#Tony Brubaker

[agentxthirteen]

Sharon-A-Day, Day 654 (10/16/23)

Captain America V5 50. On sale 5/20/09. "Days Gone By"

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Penciller: Luke Ross

Inker: Rick Magyar

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Colorist: Frank D'Armata

Just because Bucky's Cap doesn't mean Sharon's done protecting Captain America!

[comicbooksaregood]

Captain America

Volume: 5

Issue: 13

The Winter Soldier: Part 5

Writers: Ed Brubaker

Pencils: Steve Epting

Inks: Steve Epting, Mike Perkins

Colours: Frank D'Armata

Covers: Steve Epting

Marvel

[winteriron-trash]

rdj the (whitewashed) electric boogaloo

This is a reminder to everyone who's excited about RDJ's casting as Doctor Doom that this casting is whitewashing. Victor Von Doom is a Romani character and has been a Romani character since his introduction in the 1960s. (Fantastic Four Annual #2 [1964]) Not only that, but his Roma identity and the persecution he and his family faced due to it is integral to his character, it is what forms his identity. (Books of Doom by Ed Brubaker) Even if on the off chance this casting is meant to not be Victor but instead be some variant of Tony or whomever else becoming Doctor Doom, it is damaging to the character to rob him of that important cultural background. Doctor Doom does not exist without that history. Fans have been pushing hard to cast Doom as a Romani actor for years, especially since the MCU has whitewashed other Romani characters. (Wanda, Pietro, etc) This casting is not a celebration moment, it's fucking heartbreaking that the MCU repeatedly ignores the important and nuanced cultural backstories of characters.

I know I can't change anybody's mind on whether or not you want to be excited about RDJ's return to the MCU. But I do think at the very least you should be mad that the MCU is baiting us all and destroying nuanced and interesting characters for the sake of self-referential easter eggs and nostalgia bait. Because that's what it is. Feel how you'd like to feel about RDJ's return, but personally, this is soul-sucking. I had such a deep love for the MCU as a teenager, it was obviously something incredibly formative to me, especially Tony Stark. This isn't recreating what I fell in love with the MCU for. This is turning a well-planned and artistic storyline of adaptations into cheap cash grabs and fan service. Because, I think we're past the point of being able to call the MCU an adaptation of anything. They can use existing characters' names and powers, but to say they're being properly adapted is laughable.

This is not an adaptation of Doctor Doom. This is RDJ the Electric Boogaloo because Marvel's fear of losing the interest of dedicated MCU fans overrides their willingness to tell stories that are genuine to the characters. I don't know what there is to be excited about that. The MCU has lost its authenticity and aside from a few projects, feels heartless. Every movie is a copy of a copy. This announcement isn't something celebratory, it feels like a death knell of a cinematic universe that's so desperate to cling to relevancy it's resorting to nostalgia for a character/actor who hasn't even been dead for a decade. We're not getting anything new, we're just rinsing and repeating the same song and dance.

I get it. I love Tony Stark, his death destroyed me and I to this day, rue the ending he got in Endgame. It misunderstood his arc and it robbed him of a satisfying conclusion. But the solution to that isn't dragging the corpse out of the grave five years later to whitewash an existing character with rich and interesting nuance, just to forcibly tie his existence in the MCU to Tony. Whether he is a variant or not. Why would you want someone else's fave's legacy to be destroyed simply so your fave's legacy can go on? Hell, if we were really all so hellbent on the return of RDJ and/or Tony to the MCU, we have the multiverse for a reason. There were other ways to do it that didn't whitewash and ruin someone else. This just. Isn't something to be happy about.

[book--brackets]

[burningfudge]

I'm rereading New Avengers Vol 1, and I forgot how much I loved it. The dialogue isn't the best (typical Bendis) but the story, damn. I remember how my mind had been blown after the reveal that Jessica had been a Skrull the entire time and the absolute chaos the rest of the Skrulls caused.

That comic removed Jessica Drew from irrelevancy, cemented Jessica Jones and Luke Cage as mainstay characters, and gave us Avenger family feels for a short while before Civil War. And while I'm not a fan of many of the choices made with Carol, Natasha, and Tony, the storytelling was fantastic.

Speaking about Natasha - it's so funny that she was arresting superheroes who haven't signed SHRA while her boyfriend was Captain America, who definitely hadn't signed it and was also hosting unregistered superheroes in his apartment. And then over in Brubaker’s Cap, she’s helping Sam and Sharon who are also unregistered. Like girl, what are you doing 😭

New Avengers made every event from Secret War feel like it had consequences since everything was affecting each other, which is something that can be a positive thing but also a negative thing. I do think Marvel sort of lost the impact of their events during the late 2010s/early 2020s after Secret Wars until now. Like no one wants to bring up Civil War II, Secret Empire, Judgement Day, etc. However, Blood Hunt seems like it's going to have quite a big impact with One World Under Doom, so let's see.

