Ed-Brubaker

There used to be a saying in comics that nobody stays dead except Bucky Barnes and Uncle Ben. In 2005 Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting decided to break that rule by bringing Bucky back and what followed was one of the best runs on Captain America and the introduction of the Winter Soldier to the Marvel Universe. That decision, while controversial to some longtime fans, was so well executed that now, less than ten years later, the character has hit the big screen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There was widespread excitement on the Internet as soon as Marvel announced the title of the Captain America movie. At the time I hadn’t read the Captain America comics that reintroduced Bucky, but even I was thrilled at the announcement. Anyone that followed Marvel Comics knew that bringing in the Winter Soldier was going to make for an emotionally powerful story. Comic storytelling is at its best when there are real emotional stakes for the heroes and it’s hard to get more personal than your best friend and beloved side kick being resurrected as a seemingly unstoppable foe. Bucky Barnes has always been an extremely important part of Steve Rogers’ history. During the Golden Age he was Steve’s sidekick—back when Captain America was part of Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel. They fought side by side during World War II, but he seemingly died during the war. During the same incident that killed Bucky, Captain America was frozen in the ice not to awaken again until the Avengers found him. Since that time various authors have addressed Bucky’s loss and what it means to Steve. Dealing with that loss is one of the most defining aspects of his character. Then Bucky came back.

The first full-length trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy was released this week and it marks the tenth movie that will be released in the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe, joining the Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Avengers movie franchises as well as The Incredible Hulk movie and the television show Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Also coming from Marvel Studios this year is Captain America: The Winter Soldier which continues the Captain America franchise and seems to be tied very closely to the S.H.I.E.L.D. stories and characters that featured in Avengers. These will be the last two movies before all the interconnecting threads meet again in Avengers: Age of Ultron and I thought I’d do an early overview of them both.

While I was on vacation last week Image Comics announced a boatload of new series coming out soon. Here they are: The Fade Out I’m not a huge fan of Ed Brubaker, but I do respect his work on Fatale. It’s going to be ending after its 24th issue and Brubaker will be working with Sean Phillips (who he also worked on Fatale with) on The Fade Out. Here’s how Brubaker describes it: The Fade Out is my ultimate noir story. It’s a brutal crime story set in late ’40s Hollywood, and all spinning around the mysterious death of an up-and-coming starlet. For people who’ve been waiting for us to return to Criminal, this will be exactly what they’re looking for, but on a much more epic scale—going from studio backlots to the debauchery of the rich and famous, and even stretching back to the horrors of World War Two. I am a fan of noir, but what’s really exciting about this announcement is how it’s shaking up the industry. Phillips and Brubaker will have full creative control and ownership of their projects at Image for the next five years. Image Comics was founded because of the Big Two having ownership of characters created while working for them. But this is an even further move. I think this new move is motivated by Thrillbent and Panel Syndicate proving that the Internet is finally coming through on its promise of no longer needing a publisher. So if publishers want to stay in business, they need to provide something above and beyond what creators can get doing it on their own. It’s an exciting shakeup that could lead to even more creative works in a space that really needs it.

Should a superhero kill? What happens if he does? Those are questions that are constantly being asked by creators and fans of superhero comics. Every character approaches that question differently: Batman never kills, but Superman has under extreme circumstances even though he has a strict moral code against it. Part of Wolverine’s popularity centers on the fact that he is a warrior who will do what he deems necessary, which includes killing. Then you have characters like the Punisher, who are popular because they feed into our id by killing criminals without hesitation and with great prejudice, the way we know we never can. ...

[caption id=“attachment_560” align=“alignright” width=“271” caption=“Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand”] [/caption] As I did with Amazing Spider-Man’s “Brand New Day”, I’d like to use the purchase of a trade paperback to take a look at a complete story arc. This time I’ll be looking at Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand. This story arc takes place in the aftermath of the crazy Messiah CompleX, in which the first post-M-Day mutant was born. At the end of that arc Cyclops proclaims that the X-Men are no more. Given that, there are certain expectations that come from an arc called “Divided We Stand”. ...