"RAIDERS OF CASTLE ZOLA"

Membership: Ballard, Frag (Brock Rumlow), Kimbale, Milano, Pogue, Rehbein

Purpose: Mercenaries gathered by Albert Malik to attack Castle Zola and kill the true Red Skull

Aliases: None

Affiliations: Red Skull (Albert Malik)

Enemies: Doughboy, Red Skull (Johann Shmidt), Arnim Zola

Base of Operations: None

First Appearance: Captain America I#383 (March, 1991)

History:
(Captain America I#383/4 (fb) - BTS) - A team of mercenary raiders were hired by Albert Malik, the Communist Red Skull, and given their mission to invade Castle Zola. They were not aware that the man who hired them was not the original Red Skull.

(Captain America I#383/4) - In the Swiss Alps, the team scaled the mountain on top of which Castle Zola sat. Frag took point, moving ahead of the rest of the team. When Kimbale asked him to slow down, Frag impatiently waited before again moving ahead and triggering the castle's system of traps. Seeing a gun turret pop out from a castle stone, Frag jumped to the side and Kimbale was shot to death behind him. The next trap to activate was a large arrow and though Frag tried to warn the others to dodge, Milano was killed by it.

     Just as the remaining members of the team successfully made it to the roof of the castle, they were attacked by Arnim Zola's creation Doughboy. Doughboy grabbed and engulfed Ballard. Frag tried to rescue him by blowing open the creature and, when that failed, climbing on top and trying to pull Ballard out directly. In spite of Frag's commands, Pogue and Rehbein failed to help Frag accomplish his goal, with Pogue trying to flee and Rehbein being knocked out by Doughboy and presumably killed. Watching from inside the castle, the true Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) was impressed with Frag's determination and asked Arnim Zola to bring Frag and the one other surviving mercenary inside for questioning.

    Frag and Pogue (see comments) were brought inside and trussed up so that the villains could question them, beginning with Pogue. When asked who had sent them to the castle, Pogue told them they had been sent by the Red Skull, which enraged Shmidt, who killed the mercenary.
   
    With only one of the mercenaries left alive, Arnim Zola advised that the Skull not kill him because he was their last chance to get answers about the invasion. Frag refused to answer any questions, assuming the Skull would kill him no matter what, and commented that the Skull was only tough because Frag was tied up. He challenged the Skull to a fight and the Skull accepted. Frag was still sore from the climb and fought clumsily while the Skull reveled in the power provided by his new body, cloned from Steve Rogers. The Skull defeated Frag and was prepared to kill him before deciding that he could do things differently with his new life. He offered Frag a chance to be further trained and become his right-hand man. Frag accepted, having always seen the Red Skull as the toughest supervillain. The Skull told the mercenary that he would now be called Crossbones.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald, Ron Wilson, and Fred Fredrickson

    This group is never called "the Raiders of Castle Zola" in the story and they were not a team that would likely have used a name at all but I had to give them something to title the profile. They didn't seem to be a group that worked together regularly but were gathered  together for this specific job. In terms of Brock Rumlow's life, this occurs after he has trained with Taskmaster and his profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z HC Vol. 3 says that this group was hired through Taskmaster so even if they didn't know each other before this mission, they were likely all trained by Taskmaster at some point. At the very least, Brock's earnest attempt to save Ballard from Doughboy after his casual dismissal of Kimbale and Milano's deaths could indicate a loyalty to Ballard that goes beyond this mission so perhaps they had known each other while at Taskmaster's school.

    The ultimate goal of their mission is not stated. The Red Skull was believed dead at the time the story takes place, having been in the new body that Zola made for him for less than a day. When the Red Skull asked Arnim Zola how often he got visitors who climbed the mountain like this, Zola said it happened about once a year. Sometimes it was simply mountain climbers but also SHIELD agents and treasure hunters would show up trying to get into the castle. He also mused that he thought this group might be Hydra or ULTIMATUM. It seems likely that Malik's intention here was either an attempt on Zola's life or an attempt to steal his technology.