[ulkaralakbarova]

The adventures of two amiably aimless metal-head friends, Wayne and Garth. From Wayne’s basement, the pair broadcast a talk-show called “Wayne’s World” on local public access television. The show comes to the attention of a sleazy network executive who wants to produce a big-budget version of “Wayne’s World”—and he also wants Wayne’s girlfriend, a rock singer named Cassandra. Wayne and Garth have to battle the executive not only to save their show, but also Cassandra. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Wayne Campbell: Mike Myers Garth Algar: Dana Carvey Benjamin Kane: Rob Lowe Cassandra: Tia Carrere Stacy: Lara Flynn Boyle Dreamwoman: Donna Dixon Security Guard: Chris Farley Noah Vanderhoff: Brian Doyle-Murray Alan: Michael DeLuise Tiny: Meat Loaf Bad Cop / T-1000: Robert Patrick Alice Cooper: Alice Cooper Glen: Ed O’Neill Mrs. Vanderhoff: Colleen Camp Terry: Lee Tergesen Russell Finley: Kurt Fuller Davy: Mike Hagerty Ron Paxton: Charles Noland Elyse: Ione Skye Frankie Sharp: Frank DiLeo Waitress: Robin Ruzan Officer Koharski: Frederick Coffin Old Man Withers: Carmen Filpi Film Crew: Original Music Composer: J. Peter Robinson Screenplay: Mike Myers Executive Producer: Hawk Koch Director of Photography: Theo van de Sande Director: Penelope Spheeris Producer: Lorne Michaels Editor: Malcolm Campbell Stunts: Hannah Kozak Stunts: Alisa Christensen Associate Producer: Dinah Minot Associate Producer: Barnaby Thompson Screenplay: Bonnie Turner Screenplay: Terry Turner Casting: Glenn Daniels Production Design: Gregg Fonseca Second Unit Director: Allan Graf First Assistant Director: John Hockridge Second Assistant Director: Joseph J. Kontra Set Decoration: Jay Hart Camera Operator: Martin Schaer “B” Camera Operator: David Hennings First Assistant Camera: Henry Tirl First Assistant “B” Camera: Peter Mercurio Steadicam Operator: Elizabeth Ziegler Script Supervisor: Adell Aldrich Sound Mixer: Tom Nelson Boom Operator: Jerome R. Vitucci Additional Editor: Earl Ghaffari Assistant Editor: Ralph O. Sepulveda Jr. Assistant Editor: Ann Trulove Assistant Editor: Brion McIntosh Supervising Sound Editor: John Benson Sound Effects Editor: Beth Sterner Sound Effects Editor: Joseph A. Ippolito Sound Effects Editor: Frank Howard Dialogue Editor: Michael Magill Dialogue Editor: Simon Coke Dialogue Editor: Bob Newlan Supervising ADR Editor: Allen Hartz Foley Supervisor: Pamela Bentkowski Assistant Sound Editor: Carolina Beroza Assistant Sound Editor: Thomas W. Small Foley Artist: Ken Dufva Foley Artist: David Lee Fein Foley Mixer: Greg Curda ADR Mixer: Bob Baron ADR Voice Casting: Barbara Harris Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Andy Nelson Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Steve Pederson Sound Re-Recording Mixer: Tom Perry Music Supervisor: Maureen Crowe Supervising Music Editor: Steve Mccroskey Set Designer: Lisette Thomas Set Designer: Gae S. Buckley Special Effects Makeup Artist: Thomas R. Burman Special Effects Makeup Artist: Bari Dreiband-Burman Makeup Artist: Courtney Carell Makeup Artist: Mel Berns Jr. Hairstylist: Kathrine Gordon Hairstylist: Barbara Lorenz Hairstylist: Carol Meikle Costume Supervisor: Pat Tonnema Costumer: Janet Sobel Costumer: Kimberly Guenther Durkin Location Manager: Ned R. Shapiro Assistant Location Manager: Serena Baker Second Second Assistant Director: John G. Scotti Property Master: Kirk Corwin Assistant Property Master: Peter A. Tullo Assistant Property Master: Jim Stubblefield Leadman: Robert Lucas Special Effects Coordinator: Tony Vandenecker Chief Lighting Technician: Jono Kouzouyan Production Office Coordinator: Lynne White Unit Publicist: Tony Angelotti Still Photographer: Suzanne Tenner Craft Service: Vartan Chakarian Transportation Coordinator: James Thornsberry Color Timer: David Bryden Negative Cutter: Theresa Repola Mohammed Title Designer: Dan Curry Second Unit Director of Photography: Robert M. Stevens Stunts: Tony Brubaker Stunt Double: Steve Kelso Movie Reviews: tmdb15435519: I wish I could dress the exact same every day and still be cool.

