So, this is a first in an occasional series I’m going to do called “This Was Real.” It will consist of articles about the weird and wild things that have existed and still exist in comic books.
My main sources for this one are the Marvel Wikia (who, to their credit, do fact-check their articles), my dad, who is a big Captain America fan, and my own experience with this character in comics.
The first one will be this amazingly wild character called the Hate-Monger. You can see him above, dressed in a black Klan uniform with knee pads and an "H" on his belt. He looks a mixture of unnerving and ridiculous, doesn’t he?
What if I told you this character is an honest-to-God clone of Adolf Hitler, the Fuhrer, the Chancellor of Germany, that guy who tried to create the Third Reich, history’s greatest monster? Because he is. The Hate-Monger is a clone of Adolf Hitler created by the super scientist android Arnim Zola (Toby Jones’ character from the Captain America movies).
Oh, and his signature weapon? It’s called the Hate-Ray. He shoots you with it, and you become racist.
I love comic books so much.
He primarily fought with Captain America because Nazis in Marvel Comics usually gravitate towards fighting Captain America. That is oddly appropriate, since Steve Rogers’ politics actually tend to lean more towards the left despite the flag on his chest. Oh, and yes, Hitler Clone did team up with the Red Skull a lot.
Funnily enough, Hate-Monger first appeared in "Fantastic Four" Volume 1, #21back in 1963, making him one of the earliest recurring villains to appear in the Silver Age of comic books. He was causing riots and instability in the streets, and the Fantastic Four showed up to stop him. He shot them with his Hate-Ray, and they, well, began to hate each other. They ended up tracking him down to South America (because of course they did) and he appeared to die then. Don’t worry though, that was not the end of Hitler Clone, not by a long shot.
Next, he harassed Nick Fury who helped the Fantastic Four track him down in South America. He had a sleeper agent in S.H.I.E.L.D. This plan didn’t really work out either, and Nick Fury was able to take him down.
He then cooperated with the Red Skull and built a satellite called the Death’s Head to shoot hate down at Earth. This was when Hitler Clone started clashing with Captain America. The two also tried to build their own Cosmic Cube (which is what the movies call the Tesseract). To do this, they started kidnapping Jewish people to work as slaves and build the thing. Hate-Monger tried to transfer his consciousness into the Cube, and he figured out that it wasn’t working properly yet. He was stuck in there, and the Red Skull decided it was best to just leave it that way.
When a number of Neo-Nazis learned that a clone of their beloved Fuhrer was trapped inside a Cosmic Cube, the actually flocked to thing and called themselves the Kubekult. They tried to power it so their leader could escape. However, Captain America destroyed the Cube before that could happen.
He somehow survived, and his mind found its way into another cloned body of Hitler (Arnim Zola apparently created many). His next plan was to use fire missile-loads of Anthrax at cities to start a new world war (I love comic books so, so much). He strapped the Falcon and an African American general to two of them (yes, it was relevant to the Hate-Monger that they were black). Cap and the Falcon were able to stop it, but they didn’t catch Hitler Clone yet.
Next, the Red Skull used a different Cosmic Cube to recreate the Hate-Monger as a being who can transform himself into different races named Adam Hauser (instead of Adolf Hitler). He started a race riot in Louisiana by angering groups of different races. He also convinced the employees of a corporation called Triton that they were going to be replaced by illegal Mexican immigrants. He then herded the angry people onto a helicarrier to harness their hatred and broadcast it on a national level. When Captain America, Sharon Carter, and the Sub-Mariner came to stop him, the Hate-Monger tried to corrupt the Captain himself. However, his strong moral ideals were too much to overcome, and the emotional backlash caused the Hate-Monger to dissipate. This was the end of Hitler Clone.
There have been some “successors” to the Hate-Monger. After the fall of “Adam Hauser,” Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D tried to round up all the other Hitler clones. One escaped, and Cap found him later. He was a peaceful artist named Edmund Heidler, so Steve let him be. However, Heidler was seen later painting Swastikas and trying to figure out why they were significant. This story thread has yet to be expanded upon.
A villain called Man-Beast posed as the Hate-Monger for a short time before being taken down by Spider-Man. The Psycho-Man (a Fantastic Four villain who can manipulate emotions) created his own Hate-Monger that was later killed by Scourge (he’s like the Punisher, but he’s never been considered an anti-hero). Another being named Animus took up the title for some reason, too.
The most prominent of the replacements was one who dressed up like a white-garbed, Swastika-clad Captain America. He tried to start a war at the Mexican-American border by executing Mexicans with his organization called National Force. This one was challenged and killed by the Punisher, who was dressed up like Captain America at the time too. You can see a picture of this one below. He actually had a pretty cool visual design.
There was one more that was an angry worker named Josh Glenn that was defeated by the Black Panther.
So, that’s the Hate-Monger. He was an actual comic book character, and he represents some of the most ridiculous stuff that I love about comic books. Sometimes their narratives are meaningful and their characters are deep, and I of course love that too.
Sometimes their villains are dressed like Klansmen who are clones of Adolf Hitler, and that is fantastic for very different reasons.
