I think he kind of has to be by default. He certainly seems to be phoning it in on Captain America. I think he enjoyed writing Bucky too much and now resents being stuck with Steve again. Wouldn't surprise me to see him jump off of Cap and stick with Winter Soldier full-time in another arc or two.
I can see that too. That's why I was in no rush to see Steve back as Cap. There were a ton of stories to be told with Bucky that will live on in this title. If Bru puts all his effort into Winter Soldier, it will sell well and be around a long time. I can live with him there and somebody else on Cap.
Yea I haven't finishing reading the current Cap arc yet but I'm getting really tired of old WWII threats returning. I have high hopes for this title though.
I think he kind of has to be by default. He certainly seems to be phoning it in on Captain America. I think he enjoyed writing Bucky too much and now resents being stuck with Steve again. Wouldn't surprise me to see him jump off of Cap and stick with Winter Soldier full-time in another arc or two.
Yeah, it seems rather obvious that he intended to end his Captain America saga with Gulag but Marvel changed things up (like having Bucky "die" in Fear Itself) and Brubaker decided to go on with Captain America for some reason.
Sorta like how it was obvious that Van Lente and Pak's Hercules story ended with Chaos War but continued on in Herc. As a result, Herc was nowhere near as good as the previous Hercules stories they wrote.
I have a lot more faith in this book because Brubaker has come out saying that writing Bucky is one of his favorite things to do and feels more in line of what Brubaker does best.
They should put Greg Rucka on Captain America. He's amazing and it would give me pleasant kinda-flashbacks to Gotham Central to see him and Brubaker working on two titles in the same franchise.
WINTER SOLDIER will be fine so long as Brubaker doesn't repeat himself too much. In CAPTAIN AMERICA, the one story he repeats endlessly is Cap fighting an evil version of himself. Super-soldier rebirth plots are secondary, but every CA writer does it.
Winter Soldier, meanwhile, has it's own cliche - Bucky fights something from his dark past, gets captured, escapes, but doesn't quite foil the plot, ever. If Brubaker can avoid doing that, or at least making it seem as predictable, then yeah, it will be awesome.
I do agree about the sentiment that Brubaker clearly enjoyed writing Bucky and things shifting back into status quo was a marching order from editorial. I still enjoy his CAPTAIN AMERICA run although it is easy to see the predictability at times. I do expect more from WINTER SOLDIER, which thankfully is cheaper. It will be curious if the CAPTAIN AMERICA franchise can support 3 titles, even in an "AVENGERS" year.
I was gonna drop Captain America and Bucky, but I have to say, I kind of like the idea of the series moving on from Steve and Bucky to cover the various other people who carried on their legacies. There's a lot of fun potential there. Imagine a '60s or '70s Cap and Bucky having to go up against the Winter Soldier on one of his missions.
The first issue was pretty solid. A lot of story build up. In the last 5 years Bucky became one of my favorite characters. I'm glad brubaker is doing him justice.
I'd kill for an omega red/winter soldier fight. I don't think it'll be done any time soon tho
Actually, now that you mention it, it could be Kristoff. He's been wearing Doom's green costume while Doom himself has switched over to a white one for the Future Foundation.
Rumor was that Brubaker took a pay cut to keep the #1 issue at $2.99, so that price may be here to stay for it.
Repost of my review, with re-spoilers:
Dread said:
WINTER SOLDIER #1: Marvel's newest ongoing series launch of the month, as well as, technically, the third "CAPTAIN AMERICA book". It is also the third which is written by long time franchise helmer Ed Brubaker, although he is being phased out of CAPTAIN AMERICA & BUCKY (which is ultimately becoming CAPTAIN AMERICA TEAM-UP in all but name). This is a rare #1 issue from Marvel which is priced at $2.99 instead of the price gouging $3.99; an Internet rumor is that Brubaker took a pay cut to make this so, but this remains unconfirmed. The policy of making debut issues more costly than regular issues has long been foolish for the long term, and it is good to see Marvel give it a rest. Brubaker has invested most of his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA on James "Bucky" Barnes; he revived him as the Winter Soldier to critical acclaim at the start of his run on CAPTAIN AMERICA, ultimately redeeming him and even having him fill the mantle when Rogers took a dirt nap for a couple of years. Once Rogers returned and became Cap again in time for his film last year, the place for Bucky was always a concern. Seemingly killed off in FEAR ITSELF #3, Brubaker revived the hero in FEAR ITSELF #7.1 and this issue picks up from that, as well as the conclusion of the last issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA before the relaunch (the "GULAG" arc). The set up is that
Bucky is capitalizing on him being considered dead to dig up more secret Soviet era plots and weapons alongside his lover, Black Widow. While he doesn't actually call himself Winter Soldier and takes his intel from SHIELD directly, he wears the costume from that era and is considered this for trademark purposes. The art is from Butch Guice and the colors are by Bettie Breitweiser, longtime collaborators with Brubaker, and it is simply stunning. If there is one quibble, it is that Brubaker's predictable plot with Bucky is "yet another secret Commie plot from the 50's layered with angst ridden narration", which this issue (and arc) has in spades. However, Brubaker is able to execute his story well enough that this flaw is hardly noticeable; and some clever use of some obscure villains at the end is the icing on the cake. The dialogue between Bucky and Natasha is quite solid and cements their relationship as lovers and as products of the Cold War themselves, and gets back to Brubaker's roots in black ops superheroism.
Is Brubaker's heart more into this as opposed to CAPTAIN AMERICA? It is unknown, but this debut issue has had more life and vigor than quite a few of Brubaker's recent CAPTAIN AMERICA series lately, AND better than Brubaker's run on SECRET AVENGERS. With fans not being gouged at the wallet for trying out something new, it will be interesting to see if Bucky can sell for long without being Captain America (in CAPTAIN AMERICA). For the moment, WINTER SOLDIER is off to a good start.
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