[sineala]

I’m excited for Jed MacKay’s Avengers and I love the way he writes Tony 🥰. And while I am a little bummed Steve isn’t on THIS team, I love that Captain America Sam is now back on a team with Tony

What are some of you favourite Sam and Tony moments (shippy or otherwise)? I haven’t read all of All New All Different but I liked what I have read of Sam and Tony in that run

And what are some of you favourite Jed MacKay comics? You mentioned you liked his Strange work.

I'm always a little sad when Steve and Tony aren't on a team together, and I am even more sad now that it's Jed MacKay on Avengers just like we all wanted... but we don't get Steve & Tony. I am holding out hope that maybe Steve will join them.

I do really like Sam in team books -- I feel like he hasn't actually been showcased all that well in his own Cap solo books, sadly -- and I feel like ANAD Avengers was a run with a lot of potential that unfortunately ran into a bunch of line-wide events and didn't really get a time to develop as a team, but I loved the "Sam and Tony mentoring a bunch of teenagers" angle because I think that's a role we haven't gotten to see them in all that much.

If you want to see Sam & Tony working together and you want a little more feeling than ANAD Avengers has, what you really want is Brubaker-era Captain America, especially after Steve's death. Sam and Tony, like Tony and Bucky, kind of triangulate around Steve, their shared interest.

I have added some panels below.

You can see this even in ANAD, where from the very first issue, they're just talking about Steve:

I think both of those exchanges are Tony just spontaneously bringing up Steve, actually. He and Steve just do this to other people about each other. (My favorite moment is that one SWORD issue where they're talking about colonizing Mars and no one has said anything about Tony and then Steve just launches into an impromptu speech about how amazing Tony is.)

But, anyway, yeah, Cap comics after Steve's death are I think where it's at for Sam & Tony. They're two of Steve's pallbearers in Fallen Son #5:

In that issue, Sam is also the one who steps up and actually gives a eulogy when Tony just can't keep it together long enough to say anything.

But what you actually want to read is Brubaker Cap, because Sam and Tony are working together and dealing with the loss of Steve. Here's Tony explaining that Sharon killed Steve, to Sam, in Cap v5 #31:

I would recommend it over ANAD if you're looking for emotional character moments involving the two of them -- as far as I can remember, when they both appear in the main Avengers line together over the years, they mostly tend to just focus on work.

As for Jed MacKay, I loved his IM & Avengers annuals and the Iron Cat mini, but I have really, really loved his Strange run so far; it is easily my favorite run in the modern revamp of Strange. I liked the Aaron, Cates, and Waid runs decently well (and my opinion ascends in that order). I own most of them in trade; I hadn't been buying the single issues. And then MacKay came on the book and I thought, "Okay, well, Death of Doctor Strange. That doesn't sound like something I want to read. Definitely not gonna subscribe to that one." Then I actually read it and I realized it was better than all three of those runs and I immediately subscribed to it. So he's got me actually buying Strange in floppies, FWIW.

The reason his Strange run is so good for me is also why his characterization of Tony is so good for me -- somehow what he writes is exactly what I want. He's clearly read canon and is pulling all these little moments and obscure details and getting all the feelings and the character dynamics right. Like, you know how that Avengers Annual is just an entire annual of Steve and Tony hanging out and fighting villains together and even the villain knows how important they are to each other because they make them fight versions of each other? If you were like "I want an issue that's really about Steve and Tony" it is just... exactly what you want. His Strange run is like that for Strange & Clea.

I was going to explain exactly what I liked about his Strange but that's a whole other post and I realized after taking a dozen screencaps that you didn't actually ask me to summarize it, so I won't unless you actually want me to. The short answer is that I am a massive Strange/Clea shipper -- and I was fairly bitter about the way Waid left them in his run -- and apparently so is Jed MacKay because he has devoted his entire run so far to getting them back together, in an extremely romantic way. They finally accept what they mean to each other, and then Strange dies, Clea becomes Sorcerer Supreme, and she is going to move heaven and earth to get him back. Featuring massive amounts of identity porn, the angsty inability to touch each other, and the sexy sexy life/death metaphors that we all wish Hickman's Avengers run had given to Steve/Tony but hey here they are. This is what the entire Strange run is about. It is solely "Clea's gonna get her husband back and set you on fire if you get in her way." That is the plot.

