The Worst Villain of All

The Worst Villain Of All


Without doubt, he's the worst villain the Invaders ever fought. Adolph Hitler is the reason the Invaders were created, both in comics and in the real world. Obviously, it's beyond the scope of this website to chronicle the real-life evil of Adolph Hitler and all the atrocities he committed on the world, so I'm going to treat him like a comic book character--for the sake of the Invaders website, I'm only going to look at Hitler's appearances in the comic book itself. I don't know if Roy ever had any doubts about bringing Hitler into the fictitous adventures of the Invaders, but he adeptly handled Der Fuhrer's direct confrontation with our heroes. In retrospect, I guess it was inevitable that they should cross paths. The Invaders were treading dangerously close to Hitler's backyard, and it makes sense that Hitler would want his greatest enemies in his clutches. I can guarantee you that if Hitler found FDR and Winston Churchill snooping around Fortress Europa, there would have been a direct confrontation.

Hitler's first actual appearance as an Invaders adversary began when Private First Class Biljo White published a comic book called "Major Victory Comics." Major Victory's origin was very similar to Captain America's, and Hitler assumed that PFC. White knew something about the Super Soldier Serum that created Cap (no more ridiculous than some of Hitler's real-life ideas). When the Invaders came to save Biljo, Hitler used Master Man to ambush them and enslave them. But of course, the Invaders broke free and battled Master Man and Warrior Woman. In one fascinating scene, the Human Torch trapped Uncle Adolph. Faced with the threat of being incinerated, Hitler uttered "I Surren---!!!" but the Torch was then ambushed by Warrior Woman. Hitler and his goons overcame the Invaders and placed them in front of the firing squad. A last minute save by Union Jack II sent Der Fuehrer scrambling, and he and the Invaders (as a group) never came face to face again. But a few years later Hitler turned up again to indirectly battle the Invaders. Hitler had a Dr. Olsen from Norway invent a machine to pull the Norse god Thor into Germany. Hitler sent Thor to battle the Invaders, but they were able to convince the Thunder god of Hitler's evil intentions. Realizing he was being used, Thor returned to Asgard and left Hitler with another defeat.

At the end of the war, after Captain America disappeared, the Human Torch was sent to take Hitler into Allied custody. At this point, Hitler had accepted defeat and was in his bunker ready to commit suicide. When the Torch burst in on him, Hitler reached for a button that would trigger an atomic bomb buried beneath Berlin. Deciding Hitler had inflicted enough pain and destruction on the German people, the Torch incinerated Hitler on the spot. Dying, Uncle Adolph told his assisstant to tell the world he had committed suicide, so that the Germans wouldn't know that he had been killed by his enemies. The Torch was amazed that Hitler was lying with his dying breath, but let the history books think Hitler killed himself.

First Physical Appearance: INVADERS #16 (1977)

Other Appearances: INVADERS #17-21, 32-33, [in flashback] HUMAN TORCH (Limited Series) #3 (1990)

Final Appearance: WHAT IF #4 (1977)

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