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Proceeds from these pages go to support the work of the ERIICA Project and
the comics' creators, including the publication of future editions of
The Workday Comic.
For more information, contact Dr. Travis Langley (email: langlet at hsu.edu). |
The Winter Soldier's
Discontent
A
hard and fast rule of comic books was that there were three characters who
could never have the resurrection so common in the soap operatic comics:
Spider-Man’s beloved Uncle Ben and girlfriend Gwen Stacy, and Captain America’s
sidekick, Bucky “Bucky “ Barnes. The Green Goblin could come back after having
his own glider impale him[1]. The fact that readers had seen Kitty Pryde
spread her boyfriend Colossus’ ashes across Mother Russia[2] couldn’t
keep him from walking around[3].
Phoenix could rise from the ashes like a, well, Phoenix. But Barnes was either
too unnecessary or replaced to be brought back. His deaths provided pathos to
his father figures’ history, guilt always sneaking in to Steve Rogers’ inner
monologue soliloquies. Until one day, he was brought back. The antagonist of Ed
Brubaker’s first arc on Captain America turned out to also be his
believed dead sidekick. Something about the Winter Soldier’s journey from
brainwashed Soviet assassin to repentant vigilante to ultimately being Steve
Rogers’ replacement as Captain America, struck a chord with fans.
Not
every fan of course: “I don’t even want to read it. It’s a bad idea.” some
still say. In fact, it’s hard to find
anyone who doesn’t admit that should have been the case, and would have, had it
not been written by someone as talented as Ed Brubaker. “How weird is it that
Bucky is like the coolest character in the Marvel Universe right now? Bucky!”
is the response one is more likely to hear from people who have read the entire
saga of 30-something issues and counting. Some of these are the same comic fans
who, not too long ago, saw the original Captain America himself as stodgy and
antiquated. He was “out of touch” or a “goody-two-shoes”. What changed? Was it
a shift in the notion of patriotism? Did it reflect the zeitgeist of a nation’s
disillusionment? Was it just Brubaker’s writing?
A Brief History of Bucky
“The
Winter Soldier” arc kicked off a relaunch of the Captain America title itself,
the fourth “#1” issue in eight years. The one before had coincidentally come
only months after September 11, 2001. Despite pencils by artist John Cassaday
and the fact that every American was hanging flags in their yard and patriotic
shirts were hot sellers, the comic book with America in the title…not so much.
After floundering about for a few years and 5 writers trying their hand at the
Star-spangled Avenger , Cap was once again restarted, along with Iron Man to
coincide with the launch of New Avengers. This time around, Cap’s fate
was left in the hands of writer Ed Brubaker, who had made a name for himself
writing noir-ish comics such as Scene of the Crime and Gotham Central.
At first the clues to the Winter Soldier’s identity seemed to anger fans: “They
better not be bringing Bucky back! Don‘t they know Mark Waid couldn‘t even make
that character interesting?” Indeed, Bucky had never been the most compelling
character. After walking in on Steve Rogers changing into his Captain America
get-up, Steve let him be his teen sidekick. Over two decades later, when Stan
Lee and Jack Kirby revived Cap in Avengers #4, Bucky had been killed off-panel[4].
Readers of subsequent generations only thought of Bucky as a sub-Robin.
Apparently, it was the fact that newly thawed Steve just told his new teammates
of Barnes’ demise that was the genesis of
Ed Brubaker’s story idea. If there was no issue where Bucky died, maybe
it hadn’t actually happened. Jason Todd’s death could be pulled out of long box and re-read. Fans had called a 1-800
number to vote for his death. Bucky, however, had no such tangible death. After
all, it was later revealed in Roger Stern’s well-regarded run on the series
that Steve had been brainwashed into having false memories[5]. Perhaps
this was just more of the same.
Nevertheless,
it was revealed that Winter Soldier was, not a so much a resurrected Bucky
Barnes, but a Bucky who had never died. Like Rogers, he was frozen in a block
of ice, but instead of being found by Namor and later, the benevolent Avengers, he was thawed by nefarious Soviets, who used
his military training and newly revealed cold-hearted nature to their
advantage. After brainwashing him and replacing his arm with a new and improved
cybernetic one, they sent him out to assassinate whoever they needed, then re-froze
him until they required his services again.
