Publication History
Joe Simon was inspired at the moment he was considering an appropriate villain for Captain America. Coincidentally, he saw a hot fudge sundae melting and noticed how it was resembling a human-like figure in the process. Although Simon initially considered calling this character Hot Fudge, the cherry on top seemed like an exposed skull as its head and he decided that the Red Skull was a more appropriate moniker. The Red Skull was introduced in Timely Comics' Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941), written and drawn by the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
He later appeared in issues #3 and #7. Originally, in those Golden Age issues, The Red Skull was George Maxon, the owner of the Maxon Aircraft Company that made airplanes for the U.S. Army. As the Red Skull he attempted to rob banks in order to raise money to overthrow the U.S. Government. He says, "Of course you realize the main item in overthrowing the government is money." At this point, he had no origin story.
The more enduring version of the Red Skull was created by writer France Herron and artist Kirby (with Simon on inks); he appeared in Captain America Comics #7 (Oct. 1941). In a 1975 interview with Steve Sherman at the 1975 San Diego Comic Con, Kirby said of Ed Herron, "He also fathered the Red Skull," but the name Johann Schmidt was not used nor referred to in Captain America issue #7, the story Herron wrote.
The character was subsequently revived in the Silver Age of Comic Books, first in Tales of Suspense #65 (May 1965) in the short-lived Captain America-early World War II-period story run, and then was established as a contemporary villain in issue #79 (July 1966).
For decades, the character's true face was hidden, but in Captain America vol. 1, #297 (Sept. 1984) the Red Skull unmasked in front of the superhero with his face, albeit extremely aged, fully revealed. In the next issue, the Red Skull retells his story with his face fully visible in his various ages. When the character was revealed to be alive in issue #350 (Feb. 1989), in a story called "Resurrection," by John Byrne, the face of Johann Schmidt's original body is hidden again, but the Skull's face is fully visible, albeit in his cloned copy of Captain America's body.
The character's origin was more fully illustrated in the limited series, Red Skull: Incarnate, with Schmidt's face fully visible again.
Read more about this topic: The Red Skull
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