Saurespritze (Earth-616)

Säurespritze was a costumed German super-villain active in Nazi Germany in the early years of World War II. Along with Blitzkrieg and Zahnmörder, he was part of a team known as Das Vernichtungs-Kommandos (also referred to as the Death Squad or the Killing Squad). The mysterious leader of the Death Squad was the masked villain Agent X. Clad in a helmet, gas mask and a long coat, Säurespritze was armed with special wrist gauntlets that projected bursts of highly concentrated acid.

In early March of 1941, Agent X's superior, the Red Skull, learned of the secret U.S. military program known as Project: Rebirth. Seeking to acquire the project's secrets to create his own army of super-soldiers, he sent the Death Squad to the United States to steal the formula that transformed scrawny Steve Rogers into the muscle-bound Captain America.

The creator of Project: Rebirth's Super-Soldier Serum, Doctor Abraham Erskine, had already been assassinated by a Nazi agent. Before his passing however, he gave each of his research assistants a part of the formula. He entrusted the complete formula, as well as the secret of his Vita-Ray research to one man, Colonel James Fletcher.

The Death Squad systematically sought out all of Erskine's associates. Säurespritze broke into the home of a scientist named Anderson and murdered him while he was taking a shower.^[1] However, there are some accounts which suggest that Anderson actually survived the assassination attempt.

When the Red Skull discovered that Colonel Fletcher possessed the complete formula, he sent the Death Squad to the Project: Rebirth facility to abduct him. Säurespritze turned his acid upon a soldier named Billy, killing him, while his two compatriots got to work capturing Colonel Fletcher.^[2]

They brought him to a hidden safe house where they interrogated him at length. Fletcher managed to escape, but Säurespritze and the others tracked him to a local eatery called Smyth Diner. Säurespritze captured Fletcher and they brought him to a Nazi compound in occupied Paris, France.

Along with another Nazi agent known as the Master Interrogator, the Death Squad continued to torture Colonel Fletcher, but he refused to yield the secrets of the Super Soldier Formula. Fletcher was able to escape once again, but his freedom was short-lived as he flung himself through a window to his death. The complete Super Soldier Formula died with him.

Captain America, arriving too late to save Fletcher, raided the Nazi compound and fought against the Death Squad. Säurespritze tried to get Captain America in a stranglehold, but the hero pushed himself and his assailant backward over a staircase banister. When Säurespritze landed, he shattered the backpack cylinder containing his corrosive arsenal and was killed by his own acid.^[3]

Säurespritze wore a canister pack strapped to his back filled with corrosive acid. Twin tubes ran from the pack along the lengths of his arms and were attached to a special gauntlet at his wrists. The hand gauntlet contained a trigger, which enabled Säurespritze to spray his selected target with a concentrated spray of acid, killing them within seconds.

• Retroactively, the three members of the Killing Squad are the first costumed super-villains to ever fight up against Captain America.

• The Red Skull regarded Säurespritze as being extremely effective, albeit a messy agent due to the nature of his weaponry.