Winter Soldier by Ed Brubaker: The Complete Collection

Let me be clear about one thing. I LOVE Buck Barnes. The Winter Soldier is one of my top favorite comics characters along with guys like Madrox from X-Factor and gals like X-23 and Black Widow. X-23 and Black Widow both had similar books to Winter Soldier that are both examples of what I was hoping Brubaker would do with this series. Marjorie Liu and Nathan Edmunson (for X-23 and Widow) took “gritty” and dark characters and made personal stories with many interesting plots unfolding into a greater narrative that somehow defines what we love about the character along the way.Brubaker here feels like he’s treading water, making deadlines, and just trying to find a new wrinkle in old plots just to keep making his commitments (and I suspect this is closer to the truth than any of us want to think about given that he walked away from Marvel after this book). I’m not saying it’s a bad book. Brubaker ism much too good to ever be bad. But this book got lost in a vortex of muddy, dark colors (I really don’t understand the Butch Guice appeal) and over complicated plots that almost any similar character could have been plugged into.I get why so many NEW comic readers would read this book and get excited. But for those of us who spent years reading Captain America and Bucky’s journey there, this tile (and frankly everything Marvel has mishandled with Winter Soldier since Brubaker left) leaves a bit of a bad taste.Which makes it worse when you consider how much GOOD there is here. I am highly invested in the Bucky and Widow and relationship (something I hope the movies emulate). I just wish they’d done more when they had a book all to themselves. I was hoping for what Bucky did on his day off in this book, you know? Instead Bucky still feels like a guest star in Captain’s book.I HIGHLY recommend everybody read Brubaker’s Captain America: Winter Soldier run. And then everything after that. It’s all great stuff.But also Nathan Edmunson’s BLACK WIDOW run. And ESPECIALLY Marjorie Liu’s X-23, which is an amazing and overlooked series. These are examples of what these solo books could be (also Bucky and a still amnesia stricken Widow meet again in the Widow series).

Package arrived undamaged and was packed with extreme care. Absolutely no damage to the contents. The books are in AMAZING condition.

I loved this book at the end of brubaker s run I enjoyed this more than the last couple Brubaker caps Excellent and I tend to stick to 40’s-90’s stuff but loved this. Great art raw but not vulgar or too explicit at all. FYI there is another volume concluding this run for The Winter Soldier not by Brubaker called Electric Ghost. Buy both!

I enjoyed this book. It tells you more about the Winter Soldier dark past and how he likes to work in the shadows. Goes into the relationship with him and the Black Widow. Book has a lot of action and well written. Deals with Winter trying to find 3 sleeper agents who are free who he trained. He has to deal with Doctor Doom and other spies. Wolverine, Hawkeye, Captain America and Daredevil also work with him against him during the story. Mostly a game of cat and mouse. A lot of brainwashing stuff as well. This happens a lot in Captain America/ Winter books. Betrayal and a few key losses. It you are into these type of stories about covert black ops you should enjoy it. Very dark and sad but still good

This read like a James Bond/Jason Bourne story with a handful of comic book elements tossed in. If you enjoyed Brubaker's run on Captain America that told the story of Bucky's return and his time as Captain America, this is a great follow-up to that, carrying the same tones and themes as we saw there.The only real difference is that Bucky is now wearing his old Winter Soldier uniform and he doesn't interact with as many recognizable faces as we saw in the other run. The reason being that nobody is supposed to know he's still alive after the events of Fear Itself.Great collection, highly recommended, though you ought to do your homework with the other Brubaker stuff I mentioned before you dive into this.

Absolutely loving Brubaker's work! Shame he doesn't do superheroes any more. Marvel did not do the Winter Sodier any justice lately, even after the big hit of the movie. Well, shame on them. Personally I think the new solo comic, Bucky Barnes - the Winter Sodier sucks, especially Kot's script, I think he loves Crossbones far more than Winter Soldier himself. I hate him gradually. Nevertheless I hope the new solo gets better soon, 'cause I don't want to lose any more chances to see Bucky in comics.

Pretty much anything I could say about this has already been said. It's a wonderful arch and is beautifully drawn and written. If you like Nat and Bucky from the MCU, I think you will love them here, even as you'll see characters whose intents were switched. (Sitwell in the comics is a good guy, for example.)It's a great place to get started and the only thing you'll regret about your purchase is that you'll be hooked and need more money for more books.

I was recommended to read this comic by a friend and so far so good. It has a good story but the visuals are a bit cluttery so its just a tad bit difficult to 100% be sure whats going on in certain pages but its not unreadable. overall a good read so far.

Along and quite complicated reading of the relationship of Winter Soldier and Black Widow, with a sad and seemingly unreconstructable ending. But are Marvel writers able to resurrect and renew it. Only time will tell.

It was hard going and then I got to the bit with the Gorilla with a machine gun and a jet pack. Brubaker has written some excellent titles over the years, this isn't one of them.Who knows, maybe it gets better but I've better things to do.

Totally accomplished storyline which really moves the character forward. Black Widow is used to great effect. The artwork, both from Guice and Lark really creates an atmosphere that so fits the storyline.Brubaker's Cap for me ran out of steam a while before he finished his run, but the Winter Soldier story here, told over 15 issues really seems to have returned Brubaker to his very best.All in all a really great read and well worth the cost.

Found it to be a great story! Really enjoyed.

The only comics romance I have ever been truly invested in. These two are two sides of the same coin, and it's one heck of a valuable coin. Heartbreaking, beautiful, and an emotional rollercoaster.