Die Übersoldaten

The most feared foes of the Golden Age were the superhuman soldiers of the Axis powers. In particular, Germany’s Übersoldaten, “super-soldiers,” were renowned for their cruelty and sinister cunning. Naturally, the smartest and most ambitious of the Nazi super-soldiers also had agendas of their own. Their behind-the-scenes conflicts kept them at each other’s throats as much as pitting them against Allied heroes like The Liberty League brought them together. The rest of the Übersoldaten were little more than super-powered brutes, doing as ordered by their superiors and lacking the motivation or dedication found among the Allied heroes.

Structure

Dr. Geistmann

Oberst Geistmann lacked many of the qualities of a “true Aryan.” He was bookish, not at all athletic, and possessed of a thin build and dark hair, but he had a keen intellect and a cold disdain for others. Born and raised in a world where the Axis powers won the Second World War, Geistmann devoted himself to science for the greater glory of the WorldReich. He dreamed of taking his place in a pantheon of great minds who furthered the course of destiny.
Fate took a hand in Dr. Geistmann’s future when the scientist was working on the development of a time-travel device. American Resistance fighters, aided by Nazi “wunderkind” Tomas Morgen, invaded the top-secret facility to steal the device. When Morgen attempted to use it, Geistmann—recovering from a blast that had momentarily stunned him—tried to intervene. He was caught in a wash of temporal energies and apparently disintegrated.
In truth, Geistmann found himself—or at least his mind—adrift on the currents of the time stream. He flowed along with the wake left by Morgen’s passage, focusing on thoughts of home, of the Fatherland, and found himself inexplicably drawn there.
Dr. Geistmann awakened from what seemed like a nightmare in the body of a great albino ape, captured in the depths of Africa and sent back to Berlin for study. It was 1941 and the temporally displaced scientist’s mind somehow inhabited the ape’s body! At first, the scientist thought their efforts to bestow enhanced intelligence on the creature were successful until Geistmann was able to convince them he was no mere animal, but truly a visitor from the future.
Seeing the opportunity fate had given him, Geistmann cultivated allies within the German High Command. In a matter of weeks, he was free and a valuable asset of the Reich. Although he was no historian, Geistmann knew enough. He was able to verify that he had arrived at an earlier point in history than the traitorous Tomas Morgen, who appeared the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, toward the end of 1941.
After his initial plot to brainwash the newly formed Liberty League, Geistmann became an implacable foe of Dr. Tomorrow and the Allies, the two visitors from the future engaged in a game of trans-temporal chess, trying to tug the fabric of history to suit their own designs.

Donar, Lord of Thunder

One of the Thule Society’s most ambitious occult workings involved certain ancient Germanic artifacts intended to draw upon the power of the Aesir, the ancient Norse gods, to assist the Third Reich in achieving victory. The two successes from these rites were die Walküre and the investment of a German soldier named Karl Reinhardt with the power of Donar, the god of thunder.
In a flash of lightning and clap of thunder, Reinhardt was transformed into a powerful, red-haired figure wielding a mighty hammer. Donar’s personality became a blend of Reinhardt’s and that of the imperious thunder-god, who was mystically bound to the Nazi cause. Unfortunately for the Übersoldaten, neither was overly bright. Donar was renowned for overconfidence and underestimating his foes, particular women, which led to his defeat by Lady Liberty on at least one occasion and did nothing to endear him to his teammate and “shield-maiden” Valkyrie.
Donar’s remained a steadfast servant of the Third Reich to the very end, even after Wilhelm Kantor fled Germany and it was clear Berlin would fall. He intended to make a last stand against the Allied heroes, but Adrian Eldrich thwarted him by finally reversing the enchantment that bound the thunder-god to Earth’s reality. Abandoned by his masters and his power, Reinhardt was easily captured. Although he claimed at his war-crimes trial that he was under the control of the thunder-god and the Thule Society, it did not prevent his conviction and execution (ironically, by electric chair).
Eldrich has said the Norse gods have since sworn a pact not to interfere in earthly affairs, relying on the Master Mage to help enforce it. Despite one neo-Nazi attempt to summon him again, the modern world has not seen the misused power of the Lord of Thunder for decades.