    Given that the mercenaries were all dressed alike, it's a little difficult to tell who was meant to be who in this group. Brock, as the point of focus, is clear because he is the only one carrying a bow and he is wearing a full black mask, compared to the others who have lighter masks that show more of the mouth and eyes. It doesn't help that at no point are all six members of the crew seen on panel at the same time and they also seem to move around a bit when not seen. For example, when Kimbale is complaining that Frag is going too fast, he is four places down the rope from Frag, but when he dies, he seems to be directly behind him. The most difficult to identify are the last two besides Frag: Pogue and Rehbein. They are never seen at the same time, with the art seeming to think only one of them exists and the dialog disagreeing. When the Red Skull tells Zola to spare Frag "and the other one," we assume there are only two left and since Pogue's dialog suggested he was going to try to run, I think it makes sense that he is the other one and that Rehbein was killed. It's just as likely that "the other one" was meant to be Ballard, who was also contained in Doughboy at the time, but I'm thinking that since he had been captured well before Frag was, he may have already suffocated. Ultimately, it may not matter but I've tried my best.

    This profile was completed on 06/02/2026 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Patrick D Ryall.

CLARIFICATIONS:
This group of mercenaries has no known connections to:

Ballard

One of the Taskmaster-trained mercenaries hired by Albert Malik to raid Castle Zola, Ballard made it to the roof, where he was captured and engulfed by Doughboy. Though Frag earnestly tried to save Ballard, it is likely that he suffocated within the doughy mass.







--Captain America I#383/4

Kimbale

One of the Taskmaster-trained mercenaries hired by Albert Malik to raid Castle Zola, Kimbale asked Frag to slow down so that they could attempt to scale the castle as a team. Frag's reckless climbing triggered the castle's defenses and Kimbale was shot to death by a gun turret.

He referred to Frag as a "Yankee git" so it's possible he was from England. Brock referred to him as Kimby.




--Captain America I#383/4

Milano

One of the Taskmaster-trained mercenaries hired by Albert Malik to raid Castle Zola. While scaling the walls, Milano witnessed Kimbale's death and grew concerned that they were all going to die. Mere moments later, he was impaled by a giant arrow fired by one of the castle's traps, his body falling down the mountain.







--Captain America I#383/4

Pogue

One of the Taskmaster-trained mercenaries hired by Albert Malik to raid Castle Zola, Pogue made it to the roof. When Ballard was captured by Doughboy, Frag demanded that Pogue help to free their fellow mercenary but Pogue decided he'd rather attempt to kill the creature even if it risked Ballard's life. When Pogue found that his weapons did nothing to Doughboy, he tried to flee, only to wind up captured. He was interrogated by Arnim Zola and the Red Skull, but when he told them that the team had been sent by the Red Skull, the real Red Skull was angered and killed Pogue by breaking his back.






--Captain America I#383/4

Rehbein

One of the Taskmaster-trained mercenaries hired by Albert Malik to raid Castle Zola, Rehbein made it to the roof, where Ballard was captured by Doughboy. Frag requested Rehbein's help freeing their fellow mercenary, but Rehbein presumably died in the attempt, beaten by Doughboy.







--Captain America I#383/4

images: (without ads)
Captain America I#383, p48, pan1 ("Raiders," main image)
Captain America I#383, p46, pan1 ("Raiders" scaling the cliff)
Captain America I#383, p48, pan7 (Ballard)
Captain America I#383, p46, pan8 (Kimbale)
Captain America I#383, p48, pan3 (Milano)
Captain America I#383, p51, pan3 (Pogue)
Captain America I#383, p50, pan4 (Rehbein)

Appearances:
Captain America I#383/4 (March, 1991) - Mark Gruenwald (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Fred Fredrickson (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)

First Posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 06/02/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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