Even before the United States of America got involved in World War II, the comic books of the early 1940s were heavily anti-Nazi (the cover of Timely Comics’ Captain America Comics #1 famously shows Cap punching out Adolf Hitler in 1940). Once World War II ended, comic books pretty much went back to just depicting gangsters and supervillains as the bad guys. One prominent exception was Atlas Comics (formerly known as Timely), which brought back Captain America—only now his enemy was “commies!”
The publication of The Fantastic Four #1 in 1961 really began the “Marvel Age” of superheroes, and during this period, editor in chief Stan Lee chose communists as his “go-to” villains. In fact, since The Fantastic Four #1 was the first Marvel comic, it is well worth noting what exactly drove the four adventurers into the dangerous space mission that ended up giving them their powers. You see, Ben Grimm originally was not going to go on the mission until Sue Storm called him a coward and said that they couldn’t let the “commies” beat them to the moon! Since the Marvel Age was full of commie villains, let’s take a look at six of the most awesome, evil ones.
1 Igor (Incredible Hulk #1, May 1962). Just like the Fantastic Four, another Marvel mainstay’s origin is directly connected to communism. Doctor Bruce Banner is working on a gamma bomb for the U.S. military with his associate, Igor, who is suspiciously curious about the technical aspects of how the bomb can detonate. When a teenager wanders onto the area where the bomb is set to go off, Banner runs to save him, instructing Igor to hold off the bomb’s detonation. As it turns out, though, Igor is a Russian spy who is eager to get rid of Banner, so he detonates the bomb. Instead of killing Banner, however, it transforms him into the Incredible Hulk!
2 The Chameleon (Amazing Spider-Man #1, March 1963). This mainstay Spider-Man villain dresses up as Spider-Man to steal plans to sell to the Iron Curtain countries. Spider-Man, of course, defeats him (while shouting triumphantly, “This is the end of the line, commie!”).
3 Wong-Chu (Tales of Suspense #39, March 1963). Famed weapons maker Tony Stark is visiting U.S. troops in Vietnam when he is wounded by a land mine. Stark is brought to the compound of the local communists, led by the evil Wong-Chu. Wong-Chu forces Stark (who has shrapnel in his chest and only days to live before it reaches his heart) to build him weapons. Instead, Stark and another captive, elderly Professor Yinsen, defy their captors by building instead a powerful suit of armor. Stark destroys the compound and kills Wong-Chu, thus beginning the superhero career of Iron Man, the #1 anticommunist superhero of the 1960s!
4 The Radio-Active Man (Journey into Mystery #93, June 1963). After watching Thor repel a Chinese attack while on a mission in India, a Chinese communist scientist is inspired to irradiate himself in an attempt to be able to match up with Thor. The scientist, who renames himself Radio-Active Man, travels to New York and almost defeats Thor, but he is really no match: Thor blows him all the way back to China, where his landing causes a nuclear explosion. The Radio-Active Man became a long-standing Marvel villain before reforming in recent years and becoming a respected hero (as it turned out, the radiation had driven him mad—once he was given treatment, he was far more reasonable).
5 The Crimson Dynamo (Tales of Suspense #46, October 1963; Tales of Suspense #52, April 1964). The Soviets send their own armored agent, the Crimson Dynamo, to the United States to wreck Tony Stark’s latest project and get rid of Iron Man. Instead, Iron Man defeats the Russian and convinces him to defect to America. Undaunted, the Soviets send a new Crimson Dynamo to the United States to kill the first Crimson Dynamo for defecting to America (and while he’s here, he is also to kill Iron Man and Tony Stark). Naturally, Iron Man defeats him. The Crimson Dynamo becomes a regular part of Iron Man’s rogues’ gallery.
6 The Black Widow (Tales of Suspense #52, April 1964). Sent along with the second Crimson Dynamo, the Black Widow is the best Soviet spy around and a recurring Iron Man foe. In Tales of Suspense #57, she seduces a new superhero named Hawkeye and convinces him to fight Iron Man. Hawkeye’s love blinds him into doing just that, but as soon as he discovers the Black Widow is a Soviet spy, he dumps her and reforms, joining Iron Man’s superhero team, the Avengers. Eventually the Widow realizes she loves Hawkeye, and she defects as well. She becomes a superhero and joins the Avengers, too (eventually leading the team!—never doubt the power of communist transformations).