Like, it is somehow exactly perfectly the thing I want even though somehow I did not know until I read it that it was exactly that thing.

[glorioustidalwavedefendor]

someone: "I don’t think (Loki) was tortured and brainwashed into working with Thanos- that would just reduce his entire moral conflict down to nothing."

I have to respectfully disagree

(Beside the fact that the torture is canon, but again that is really beside the fact becasue this is about writting)

Someones inner conflict does not have to have anything to do with facts or logic or anything tangible

-> Survivors guilt

-> Or really ask anyone who is a suvivor of abuse, ... a lot of survivors have to actively work for yeasr to forgive their younger self for BEEING abused ... if that is not fucked up then I dodn't know ...

You can have someone be inocent and still be conflicted about things they did under dures or even against their will

internal conflict and guilt can drive a story, (...) For years in the Brubaker comics, Bucky would say things like, "I did terrible things, I have to atone" and Steve and Sam and Natasha and even Tony would say something like, "That's bullshit and nobody actually thinks you're a monster." And the conflict in the story was a man with tremendous guilt trying to redeem himself while people who love him try to keep him alive. That setup was dramatic as fuck and it basically made Bucky as a character.

[geekcavepodcast]

DC Comics Announces DC Compact Comics Line

DC Comics has announced a new line for their graphic novels - DC Compact Comics. The DC Compact Comics will feature a 5.5" x 85" standard book trim for trade paperbacks novels, retailing at $9.99 US.

DC Compact Comics will begin going on sale in June 2024. Titles launching in 2024 include:

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely

Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell

Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison and Yanick Paquette

American Vampire Book One by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, and Rafael Albuquerque

Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee

Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo

Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens by Paul Dini, Peter Calloway, Tony Bedard, Guillem March, and Andres Guinaldo

Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke and Ed Brubaker

(Image via DC Comics - Size Comparison of 6 5/8" x 10 3/16" Trade Paperback vs. 5.5" x 8.5" Compact Paperback)

[buckymilf]

thinking abt how TFATWS blamed Bucky for being HYDRA's slave ortured and experimented on, blamed by the therapist he's forced with by the governm., blamed by all the characters thru the show even blamed by the Titular character as "tough love". And they want us to believe it's development and not more charac-destruction like mcu justifying tony trying to murder Bucky. all that and Bucky still only gets called "Winter Soldier" in titles & Steve is still the only one who Knows and Defends Bucky 🙃

yeah totally, it's no new news to no one at this point that marvel currently just want the audience to see bucky as guilty, hence why he's in thunderbolts now, they will probably call him an anti-hero or worst, former-villain when he actually was never those two things

also, fyi, bucky continuing to get called the winter soldier is a little more complicated than it looks, and has a lot to do with marvel not wanting to credit his creator aka ed brubaker (the man wasn't even credited or received a penny for tfatws even though his character is LITERALLY on the title)

[daydreamerdrew]

Comics read this past week:

Marvel Comics:

Captain America (2002) #27-32

These issues were published across June 2004 to October 2004. Issues #27-28 were the storyline “Requiem,” and issues #29-32 were the storyline “Super Patriot.” Issues #27-28 were written by Robert Morales, penciled by Eddie Campbell, inked by Stewart McKenny, and Brian Reber. Issues #29-32 were written by Robert Kirkman, penciled by Scot Eaton, inked by Drew Geraci, and colored by Rob Schwager. Issues #27-31 were 22 pages, and issue #32 was 23 pages.

Reading these issues was just to finish off this series; I didn’t care for any of it. This was my first time reading anything written by Robert Kirkman, most famous for The Walking Dead (2003) and Invincible (2003), and I was surprised that I found his work here to be so terrible. I will say that it impresses me that this book was followed up by Ed Brubaker’s long and well-regarded run writing Captain America.

In issue #27 Steve’s told by a civilian friend, while discussing 9/11, “It’ll probably take an entire new generation of New Yorkers to get over it.” Steve asks in response, “[W]hat generation got over the Holocaust?”

And after a presidential candidate is seemingly killed in a large terrorist attack, Tony tells Steve, “Every day, it’s always 9-11 somewhere,” which I don’t think is true.

