Baron Zemo

In prepping for the Captain America movie release, I thought I'd blog about another one his wartime enemies, granted not as infamous in the sense of the Red Skull, but just as equally villainous. Despite first appearing in Avengers #4 (1964) alongside Captain America's return, the Baron has been written into Cap's wartime history. A top Nazi scientist, Zemo created many weapons of mass destruction for Hitler's armies, but he was also a sadist, testing his inventions on civilians and prisoners inside the Reich. It was when he faced off against the Howling Commando's in one of their early encounters that this sadism came to a head. He test fired an experimental ray weapon on a nearby German town, killing hundreds of innocents. Despite his attempts to blame this atrocity on the Allies, Nick Fury and the Commando's exposed him for the monster he was, causing him to be hated and reviled throughout the entire world. His mask became a permeant part of his face when Cap exposed his face to Adhesive X, an experimental compound that could not be dissolved. Near the end of the war, he caused the apparent deaths of both Captain America and his wartime partner Bucky, when he launched an experimental drone plane laden with explosives towards London. Satisfied that his enemies were dead, he fled to South America, where he quickly gained followers and hid for many years. Upon the return of the Captain, he assembled several other super-villains into the first Masters of Evil. After their attack on the Avengers failed, he was pursued to his hideaway by the Captain, who blinded him with his shield, causing Zemo to fire his ray pistol wildly, creating a rockslide that buried the villain for good. His role was later taken up by his son Helmut. The Baron is confirmed to appear in the Captain America movie, although his role is not yet known. But whatever it is, you can bet that it will be good.

Red Skull

He is one of the most feared and hated men in the Marvel Universe. And he is the archenemy of the Marvel Universe's greatest beacon of hope, Captain America. First appearing in Captain America #1 (1941), this Red Skull, George Maxon, was revealed to be an agent of the true Red Skull, Johann Schmidt who appeared in Captain America Comics # 7 (1941). After a traumatic childhood, Schmidt was working as a bellhop at a major hotel, serving the rooms of Adolf Hitler himself. He was present when Hitler was berating an officer, saying that he could create a better National Socialist out of the bellhop. Looking closely and seeing Schmidt's dark inner nature, Hitler took him under his wing and personally oversaw his training. Upon completion, he gave Schmidt a unique Nazi uniform with a blood red skull mask. Thus the Red Skull, the embodiment of Nazi intimidation was born. Schmidt was put in charge of Nazi terrorist activities and this would bring often into conflict with the man who would become his most hated enemy, Steve Rogers aka Captain America. The two clashed often for the duration of the war, until the Skull was apparently buried under the rubble of a building during one of their final wartime conflicts. In reality, he had been exposed to a experimental gas which left his body in suspended animation. He was revived years later by the terrorist organization AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics), and quickly subverted a cell of the group for his own world domination plans. Often his plans would involve the Cosmic Cube, a device created by AIM that could turn any wish into reality. Years later, he was assassinated by the Winter Soldier under orders from the former Soviet General Aleksander Lukin who wanted the Skull's new Cube for himself. Using the Cube's power to attempt a body switch with Lukin, the Skull only succeded in transferring his mind, and the two would wage a constant mental battle for control. After engineering Cap's death, the Skull set upon two tasks, to control the soon to be born child of Steve and his girlfriend, SHIELD Agent Sharon Carter and place his political puppet Gordon Wright in the White House. Both plans failed, and Lukin was killed, but not before the Skull's chief scientist Arnim Zola transferred his mind into one his spare robotic bodies. It is revealed that the Skull did not in fact kill Steve but using Doctor Doom's sophisticated time technology had trapped Steve's body in the time-stream. He then attempted to retrieve Steve using Sharon Carter and Doom's tech, but the machine was destroyed. After much effort and calling upon Doom's assistance once again, the Skull retrieved Steve's body from the time-stream and placed his own mind into it, gaining control. But Steve proved to be too strong and forced the Skull out of his body and back into the robotic one, which was destroyed in battle with the Avengers. But for how long will the villain stay dead? And for all you movie fans out there, you can see Hugo Weaving play this villainous Nazi in Captain America: The First Avenger, who will also be the head of the terrorist organization HYDRA. Once again the film's release date is July 22 so mark those calendar's people!

Blackhawks

Today's post is about one of the finest fictional fighting forces of WWII, the Blackhawk Squadron. First appearing in Military Comics #1 in 1941, this flying force was comprised of men from the various countries affected by the Axis Powers. Flying into battle in modified Grumman XF5F Skyrockets, they became the feared princes of the fictional skies. Despite the downfall of superhero comics after the end of the war, the company that published the Squadron's adventures, Quality Comics, was purchased by DC and the Blackhawk Squadron was folded into the history of the DC Universe. Since then, the Squadron has appeared frequently in various DC publications, always prepared to keep fighting the good fight. 

