Comments on: The Trouble with Bucky

By: Anthony Thomas

Anthony Thomas — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 00:52:08 +0000

I cant even pick up marvel anything anymore and I dodge anything Cap related any more so.

When they killed Jack Monroe (that suspended animation crap is exactly that) I stopped going to comic book stores.
When they changed U.S. Agent and made him a pacifist with a frigin laser shield, I canceled all my subscriptions.
When Iron Man killed Captain America, I vowed never to pick up another comic again.

By: luagha

luagha — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:36:51 +0000

While I agree completely, I do advise reading issue 1 of Winter Solder – Winter Kills. The meeting and discussion between Namor and Bucky is truly brilliant. It might even make you think that bringing him back was worthwhile.

By: Cap

Cap — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 19:55:15 +0000

I read your essay with an open mind. However, it appears to me that while you admit to enjoying the storyline Brubaker has turned out (on “Winter Soldier” ) you basically diss it because it feels “lazy,” that
the same storyline could have fit with Nomad.

Toptomcat’s reply answers your criticism perfectly.
Additionally, however you perceive it, I (respectfully) feel you are really splitting hairs here. Your objection does not seem to carry
the weight of your criticism. You admit to enjoying the storyline,
yet you object to it because it feels “lazy”.... I need a better
objection than that to take your critique seriously.

I’ve been reading Cap (my fave Marvel character) since as a kid,
back in 1964. Yes, the Bucky death storyline added drama & pathos
to Lee & other’s storylines. However, what Brubaker has done is nothing short of miraculous, not to mention historic. While other writers have flirted with the “Bucky is alive” plotline before; Bru
has actually done it, 42 years later! Granted, it is not the great
joyous reunion we all hoped for, but, damnit, he brought Buck back..
No small feat….

I am not a fan of sidekicks per se; however, having read the
legendary Kirby-Simon stories of the ‘40’s (via Fantasy Masterpieces’
reprints in the ‘60’s) kids identified with Bucky, Marvel’s version
of Robin. Cap didn’t have to watch out for Buck; he was in the thick of the action as much as Cap. Having Bucky back is reason for longtime Cap fans to rejoice.

My only question is the irony about Jason Todd’s character being resurrected about the same time as Bucky. Granted, he’s not the
real deal (only Robin II, & a reckless one at that…) but his death
‘stuck’ for almost 20 years… & the storyline strongly resembles
“Winter Soldier” in it’s basic plotline (long-thought dead sidekick
comes back grown & now an adversary of his former mentor.
Which came first? Who’s zoomin’ who?

Anyway, bottom line, I need a more concrete resaon to diss the Bucky storyline. I feel it’s entertaining, credible, poignant, & best of
all: Bru’s brought back Buck! (say that five times quickly)...
SOmething no one at Marvel (including Stan) has dared for 42 years.

By: Grizz

Grizz — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 09:21:30 +0000

Actually, there is an aspect of the Winter Soldier storyline that I find rather interesting. In the scenes that mention Bucky’s training, as well as some of the WWII scenes, we see a whole new aspect of Bucky, namely that he was Cap’s scout (due to his smaller size) and that he was Cap’s “cover”. By that, I mean that Bucky was trained to kill, so that Cap could keep his hands and his reputation clean, in order to serve as the role model that the Army wanted.

That’s part of what I see in the Soldier’s mixed feelings about Cap. Sure, Cap was his friend, but Bucky was always the one that had to do the “dirty work” (and suffering the effects of it) while Cap did get almost all the glory. From his perspective, he did all the hard and dirty work, but got little credit outside of being the sidekick.

The way I see it, if Bucky and Cap hadn’t been divided by that fateful mission, Bucky might well have split from Cap or even gone rogue. There’s probably a lot of unexpressed anger there.

By: Professor Fury

Professor Fury — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 22:11:54 +0000

Thanks for stopping by! You’re probably right that a rogue Nomad story wouldn’t have had the same emotional impact on Cap. My qualms are less with the story itself, which I’m reading and mostly enjoying, than with what it does for the Cap mythos: that is, though the arc itself is compelling, it doesn’t ultimately give us anything in the Marvel Universe or the Cap Saga that we didn’t already have before. Even if this is a better version of what we had before—arguable, I think—does it really justify undoing Bucky’s death in order to give us a souped-up version of a buncha Nomad stories we’ve already read in one form or another?

By: Toptomcat

Toptomcat — Sat, 01 Jul 2006 21:23:50 +0000

While the Winter Soldier character is at least superficially similar to Nomad, the thing that separates him from Nomad is his personal connection to Captain America. While Nomad was the Bucky of the ‘50s, he had no interaction with the current Cap until his revival. As you said, the central pathos of the Captain America character is Bucky’s death, and the tie to this pathos is what makes the Winter Soldier unique: the story would not have had the same emotional component for the Captain if Nomad had somehow gone rogue.
While there may be certain similarities to the Nomad character admittedly symptomatic of lazy writing, the Winter Soldier does indeed fill a role that could not be filled by Nomad.

By: gorjus

gorjus — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 16:06:09 +0000

We’re having some problems with comment spam. I dunno why; keep trying.

By: Polly

Polly — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 15:10:53 +0000

jesus. what’s wrong with this site? i’ve posted 5x and none have appeared.

By: gbs

gbs — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 05:14:18 +0000

I read this, Prof, hoping I would eventually come to some kind of amazing story about a former moody roommate of mine or someone with whom you once wrote a paper, both of whom I met on my birthday in 2001. Come to think of it, that’s the same day we met! It was a shocking and moving day for me—Bucky, Fury, and Bucky—that should be a comic book.

By: gorjus

gorjus — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 13:50:43 +0000

I’ll go on record as saying I HATE the new Bucky storyline. I can’t read it, can’t stand it, won’t read it, won’t stand it. One of the reasons I despised Frank Miller’s “DK2” (grody!) was the “evil” Robin (see also: The Return of the Red Hood). I frickin’ loathe “yr greatest enemy is actually . . . yr oldest friend!” storylines, because they strain credibility.

Bucky was great dead. I even liked the way they had begun to rowdy up the character—here’s this seventeen year old with no powers, hanging out with Namor and Cap! With a machine gun!

But now . . . ? “Here is a post-Cold War semi-android who . . . ” Oh, come on. Just saying it gicks me out.

And dude: cut the hair, already. It’s the ‘06. There’s no surer way to date yr character, other than giving them a goatee.