The Unknown Soldier

The concept of the Winter Soldier, introduced by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting in the fall of 2005, played out well in both the Captain America comic and its film adaptation nine years later--with the basic presentation of the Soldier as a Soviet operative during the Cold War remaining intact, while differing in the methods by which Cap discovers that his former partner did not meet his death in a tragic accident during the closing days of World War II and had instead been co-opted as a ruthless assassin carrying out assignments sporadically through the decades.

At the time, Brubaker's story was considered both bold and controversial, the character of Bucky Barnes having been one of the last bastions of those who had been sent to the grave and permitted to remain there, escaping the fate of being brought back for shock value and thus debasing the powerful ripple effect that their deaths would generate for future stories. Bucky has "returned" in one form or another... as a delusion of Dr. Faustus, or as a tool used by M.O.D.O.K., or as the chosen partner of the Cap of the 1950s who bore a resemblance to the real McCoy; but I was certainly one of those who would have bet my entire collection on the assumption that Marvel would never have given serious thought to undoing the death that had haunted Steve Rogers and, as a result, added a great deal of dimension to a man struggling to find his place in the 20th century. No--this was the one character who couldn't, wouldn't be exhumed. Even in fiction, some things were sacrosanct.

Phooey. I was "dead" wrong, of course (to say nothing of relieved that no one had taken that bet)--and in hindsight, the Winter Soldier served to add another level of tragedy to the story of Bucky Barnes, and, by extension, Captain America. And after all, unless you were invested in the character of Bucky from reading the Captain America comics of the 1940s or from his appearances in the pages of The Invaders, you'd really only have one brief scene from The Avengers #4--the purpose of which was to account for Cap's disappearance in the last days of the war--on which to base your impressions of Cap's young partner, and of his death. All things considered, it would seem to be a character ripe for a new plot, and, with the right story, a new life.

While both Brubaker's story and the film have strong merits and both stand very well on their own, the differences between their plots are really quite interesting--mainly, the fact that originally it's the Cosmic Cube that figures centrally in Cap's discovery of Bucky's activities as the Soldier. There is also the figure of Aleksander Lukin, a rogue Soviet general and CEO of the Kronas Corporation, who discovers the Soldier in stasis and has him murder the Red Skull to obtain what is at this point a damaged Cube. Lukin then proceeds to carry out a revenge plot against Cap--first, by having the Soldier kill Jack Monroe, the 1950s Bucky who had eventually been taken under Cap's wing and later assumed the costumed identity of the Nomad, and then having the Soldier set off a WMD in Philadelphia designed by A.I.M. to recharge the Cube while setting up Monroe as the fall guy.

But in a S.H.I.E.L.D. briefing conducted by Nick Fury and Agent 13 (Sharon Carter), Cap learns there is much more to the Philadelphia bombing, including the possibility of a new suspect--a Soviet operative and Cold War assassin who is disturbingly familiar to everyone in the room.

And attached to this figure is also a history, a series of coincidental sightings attached to figures who have been targeted over the years by what appears to be the same man--a man whose age is roughly only eight years older than that of James Buchanan Barnes at the time of his presumed death in 1945.

Fury speaks of the aftermath of the Philadelphia bombing, where Cap tangles with A.I.M. agents at the scene--and one other figure, who disappeared before Cap could investigate further.

Following a disastrous mission by Cap and SHIELD to confront Lukin, the man himself twists the knife by having delivered to Cap's apartment a secret KGB dossier on the Winter Soldier Project that convinces Cap of the Soldier's bona fides--a well-timed segment that also serves to engage the reader even more in this unusual and riveting story. And to whet our appetite, a brief scene that lets us look in on the news of Cap's death in '45 reaching a Soviet sub, which subsequently makes a discovery that will set these wheels in motion.

It makes perfect sense that those heading the Project might be initially interested in Bucky's body because of the possibility that its blood might be carrying the super-soldier serum. (Apparently the Russians had no access to whatever German intelligence existed on Project: Rebirth.) Only when the doctors discover otherwise do they turn in another direction nine years later, deciding to make use of their American and "refit" him as a covert operative. It's admittedly a horrific fate for this young man, a hero of World War II who now faces a living hell as a programmed tool who will be used to effect carefully planned political change by murdering innocent people.

Cap's thoughts on the matter are also complicated by Sharon being convinced that there is nothing left of Bucky in the Soldier (something that the KGB dossier backs up, to an extent), and that he should be killed--though she's also biased toward that course of action given that the Soldier detonated the device that killed fellow SHIELD agent Neal Tapper, whom she was close to.

In agreement with Agent 13, Fury makes a call to another friend of Cap's who might have better luck reaching him--and indeed this person does, in a conversation that is beautifully executed by Brubaker and stays true to the character of both of the men in question.

Meanwhile, due to severe injuries suffered by his closest friend at his hands, which he believes to be the result of possessing the Cube, Lukin instructs the Soldier to remove it to a secure location in the mountains of West Virginia, unaware that Cap and the Falcon have found a way to track it with the help of Tony Stark. However, their arrival has not gone unnoticed by their foe--yet even as he takes aim, the Falcon is alerted to his position, giving Cap the opportunity he needs to put the Soldier on the defensive.

In this second meeting between Cap and the Soldier, we see that the latter, while a skilled fighter in his own right, hasn't been souped up like his film counterpart and cannot simply shrug off blows rained against him as if they weren't there. His only advantages here are whatever weaponry he's carrying as well as his cybernetic arm--but Cap has had experience dealing with both, in his time, which, combined with the fact that he knows the capabilities of the man he's fighting, perhaps makes this fight a foregone conclusion.

Yet a pulled weapon distracts Cap long enough for the Soldier to make a dive for him and regain the advantage, with Cap continuing to try to get through to him--that is, the real him. Finally, Cap decides to go for broke in terms of sacrificing his own safety to reach his friend--but even so, what happens next seems like the workings of a plan on Cap's part, one designed to give Bucky his freedom at last.

The gambit successful, even Sharon must accept that the person she wanted to see dead is no longer present. For Bucky, however, that's debatable, since Cap's order to the Cube didn't include any language about forgetting the acts he'd committed over the past few decades.*

*According to the KGB dossier, the Soldier ceased his Cold War assignments in early 1973 after fifteen years, having gone off the grid following a mission in America where he assassinated a U.S. Senator. After two weeks, he was recovered in New York City in a confused state and presumably put back into stasis while noting his mental instability; but in 1983, he was revived and assigned to the Middle East for five years as the personal bodyguard to Maj. Gen. Vasily Karpov (Lukin's former mentor) while sabotaging American interests in that region, after which he was decommissioned and again stored in stasis. Curiously, according to the Falcon, it's only been just over ten years since Cap was freed from his own icy state, which would put his revival by the Avengers at around 1995.

The story of the Winter Soldier has ended on paper--but for Bucky, the task of coming to terms with what has happened to him is just beginning. With his next act, however, it seems to Sharon and the Falcon that he's chosen to balance the scales by ending his own life.

Yet Cap feels certain that his friend is still alive somewhere--and we see that's indeed the case, as Bucky is shown to have returned to the now-abandoned Fort Lehigh army base, the site of his training, where he met Cpl. Steve Rogers and was approached to become the partner of Captain America (a retcon that veers from the original version). Alone in a deserted base with his memories of that day, it's a scene that brings the character full circle, along with no small amount of anguish.