frees Crossbones. When Schutz Heiliggrupee — Hauptmann Deutschland, Blitzkrieg, and Zeitgeist — try to subdue the captives, Crossbones grabs one of the government officials at the trial and threatens to snap his neck if they don’t stand down. With no other choice, the German heroes stand down, allowing Machinesmith to free the Red Skull, and Mother Night.

It is then that the Red Skull lies to the court, telling them that he is not the Red Skull of the 1940s, but an American citizen named John Smith who usurped the Skull’s identity to further his business interests in the criminal underworld in the US. He then tells them that forensic examination will prove this. That’s when Deutschlander reveals that he knows that the Skull cheated death by having his mind downloaded into a clone body.[1] The Skull scoffs at this, saying it is outlandish science fiction. That’s when Hauptmann realizes that he cannot prove it because he foolishly destroyed Arnim Zola’s cloning device, eliminating the evidence he’d need to prove this. When Deutschland also points to the men the Red Skull killed during a recent training session, the Skull counters this by pointing out that any crimes he committed were done on American soil and persecuting him in Germany would cause an international incident and demands that they be set free.[2]

That’s when Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor come crashing in through the wall. Captain America reiterates how the German government has no jurisdiction over the Red Skull and his Skeleton Crew and that the Avengers have come to return them to the United States. Furthermore, he is furious that Schutz Hiliggruppee ruined their investigation into the Skull. To prove his identity, Captain America shows Hauptman Deutschland his Avengers ID card.[3] The three Avengers then quickly subdue the Red Skull and his minions and take them aboard an Avengers Quinjet. Before leaving, Captain America tells Deutschland that the real Red Skull died in his arms and that this man — for whatever reasons — is merely an impostor. Hauptmann Deutschland allows them to leave, but something about this encounter doesn’t sit right with him.

Deutschland’s concerns are warranted as the “Avengers” are really impostors, bioplastoids created by Arnim Zola to free his captured allies. As they leave German airspace, Zola makes his presence know and reveals his deception, explaining that he was able to mount this rescue mission thanks to a distress call from the Machinesmith while they were in captivity.[4] The “Quinjet” itself is actually Zola’s pliable creation Doughboy who also resumes his true form. Once they are safely away, the Machinesmith then activates a bomb aboard their captured ship in the hopes they eliminate their captors.

Meanwhile, at Avengers Headquarters, Captain America has returned from his mission to stop Superia’s attempt to sterilize most of the planet.[5] He thanks Paladin, Diamondback, Black Mamba, and Asp for their help. When Mamba and Asp want to get back to starting up their new detective agency, but Diamondback declines joining them reiterating that she wants to retire her costumed identity. Captain America is pleased to hear that Rachel wants to be with him, but senses that something happened to her while a prisoner of Superia.[6] When he asks Rachel what’s going on, she hides the fact that she was nearly killed by Snapdragon on their last mission, and only tells Steve that she just wants to live a normal life and stop risking her life.[7] This leads to a tender moment that is seen by Jarvis, the Avengers butler, he decides to give the two privacy but is pleased to see that Captain America is happy.

That’s when the doorbell rings. When Jarvis goes to answer it he finds Cap’s ex-girlfriend, Bernie Rosenthal has come by for a visit. Jarvis tells her that Steve is busy at the moment and she asks Jarvis to pass a long a message to have Steve contact her as soon as possible as she has something important to discuss.[8] Meanwhile, Steve is delighted that Rachel wants to stay with him at Avengers Headquarters and makes arrangements to have her set up in one of the guest quarters. That’s when he gets a call from Peggy Carter who tells him a Hauptman Deutschland is on the line asking for him. Cap is confused when Deutschland explains that he is calling to make sure that the Red Skull is in American custody. Seeing that Captain America has no knowledge of their earlier encounter the German hero realizes that he has been fooled by the Skull. Confused by this conversation, Cap decides to look into what’s going on.

And in Washington, DC, the Red Skull has returned to the Smith Building. While he takes perverse pleasure of having his base of operations in front of the Washington Capitol Building, his hideout has been compromised too many times recently and the Red Skull orders his staff to begin packing up as they will be moving to a new location right away.[9] This proves to be a smart move on the Skull’s part as, later that evening, Captain America arrives to further investigate the Smith Building and figure out what the Red Skull is up to. However, he arrives at the same time as Hauptman Deutschland who has come to recapture the Red Skull. Thinking that this is the Captain America impostor he encountered earlier, the German hero attacks. Cap, the veteran of many more battles, deduces that Deutschland somehow absorbs and stores kinetic energy to boost his strength, agility and speed and quickly subdues him.

