Communist Rhapsody

[chocochuy]

Здравствуйте, comrades! Commissar Chocochuy reporting for duty in the name of the Mother Russia!

Last week I had the chance to read the latest issue of Captain America and Bucky # 624. I highly reccomend it to everybody since it contains a fascinating story set during the years in which Bucky was the Winter Soldier as well as many romantic moments. Now I proudly present you some selected scenes (4 pages only since this is a recent issue) of the adventures of our two favorite ex-communist heroes. Enjoy, comrades!

The Winter Soldier is training to become a new Captain America in 1958 in what I suppose was a communist plan to have their own Cap to harvest some chaos considering the amount of terror that their Red Skull produced. The Winter Soldier proves himself to be quite lethal as he defeats all his opponents at ease. That's when he finally finds himself before a true opponent worthy of his skills.



Kudos to Chris Samnee for bringing back the original costume of the Black Widow. Let's carry on.



We are then treated with a fast overview of the Winter Soldier's origin and his romantic life with Natasha. It seems Natasha (or Natalia, they are always using both names) seems to be questioning the way their communist leaders are handling the likes of their top agents but she prefers to confide such things to her beloved. Later on we get one of their missions. They must eliminate one defector that knows too much communist secrets to be left alive. It would have gone well if the defector's daughter hadn't been there. You might deduce things go wrong from that point.



The Winter Soldier is horrified after having to kill a man before the eyes of his daughter and demands to know why his communist bosses didn't inform him better. They act like jerks with him and he starts shouting at them in English. It seems that he was starting to crack their programming and they decide to "store" him for future missions instead of allowing him to be a more "free" agent. We are treated later with flashbacks of more missions and Captain America restoring the mind of his old friend. Now we are on the modern times, Bucky and Natasha decide to make a special visit to someone he hasn't seen for a long time.



* Commissar Chocochuy sheds some Manly Tears *

Now this is a beautiful way to end the tenure of Chris Samnee with the story of Bucky.

Thanks for your attention, comrades!

Comments

[rordulum]

This was a really good issue. Great Darwyn Cooke-esque art from Samnee, which really fit the 50s setting. Nice reveal as to who was narrating (as if we didn't know) and who he was telling the story to. One part that got to me was the offhand reference to Bucky not answering his sister's letters, and it made me realise that this little girl never saw her brother again from the time she went to boarding school. Perhaps never even heard from him.

I continue to love the Bucky/Natasha relationship, even when presented in its initial stages as here. I like that Brubaker seems completely committed to showing it as a loving, deep relationship (until some other writer comes along and fucks it up, naturally). It feels real, with weight and history, unlike so many comic book relationships, that never seem to get past the superficial.

But I have to say, the scene with Winter Soldier killing the defector was pretty harrowing. Natasha just taking the child and hiding the murder from her. The fact that neither of them like what they're doing, but neither question it or second guess themselves. It gives me great hope for the Winter Soldier ongoing, that we're really going to see how down and dirty things got for Bucky, and how he comes to terms with those memories.

[amancalledblaze]

Wow!
That was an amazing little story. I really wish I could have followed all this, but sadly money issues kept it from happening, and I didn't want to pirate a book that was so damn good.

[pyynk]

I hate that Samnee is leaving because this first arc has been fantastic! That said, I can't wait to see Francavilla's run!

[icon_uk]

Nice that Bucky's sister has been remembered, the story where Cap finds out that she exists (Bucky never talked about her, and Steve was never told) is rather a sweet one IIRC.