Yeppers, the Dude is back. In issue #34.
But who is this man in the strangely sensual combo of black spandex and patriotic chestplate?
Marvel's been keeping this one pretty mum.
I would like to think Clint Barton, for the following reasons
1. Incredibly popular character as Hawkeye
2. Idolized Captain America while they were on "Avengers" (read the old issues especially...Hawkeye starts out like a wiseass to him, but then respects him).
3. He was Ronin for a while. A Ronin is as masterless samurai. Captain America was Nomad for a while, "man without a country." See? See?
4. Avengers won't exactly miss Ronin, because he's not really a very distinct or memorable character.
5. Clint has an edgy quality that I think would work in an updated Cap.
So anyway, that's who I'm pushing for.
What d'yall think?
i think its going to be him or bucky.
ReplyDeletecaptain america has been setting it up to be bucky for quite a while, and i would expect bucky to carry the extra weapons cause hes thats how he rolls.
the letter to tony, bucky stealing the shield, the countdown to the confrontation between bucky and tony.
it all adds up to him saying, "i want you to be captain america"
besides clint already became captain america for one issue in fallen son and decided it wasnt for him after speaking with the new hawkeye.
that would be too redundant if he was the one.
It should be Bucky. I don't think Hawkeye would be that comfortable with the gun.
ReplyDeleteIt's an ugly costume and too reminiscent of Ross's design for Citizen Steel.
Bucky.
ReplyDeleteGots to be Bucky.
Everything in Brubaker's run structurally has been pointing towards him taking up the mantle since Steve's death.
And then there's the gun. I totally buy Bucky packing. Not so much would I buy Hawkeye with a pistol.
I have to admit - if it does end up being Bucky who takes up the mantle, there's a big part of me that will want him to stay even if Steve comes back. This is not because I dislike Steve. It's because I think that Bucky in the uniform, as presently written and presented as 'The Winter Soldier', makes a more interesting and accurate statement about America's modern identity than Steve does.
Steve still represents the idealism, optimism, and positivity of the WWII generation. While I think that most of us would still like to believe in that version of America, it's gotten more and more difficult to see the spirit of America as innately heroic. There too often seems to be too much of a gulf between the heroism and nobility of someone like Steve Rogers, and the ideals he represents, and what often seems to be the true identity of America anymore.
Bucky strikes me as both a true hero and a more accurate representation of where America is at right now. Bucky has done some unambiguously bad things and lost his identity for a very long time. Now he is looking for redemption but is moving towards it in some occasionally questionable ways. He knows what he wants to be and what he should be, but he's moved so far away from being that that he no longer knows if he is even capable of being that anymore.
That sounds more like the America I know than Steve does.
Now what would be extra fun would be to have Steve come back, be placed in advisory and leadership positions within the U.S. Government and S.H.I.E.L.D while Tony is brought up on charges for his actions in the Civil War and Initiative. Tony ends up not having to serve time in the Negative Zone or any Prison, but does have to do Public Service and Probation which results in him being placed as leader of the Thunderbolts after Norman Osborne goes too crazy to maintain his position there.
Gah.
Okay - if I'm going to ramble out that much speculation I should probably do it on my own blog...
WE ALL MOURN THE SILVER SENTINAL!
ReplyDeleteWait, which comic is this we're talking about?
It's Bucky. Like Sammy said, the gun and knife is how Bucky rolls.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the costume, I can't say I'm a fan. It looks atrocious. Oh well, with Brubaker writing, I'll be buying it regardless!
"Okay-- so first we kill Steve Rogers..."
ReplyDelete"Given."
"But we've already brought Bucky back with a hardcore retcon intact, so the audience is primed for him as a well-armed replacement..."
"No pun intended."
"Right, well... It's Marvel, so that's assumed. Anyway, we give him a sleek, stylized new version of the costume..."
"Yeah, Cap's always had a shit costume. We keep trying to change it to better reflect the times, but for some reason it never takes."
"Well clearly black's the way to go. Even Gruenwald knew that. Whole point of that story he did in the 80's.
"The one with Scourge?"
"Afterward. He spent over two years making it clear what the world needed was a modern Cap with guns and attitude, but The Man shut him down."
"That's a long time for an 80's comic. We could spend two years just setting up a story that major."
"I know, right? So anyway, now Cap's got guns, pouches for whatever random shit he needs to carry, a bionic arm..."
"Wait, we've got licensing to consider. We should keep most of the basic mask design, the wings at his temples, the gigantic "A" on his forehead..."
"NO! That totally ruins the streamlined uniformity of his, like, uniform. That's like when they took the Legion of Super-Heroes out of their wicked sweet 90's gear a couple years ago and made them all retro and distinctive."
"We've got to compromise here for market identification. Tell you what, we can give him floppy Superboy gloves and finally cover his ears. He could totally fit into Youngblood with gear that rockin'."
"I guess. Can we at least get Alex Ross on covers, to turn all the flat colors all metallic and shit, like he always does."
"Oh sure. We can afford him now that he won't have to paint all those goddamned shingles John Cassaday turned everyone on to."
"Steve Epting still gets cold sweats just hearing the word 'shingle,' and he didn't even have to deal with them much when he was on Aquaman. Y'know, I miss the harpoon."
"Well hell, with the inevitable bounce back to DC, you could bring that back in a few years."
"Yeah, but it's fucking Aquaman."
"Fuck Aquaman, right?"
"Right in the ass! Hah! Clever!"
it's bucky.
ReplyDeleteknife and gun, and the stars on the shoulders are reminiscent of his Winter Soldier outfit.
plus, they've been setting him up to be Cap for quite some time now.
I think whoever behind that mask is going to have to do a damn lot to earn my respect. While I like guns just fine, I sincerely doubt the ones this guy'll be using have rubber bullets in them, and I don't like my Captain America to be wielding something designed to kill.
ReplyDeleteI dislike Captain America with a gun. In a way, it seems to betray what the character stands for.
ReplyDeleteI think the redesign itself is kinda cool, though, at least as a temporary thing.
-M
I think I want Steve Rogers back.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be Bucky, he's going to turn out to have been brainwashed by Faustus and the Red Skull, and just when he turns on America and the Red Skull's plans are about to come to fruition, the real Cap will escape from where the Red Skull has him stashed (the dead Cap was a clone created by Arnim Zola), save the day, and we all cheer.
ReplyDeleteIs this Azrael-as-Batman redux? I mean the storyline of Captain America getting killed was already cribbed from "Death of Superman." I hope they dump whoever this clown is and bring back Steve Rogers pronto.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, it's inevitable. All this other stuff is just the convoluted, money-making way of getting to that extra-money-making point.
What other media tells stories with foregone conclusions as often as comics? I find it really tough to get all wiggly over this stuff.
Joel, Azreal-as-Batman was cribbed, and I mean blatantly, from a two (really three) year arc in Captain America by Mark Gruenwald and (mostly) Kieron Dwyer in the late 80's. Superpatriot/U.S. Agent = Azrael.
ReplyDelete