Captain America #5

[lordultimus]

Comments

[mazway_75]

I'm shocked....SHOCKED...to see the Skull alive somehow. Shocked, I tell you!

[mizerous]

Gasp! He is back!

[zechs80]

I just wonder if this is a two-way body again or the Skull has complete control?

[coldfury]

Ugh. I was going to be annoyed that Skull was back so soon, but I guess he died over a year ago.

The clone that is, this one has been dead since Brubaker's run ended. But still.

You know what's funny? For the life of me I can't remember the name of the crossover that had Hydra taking over the world. I'm not sure if that says more about me or the event.

[locuatico]

I had forgotten he had died until you mentioned secret empire so...

[lordultimus]

I'm honestly kind of shocked that someone at Marvel remembered that the Skull that died in the lead up to Secret Empire wasn't the real Red Skull.

[arilou_skiff]

I mean, wasn't even THAT red Skull his mind transplanted into a cloned Captain America body at some point?

Basically, like with so many supervillains, I suspect "real" is a... Tenous, thing.

[lordultimus]

Clone Skull only had memories up to WWII, so he was still further down the "real" scale than the Skull shown here.

[nyadnar17]

Why Red Skull?

Seriously forgot about "death doesn't mean anything" or whatever. Why chose Red Skull. Isn't Hydra!Cap a superior villain to him in every possible way?

[lordultimus]

Because too many real life groups have promoted HydraCap as someone to emulate.

[deh_tommy]

Doesn't that completely miss the point? Why would you want to emulate Hydra Cap?

[lordultimus]

Why would you tattoo a swastika on yourself? I don't know, but people do it.

Yes, it is missing the point, but after all the heat Marvel got after Secret Empire (especially considering how hard they've drilled in that HydraCap was the fake even though SE left that purposefully ambiguous in a "does it really matter" way), you can see why they chose the representative of fascism that's a literal hideous Skull and not the handsome blonde man who treats his subordinates fairly and is loyal to the death for his friends and his cause.

And in any case, saying "oh the Skull is outdated" is itself missing the point. The hatred and bigotry he represents has never left. It's just been waiting in the shadows, biding its time, finding those like minded, and when it's become so huge it can't be ignored, people can only stand in shock that they never saw this because they assumed it was all behind them. But it was always here. You've just been ignoring it.

[thanekos]

The Red Skull can't wait to drop the mask and kill Alexa.

Then he can buy an Echo and not have to worry about confusion.

[deh_tommy]

this is so sad Alexa play Star Spangled Man

[kore]

Wow Coates really is doing straight up Brubaker 2.0. That was not what I was expecting.

[icon_uk]

So is the Selene here mutant-Selene-last-seen-killed-in-the-Necrosha-finale, or another one?

[lordultimus]

Mutant Selene. Cap specifically mentions of how he has little chance in a direct fight since she can fend off entire teams of X-Men.