I really loved Magneto: Testament and the amount of research Greg Pak did to prepare for it, and how much detail really came through because of that. When I heard he was doing a series about Red Skull...I was definitely intrigued. And, one issue in...I'm...cautiously optimistic.
This issue was...good. It was well-researched, and had real historical impact. But it felt like such a footnote in the life of the Red Skull. It felt like it could have been covered in a few pages. The entire worth of this book can be summed up in three sentences: Red Skull was an orphan who was abused by the orphanage director. He saw Hitler during the historic Beer Hall Putsch. He became a killer at a young age. That's it. It's nice to see Pak trying to make the Skull an almost sympathetic character. Not because he SHOULD be, but because the Skull was clearly not born evil. Evil is what he became over time, as he was warped by outside forces, which largely started here. But it would have been nice to see more of that. More of the corruption, the abuse, the darkness that eventually overcame him. As is...there's nothing special about this issue or this character. It's a shame. The artwork, like with Magneto: Testament is nice, but not great. It sets a tone and does it well, but isn't as captivating as one would hope.
All told...3 out of 5. It has potential galore, but it didn't really show it here.
GrnMarvl14 00:35, July 8, 2011 (UTC)