Winter Soldier, Vol. 2: Broken Arrow (2012)

No News Satire Roundup today - I’m away for a wedding and have only had a chance to see about half of this week’s Daily Shows.  Expect that post later next week.

If the first volume of Winter Soldier started off a little removed for my tastes, this one kicks it up several notches.  It’s not without its issues, but I’m a lot deeper into this story now and ready to read more (light spoilers.)

Following on from the events of the last volume, Bucky is on the trail of a ghost from his past, a sleeper agent that he trained back in his Soviet days.  Leo Novokov has woken from deep freeze and is slowly grappling with the world in which he now finds himself.  Flung into the present but steeped into the past, he sets in motion a plan to torment his old trainer Bucky (as well as his old Red Room cohort Natasha.)

I like this volume way better than the first one.  While I’d still say I prefer the overall tone of comics like Ms. Marvel or Jughead, what really makes this volume work for me is the personal stakes.  Even though the sleeper agents plot was introduced in the first volume and obviously tied into Bucky’s past as the Winter Soldier, it mostly felt like a job that Bucky and Natasha were uniquely qualified to address.  Here, though, with Novokov’s vendetta against Bucky, it’s so much more personal.  This is a guy looking to hit Bucky where it hurts, and Bucky has a hard time maintaining his composure in the wake of this onslaught.

Another thing I love is the scenes of Bucky and Natasha working together.  I love watching kickass couples fighting alongside each other in an equal partnership, and I feel like this volume delivers on how I’d imagined Bucky/Natasha since I’d first heard that they were a pairing in the comics.  Moving in tandem, implicitly trusting one another, able to see individually to different parts of a task in the mutual assurance that both can handle themselves.  It’s truly a pleasure to see.

Unfortunately, that’s where I do run into a complaint with the volume; there’s not enough of that.  Novokov’s plans for Bucky involve Natasha, and while I wouldn’t say she’s damseled – it’s more complicated than that – the second half of the volume focuses more on Bucky and other guys banding together against Novokov on Natasha’s behalf, rather than Bucky and Natasha against Novokov.  Even though the specific way Natasha is involved in the plot is interesting (and certainly designed for maximum impact,) it bugs me that she’s made into a piece on Novokov’s chessboard instead of continuing on in her capacity as Bucky’s partner.  It’s not enough to make me dislike the story, but I do hope volume 3 brings that aspect of the comic back where it ought to be.