Die Eule (The Owl)

Coming from a wealthy and influential Austrian family, Hans Graumach would have had influence enough in the Nazi’s new order if he chose. “Enough” was never enough for the ambitious Graumach, however, who fancied himself a man of adventure and a hunter as well as an amateur scientist and inventor. He understood better than most the importance of symbols over individuals. He decided he would create a symbol that would endure for as long as the Thousand Year Reich, a symbol that would strike terror into the hearts of its enemies and bring glory to his name and his legacy: the symbol of der Eule, dark-clad hunter of the night!
Using his wealth and personal connections, the Owl became a powerful and feared agent of the SS, a masked and cloaked figure lurking in the night, the ever-vigilant eyes and ears of the Reich. Die Eule was one of the most infamous Nazi spies and saboteurs, using a variety of disguises and cover identities to carry out his missions. He was active not only in Germany but also Occupied France and Poland. He even infiltrated the various Allied nations (particularly England and America), where he clashed with heroes like the Liberty League and the Allies of Freedom.
Die Eule was known for his sneering flirtation with the Rogue Fox, who despised him, and for his arrogant disdain of Amerikaner heroes. His arrogance was ultimately his downfall, with his most embarrassing defeat at the hands of Bowman’s junior partner Arrow, whom the Owl considered nothing more than bait to lure Bowman to his doom. When it became clear that capture was inevitable, die Eule committed suicide rather than face trial and imprisonment. The legacy of terror and glory he hoped to create became one of infamy and cowardice. Many modern scholars consider the Owl a “minor figure” in the ranks of the infamous Übersoldaten.

Madame Blitz

Anna Segur was always a strange girl; prone to having strange things happen around her. By the time she was a teenager, she had survived being struck by lightning three times, although her childhood home and family did not survive the resulting fire from one of those lightning strikes. She was known for poltergeist phenomena: objects flying through the air, falling off shelves and walls, and so forth. Some—including Anna herself—believed she was cursed or possessed.
In truth, she was neither. Dr. Geistmann’s experiments were able to bring out and enhance Anna’s unique innate powers over electromagnetism. A massive jolt helped to “jump start” her power and turn “strange” Anna Segur into Madame Blitz, mistress of lightning! Her enhanced powers allowed Anna to hurl bolts of lightning, and fly through the air like a thunderbolt. She was proud to wield her power at the will of the Fatherland, but less pleased about her intended role as the mother of new Nazi “super-men,” with suitable mates chosen for her by Dr. Geistmann and der Führer. Fortunately for her, Madame Blitz was considered too valuable to the war effort to encumber with pregnancy, at least not right away.
Although emboldened by her powers, Madame Blitz was uncomfortable in the company of most of the Third Reich’s Übersoldaten and nursed a rivalry with Valkyrie, the sole other woman among their number. She was somewhat attracted to the dashing Roter Adler and, in a similar way, to the English hero Spitfire Jones. Their aerial battles were often like a complex dance of attraction and repulsion. Jones even once tried to convince Anna to leave Germany and defect to the Allies, but she could not betray her homeland.

Roter Adler (Red Eagle)

Konrad Zoller’s father was a German air-ace during the First World War and Konrad was obsessed with planes and flight from his youth. Perhaps his obsession was a factor in the later development of his powers, although modern scientists believe Zoller was one of the first known super-powered mutants.
While training for the Luftwaffe, the German air force, Zoller’s plane suffered a mechanical problem. He bailed out, without a parachute, but remained hovering in the air while his stricken plane fell. He floated down to the ground gently and safely, without any apparent means of support.
Quickly recruited and tested by the SS, Zoller was able to demonstrate his flight power again at will and could achieve speeds faster than any known aircraft. His flight also created a protective force field around his body and was preceded by a powerful shockwave he sometimes used as an offensive weapon. Awarded the code-name Roter Adler, or “Red Eagle,” Konrad Zoller was inducted into the ranks of the Übersoldaten.
Red Eagle developed a rivalry with the American hero Freedom Eagle. Despite being able to fly faster, the German flyboy often found himself out-maneuvered, and certainly outwitted. The Nazi flier and the winged American fought on a number of occasions, and it was Freedom Eagle who finally clipped Roter Adler’s wings and brought him down after the fall of Berlin, when the defeated super-soldier attempted to flee Europe. Konrad Zoller was tried for his war crimes and spent the rest of his life in a cage, only able to dream of the freedom of the skies that he once knew.