The Losers

Before anyone asks, no I am not blogging about the team from the Vertgio series that was seen on film not too long ago, I am talking about the original Losers, first appearing in Our Fighting Forces #123 (1970). The team consisted of Captain Storm, a P.T. boat commander who lost his crew twice, and was missing one leg and one eye; John Cloud, nicknamed the Navajo Ace due to his impressive flying skills, was constantly beset by racial prejudice from his fellow soldiers, Sarge and Gunner, two Marines who had fought bravely in the Pacific, then lost an entire squad of new recruits in Europe along with a dog nicknamed Pooch that was trained to sniff out enemy forces. These four men and dog soon met up and formed 'The Losers'. They fought bravely during WWII in the comics, until they were killed in action during Crisis on Infinite Earths by the Anti-Monitor's shadow demons. They were featured again at the beginning of the mini series DC: The New Frontier are seen in their last mission for the O.S.S. retrieving a Nazi rocket scientist from Dinosaur Island, a mission from which none of them return. If anyone who reads this blog happens upon any copies of Our Fighting Forces which contains an adventure of this team, I suggest you get it! These men may have seemed like losers, but they fought with the spirit of winners. And for anyone who reads this blog, if you wish to find any issues of any comics containing the adventures of any of the DC characters I've recently blogged about, just click this link, http://www.metropoliscomics.com/. There you'll find tons of comics, from the Golden Age, the Silver Age etc. all at convenient and affordable prices. So don't hesitate, get your copies of these classic and thrilling comic books today!

Sgt. Rock

One of DC's more hardball characters, Sgt. Franklin Rock first appeared in Our Army at War #83 in 1959. He fought during WWII in the European Theatre, eventually rising to authority in his unit, Easy Company. He had many adventures in the pages of Our Army at War over the years, coming into conflict with a German Major nicknamed the Iron Major due to having an iron hand in place of his frostbitten one, his rigid moral code, iron will and strict adherence to rules. There has been some debate on a historic front as to what actual Sgt. ranking Rock had. Many spectualate that his official ranking was as platoon sergeant, despite having the stripes of a Master Sergeant, a rank that most infantry companies did not have. His adventures have been reprinted in several different volumes, Sgt. Rock Archives Vols. 1-3, Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock Vols.S 1-3, Sgt. Rocks Combat Tales Vol. 1, Sgt. Rock: The Prophecy, Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place, and Sgt. Rock: The Lost Battalion. I recommend these volumes to anyone, because you are in for some war stories. After all, like Rock always said, "Nothin's easy in Easy Company."

Adam Strange

First appearing in Showcase # 17 in 1958, archeologist Adam Strange is transported from the jungles of Peru to the planet Rann via a Zeta Beam. Called on to protect the planet from interstellar threats using high-tech weaponry, Strange grew to care for the inhabitants of Rann, especially Alanna and her father Sardath, whose experiments were responsible for the beam. Eventually the effects of the beam wore off and Adam was returned to Earth at the exact time he left, but not before Sardath gave him a schedule of the periodic beam transmissions to Earth, should Adam ever be called upon to help Rann again. Over time, the beam was perfected so that Adam could stay permanently on Rann, and he declared the planet his adopted home, marrying Alanna. Over the years, Adam's story has been expanded, with new characters and adventures. The DC reprint series Showcase has a volume devoted to Adam's early Silver Age appearances, his stories from Showcase #17-19 and Mysteries in Space #53-84. So don't delay, get out there today and get your hands on the amazing adventures of this astounding space-man!!

Captain Comet

First appearing in Strange Adventures #9 in 1951, the character of Captain Comet is an explorer, adventurer and of course hero. Born Adam Blake in 1931 to a Mid-Western farm couple, Adam is described as being a mutant metahuman, the only one of his kind. His powers are unlocked when a strange comet passes over him at birth. At age four, he is able to find objects without effort. At age eight he demonstrates an amazing photographic memory. Other skills manifested over time, but he always felt isolated from humanity because he was different. He first adopted the Captain Comet persona when he prevents thieves from stealing an experimental device from his mentor and the scientist who discovered Blake was a mutant, Professor Emery Zackro. Both he and the professor agree that Blake should become a full time superhero. Blake makes his first appearance in his new guise stopping a giant terraforming robot belonging to an alien race looking for a world to colonize. He had many strange battles over the years, then disappeared into space for 20 years. He returned in 1976, having not aged and wearing a new protective costume instead of his spacesuit and with new skills. Upon his return, after being tricked by Gorilla Grodd into helping him commit crimes, he was offered membership in the Justice League, which he turned down, although he did become an honorary member. The Captain has been a powerful ally to the superhero community over the years, helping them when danger strikes. His adventures from the 2006 'Mysteries in Space' series have been reprinted in two volumes. So get out there, and read about the adventures of this amazing individual today!