Issue #28 introduces an alternate version of Isaiah Bradley. In the main continuity he was the first Captain America, but was badly mistreated by the U.S. government and has been severely limited by brain damage for decades. This other Isaiah was the President of the United States from 2005 to 2013. He explains, “Once I got the Super Serum, I tomcatted for years and gave up on settling down.” And, of Becky Barnes, “My Bucky didn’t die in the war… and he was always cleaning up after my indiscretions. Becky’s my blood kin, but it was Buck that adopted her- after both gave up on my ever finding time for being a proper father.” Bucky died stopping a terrorist during Isaiah’s presidential campaign, and Isaiah says, “I didn’t drop out of the election, and I was less available once I won.” Becky developed serious mental problems after that.

Diamondback is Steve’s love interest in “Super Patriot.” In the end it’s revealed that the Rachel that Steve’s been spending time with isn’t the real Diamondback, but only a “new, improved and advanced life model decoy.” It’s explained, “For all intents and purposes that is Diamondback. Her brain scan was downloaded in such a way that it’s a flawless reproduction. The problem is, they don’t even know they’re not the real thing. When you try to tell them what they are- they get a little dangerous.” This isn’t a new concept at all; Scorpio had an L.M.D. of Nick Fury exactly like that in the 70s. Steve watches, uncomfortable, as the Diamondback L.M.D. is taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D. and begs for his help, but he doesn’t do or say anything in her defense. I thought that this was out of character for him. It specifically made me think of his defense of that Nick Fury L.M.D. in Secret Avengers (2010) #5, in which he cited his friendships with the original Human Torch and the Vision.

Captain America: What Price Glory? (2003) #1-4

These issues were all published in March 2003. All were written by Bruce Jones, penciled by Steve Rude, inked by Mike Royer, and colored by Chris Sotomayor. All were 22 pages.

I thought at first that the art style was clearly Jack Kirby-inspired, but at the same time I did recognize Steve Rube’s work from having read World’s Finest (1999) #1-3, which starred Batman and Superman, characters with no relation to Jack Kirby, so I’m not sure much had to be changed for that effect for this miniseries. Unfortunately, though I hoped this book would be a sort of different-company counterpart to it, I didn’t think the story of this series was nearly as strong as World’s Finest (1999)’s. I did previously enjoy another Captain America story written by Bruce Jones, an 8-page story set during WWII in the anthology Captain America: Red, White and Blue (2002).

There was a lot going on in this miniseries, the first issue in particular felt crammed. I really wasn’t into the themes of this book, about trust and how Steve relates to women, or at least how they were approached in this particular story. Nor was I into what the situations prompted as demonstrations of Steve’s characterization. The plot felt cheap. The artwork was great, and in particular I really liked the fight scenes, which aren’t what I normally am the most into. And I did also enjoy the dialogue in the fight scenes, too.

Captain America (2013) #1-10

These issues were published across November 2012 to August 2013. This was the storyline “Castaway in Dimension Z.” All were written by Rick Remember, and all but issue #9 was penciled by John Romita Jr. Issues #1-4 were inked by Klaus Janson. Issue #5 was inked by Tom Palmer and Scott Hanna. Issues #6 and #10 were inked by Tom Palmer, Klaus Janson, and Scott Hanna. Issues #7-8 were inked by Scott Hanna and Klaus Janson. And the breakdowns of issue #9 were drawn by John Romita Jr. and then were finished by Klaus Janson, Scott Hanna, and Tom Palmer. Issues #1-2 and #10 were 22 pages, issues #3 and #5-9 were 20 pages, and issue #4 was 21 pages.

I skimmed through the first issue of this series back when I finished Ed Brubaker’s run writing Captain America and decided I wasn’t interested that in this run. But now I’m reading it since I’m apparently jumping around Steve’s modern books, while also working my way through his Golden and Silver Age appearances in order. What I’ve previously read that’s written by Rick Remember are the “Descendants” and “Rise of the Descendants” storylines in Secret Avengers (2010), which I enjoyed and are the issues that got me to really pay attention to that book. And also, more relevant to this, he wrote Winter Soldier: The Bitter March (2014), which did a great job of emphasizing how important Steve is to Bucky, but failed to compel me in the other characters original to it.

I can’t see that I’ve read anything drawn by John Romita Jr. before. His art here wasn’t for me, but I do think it’s possible for his style to work better with another character and setting. The only thing I thought he was bad at drawing was children. And Klaus Janson’s name was immediately recognizable to me because he inked a lot of Sal Buscema’s pencils on The Defenders (1972) across 1974 to 1978. Looking up his other credits I see that he drew the “Gothic” storyline across Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #6-10, and he also inked The Incredible Hulk (1968) #227, which is a really significant issue to me because it’s the story where the Hulk finally goes to therapy.

