Hi there, folks! McGee here with another editorial that's sure to remind you why you were glad when I had a potato sack placed over my head and was taken to a CIA blacksite! Thanks to a presidential pardon, I'm back and have learned absolutely nothing about my offending actions against the United States of America. If you're reading this outside of America--don't worry--your nation will soon be added into the union (whether you like it or not)!
Without further ado, lets hop to it. Back in 1941, during the Second World War (not to be confused with the one happening next year), Jack Kirby and Joe Simon created an antagonist for Captain America, with the help of France Herron. He was a Nazi agent by the name of Red Skull. For 80 years he's been reinvented and reinterpreted, adapted and depicted by various performers in different media. Red Skull's most culturally prominent depiction is without question. Hugo Weaving's 2011 performance in Captain America: First Avenger is most likely the version of Red Skull most people are familiar with. Those who are fans of the comics undoubtedly have their preferences. The Red Skull in the comics has had more appearances in Marvel lore, interacting with more characters--and not just those owned by Marvel. Hugo Weaving's Red Skull has had only two appearances in Marvel Studios films and is unlikely to be seen again (the actor has stated he has no desire to reprise the role).
One beloved staple of comic book story telling is when a company wants to cross-promote one of their other comic titles they're selling by having their characters team up. Sometimes against one hero's respective archnemesis. Sometimes against both of them. Sometimes the villains team up!
The following are what I consider to be the best super villain teams ups featuring Red Skull.
Red Skull Teams Up With Joker
Issue: Batman / Captain America
Writer and Penciler / Inker: John Byrne
Year: 1997
Back in the 1990s, Marvel and DC often did crossovers. It was a win / win. Both companies got to promote their star characters and readers couldn't wait to see these characters interact. It's not like they were competing against each other on the movie screen. Set in 1945, Batman and Captain America team up to foil a plot by Joker and Red Skull to steal the world's first atomic bomb. The Joker being a wacky homicidal maniac and Red Skull being an evil fascist monster, who didn't want to see these two play off each other? They were certainly having a great time...until the Joker found out who the Red Skull was...
To be sure, both the Joker and Red Skull are evil. The difference though is that the Joker doesn't necessarily target or discriminate. Also this story takes place in the 1940s. It isn't hard to believe that Joker wouldn't be patriotic as silly as it sounds. Also the Joker is crazy. Of course he'd draw the line at Nazis! Sadly, the partnership didn't last. But that's ok. Joker isn't the only super villain Red Skull teamed up with!
Red Skull Teams Up With Magneto
Issue: Captain America #367
Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Kieron Dwyer
Inker: Danny Bulanadi
Year: 1989
Some could argue that Marvel Comics was at its zenith during the 1980s. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars came out during this era and so did Punisher's Circle of Blood. But those people are on crack as it was clearly the 90s. Jim Starlin's Infinity Gauntlet shaped the crescendo of Marvel Studio's filmography; Avengers Infinity War and Endgame. Jim Lee's X-Men...hell, the X-Men animated series. The one thing 80s Marvel has over 90s Marvel is the Acts of Vengence storyline.
In Acts of Vengence, Loki attempts to unite all the supervillains against all the heroes. Unfortunely it doesn't turn out so well when Magneto is introduced to Red Skull. As most people familiar with Magneto probably already know...he's a holocaust survivor. His trauma from that time period shaped the person he was when he first donned that red metalic helmet we all now associate with mutant supremacy. To say that Erik Lehnsherr is upset would be an understatement. He's so livid that the reader automatically assumes that Megneto is going to kill him. An assumption Red Skull has made as well. He tries to escape but to no avail. Various futile attempts are made along the way to survive. Red Skull tries to kill Magneto, but he's only human and humans don't have a great track record against the Master of Magnetism. A true comic book villain, he even tries monologuing his way out of certain death, hitting Magneto with the whole "We're not so different...you and I" speech. The hypocrisy of the Evil Brotherhood of Mutants treating humans the same way Jews were treated is not lost on Magneto...unfortunely, he doesn't care. Magneto is "doing unto others" as was done to him and his people.
Magneto does make it a point to differentiate himself from the Nazi that Skull is. He ultimately decides that instead of killing him, he's gonna put Skull in a hole deep in the earth and seal the hole shut. If Tomato Face finds a way out, bravo. If he doesn't...well it's a shame Magneto didn't give him a gun so he could go out like his hero. Honestly, the real shame is that so far in this list, no one seems to want to team up with Red Skull. If you're starting to feel bad for the guy, it's understandable. I mean, all he did was help kill six million people in the Holocaust, but he wasn't the one actually killing them! And even if he was, he was just following orders. It's just a shame that no one is even remotely excited about teaming up with this legend.
Red Skull Teams Up With Elon Musk and Donald Trump
Issue: Silver Surfer Uncircumcised #7
Writer and Penciler / Inker: Alex Ross
Year: 2025
If you haven't started reading the limited series Silver Surfer Uncircumcised, which came out last year, I don't know what to tell you. It's a heart warming story that Kevin Feige should consider adapting for Phase 6. It's technically a Deadpool story. Silver Surfer Norrin Radd falls in love with Kitty Pryde from Earth 616 and is willing to make the trek to Jerusalem to convert to Judaism so he can properly court her (Have you ever tried going on JDate without being Jewish? They get mad at you). Having made a deal with Galactus, Norrin Radd is now human and mortal despite still being all silver. Deadpool offers to help Silver Surfer make it there safely, since Nimrod is after him, for reasons we still don't know as of issue #9. So far my favorite part so far is when Deadpool jokes that he and Logan could never be circumcised due to their healing factor. Contrary to the title, there is no mention of Silver Surfer having to be circumcised.
In issue #7, Red Skull makes a brief appearance and it is revealed that he intends to make ammends on his past mistakes towards Jewish people, having been convinced that the Nazi movement should be directed towards Mexicans, news journalists and protesters critical of the current White House administration. Who convinced him of this? Some new friends he met at Six Flags
From there, the three of them have lunch to discuss plans on how to make Cybertrucks immune to fire and paint. Eventually Red Skull is invited to the birthday party of Benjamin Netanyahu by Trump. At first Elon isn't sure about bringing his new red faced friend along because of his history. Donald assures him that he's cool.
Eventually it is decided that instead, they'll all go back to the hotel room and watch Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot video on their YouTube phone app while relaxing in bed together. Once again, things turn out differently though, as one thing leads to another...
Happy April Fools!
If you'd like to read more McGee articles, please be sure to set up a doctor's appointment for a CT scan of your brain for significant injury or trauma.