I have written before about the death of Captain America in Fear Itself #3. You can read my objections with the issue and the book as a whole. Recently I undertook a Saturday to “fix” the death of my favorite character, Bucky Barnes. I view this more like the “Phantom Edits” where an editor re-edited the first two prequel movies of Star Wars to offer a better telling of the films. The following is such an attempt for the death of Bucky within the Fear Itself event–an event that I personally feel is a bigger disaster than Secret Invasion.

Disclaimer: All characters and events in Fear Itself are copyrighted by Marvel. This merely represents an attempt at fan fiction to offer the story I would have like to have seen published to set up the big death in the event.

Thus without further delay, Fear Itself: Captain America #1

[Update: It was brought to my attention that the above paragraph was a bit too harsh and I can see where someone might think that given that I said I thought the event was a "disaster." It was not my intention to disrespect Matt Fraction or the others. I was hoping that by offering a script that I'm not someone who just says something sucks and never offers up something positive to show what could make it better. I have enjoyed Matt Fraction's work on Iron Man. It wasn't my intent to be disrespectful but merely to criticize and to offer up something that I would consider improvement upon what I believe to be a "disaster."]

In June of 2011 comic fans witnessed the death of Captain America…again. Just like in 2007, the iconic character was brutally killed. But this time it wasn’t Steve Rogers, World War II legend, but his former partner, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes. After he was believed to be killed after World War II, only to be revived by the Soviet Union and turned into their super spy/assassin, Bucky was asked to take on the role of Captain America upon Steve’s demise. But his Soviet past caught up to him and he was forced to give up the role. However we find him in Fear Itself #3 fighting his final battle in the role before he is brutally killed by the daught of the Red Skull, possessed by an ancient Norse spirit. That’s right, Bucky died again.

The real problem for most readers is that this story, the Death of Captain America/Bucky, had no emotion. There was no build up to the death and there was no emotional fallout to the death. At a recent panel discussion about the Fear Itself event, author Matt Fraction spoke about this issue–to some extent or other. He acknowledges that there will be no tie-in to explain how Bucky got from forsaking the mantle of Cap to fight the damage his Soviet identity, Winter Soldier, caused to dawning the shield in Washington CD. This, in my opinion will hurt the series overall because it forces Bucky into a story he simply doesn’t belong in. Fear Itself #3 almost exclusively deals with killing Bucky as if it was something Fraction wanted to do so he was doing it, rather than making it an integral part of the story. However there will be an issue, Fear Itself 7.1, that will show some of the other Marvel characters react to his death (only Black Widow reacted for two panels in Fear Itself #4).

To fix this lack of emotion, I think the following story as a single-issue tie-in would be effective at giving a proper emotional buildup to Fear Itself #3 so that Bucky’s dying will carry the weight it needs for such a beloved character whose very existence in current continuity is controversial enough. He is a character built on emotion and so he should go out with emotion.

Fear Itself: Captain America #1 of 1, or Captain America #620, would chronicle Bucky returning with the Black Widow to America to find the Serpent, the villain of the event, invading Midgard–the Asgardian name for Earth. Bucky picks up the Falcon to enlist his help. They then fly to Washington DC to find Bucky’s suit to go into battle one last time, because this battle is what Captain America was created for. Rogers had put Bucky’s suit and shield on display in a memorial room to Captain America. As Bucky begins to suit up Rogers catches him. The two legends have a very heated, heart-felt argument about Bucky putting on the suit and going out to fight.

Bucky gives an impassioned speech about how this was the battle that FDR created Captain America for. His entire career in the role as Cap, Bucky was living up to Steve’s legend. In fact, one of the few weaknesses of Brubaker’s writing of Bucky-Cap is that Bucky never embraced the role. Brubaker would write the character as if he was going to fully embrace the role and then pull him back. Bucky would tell Steve that once the legend came back, Bucky continued in the role because Steve asked him to continue–Steve never wanted the role but just to be a soldier. Now he was doing this because this is what Cap does and Bucky is Cap.

Steve would inform Bucky that an ancient Asgardian god has returned, powered by the fear that runs rampant across the country, and has empowered eight villains and heroes with mystic hammers like Thor’s to be his evil lieutenants. Bucky doesn’t stand a chance and will die. Steve can’t lose Bucky for a third time–counting Steve’s own recent death. Steve reminds Bucky that when he died he became the enemy assassin, Winter Soldier, and unleashed an unholy terror across the world during the Cold War. Rogers can face that again. He begs Bucky not to go.