Breaking free from Cap’s hold, Hauptman Deutschland uses a grappling line to swing down from the roof and smash through the window into the Red Skull’s office. Captain America follows behind soon after. Inside, both men are stunned to see that someone has shot the Red Skull right between the eyes and wrote “Justice is Served” in blood on the wall behind him.[10]

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Red Skull, Skeleton Crew (Crossbones, Mother Night, Machinesmith, Fourth Sleeper), Arnim Zola, Doughboy, Diamondback, Bernie Rosenthal, Fabian Stankewicz, Peggy Carter, Paladin, Asp, Black Mamba, Schutz Heiliggrupee (Hauptmann Deutschland, Zeitgeist, Blitzkrieg)

Continuity Notes

1. When his original body died of old age in Captain America #300, the Red Skull had his mind downloaded into a cloned body created by Arnim Zola as explained in Captain America #350. Since the cloned body was created using Captain America’s DNA it does would not have the same finger prints as the Skull’s original body.

2. Hauptmann Deutschland destroyed the Arnim Zola’s cloning device and the Red Skull’s spare clones in Captain America #387. He witnessed the Skull murder four men in a training session in the following issue. This was the same issue where Deutschland kidnapped the Skull in order to extradite him to Germany.

3. A hint that these are not the real Avengers, but impostors, is evident by the fact that “Captain America’s” Avengers ID is signed by the President of the United States. At the time of this story the Avengers had just recently lost their government backing and joined up with the United Nations, as detailed in Avengers #326-329. Since then, the Presidential signature has been replaced by the United Nations logo, as we have seen in Captain America #387. Another clue is that the Thor impostor appears as the original Thor, even thought this story takes place after Eric Masterson took over the mantle in Thor #432.

4. The Machinesmith managed to send a distress call to Zola in Captain America #391.

5. Over the course of Captain America #387-392, Superia was trying to unleash a weapon that would usher in the female dominant future that spawned the warrior woman known as Thundra. Per Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four, the possible future that Thundra hales from is designated Reality-715. For more on Thundra’s world see Savage Tales #1 and Fantastic Four #151-153.

6. Captain America is pleased that whatever was going on between Diamondback and Paladin appears to be over. When Captain America was taking down the Serpent Society, he couldn’t guarantee that Black Mamba and Asp would not be arrested. This deeply upset Diamondback who hired Paladin to help her out. He agreed to do so in exchange for a date afterwards. Rachel played this up to make Steve jealous. See Captain America #380-382.

7. While aboard the S.S. Superia, Diamondback ran into her old enemy Snapdragon who beat her senseless and threw her overboard. Although rescued from drowning the near death experience convinced Rachel to retire as Diamondback. See Captain America #388.

8. Bernie Rosenthal was Captain America’s previous girlfriend. Steve and Bernie began dating shortly thereafter in issue #251. Bern figured out his double-identity in Captain America #275-276. Although Bernie proposed to him in issue #292, his duties as Captain America drove a wedge and Bernie ultimately decided to leave New York to pursue her legal career in issue #317. The two drifted apart shortly thereafter. Since then, Steve started dating Diamondback in Captain America #371. Bernie returned in Captain America #380 and has been actively trying to get back together with Steve. For his part, Rogers has been reluctant to tell her that he is seeing someone else because he isn’t sure how to explain his vastly different relationship with Diamondback.

9. Aside from Hauptmann Deutschland, the Red Skull also recounts how his hideout was recently attacked by Magneto. This was in Captain America #367.

10. This is of course isn’t the real Red Skull but a decoy body created by Arnim Zola, as we’ll learn next issue. The Skull’s “murder” is pinned on the Scourge of the Underworld. As explained in US Agent #4, this isn’t an individual but an organization formed by the World War II hero known as the Angle who have been murdering super-villains since Iron Man #194. It’s revealed next issue that the Red Skull has at least one Scourge in his employ. The Scourge entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10 is unclear about the relationship between the Red Skull and the Scourge program. As of this writing in July, 2022, this has yet to be cleared up.

Topical References

• In this story, the Red Skull tells the German courts that if they checked his finger prints they would discover that they would not match those on record. While this statement would still be correct, the fact that this is the only method they could use to prove the Skull’s identity is topical. With advancements in forensic science there would be more methods available to determine the Red Skull’s identity that weren’t as available when this comic book was published in 1991, such as DNA testing. As such, finger printing as the only means of proving the Skull’s identity should be considered topical.

• The fake Avengers ID card brandished by the phony Captain America is shown to be signed by President George H.W. Bush, who was President of the United States when this comic book was published. This should be considered a topical reference as Bush was only President from 1989 to 1993 and has subsequently passed away in 2018.