Sea-Wolf

Gustav Russov never believed much in magic, not even after an old gypsy woman placed a curse upon him when, as an officer in the SS, he was involved in rounding up Romany families for shipment to the prison camps. He scoffed when she said he would be afflicted by ancient magic. He didn’t believe when he was placed in command of a detail of troops assisting Thule magicians seeking the sunken city of Atlantis and its lost treasures. It was a waste of time, a journey to the depths of the ocean for what, a few ancient trinkets that belonged in a museum?
Russov became a believer amidst those ruins, when the power of the Deep Ones’ dark magic transformed him into the Sea-Wolf! The Nazi officer became a feral wolf-man able to breathe underwater and survive its crushing depths, filled with a savage desire to hunt and to kill. The American heroine Siren aided the Atlanteans in driving off the Nazis, and Sea-Wolf returned to the Fatherland to become one of its Übersoldaten.
Russov wanted nothing more than to be rid of his curse, but the old gypsy woman was dead and the Atlantean artifacts lost. Wilhelm Kantor promised the curse could be undone, given time and provided that SeaWolf did as he was told. Once victory had been achieved, then there would be time and resources aplenty to undo what had been done. Faced with no other choice, the Sea-Wolf followed his orders. In between his missions, Russov learned what he could of the arcane secrets of Kantor and the Thule Society.
Toward the end of the war, Sea-Wolf abducted Siren and attempted to sacrifice her to dark and nameless gods in exchange for greater power and the ability to return to his human form. Prince Thallor of Atlantis and the Liberty League put a stop to his plans and Sea-Wolf—badly wounded by Thallor’s orichalcum trident—was buried in the collapse of the undersea ruins, never to be heard from again.

Totenkopf

More than a few of Dr. Geistmann’s experiments to empower German soldiers were less than successful, or at least had unintended results. One such was an experimental invisibility serum. The High Command and the SS envisioned unstoppable, undetectable invisible commandos and assassins picking off Allied commanders and forces virtually at will. So the first test subject for the treatment was a “Death’s Head” commando by the name of Johann Marz.
The serum had unexpected results: perhaps it was some quirk of Marz’s physiology or an influence Geistmann could not have predicted, but the treatment only turned the man’s flesh invisible: skin, muscles, and organs disappeared, and his hair fell out, leaving only his skeleton. Moreover, the treatment caused Marz’s invisible flesh to secrete a deadly toxin, capable of killing virtually any living thing that came into contact with him. The victim’s flesh shriveled and his hair fell out, causing the face to look like a grinning skull. The skeletal officer with the toxic “death touch” quickly became known as der Totenkopf, the Death’s Head.
Some believed Totenkopf was unhinged by his transformation; others said he was already sadistic and cruel and his powers merely enhanced those qualities. He quickly became a ruthless and influential figure within the Nazi High Command. Although Dr. Geistmann and Wilhelm Kantor rivaled him, few others were willing to oppose the Death’s Head. Even the Führer entrusted him with considerable power (and secretly feared him, it is said).
Totenkopf operated as the Third Reich’s deadly hand, although he often worked behind the scenes with Fifth columnists and saboteurs. His “calling card” of withered corpses became quite familiar to the FBI and American authorities. He clashed with the Patriot more than any other member of the Liberty League, seeing a particular poetry in humbling America’s super-soldier to demonstrate German superiority. Totenkopf fell to his death while fighting Patriot in a Nazi secret-weapons factory toward the end of the war.

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie)

The shy but loyal Ingrid was the daughter of a high-ranking member of the Thule Society, offered up on the altar of the Reich’s success to be invested with power—power only a woman could possess, according to Wilhelm Kantor. Within a ring of fire, Ingrid became die Walküre, host to the spirit and power of the shield maidens of the Aesir and the most powerful woman in Germany.
Ingrid found that power agreed with her, so much so that she was willing to return the favor to her father when the Thule Society needed another sacrifice. She was now a gatherer of souls, after all, and a warrior woman who would fight until she found the man worthy of her affections, worthy to father a new generation of Aryan super-men upon her. When Übermensch coldly rejected her, Valkyrie turned her attentions on Centurion, hoping to seduce him. He, too, rejected her advances.
Valkyrie had great power and beauty, but she was feared, not loved. Men sought to possess and control her. She took out her frustrations on her foes in battle and on any little men foolish enough to get in her way. She became more and more immersed in the identity of the Norse shield maiden, eventually taking Donar as a lover.
Valkyrie exercised her influence by recruiting her own circle of “shield maidens,” women loyal to the Reich, trained to fight as well (or better) than any man and to serve her and Der Führer to the death.
When Berlin fell, Eldrich was able to reverse the spells of the Thule Society, stripping Valkyrie of her powers. The loss drove her over the edge into madness. She was judged unfit to stand trial and imprisoned in a mental institution for the rest of her life, save for a brief period where she assumed her powers again and fought Centurion and Lady Liberty in the 1960s.