Issue #1 opens with portraying Steve’s father as abusive when Steve was a child. I have yet to see that portrayed elsewhere. Mythos: Captain America (2008) #1 depicted Steve as particularly wanting to enlist in the regiment his father served in during WWI, during which he “took a bullet during the push for Soissons.” And Steve says, of his father, “I don’t remember much about him. He laughed a lot, I seem to recall, and smelled of applesauce. He died of influenza in 1926 at the age of thirty-three.” I prefer that more mundane portrayal of Steve’s father.

And in issue #1 Steve says, of Sharon having proposed to him, that it “caught me off-guard. In my day it was the man who asked.” I found this characterization surprising for him, because I would have thought Steve would be past those culture shock moments by now. But maybe he’s covering for a more personal hesitation. Steve then thinks that marriage “might not be so bad. Force me to have a life again. I sometimes forget how to be a normal person. I’ve been a soldier for so long… might be there’s no turning back.” This was also surprising to me because Steve is such a strong-willed person- I would think he would either really want to or really not want to get married, that he wouldn’t waffle like this. And the premise that Steve and Sharon are currently dating but them getting married would somehow drastically change Steve’s lifestyle confuses me.

“Castaway in Dimension Z” is about Steve being trapped in another dimension. In the beginning he escapes from Zola’s lab, along with Zola’s infant son, but then Steve finds himself in another world and he doesn’t know the way back to Zola’s kingdom, which is where the portal back to Earth is. Steve raises the boy as his son, naming him Ian, and they live together in that dystopian world for over a decade until they cross paths with Zola again. In the ensuing events Steve is able to turn Zola’s other child, his daughter Jet Black, over to his side. But Ian is brainwashed into hating Steve and joining Zola. And just as Steve is able to get through to his son, Ian is shot by Sharon. She’s confused by Steve saying that he’s been in that other world for years because from her perspective Steve’s only been gone for 30 minutes, and she thinks that Zola implanted false memories into Steve and Ian wasn’t really his son. In the end Sharon sacrifices herself to save Steve and Jet Black, who end up trapped back on Earth with no way back to Dimension Z and don’t know that Ian is really still alive there.

In issue #4 Steve thinks, “I never intended to raise this boy. But I’m glad to have saved him from Zola. Grateful to have had this time, to watch him grow- to train and teach him. To offer him a different path than the one Zola would have mapped. The boy is hot-tempered, sarcastic and brash. But he is also honest, loyal and tenacious. So there is this to be glad for. If I hadn’t stepped on that train I’d never have the privilege of knowing Ian. I’d have never met my son.” And in issue #5 Steve thinks, “The boy has such heart. I won’t fail him. Trained to be a warrior. But he is still a child- a child in danger because of me. Bucky, Nomad- all the young men I’ve led to battle- this fear’s not the same. Ian is my son- the urge to defend him drives me with a fury unlike anything I’ve known. He will not die today.”

In issue #6 Steve is upset about all the time and experiences on Earth that he’s lost, but thinks, “A decade, Arnim. You’ve taken that piece of my life- time I’ll never get back. And you can have it- but you can’t have him. You can’t have his future. He’s not yours. He might have your genes but he’s my son. He’s good at heart, and he’s strong- you’ll never corrupt him.” And he thinks, “I’m bringing him to Earth. To the normal life he deserves.” Steve phrases that later in issue #7 as that he’s bringing Ian “Home to his piece of the dream I fought so hard for.”

In issue #6 Steve thinks, after finally finding Zola’s kingdom, “The daily cost of survival here- the constant danger- left me numb- but this horror, piles of casually discarded bodies- draws up dark memories of old wars.” And he thinks, “Earth… a distant memory now. Been here longer than the 21st century waiting for me. This place- it’s become my normal. This is the life I lead now. The world I know.”

In a flashback scene in issue #7 to an earlier peaceful time with Ian, before the boy was captured, Steve says of his own father that “He was crushed by the weight of hard times- but he was a good man” and that “He was drinking, escaping what he saw as a hopeless situation the only way he could. Over time he just… disappeared.” And Steve says he’s realized, “I did disappear. Became a slave to an ideal, disappeared into duty. And instead of abusing those I loved… I was entirely unavailable to them. But that’s done- I’m always going to be here for you, Ian.”

