Brief History
American Nazi
An agent of Johann Schmidt, this “original” Red Skull traded his life as a businessman and industrialist to led a group of Nazi spies and saboteurs. Although Maxon clashed with Captain America on several occasions, he never achieved the notoriety of the Red Skull whom he received his orders from.
Creation
When Marvel Comics was introduced in 1939, there truly wasn’t any official superhero or villain until World War II first began. As a response to the war propaganda, editor Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and scripter Ed Herron not only introduced their very first official superhero Captain America, but also introduced the very first super-villain within Marvel Comics known as the Red Skull. Completely the opposite of Captain America and everything the hero represented, Marvel Comics would display the Red Skull as a villain who strongly resembled oppression and totalitarianism. Wearing a horrific Blood-red death’s-head mask, Marvel Comics would find themselves creating the ultimate villain. Even though Captain America Comics #1 was meant to be Red Skull’s first and last appearance, the growing fan base later had Red Skull reintroduced in Captain America Comics Issue #7. This caused the true Red Skull’s (Johann Schmidt) first official appearance to be in Captain America Comics #7, stating that the original Red Skull was an imposter who was secretly working with the Red Skull.