Bucky would respond with one resounding point: Steve would go out and fight. Too many times during World War II did Rogers take on such impossible odds. Rogers will bring in the fact that Bucky is an international fugitive and Rogers is required to take him in. But he won’t because Bucky is his brother. And as brothers, he is begging Bucky not to fight. Bucky refuses. The world needs Captain America and Steve said he didn’t want the job. Only Bucky can fill that role if Steve won’t. Rogers, as Bucky’s superior, orders Bucky to stand down. And Bucky accepts the order.

The issue concludes with Widow and Falcon standing on the roof of the building. We see an outline of Bucky in a doorway leading to the roof. Widow asks Bucky what Rogers said and Bucky tells her he said no. Falcon asks him what Bucky was going to do. Standing in full view and in his full Captain America uniform, smiles at them. In the second to last panel Bucky says, “The world is calling for Captain America to save her…” In the last panel he’s pulled the cowl on and says, “And I’m going to answer that call.”

I think this works on three levels. One, we see how Bucky gets from the Russian gulag to Washington DC. This has been a biggie for fans because the end of Captain America Volume 5 (issue 619) has Bucky going off on his own mission to confront his former life as the Soviet spy/assassin, the Winter Soldier. And all of a sudden he has rallied his partners to fight back against the possessed new Red Skull. It’s a huge narrative gap that needs to be filled to help involve Bucky in the story if he’s going to be featured in such an important way. Suddenly appearing in the issue and then dying is more shock than substance. This doesn’t require him to be in Fear Itself #1 or #2 and keeps #3 as is.

Second, one of my problems with Brubaker’s run on Captain America with Bucky as Cap is that Bucky never embraces the role. Brubaker puts Bucky on the precipice of embrace. But pulls him back and has Bucky relearn the same painful lessons over and over. This issue sees Bucky embrace his role as Captain America. His final mission as Cap is the one where he not only gets it but accepts it and becomes the role for himself and not for Steve Rogers.

Thirdly, this could be the final argument for why Steve Rogers must reclaim his former role as Captain America. Not only is it his duty to his country, if not the world at this point, but something else happens. Bucky donned the shield and cowl to, first, honor Rogers’ legacy. Then to honor Rogers’ choice upon his return. Now Steve can put the uniform back on to honor Bucky and his courage and bravery. The role reverses. Like Brubaker, Steve isn’t doing this because it’s what he wants. He only wanted to be a soldier. But it’s a role only he can fill and it’s the best way to honor Bucky what it meant to Bucky in the end. Thus when Brubaker penns Fear Itself 7.1, he can really have fun with Rogers’ emotions in reaction to Bucky defying his orders to rpotect life.

As a stand alone issue, Fear Itself #3 does some cool things. Bucky, as Captain America, gets to call out the famous command, “Avengers! Assemble!” His death is legendary in that he is truly being Captain America, defending America from the Nazi blitzkrieg (although this Nazi leader is the daughter of the Red Skull and is possessed by some ancient Norse spirit). The way he dies is pretty…epic. But it doesn’t flow well with the story up to this point in the story. I think my Fear Itself: Captain America #1 of 1 (or Captain America #620 if you like, ending the series on a nice even number).

The climax of the first act of Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins is Bruce Wayne, played by Christian Bale, escaping from the League of Shadows and Ras Al’ Ghul. As the escape reached its own climax we see the headquarters on fire, Rene Dupre unconscious, and Wayne carrying Dupre on his back. The crash through a wall and drop down on top of an decline leading to a cliff. Dupre slides down the ice, rushing at full speed to his impending doom. Wayne dives to try catch Dupre before his mentor is lost forever. Bruce is able to catch his friend and stop their momentum, using his wrist guards. However, Wayne is in a very precarious position because the two men are hanging over this cliff, Rene in Wayne’s right hand, Wayne on his back, by his left hand. Bruce has to roll over onto his left side while pulling the dead weight of Rene Dupre up from the cliff to safety.

