Media: Captain America returns and he’s packin’ heat

NOTE: If you’ve opened this post looking for insights on local news and politics, go elsewhere. This post is 100 percent comic-book fanboy geek fest.

As my loyal readers know, I’m a serious fan of Captain America. Writer Ed Brubaker is doing wonderful things with the book, not the least of which is a storyline in which the main character was killed off. I’m not buying the finality of this for one moment, especially considering the body went missing. But Brubaker has exactly the right take on the character, having portrayed him as the ultimate solider and government agent, albeit with a strong moral code.

Marvel Comics has announced that a new Captain America will return to the pages of the book in January 2008, complete with a spiffy new costume designed by hotshot artist Alex Ross. This isn’t the first time that Marvel has used a “new Captain America” storyline. But this time, it’s generating publicity because of the fact that the new Cap is going around armed with a handgun. Naturally, the Washington Post is making a big deal out of that aspect of the story.

Who who is the new Captain? Integral to the current storyline is the return of Cap’s original partner, Bucky, who was thought to have died in the closing days in World War II in an exploding that hurled Cap into the frozen waters of the North Atlantic, where he became frozen in a block of ice until he was revived decades later by the Avengers. Bucky, as it turns out, was also frozen, but suffered massive memory loss and was revived by the Soviets and turned into an agent named Winter Soldier.

Thanks to the Cosmic Cube, Captain America was able to restore Bucky’s memories and free him from the control of the former Soviet general (he was himself under the domination of the Red Skull, no less) who had been using his as a pawn. But before Cap and Buck could really renew their friendship and partnership, the events of Marvel’s Civil War (a parable of the Patriot Act) caught up with Cap and he ended up under arrest and charged with treason. Before he could have his day in court and he was assassinated.

Bucky partnered with Cap’s current partners, the Falcon and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter (Cap’s girlfriend) to capture the killer. As of the end of the most recent issue, Bucky had been captured by evil psychiatrist Dr. Faustus, who was the one who brainwashed Sharon into pulling the trigger, assassinating Cap.

There isn’t a doubt in my mind that the new Captain America is going to be the former Bucky. The character never hesitated to use firearms before. Indeed, even in the original WWII-era comics, Bucky (as well as the good Captain) never hesitated to whip out a gun and waste some Krauts or Japs (using the vernacular of the times). And having an armed Captain America fits in with Brubaker’s entertaining take on the character and the super-spy sorts of adventures he dreams up for them.

But I’m also betting that sometime within the next year — or at least before the inevitible Captain America movie hits theaters — that the original Steve Rogers will be back in uniform.

And D.C. Comics, Marvel’s major competitor, should take note. If you are going to stage a “Death of …” storyline, this is how you do it.

[/fanboy geek fest]

Hat tip: Big Head D.C.