Finally,
after a chain of events involving Cap’s nemesis Red Skull and an all-powerful
Cosmic Cube, Bucky’s memories of being Steve’s partner in World War II were
restored and he felt guilty for his sins. Before Bucky had a chance to
reconcile with him, Steve became embroiled in a battle between superheroes over
a Superhuman Registration Act in the pages of Marvel Civil War miniseries[6].
Only days after surrendering to the Iron Man-led pro-registration side[7], he
was assassinated on the steps of a courthouse[8]. The
mainstream media ate it up, maybe just as much or more than comic fans. Pundits
to the left and right of center hailed it as a metaphor for the death of
America or at least the nation’s values. To those “in the know”, a new dynamic
had been established: now it was a time-displaced Bucky/Captain America feeling
guilty for the death of Steve Rogers.
New Captain, New America
Whether
it was a subconscious decision or not, it was probably not an accident that the
new Captain America, with his darker costume and machine gun[9],
debuted during an unpopular war. It’s been all but stated by Joe Quesada that
the Marvel Civil War that led up to Cap’s death was a metaphor for the safety
vs. civil liberty debate that has raged ever since the second tower was hit.
While Captain America was created during World War II, he returned during the
Vietnam conflict, adding to the concept of Steve Rogers being a man “out of
time”. His disconnect with he America he found mirrored the disenchantment
found in the people of the country at the time. Now, a resurrected Bucky
provided an avatar for a generation frustrated by both the War on Terror and
their own fear and wondering how the previous generation would handle matters. The Bush administration and many who support it
imply that those who do not acquiesce to
their views are unpatriotic; a remark about the President’s intelligence is
seen as calling into question the educational level of the troops; a dwindling
military has to send the same soldiers back before letting them have time at
home. The DC Universe Americans may have elected Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor
as President, but at least he never made a comedic short film of himself
searching under the couch for WMDs, the same manufactured threat the war was
supposedly started over.
It’s
hard, of course, to know what people thought of as true “patriotism” in Captain
America’s time during World War II. However, it’s generally perceived that
those who lived in that time saw the war as something noble and the fighting
worthwhile. Compare that with today when only about half Americans agree with
the War on Terror, or at least the way it’s being waged. If good leadership has
any thing to do with getting people to agree to a plan, we don’t have that now.
At least not in the real world. Captain America led the Avengers for a majority
of his tenure on team, and gave instruction to the Norse thunder god Thor. In
an issue of Daredevil, Matt Murdock notes that “ A voice that could
command a god…does.”[10]
The
acceptance of Bucky, as a returning character and as Captain America, could
ironically be due to the very fact that caused some to previously ignore the
original Captain America: he’s out of touch. After living in modern times for
at least 8 years even in comic book time, how much of a “man out of time” was
Steve Rogers at this point? Enter Bucky, who has basically awoken in a post
9-11 America after spending his youth in an era of idealism. The average comic fan is in their
twenties or thirties, actually out of the more innocent, idealistic time of
their life. How many of them cast their first vote for President and either
think it wasted or are ashamed of it?
Who is a Patriot?
“I
don’t really feel like I love this country a lot of the time.” How much does
this sound like something Barack Obama has said about how “Sometimes [he
doesn’t] feel like saluting the flag.” or his wife’s declaration of, “This is
the first time I’ve ever felt proud of my country”?
But
these are actually the words of the Patriot, a black teenage superhero whose
grandfather had been a test subject for the super-soldier serum that was later
used on Steve Rogers, a story similar to the tests on black men at Tuskegee.
But
just like Obama sometimes does salute the Ameriaca flag, the Patriot saluted
the Winter Soldier in the Winter Soldier: Winter Kills one-shot after he
and the rest of his team, the Young Avengers, realized who they had just teamed
up with. In Young Avengers Presents #1, upon hearing of Patriot’s feeling
towards America, Barnes said,, “I think, just like most people, America isn’t
just one thing. It’s not just slavery and what happened to the Indians…It’s
also the New Deal, and the Civil Right Movement, and Democracy…”
“And
Martin Luther King.” added Patriot.
Winter
Soldier went on: “Awhile back, during that whole super hero Civil War, I
remember reading some editorial…someone saying Cap was in the wrong, out of
step with the public…that he needed to “find America again”, or some nonsense.
And all I could think was, no…America needs to find him.”[11]
