Following his model Magneto: Testament, writer Greg Pak revisits World War II Germany once again, only this time through the eyes of a madman. The inaugural issue of this five part mini series looks into the origins of the Marvel Universes most notorious villain, the Red Skull.
Pak's research continues to pay off as he paints a historically accurate pre-World War II German landscape. The desperation of the German people screams out as a young Dieter Schmidt (Red Skull) tries to come to grips with the underbelly of a society that could care less about him. Dieter watches as the Munich locals begin to place their hope in the Third Reich, desperately looking for a hand out of their current economic strife.
Already coming from a life of abandonment and death, Dieter is looking to anyone to call family. The orphanage/reform school Dieter resides at is the furthest thing from a safe environment, and has already helped plant many of the seeds of violence that will become so evident in the Red Skull's later life.
Pak's script and dialogue is sincere and perfectly paced. He makes me want to look up his references just to learn more about the period. Mirko Colak's art is no Djurdjevic (MagnetoTestament) but it does the trick. Maybe the highlight of this book (and I'm sure the series) is the beautiful cover by David Aja. Aja is the perfect artist for these covers considering his Graphic Design approach. The cover is a perfect homage to the propaganda posters of the era. In fact, I assure you there were never propaganda posters this good. They would make great art for my house!
I look forward to collecting this series, and setting it aside as one of my personal favourites in my personal collection.