Unapologetic appreciation for Hauptmann Deutschland (Vormund)

To the best of my recollection, Captain America # 393 (JAN 1992) was my first glimpse at the character originally--and supremely, in my opinion--known as Hauptmann Deutschland.

This was a classic case of me being seized by the cover.  I had no idea who the guy on the front kicking Cap's shield was, but I knew I wanted to know more.

As it turned out, Hauptmann was yet another national super-hero built in the mold of Captain America.  (See my post on the Red Guardian for the Soviet counterpart).  In this case, the Hauptmann had a name that essentially translated to "Captain Germany."  Once you know that, the color scheme of his costume makes perfect sense.

This issue was part of a larger story arc in which Hauptmann, with fellow German heroes Blitzkrieger and Zeitgeist (man, I love these names!) were seeking to capture the Red Skull and his cohorts and try them for war crimes.  (I'd like to point out, here, that Hauptmann was fully convinced that this Red Skull was the Red Skull, even before Cap was!  Bear that in mind when assessing the merits of ole Hauptmann.)

Much like the Captain America #353 storyline, which featured the Red Guardian,  we again see a case of villains impersonating the Avengers (in this case, bioplastoids created by Arnim Zola).  The faux-Avengers demand that Hauptmann Deutschland and friends remand the Skull and his gang into their custody.  The German heroes reluctantly do so, though one wonders why.  The overall demeanor of the Americans--Cap especially--seems suspiciously out-of-sync with their public personas.

Back in America, a phone call comes into Avengers HQ inquiring about the status of the Skull's prisoner transfer. When Cap tells Jarvis he doesn't know any "Hauptmann Deutschland," der kapitan assumes he's been had, hangs up, and hops the next available transatlantic flight.

This, naturally, sets up the classic case-of-mistaken-identity-fight, when both Captains indepedently arrive at the Skull's former Washington D.C. base.

While it's reasonable enough to conclude that the Captain America that took the Skull wasn't legit, one wonders why Hauptmann didn't stay on the horn a bit longer with the Avengers...at least to give the real Cap a courtesy, "Hey-there's-some-dude-impersonating-you-just-thought-you-should-know" warning. 

Unfortunately--and despite my great respect for German quality control--the fight is rather one-sided. 

That face you make when Steve Rogers starts gratuitous trash-talking...

This is actually, rather a shame.  I feel like the Red  Guardian gets more respect despite being a virtual one-to-one parallel of Captain America in strength, skills, weapons, and costume.

At least Haupt is sans a shield and has his own unique (if somewhat low-level) superpower. 

[Hauptmann Deutschland] possesses the ability to absorb kinetic energy and redirect that energy at an opponent. By aiming this energy at an opponent's heart, he can kill them. Under normal circumstances, he uses this energy to provide himself with greater endurance in a battle, increase his speed and strength, and to repel attacks. On one mission, [Hauptmann Deutschland] wore a vest containing a variety of weapons, including a metal net encased in a ball, ball bearings coated in oil, and a cable gun. (Vormund. Comicvine)

I like that powers were subtle, but still enough to make him a respectable challenge (though, as I lamented above, the fight in Cap #393 was more one-sided than I felt justified).

So what's in a name...really? 
There's apparently been a fair bit of debate over the years about the best name for ole' Hauptmann Deutschland.  I'm just gonna say right off the bat that I prefer the original name.  He's a nationalistic knock-off of Captain America.  There's no reason his name shouldn't reflect that...nor is there any reason that simply being modelled on Cap means he couldn't develop in his own dimensions and be an interesting character.  Consider the Superboy knock-offs that populated the Legion of Superheroes (e.g., Mon-El, Ultra Boy, et al.)

Despite my opinions, the original name was abandoned.  The general consensus online is that this was due to German cultural sensitivities about having any German hero with a militaristic name.  That sounds moderately plausible...but I would suppose that German does still have a military of some sort, right?  They've got police.  Presumably, at least some of these law enforcement officials are respected.

As with the various name-changes doled out to the former Supreme Soviet, the transition to "Vormund" was a horrible screw up, in my opinion.  First, it doesn't roll-off-the-tongue any easier than Hauptmann Deutschland.  At least the very length of the original name signals that you're dealing with an official code name.  Vormund sounds like it could be the personal name of a barbarian warlord...or maybe "he-who-must-not-be-named."

Even if you try to examine the name from the perspective of a German, this change still doesn't make much sense.  First, I've read that the name Vormund in German actually means something like "legal guardian."  It's been proposed that a more faithful translation would be Wachtner.

Third, if the concern is that Hauptmann Deutschland was nothing more than a linguistic plagiarization...a formulaic adaptation of "Captain America," then I still don't get how Vormund is an improvement.  Remember, both Marvel and DC already have heroes named Guardian.  How is this a horrible transition:

But this is deep and meaningful?

 

 

 

Dreams for the Future

In addition to restoring Hauptmann Deutschland's original name, I'd love to see a mini-series entitled Patriots featuring Captain America, Hauptmann Deutschland, Captain Britain, Red Guardian, Collective Man,  et al.

While you might think that's nothing more than a pipe dream, I never would've guessed that Hauptmann Deutschland (yep, I refuse to use this stupid new name) would end up in a LEGO Superheroes feature, but here we are...