As he heaved his friend up from death, Wayne roared. We are talking the kind of roar that comes from deep down inside, from the primal regions of his mind and soul. From those base emotions where there is no nuance, only raw emotion, raw power. The strain on Wayne’s body, hidden by the armor, could be felt by that horrific sound.

The other night, I was working with Lenny and of course he grunted. But he didn’t grunt. He roared. It was an irreg, weighing over 70 pounds. Lenny needed to life this medium sized box, constructed not out of cardboard but out of wood. It was no easy lift to get the package up on a table that was over waist high. Had I seen what Lenny was doing I would have offered to help. All I heard was this roar as he heaved the box up onto the table and up the irreg belt.

But the roar was like that of the one Bruce Wayne did in Batman Begins. It was primal. It was base. It was raw. It was heart-piercing. It was gut-wrenching. You could feel all of the effort that Lenny exerted to get that box on the belt. All of the hate, the angst. You could feel Lenny’s emotional state. And when it was done, it was an awe-inspiring sight to have held.

True story.

Picture a samurai. He, or she, is the elite warrior from the upper classes of Japanese feudal society. She wears decorative armor and carries the deadly katana sword. There is an aura of elegance about her. The samurai isn’t tall or overbearing. But there is grace to her movements. She dedicated and disciplined. And that proves to be a powerful and beautiful complement to her grace. The sight of a samurai is awe-inspiring to say the least.

And to watch the warrior draw his sword and attack is mesmerizing. Swift and deadly, determined and decided, the samurai swings the katana. The blade knifes through the air, finding its target with deadly accuracy. Against such an attack there is no defense. There is only the hope that death come quickly and as painlessly as possible.

And that was what happened with Lenny just the other night. We were working in a long-box feeder. It was near the middle of the feeder. There was a box on the floor, about forty pounds in weight and of medium size. Lenny approached the box, following the safe work methods, to pick up the box and put it on the belt.

He bent down, at the knees to protect his back, to pick up the box. Normally, a person is to stand up, lifting the package in a smooth and steady motion. Then and only then does the unloader set the package on the belt. This avoids stretching and contorting the body in a way that causes injury.

But Lenny did not lift and then set down. In one fluid, yet crisp, motion he flipped the box from the ground up to set the box on the belt. The movement was like that of the samurai striking with the katana. Fluid and crisp, determined, deadly, accurate. Lenny put that box perfectly in the middle of the belt with the label facing up to be read by the scanner.

And the grunt that came with this “flip” was like the grunt that comes when the samurai strikes. Just as deadly, just as determined. He flipped the box and grunted. It was the kind of flip and grunt that would earn Lenny a place among the honored warriors of the samurai and a seat with them in the afterlife.

To see it the flip and hear the grunt would have caused any trained warrior to drop into a fighting stance. The seasoned warrior would have looked for his fallen comrade. The season warrior would have looked for the afterlife to greet him.

And this was the sight that I encountered on the cold February night.

True story.

There are eight lanes in our bank at UPS. Each lane shares a smalls lane and an irreg. lane, totally four each. That night we did not have a full lineup. Some lanes were empty. That night the area was fully staffed. Actually, aside from the DMDs–oversized containers–arriving in the area at almost 3:30 AM, it was a good night.

There were two problems that night that put somewhat of a damper on our spirits. Two trailers, or feeders, were slow feeders. One was a Med-Co feeder and one was a flats trailer. Both feeders were antagonistic to getting good flow for varying reasons.

The flats feeder is slow because the boxes being unloaded are long and flat. For an unknown reason the sensor that reads the label can’t scan them. To help out, some flats are sent up the irreg. belt to be hand-scanned and sent through the tub-load system. But because these are hand-scanned and loaded into a container, this isn’t vary fast. It’s just not good for getting a feeder unloaded.

The Med-Co feeder is another animal. There is a wall of bags, thin plastic bags that rip easily, that are filled with smaller packages and ends up being very heavy. Behind that wall is a wall of medium-small boxes stacked to the ceiling.

I was in the flats feeder with Randy and Adam, aka Squirtle. Lenny was in the feeder between the flats feeder and Med-Co. Lenny’s feeder was a standard feeder. Packages of varying sizes, smalls bags (not the thin plastic kind, but made from a mesh that doesn’t break), irregs, and everything in between.