In issue #8 Steve tells his brainwashed son, “Raised you with all the love I had…”

In issue #9 Steve, believing Ian to be dead, thinks, “The portal tears open- revealing the blue skies of home. The blue skies I’ll never show my son. All those broken promises I made. Promises about those skies. A blue the atmosphere here never shows. A color that represented a dream to him. In my paintings of home, those blue skies- Ian would often be lost in them. Dreaming of that other place. That place where he would be safe- for the first time in his life.”

Also, Steve’s parenting is contrasted against Zola’s. For example, in issue #10 Zola tells Jet Black, after previously claiming he did everything for his children, “Now you can die with the rest! So much time wasted on you, my daughter! So many failed opportunities to earn your name! I loved you with all my heart- and you chose to side with my greatest enemy! You chose frailty over power! You chose weakness and compassion over the father who gave you life! The father who offered you a world!” When Steve was about to be killed by Ian in issue #8, after raising the boy for years and teaching him his own morals, as opposed to Zolo’s, Steve said, “You don’t have to be a Zola. You can be my son… Choose a name, son. Choose the one that feels right… I’ll die happy if I know it was your choice… for yourself.”

And at the end of issue #10, of them suddenly finding themselves in New York City, Jet Black tells Steve, “And the portal home destroyed. There is no going back. For better or worse… we are stranded here.” I like how this story plays on Steve’s famous experience of being frozen in ice in the 40s and waking up in a future era.

Captain America (1968) #121-123

These issues were published across October 1969 to December 1969. All were written by Stan Lee, penciled by Gene Colan, and inked by Joe Sinnott. All were 20 pages.

In issue #121 a villain is able to walk up to the Avengers Manor and ask to be put in contact with Captain America because “I would like him to appear at a charity performance… at the orphans’ home!” Hank tells him that Steve’s “never yet turned down a bid to do something for youngsters!” And after Steve is contacted, he says, “It was good to hear from the Avengers! I’m going stir crazy with nothing to do!” This stands out because Steve turned down a civilian job as a physical education teacher at a college in the previous issue.

Steve’s monologued about being a man out of time many times before. There’s a new element in his thought process in issue #122, however, where he thinks, “It isn’t hip- to defend the establishment!- Only to tear it down! And, in a world rife with injustice, greed, and endless war- Who’s to say the rebels are wrong? But, I’ve never learned to play by today’s new rules! I’ve spent a lifetime defending the flag- and the law! Perhaps- I should have battled less- and questioned more! Yet, evil comes in many forms- and it isn’t only the young- and the rebellious- who dare fight it!” In the end he decides, of the establishment that he belongs to, “It was that same establishment that gave them a Martin Luther King- a Tolkien- a Mcluhan- and a couple of brothers- named Kennedy! We don’t claim to be perfect- No generation is! All we can do is learn to live with each other- learn to love one another!”

In issue #123 Nick and his agents are taken over by Suprema, a villain with the power to make men obey her commands. Steve says of being attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D., “It’s as though the whole world has suddenly gone mad! Or can it be- everyone else is okay- and I’ve suddenly cracked up!” Rather than it being that his love for Sharon protected him, as I originally assumed, it’s revealed in the end that Steve’s shield prevented him from being hypnotized. It stands out to me that all of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents present for Steve and Nick’s training session (and so were available to be hypnotized) were men. The agents that are the most prominent to me since I haven’t read much of the S.H.I.E.L.D. focused stories are love interests in other books- Natasha in The Avengers (1963) and Sharon in this one- but I understand that they’re unique cases and the organization is probably predominantly male at this point in time.

[agentxthirteen]

On this day (September 24, late) in Sharon Carter history, Sharon appeared in:

Captain America V5 #42 (2008)

[oldster2]

Check out BAIL OUT - LINDA BLAIR - DAVID HASSELHOFF - TONY BRUBAKER - NEW https://www.ebay.com/itm/235425437006?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=NscypWlkTW2&sssrc=2051273&ssuid=NscypWlkTW2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=TW #eBay via @eBay

[iamjackstitanicbreath]

Favs of '23: Marvel:

10/10. That's it. That's the rating. Give it a Michelin or five if I could. My standards can't get higher now. I think this might be the best I've ever read. Winter Soldier origin story. No ships like Stucky or anything. Very dark, very cold, very very real. It's really a talent to be able to write a whole story in five chapters.

"Between the fall and the monsters, the Winter Soldier is in orbit. This is what happens in the Red Room. These are the people who make him what and who he becomes.

Inspired by comics canon, in particular Ed Brubaker's Captain America issue 11, which included pages from the Winter Soldier file, and far too many Cold War books. Because HYDRA in the movie uses the Winter Soldier as a blunt instrument, and blunt instruments do not become legends."

