In this weeks episode we take a closer look at Avengers #43-44 the first appearance of Communist superhero: the Red Guardian. We do a character spotlight and look into the origins and history of Soviet Superheroes in our Communist re-education part of the show. We ask the question Who is the Red Guardian?

The communist character will be played in the MCU by David Harbour in the upcoming Black Window movie alongside Scarlett Johansson.

Alexei Shostakov was born in Moscow, and was the husband of Natasha Romanova. Both he and his wife became agents of the Soviets: the latter became the Black Widow while the former became a test pilot and KGB agent and then trained as a Soviet counterpart to Captain America as the “Red Guardian”.

Alexei Shostakov was one of the Soviet Union’s most acclaimed pilots. During World War II on the Eastern Front, he shot down a large number of Luftwaffe fighter planes in aerial battles and was credited for helping the Soviet Air Force win air supremacy over the skies of Stalingrad and Kursk. Because of his extraordinary skill, Shostakov was chosen for the most secret and dangerous tests and new aircraft for the Soviet Union.

As the Cold War flared up in the 1950s, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev realized that the Soviet Union needed its own equivalent to Captain America. Khrushchev chose Alexi Shostakov over Yuri Gagarin who would later become the first man in space.

The Red Guardian battled the Avengers with his Chinese ally Colonel Ling, to protect a Communist Chinese secret weapon located at a secret military base at an unrevealed location in the People’s Republic of China, encountering the Black Widow and Captain America (Steve Rogers). When the Black Widow noticed “something familiar” about him, he revealed his identity to her. He was shot and mortally wounded minutes later by Colonel Ling while saving the lives of the Black Widow and Captain America. He was buried under molten lava when the laser blast caused the eruption of a long-dormant volcano.

Alongside guests Sweens and IndieComixDave we review and analyze this classic Marvel comic book and offer up our opinions and thoughts on the comic.

Its possible that this issue could be spoiler for the new Black Widow movie. Who knows? Those guys like to pull from a lot of different comics by different writers and comic book artists.

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