When the flats feeder was nearly complete, my area supervisor Joe Zigler, asked me to help out Lenny. So I went next door and went to work this feeder was one of the larger feeders we unload, measuring in at fifty-three feet in length. In fact this feeder is so long that the belt we use to send the packages into the UPS system isn’t able to extend to the “back,” actually the nose of the feeder.

Working with Lenny is good because he works hard. In fact the belt didn’t have too much farther to extend. And because Lenny works hard I knew that I wouldn’t be in the feeder for a long time. And not only is Lenny a hard worker, but a fun conversationist. This makes the time pass by quickly, and doesn’t move the feeder too fast. Lenny is a great unload partner.

So into the feeder I went and struck up a conversation with Lenny. We talked about everything. The feeder, family, friends, everything–and I love to talk about my sister. And it happened.

The belt was a far into the feeder as it could go. We now have to carry packages from the walls of boxes to the belt. And on top of the second to last wall was a blue box, a big cube with blue direction arrows to indicate the top of the box.

Lenny climbed his load stand, like a safe UPS unloader, to reach the box. He grabbed it with the intention of slowly guiding it down the wall and onto the floor. But the 65-pound box caught Lenny off guard and from his mouth came the most epic grunt I’ve heard in my life.

Lenny is not quite my size. And the grunt he let loose upon that box was unbelievable. It was to terrible that the unstoppable force and the immovable object ceased to be unstoppable and immovable. The sun darkened and the moon turned red. Waterfalls ceased to cascade down the rock-face as if it were afraid. So terrifying was this grunt it like a star turned into a black hole to absorb the sound, but was in turn absorbed.

And yet because Lenny isn’t a physically overbearing presence, there was a certain reverence and majesty to this grunt. Like the Roman general in the famous Roman Triumphs paraded around with a crown and wearing the royal colors, one had to stand in awe at the sound that came from Lenny. The grunt was like a star being born, exploding forth in glorious day. Simply put, it was amazing.

But the event did not stop there. The box had fallen to the floor, but it needed to be placed upon the belt. And instead of lowering the belt down to the floor, Lenny heaved it onto the belt. And as he heaved came the war cry.

In ancient battles, armies would utter out a shout, a cry, that was to dishearten the enemy. This war cry would have made the Three Hundred Spartans at Thermopylae retreat from the mountain pass. Caesar’s legions would have been displaced like water on the rocks. Hitler’s blitzkrieg would have melted like wax. Patton’s tanks would never have rolled.

The ferocious tiger would have melted into a little kitten lost in the rain. The Tyrannosaurus Rex would have abdicated his throne in fear. Phobos would have surrendered his title as god of fear. Odin, the Alfather and Live-Giver, father of the mighty Thor, would have shattered the rainbow bridge to cut off Midgard, Earth, from his beautiful realm of Asgard.

And there was a nobility to the war cry. It was like a lion calling in the morning. A lioness readying to pounce. It was like a bald eagle soaring in the sky calling out as it prepares to dive down and scoop up its prey with its deadly talons. It was like the ancient horn announcing the king had returned victorious in battle to his beloved capital and palace.

In a word, this grunt and war cry were simply awesome. It was the stuff of legends. It was, to borrow Barney Stinson, legen–wait for it–dary!

True story.

With the first two events receiving a new plot, it’s time to conclude this massive story. The event that Bendis wrote and Coipel illustrated wasn’t half bad. But it flows out of a completely different story. Having totally given new plots to Secret Invasion and Dark Reign, Siege had to receive a new plot as well. I hope that this plot is more exciting.

And I want to say of this entire effort, I am in no way saying that if I were to try and put pen to paper this would work better. It’s just this is what I would have like to have seen. Conceptually it might work–and that’s a big “might”–but I may not be able execute it. So I don’t want to come across as thinking I’m better than Bendis, who was the brains behind all three events. He’s great at what he does and I love to read his books.

With that in mind, here’s my attempt at Siege.

Siege

#1: Steve and Bucky’s team join up with everyone else on the Mutant Island. There they prepare to strike back against the Skrulls by attacking the Skrull Queen. The Skrulls however are aware of this Island and they prepare to move against them, destroying the last pocket of resistance.

