Written by Greg Pak
Illustrated by Mirko ColakWitness the chilling creation of Marvel’s greatest monster, and liberty’s greatest enemy. As Berlin descends into chaos and ruin, sinister forces are on the rise…and the men who will form the Nazi Party ascend to power. Against this tragic backdrop of history, a boy comes of age…Johann Schmidt. orphan, thug, urchin – Johann has nothing…and how far he would go for power will change the world…Greg Pak, the writer of X-MEN: MAGNETO – TESTAMENT, and breakout Mirko Colak (SECRET WARRIORS) bring to life the twisted birth of the Red Skull.
This is arguably the most difficult book to talk about this week. Not only is this a historical book, but it’s the definitive origin of one of the worst characters of all time (worst in this case referring to his role as a villain, not that the character is ostensibly bad). As I said on my walk home outloud: this book could either be really wonderful, or extremely insensitive. The potential to glorify a Nazi is a dangerous line to walk, to say the least.
That being said, it’s Greg Pak. Pak wrote Magneto: Testament, which is the spiritual successor of this book and walked that same fine line. It was also pretty great. So fingers crossed!
Click behind the cut for some thoughts on the title.
There are a lot of truly horrific things in our history as a species that will always feel sour in certain cultures and groups, but in the modern era I doubt there are any that would actively object to the notion that the Holocaust and the events of World War II are the worst of the worst. There have been so few cases in history of pure and unhinged evil full of insane actions from one human to another that, to this day, it’s something that is still discussed, debated and relived in variations of media all over the world. It is just an absolutely unfathomable event that forever changed the world (and in a way that no comic book event could ever possibly do in whatever respective universe we’re given, despite what advertisements and hype might tell you).
Of course, it’s World War II that brings us here today. Comics (specifically starring superheroes) as we know them generally spun out of the events of World War II as escapism and a way to deal with the atrocities of the war, such as the very existence of Superman, or the ever-so famous Captain America punching Hitler scene. As morbid of a thought as it is, we wouldn’t have many of our superheroes today if it weren’t for World War II, so having a comic revisit that time with as much historical accuracy as possible is an interesting endeavor. Hence, Greg Pak is once again called to delve into the dark world of the Nazi reign in Germany to show us the scope of evil. However, unlike last time Pak’s goal is not to show us a hero rising from the horror but rather a villain profiting and rising to power; the exact opposite.
I have always liked the idea that in the world of fictional heroes and villains, there are characters that just are evil. I believe that character motivations and origin stories are important, but just as important is the idea that for our glorious hero we have the villainous foil. It’s a tried and true element of storytelling. In the case of Captain America, who was/is basically just a symbol, the Red Skull makes a fantastic villain because he too embodies the ideals and beliefs of the group he represents; no more, no less. Writers have given him the backstory of a troubled childhood (which is a classic villainous origin, all things considered), but as the story goes as defined by DeMatteis in 1984, Johann Schmidt s a dark youth and, sensing the darkness in him, is recruited into the Nazi party by Hitler, thus essentially solidifying the fact that he is evil because he was born evil (that and he was scorned by a Jewish girl, resulting in him murdering her for rejecting him). All things considered, it’s a very good origin to have for the character.
Continued belowHowever, we now live in a world where we generally want more to our heroes and villains. We’re trying to actively go beyond the standard three dimensions of any given character and really get at the nitty gritty elements that make them tick. That’s why we now have Red Skull: Incarnate, the new definitive origin of the character. The first issue is just a simple primer to the Red Skull. Escaping from a reformatory at a young age, Schmidt runs away from an oppressive system looking for ideals to get behind and finds himself tagging along with a dog catcher who has to put down stray mutts. All in all, it’s an incredibly dark opening to what should ultimately be an incredibly dark story. We’re talking about the origin of the fictional Hitler here, a man who helped and encouraged the mass genocide of a (in this case fictional) group of people.
My only inherent issue, then, is not with the issue itself but what it could become. There’s a very popular time travel question which asks, “If you could travel back in time and kill Hitler before he was evil, would you?” I feel that, in a way, that’s sort of what this issue is; we’re looking back to a time where the Red Skull was still human, and being presented the origin of pure evil. So in a way, I have to ask myself: “If I could stop reading now, when he’s not an awful human being yet, will the character remain irredeemable?” Because that’s ultimately what I want from the Red Skull – I want a character who is absolutely evil in a way that’s impossible to define and insane to forgive. This is, after all, Red Skull: Incarnate, a play on the phrase “Evil/the Devl Incarnate”, which in turn means evil embodied in a physical form. If Pak manages to write a story in which all of a sudden we’re sympathizing a character like this, what does that ultimately do for the character in the future? Could we end up liking the Red Skull – and if we do, what does that mean?
This whole situation is essentially illustrated in the final pages of the book as Johann attempts to save a poor pup from a series of rabid dogs. Even the character of the dog catcher notes that Johann isn’t completely lost yet, so in seeing him come to the defense of the small defenseless creature we are given the first glimpse that the character has/had hope. My immediate reaction was incredibly polarizing; on the one hand, I absolutely abhor the idea that this character created to be a symbol of pure evil could have been “good” (in some manor of the term), but on the other I like that Pak has taken a different twist to a classic serial killer element. Often times it is mentioned that a serial killer hurts animals as a child, but here we have a young Skull saving an animal (while, I suppose, hurting others). It adds an element to the overall tale that, as a frequent reader of comics who actively looks for more in the pages of the books, I can’t ignore or snub my nose at. Pak even notes some of the books he read as research in the back, which is a nice touch and adds more credence to the necessity of the tale, in a fashion. But this leads to the problem of, are we going to get to a point in this story where we’ll say, “Ok, yeah, the Red Skull is evil beyond belief, but he likes puppies!” It’s kind of … awkward. I don’t want the most evil man in the Marvel Universe to have a soft spot for adorable furry animals. It just seems wrong.
That scene also ultimately ends with the pup, even after being saved, still attacking Schmidt. I suppose to that end the question remains at the end (in a very dark and brutal fashion): did he fall to evil, or was he simply born this way? This is “Incarnate” after all – does the dog sense something the reader doesn’t? It’s an interesting question to debate, to say the least.
Continued belowAs it stands, it is a good title. Pak is a strong writer, definitely at the top of his game here who writes with an incredible amount of reverence for the historical aspect of the story. Pak’s research materials in the back of the issue offer a nice illusion as to what to expect, and the more I read about the more Pak read, the more I generally feel that Pak will be able to handle the weight of this story. He’s proven his talent as a writer before, and there’s generally no reason to distrust him now. Mirko Colak from Secret Warriors also gives the book a great look, with Wilson’s colors adding a nice touch. The way that Colak illustrates the faces especially really offer up a nice hint towards who Johann Schmidt will become.
The one thing I would hope for for the future title is, as I discussed with a fellow writer of this site, a very simple thing: the birth of evil is certainly a very curious and fascinating element to explore, but at the end of the day I don’t want to pity the Red Skull. As a Jew myself who has spent quite an extraordinary amount of time being taught about the Holocaust, I am obviously biased in that I don’t want to see the redemption of a Nazi, especially on the caliber of the Red Skull. It’s also a very fine line to cross between being a fantastic read and being something that feels tawdry, or – as Pak says in the book’s back matter – potentially trivial to a great horror of history. However, more than my biased doubts, I have faith in a writer of Pak’s caliber. Pak has proven he can handle historical stories with a sense of care, and he has also shown time and time again that he can just write fantastic stories. I was hesitant to pick up the first issue and am hesitant still to pick up the second, but I have faith.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
