Is Bucky Back?

(This article contains spoilers)

After all the speculating and complaining, we finally have an answer. In the brand new pages of Fear Itself 7.1, Marvel revealed a brand new ongoing series, written by Ed Brubaker and drawn by Butch Guice: The Winter Soldier.

When we last saw Bucky Barnes he had supposedly met his demise at the hands of the new Red Skull, Sin. It wasn't a fitting conclusion to say the least, to a character that had become incredibly popular with fans. Readers were sceptical, how could Brubaker let this happen? Bucky Barnes, one of the coolest comic book characters of this generation, a character who had become incredibly popular as Captain America had been given a pointless death, for shock value in the summer's comic book event Fear Itself. Thankfully, Brubaker had a plan, and I for one can't wait.

In the new Fear Itself 7.1 issue we learn that Bucky did indeed survive. After suffering an attack from Sin, Bucky's body was switched with a lifeless L.M.D (Life-Model-Decoy) while he recovered in secret. This led to the world believing Bucky had died, allowing him to now work in secret. To say the least, Steve wasn't pleased when finding out Nick Fury and Black Widow had manipulated his emotions to get him to wear the shield again. It was a great emotional payoff for readers who were left stumbled as to why Steve had barely reacted to his former partners death during Fear Itself.

As for the new Winter Soldier series starting in January I can't wait. It will be great to see Bucky back in a more black-ops role, and the series is sure to be dramatic with Barnes feeling responsible for training the sleeper agents during his time as the Winter Soldier. I'm sure we'll see some fallout from everyone else being in the dark over Bucky's survival at some point in the future. Add this secret to Steve Rogers's resume, along with his recent role in hiding the Infinity Gems, Rogers is going to have some questions to answer at some point.

I'm thrilled with Brubaker's decision on this one. He has kept this a well kept secret for months, but now Bucky's story is set to enter a new stage. With all the criticism aimed at the comic book industry for too many pointless character deaths, it's very gratifying to know one of my favourite characters has managed to avoid the chop.

Make Mine Marvel!

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