Bring on the Bad Guys: Red Skull #1 (Marvel, 2025)

I mean it's Red Skull killing the same Nazi over and over for a full issue, that doesn't mean it's bad. 

BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: RED SKULL #1, written by Stephanie Phillips, art by Tommaso Bianchi, colors by Romulo Fajardo Jr, and letters by VC’s Travis Lanham.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to First Issues Now, the weekly show
posted daily ish about only the newest first issues released
by insert comic company. Here this week, I'll be looking
at the comics released for the week of August thirteenth,
twenty twenty five. Well, so far, two out of the
three hit hard and fast and I love so. As

(00:20):
a wise prophet, Meet Loaf once said that ain't bad. Plus,
as a huge cat fanboy, I may be more nitpicky
about this. Hatzi Tatzi Nazi in Bring On the Bad
Guys Red Skull Number one written by Stephanie Phillips, r
by Tomaso Bianki, colors by Romulo Fardo Junior, and letters
by VC's Travis Lanham. The premise to this book is simple,

(00:44):
Red Skull got the same deal for Mafisto that everyone
else for these one shots got kill a dude with
a knife, you get your wish. Well, we begin with
Red Skull stabbing a Nazi through the chest. Yay. However,
it is a clone, and we all know clones have
no soul, no matter what Spider Man books keep trying
to tell us. Suck it, Ben anyways, so Red Skull

(01:04):
has to kill a lot of Nazi clones to get
his way, and Mafiso says, you'll be able to give
Red Skull what he truly wants when Steve Roger gives
him his soul. So the premise isn't really that deep.
But as the comic likes to say, the devil is
in the details. Well, red Skull is slaughtering Nazis. It's
actually a very sensible dialogue about the future of the

(01:26):
Reich in Nazi Germany and who Red Skull is. Yes,
it's also a bit awkward, but it doesn't shy away
from Red Skull's own disenchantment with Hitler, since you know,
Red Skull is the ultimate follower in that party's system
of belief, and Hitler's a proven failure at this point
in the war, and he is still a failure in
the twenty first century. It also shows the power of

(01:49):
Red Skull, not in strength, but in resolve, as him
just talking convinces Kramer to let him stab him to
complete the deal. Actually, I think that's what I really
like about this book. As awkward as it is to
say Red Skull is so much cooler than Mefisto. I mean,
I've always felt that Mefista was kind of a dorky guy,

(02:10):
but that's just because he is, and Red Skull rarely
ever feels threatening to the point that he does here.
And let's be clear, the art really does help this
rendition of Red Skull just feel like he is the
big bad This is the Red Skull that could conquer
the world and become a true menace at the Helm
of Hydra. And I honestly, really truly hope that this

(02:32):
is the version of the character when this whole event
either kicks off or he just appears in the Captain
America book, because damn, I just need Stephanie Phillips to
do this back and forth dialogue that's in this between
him and any of the Captain America's running around at
this point. So my verdict is as it seems to
be for most of these by it by it means

(02:55):
that this is absolutely worth having a digital copy of
and also a physical copy of. Yes, it is a
one shot, so there's no real pull ability to it,
but I mean, right now, it is absolutely a series
of very pullable one shots and I truly cannot wait
to see how these are followed up on later, be
it in the hero's books or in this event proper.

(03:16):
So go check out Butcher and Paradise and Grim for
more amazingness from Stephanie Phillips. I guess that's a good
way to end it, sure, but maybe I'm wrong. Let
me know about what you thought of this issue over
on Facebook at the Comic Archivist or Twitter at AJC
Underscore does it All? Or Blue Sky at AJC does

(03:37):
it All without any Underscore. Don't forget to like, share, follow,
and do all the stuff that I'm being told is
important to keep continuing doing these episodes and more than
anything though Stig Golden Inklings