This could also be a 10/10 on its own but I put it in the same list as the first one so I have to lower it by a notch or two. It's like putting Joaquin Phoenix and Brad Pitt in the same room and labelling it 'Greatest Actors'. They're great, but on different levels. Anyway, this one's got amazing dialogue. Very in character. It's entertaining, but it's also a tragic comedy one-shot. It's fun and has a nice ending. For you Irondad and Spiderson lovers ig. But it's good. Well written. Superficially hilarious, but the actual message is kinda depressing but deep. Sums up Peter's college life pretty well if Tony were in the picture. It's the Goldilocks ratio of Raimi's Spider-Man, TASM, and MCU Spidey.

9/10. I read it a while ago, so I don't have much to say, but the writing is just beautiful. TW: relationship abuse. Skip Westcott.

But it's amazingly written and it's seen through the eyes of Steve. Like author's a genius with words. Check out their Batman stuff too 'cause it's just so so good. Good stuff. Like lick your fingers after eating kind of good.

Anyways, moving on.

Star Wars

9/10. Pretty sure everyone's read this one by now but same author, Beth Winter, so I had to give an honourable mention. I remember thoroughly enjoying this one and wishing we got to see more engineer Darth Vader and corporate environment in the Galactic Empire with Vader at the head 'cause I mostly only these kinds of stories in the comics and even then, not enough. I mean, for chrissake, it's a fundamental aspect of his character. I've seen some other ones with like Vader finding Luke through some sort of design submission or email and Luke's an aspiring Engineer from Tatooine but I'd give them like a 4/10. I have a very picky and very particular standard for writing though, and Beth Winter just writes very well. Same for the Gruoch fellow. I know I liked this one the most of all the Star Wars fics, but nothing hits the same as a Marvel Cold War fic so that's remaining at the top.

7/10. Started off so so so so good. Would've given a 10/10 if not for the ending. It's a series. Read both parts. Very very good. It's very beautifully written and it takes a very unique inspiration from the book A Secret Garden. It was a really clever combination and What If? so I love it. But I'm not the biggest fan of that abrupt ending. Anyways, SPOILERS AHEAD:

I feel like giving a character the possibility of redemption throughout and showing the more humane side and still at the very end judging them as too evil to live? Idk, I mean, it feels sudden. Like you feel me? The story was continuously leading to the possibility of a happy ending or at least something along the lines of a compromise. And then suddenly author basically said "actually Vader's an unredeemable piece of shit, so let's just kill him off. I know I made it seem like he had a good side and that there was a future where he could be a very good parent, but I changed my mind." Anyways, it's fanfiction. Can't be too critical. Nobody's getting paid to write this stuff so I'm not going to bash it too much for inconsistency, but it did feel like the story was desperately trying to show at first that the situation isn't so black and white, but then resorted to viewing it through a black and white lens at the end. Went from no such thing as "absolutes" to well, absolutes.

Ok, I'm done rambling. You get the picture. Next!

Harry Potter

Heed the warnings. 8/10. The writing's very good and the plot hooks you in immediately. But heed the warnings. Not for the faint of heart ig. Also covers sensitive topics. I'm kinda iffy about putting this on the same list as a Beth WInter fic but maybe I'm being overdramatic. It's not artsy is what I mean to say. Author didn't intend for it so come across as a poem. But the writing's still very very good and the plot is even better. UNFINISHED. I'm angrily waiting for an update. Like stalk author's tumblr waiting. Maybe that's why I'm being so petty with the rating and review.

Code Geass

Anything by this author:

Favorites are The Fool Ascendant and The House of Usher. 10/10, both. Haven't read all of them, but also, writing style is very artsy. Character and dynamic studies mostly, and snippets of things we didn't see in canon.

[involuntaryspya]

MARVEL COMICS / EARTH-616

Mostly influenced by Ed Brubaker's Winter Soldier (2012) and Kyle Higgins' Winter Soldier (2018). Growing up on a military base after his parents' death, James Buchanan Barnes--really, just call him Bucky--eventually shapes up from camp mascot to Captain America's sidekick and Allied forces spy. A plane accident at the end of WWII sees him frozen in the English Channel--but unlike Cap, Bucky's found a lot sooner by Soviet forces who brainwash him into the world's deadliest assassin. Decades later, after getting back his memories, being Captain America, going on trial, and growing out his hair, Bucky finally feels more like himself again. Now he's settled down in his hometown of Shelbyville, Indiana with his husband, Tony Stark (@overclocks), on a few hundred acres of land with a small animal farm. Yes, there are chickens, maybe you can pet them, you'll have to ask Alpine first.