A Favorite Page (Captain America v5, #18)
Okay. After rereading the Brubaker run of Captain America, I have to say that the Winter Soldier is my new favorite Marvel character.
I'm sure that it shocks any regular readers of my blog that I actually like the guilt-ridden and angsty, yet oddly pragmatic, tortured side-kick from the 1940s.
It's not like there's a precedent. Really. :-)
Anyway in honor of my newly declared love, I decided to post this page from Captain America #18.
This is cool for three reasons.
1. He clotheslined the purse snatcher. Clotheslining purse-snatchers is always cool. And oddly apropos.
2. He looks so charmingly sheepish in the last panel. I like my heroes/anti-heroes wry.
3. Even though the previous page had featured him brooding quite fetchingly, he does not actually let his considerable angst interfere with kicking ass, Nightwing.
That is all.
I'm sure that it shocks any regular readers of my blog that I actually like the guilt-ridden and angsty, yet oddly pragmatic, tortured side-kick from the 1940s.
It's not like there's a precedent. Really. :-)
Anyway in honor of my newly declared love, I decided to post this page from Captain America #18.
This is cool for three reasons.
1. He clotheslined the purse snatcher. Clotheslining purse-snatchers is always cool. And oddly apropos.
2. He looks so charmingly sheepish in the last panel. I like my heroes/anti-heroes wry.
3. Even though the previous page had featured him brooding quite fetchingly, he does not actually let his considerable angst interfere with kicking ass, Nightwing.
That is all.
posted by kalinara @ 7:44 AM
6 Comments:
At January 08, 2007 10:22 AM,
the prophet king said…
Many people we know could learn a lot from Mr. Barnes. I love this character.
At January 08, 2007 10:26 AM,
Steve said…
I'm liking him too. Kind of thinking he could use a better name, though.
(After the recent one-shot, I'm kind of wondering if he'll be the new Nomad. Thanks to him, it's not like anybody else is using the name...)
At January 08, 2007 11:23 AM,
Anonymous said…
Heh, that was awesome. I wasn't too interested in the initial Winter Soldier storyline, but Red Menace was great. A giant Nazi robot, some nice setups for Civil War, plus Spitfire kicking ass.
At January 08, 2007 12:26 PM,
Anonymous said…
I haven't read it and I'm perfectly willing to believe that his return was done well -- just as wiling as I am to believe it was done badly -- but it still bugs me that both Bucky Barnes and Jason Todd have been brought back from the dead.
I keep thinking of one of the many beautifully handled moments in Kurt Busiek's JLA-Avengers limited series, in which Cap looks at the Jason Todd costume display case in the Batcave and says, "You ... lost a partner?" Batman, of course, responds with a gruff, "... I did. Now come down here, if you're through sightseeing. We have work to do."
If that scene were written today, it would have gone like this:
Cap: "You ... lost a partner?"
Batman, grinning: "Nope!"
Cap, giving a thumbs-up: "Hey, me neither!"
Uncle Ben Parker's going to be the next Hobgoblin. I just know it.
At January 08, 2007 1:26 PM,
SallyP said…
I was a bit on the skeptical side when they brought back Bucky, but I must admit that he's been handled quite nicely.
At January 09, 2007 8:59 AM,
kalinara said…
d: I agree!
steve: Oddly I like the name. It's very...cold war. :-)
dan: Indeed! No one should underestimate giant Nazi robots.
buttler: To be honest, I think death can't be taken too seriously in superhero comics. Considering the serial nature of the medium, it's inevitable that everyone will come back. It's like soap operas, in a way.
(And I actually think the scene between Batman and Cap still holds true. When Steve discovered the Winter Soldier's identity, he wasn't happy, he was horrified. Even now, with Bucky back in control of his own facilities, Steve's suffering tremendous guilt for the fact that for decades, his best friend suffered a fate worse than death.
It adds a new dimension, I think, to Steve's old guilt. Now it's not just "I let him die.", it's "I let him die AND get captured/brainwashed/tortured/turned" and every time they interact and everytime Bucky leaves very quickly at the end of the interaction because he can't face Steve yet after everything that's happened, Steve has to suck it up all over again.)
Now, I admit, the Red Hood stuff I could have done without, but there's still time for someone to make something good about it. There's a lot of potential there.
And hey, if they do resurrect Uncle Ben into an interesting enough character, I'm all for it. :-)
sally: If they kept him evil/brainwashed, it probably wouldn't have worked for me (see: Red Hood), but Bucky, sane and angsty and stabbing bad guys with arrows, is somehow very appealing to me. :-)
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