Saturday, January 31, 2009
Comic Art
SO BAD, THEY'RE GOOD
Some villains should never go away and this week we look at one of those - archenemy of Captain America, The Red Skull. The Red Skull has been through a lot of changes over the years. Technically it is a role, originally envisioned by Hitler, that has been filled by several people. His purposes and aims have been thought and re-thought attempting to reach a more up-to-date audience. Each version of the Skull has had strengths and weaknesses, and everyone seems to have a favorite.
One thing is for certain, The Red Skull is an iconic image, and for that reason alone he will never go away.
My personal favorite Red Skull is from the so-called "Silver Age" - the 60's comic revival continuing into the 70's. This was the Red Skull, allied with A.I.M., Hydra and other evil empire sorts attempting to bring about the Fourth Reich.
The Skull's villainy seemed so real, for his comic evil sprung from a genuine evil, and convincingly so. In the Silver Age, memories of WWII remained in the general populace and especially in the minds of comic creators. The genuine evil of Nazism was something they had lived in fear of, and such fear never really goes away, particularly when it is based in reality. This made the Skull powerful indeed, even to my childish, but post-war mind.
Some villains should never go away and this week we look at one of those - archenemy of Captain America, The Red Skull. The Red Skull has been through a lot of changes over the years. Technically it is a role, originally envisioned by Hitler, that has been filled by several people. His purposes and aims have been thought and re-thought attempting to reach a more up-to-date audience. Each version of the Skull has had strengths and weaknesses, and everyone seems to have a favorite.One thing is for certain, The Red Skull is an iconic image, and for that reason alone he will never go away.
My personal favorite Red Skull is from the so-called "Silver Age" - the 60's comic revival continuing into the 70's. This was the Red Skull, allied with A.I.M., Hydra and other evil empire sorts attempting to bring about the Fourth Reich.The Skull's villainy seemed so real, for his comic evil sprung from a genuine evil, and convincingly so. In the Silver Age, memories of WWII remained in the general populace and especially in the minds of comic creators. The genuine evil of Nazism was something they had lived in fear of, and such fear never really goes away, particularly when it is based in reality. This made the Skull powerful indeed, even to my childish, but post-war mind.
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