Schlasbringer (Sleep-bringer)

Hauptmann Hermann Karse was a Nazi officer in command of the research facilities a death-camp, where prisoners were shipped for implementation of the Nazi’s “final solution.” He was in charge of developing novel ways of carrying out mass murder while also gathering as much useful information as possible about physiology and chemistry. Karse carried out his job with cold and calculating efficiency, but allowed himself to become careless about his “sub-human” charges.
A berserk prisoner’s death-throes snapped the valve off a tank of experimental gas. Karse was doused with the acrid fumes. He was hideously burned and disfigured by the acidic vapors and almost did not survive. Although he recovered physically, the scars to Karse’s mind were far deeper. He took to wearing a gas mask and helmet to cover his disfigurement and displayed a remarkable resistance to toxic substances of all kinds. He began using them as his tools and weapons, drawing the attention of the Nazi High Command. He adopted the name ironic name Schlasbringer, “Sleep-bringer.”
Schlasbringer was one of the most feared Nazi agents during the war, willing to poison and murder on a massive scale. His schemes often involved introducing deadly toxins in attempts to weaken Allied forces or to break morale back home. Although heroes thwarted Schlasbringer’s schemes, the poisoner escaped capture during the war. The Liberty League apprehended Schlasbringer after the fall of Berlin. He stood trial for his war crimes and was executed by electric chair, his body ironically donated to science to learn more about his physiology and resistance to toxins.

Wilhelm Kantor

Wilhelm Kantor was Austrian by birth, coming from a moneyed family with good breeding. He was assured a place in the new order of the Nazi Party. His keen intellect and thirst for power led him to study the arcane arts, particularly those related to his Aryan heritage, but Kantor sought power wherever he could find it.
As a young man, Kantor was initiated into the Thule Society, a group of occultists dedicated to the Aryan ideal of a “master race” and seeking the lost secrets of Aryan and Germanic culture and mysticism. Kantor rose quickly in the ranks of the Society, ruthlessly eliminating those who stood in his way. He was a part of the expedition seeking the fabled Ultima Thule, “the island at the edge of the world,” which turned out to be a hidden city of advanced, superpowered beings. Although the Ultima rejected Nazi ideology and expelled the human explorers, the Thule Society introduced a serpent into their Eden; an Ultiman named Kal-Zed left him home to become der Übermensch, one of Hitler’s superagents.
As he continued to delve into the depths of the occult, Kantor experienced several past life regressions where he recalled a lifetime in ancient Egypt as the Tan-Aktor, priest of Set, and his conflict with Prince Heru-Ra. He helped plunder Egyptian mystical secrets from the African Front and further cemented his power within the Society. In particular, it was Kantor who curried favor with der Führer with the idea of sharing his mystic power, empowering potential super-soldiers for the Reich.
Initial experiments proved successful, yielding Schwarzpanzer and der Nacht-Krieger. Kantor used his influence to execute a plot to lure European heroes into a deadly ambush. Although partially successful, this scheme also led to the formation of the Allies of Freedom, Kantor’s most dedicated foes during the war. They included White Rose and White Thorn, the light-bearers of legend, wielding the power of another of Tan-Aktor’s ancient enemies, Pharos.
Kantor controlled what remained of the Thule Society by the end of the war. Able to see the writing on the wall and warned by his various divinations, the sinister magician arranged his escape from Nazi Germany with a substantial cache of gold, occult artifacts, and scientific secrets. Nacht-Krieger, his powers enhanced by forbidden rituals, accompanied his master and fought the Allies of Freedom to enable Kantor’s escape. Vanishing into the jungles of South America, Wilhelm Kantor would emerge years later as the armor-clad Overshadow , master of the Secret Hierarchy of Agents for Domination Over the World .

Type

Government, Secret Service