If the rumor mill is to be believed, it looks like Steve Rogers is going to back to throwing his mighty shield soon. And it makes sense, from a business standpoint. Yes, Bucky is awesome, but the Captain America movie is going to (hopefully) bring in a slew of new readers, and it wouldn’t be fair to drop them into an ongoing with a Cap they weren’t familiar with. Plus, with the way the ongoing is currently going, it will probably end up making sense story-wise — which, you know, is kind of important. There’s one problem though: James Buchanan Barnes has become one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe, and I’d hate for him to just drop off the map. Follow the cut for what I think should be done with Bucky once (and if) he puts down the shield — assuming he survives Fear Itself, of course.
When Bucky was brought back to the land of the living early in Ed Brubaker’s Captain America run, there was a bit of a mixed reaction amongst the fan community. Over time, though, many (though certainly not all) came to accept Bucky’s return, if only because Brubaker made this modern iteration of the character — for lack of a better way to put it — totally f***ing bad-ass. Upon Bucky’s release from his brainwashing, readers soon realized that the “new” Bucky wasn’t just an awesome gun-toting super soldier, but an interesting character to boot. This was made even more evident during “The Death of Captain America,” and has been all but made pure truth with the recent character-centric arc(s) in Captain America. I understand that maybe it’s time to have Steve back in the star-spangled duds, but can we throw such a great character to the dogs? I say thee nay. True, so long as Brubaker is on the title, I’m sure we’ll see more of Bucky — again, assuming he survives Fear Itself — but Bucky is a character who deserves his own ongoing series.
The question is, what would said ongoing be about? Picture this: Bucky Barnes, International Man of Mystery. Well, not quite, but you get the idea. Brubaker’s Captain America run has had a bit of an espionage flair to it since it started, and while it was great while it starred Steve, I think Bucky fit that tone even better. To me, Barnes is the Super Spy to Rogers’ Super Soldier, and I’d love to see that be given more of an examination. I know we already have a James Bond of sorts for the Marvel Universe, but lately he’s been more of an administrative figure and team leader than a solitary operative — not that I’m complaining, as Hickman’s Secret Warriors has been amazing. I’d love to see Bucky as Marvel’s rising top spy, working espionage missions with Natasha at his side, whether for S.H.I.E.L.D. or just for the ol’ Yoo Ess of Ay. Think of it as penance for his old days killing people for the commies.
Now, when it comes to writers, I wanted to avoid the obvious. Really, I did. But, after much deliberation, I really can’t imagine anyone writing this hypothetical ongoing but — surprise, surprise — Ed Brubaker. There are certainly plenty of other writers that could do such a series justice: Jim McCann, Greg Rucka, and Duane Swierczynski all come to mind. Still, Bucky is more or less Brubaker’s character at this point, and I really can’t see anyone else handling him near as well. Additionally, Ed Brubaker’s best superhero work is that which strays away from normal superhero comic conventions, and — with Bucky out of the Cap costume — I feel that Brubaker would really be able to shine in that regard with a sort of spy thriller. I’m still not sure who would be the best artistic fit were this to be more “modern,” but if we were to go with an all-out 70s James Bond sort of homage, I’ll agree with our site’s editor-in-chief that Philip Bond could work wonders.
Once more, all this daydreaming will just hurt me in the end if Fear Itself kills our dear Mr. Barnes, as many are speculating, but it’s nice to play pretend every now and then.
