Tear Jerker / Captain America

• Some versions of the Skull's backstory (i.e., the ones where he's not born supernaturally evil like Damien the Antichrist) qualify. Even the sometimes corny Silver Age version very effectively rammed home the misery of his childhood and youth in chaotic interwar Germany, to the point of Fridge Horror for some dialogue choices, as well as the point that he hadn't really done anything to deserve it. Like millions of others, he became a victim through no real fault of his own... And later, after he became the Red Skull, he worked very hard to ensure that he'd never be one again.
• It also works on another level, which makes it even sadder. As his subsequent career shows, he's actually an extremely talented and capable man, who rose meteorically once someone gave him even a single chance — even though he had basically no education at all at that point, he was able to more than make up for it. Also, at that point he wasn't psychotic, or even "evil" as most people would judge it; the worst thing he was shown doing was stealing food to survive. In fact, even as the Red Skull he would initially defy his Nazi masters when ordered to kill a man, and Take a Third Option instead. So he wasn't evil by inclination, and nothing about his villainy was preordained; he became a Nazi because everyone else treated him horribly and the Nazis were the only ones who didn't. If someone other than Hitler had noticed him, taken him in and taught him a gentler moral creed, he would probably have used his gifts for good instead.
• On another note, what happened to "Erica Holstein" (better known as Sin) when she was kidnapped by Crossbones. Depending on your interpretation, prior to this she was either brain-raped by SHIELD and forced to be someone she's not, or else cured of various undesirable disorders and traits and finally able to live a nice, normal life. In either case, Sin had become Erica, an innocent Nice Girl with no memories of ever being a supervillainess, who (from her POV) was now suddenly being tortured by a psycho trying to force her to become someone she's not, and something horrible at that — because Crossbones wanted Sin back, and did his best to Deprogram her. He succeeded, and was happy about the result, and so was Sin, obviously — but "Erica Holstein" basically died, after spending her last weeks alive tortured and scared to death. Made doubly worse by the fact that she could feel her sanity slipping/Sin resuming control in the final stages, even as she tried to be brave and stay herself.

  Erica (Wakes up alone in the darkness after dreaming of Sin's life): No... This is all wrong, Erica... You're not who he says... It's a mistake... It's all a terrible mistake... And someone's going to come... They're going to come and save you... They have to.

  • Made even worse if one considers how different "Erica" looks from the previous Mother Superior character, who had dark hair and was very tall. Makes you wonder if maybe Crossbones just picked a random girl to fixate on after the Red Skull's death...
• Seeing the distrust Cap experiences in the first story arc of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run, “Winter in America”, after the events of Secret Empire can be quite upsetting. Observing the pain of those attacked by racial supremacists clad in Stars and Stripes face paint, claiming Hydra-Cap was their true champion, can be particularly distressing to go back in light of the 2021 Capitol insurrection and terror protests before and after it.
  • #8 of Coates run has a hell of a Wham Line to show how things have changed since Secret Empire. “If you asked this city, this country even, who it trusted more, Wilson Fisk or Steve Rogers, what do you think they’d say?”