#2: The heroes move against the Skrulls. They divide up against the Skrulls. Iron Man leads his team to retake SHIELD and the Stark Mainframe. Rogers and Thor will move against the Skrull army with the New Avengers, X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Asgard. Bucky and the Black Widow will move against the Skrull Queen. Rogers/Thor are heavily out gunned with against the full Armada. The main thrust will be the initial action and Mighty Avengers retaking SHIELD.

#3: The main battle of the Thor/Rogers team is the center piece as Iron Man is able to retake his Tech and unleash SHIELD ariel units to counter the Skrull navy. The surprise element for Earth’s defenders wears out as the Skrulls are able to surround Team Rogers and Team Stark. The Skrull Queen is ready finish off and take total control of Earth.

#4: As Team Rogers and Team Stark struggle to stay alive, Bucky and Black Widow infiltrate the CIC for the Skrulls. They fight through the Queen’s personal body guard of Super Skrulls and take the Queen captive. She is made to halt her invasion the Skrulls are forced to surrender to Rogers. When the world governments are able yo get up and running in a meaningful capacity, Tony Stark steps down as Director of SHIELD. The organization is shut down and Rogers, the commanding officer of the heroes that won the war, is appointed to Stark’s position. Rogers commissions the Avengers Initiative to replace SHIELD. The teams break down to where they are in current continuity.

All tie-in issues during Siege will focus in greater detail the various roles each character(s) play in the event

In the previous post I outlined my four-issue event I were the author of Secret Invasion. The following continues my replotting of this period of Marvel publishing. The Dark Reign period of Marvel history put the villains in charge of the main Marvel Universe, led by Norman Osbourne himself.

But much of what was published under this narrative didn’t need the Dark Reign set up. The New Avengers selected a new Sorcerer Supreme since Doctor Strange no longer held that title. The Mighty Avengers did little with the rest of the Marvel U. Spider-Man was doing Brand New Day and Ed Brubaker pretty much kept Bucky in his own corner of the universe. The Dark Avengers took the Thunder Bolts and changed the name. So with that in mind, keeping the same format, here’s my Dark Reign in light of my Secret Invasion.

Dark Reign
Mighty Avengers: I have in mind two major cross overs for this team. First the mighty Avengers drive the mutants their island off the coast of California led by Cyclops and Emma Frost. This island would be a stronghold for mutants and Cage’s Avengers. The second major crossover would be the destruction of Asgard and the defeat if Thor and his people. This book would follow the Skrulls and their conquest of earth.

New Avengers: this book would show the atrocities the Skrulls commit, almost Nazi-like despite their promises of salvation and peace. The Avengers would first try to find the missing team that Iron Man had led. Once the teams are reunited. Then they would be trying to find this new Captain America who has been waging a one-man resistance against the Skrulls like the French Maquis of WWII or Mark Millar’s Batman in his Superman: Red Son.

Iron Man: Tony first has to rebuild his Extremis suit, the Mark VI, so that it ends up being the design it is now. This new suit will allow him to retake the Stark Mainframe. Then Stark will join the Captain America cast to bring back the not so dead Steve Rogers.

Thor: Thor will be out away from Asgard when the attack occurs. He will help slow down the onslaught but unable to stop it. After being able to view the atrocities of the Skrulls, Thor and Balder lead Asgard against the Skrulls. The Super Skrulls are able to destroy the city and deliver a crippling blow to the Asgardians.

X-Men: The team is pushed out of America and on to the Mutant Island that Matt Fraction led them to in the DR cross over. The X-Men open up this Island to Asgard and the Avenger teams as a base of operations and safe haven from the Skrulls. Then the X-Men attack the SWORD base in orbit and retake it.

Fantastic 4: The family helps devise a way to identify any remaining sleepers as well as help Tony rebuild his Extremis armor. Then they travel to the Negative Zone to shut down the backdoor the Skrulls used to speed up transit time for their armada.

Captain America: Bucky leads a resistance movement with Black Widow in the spirit of the French Maquis of WWII. He takes out key targets the cripple the Skrull occupation. At each attack he leaves a calling card that alerts the general population to the fact that Captain America is still fighting. Cap is no longer the soldier that leads from the front but becomes the symbol people need to carry on, allowing Bucky to utilize his assassin and spec ops skills that he learned in WWII and the Cold War. He uncovers that Steve is suspended in time and dispatches the Falcon and Sharon Carter to bring Steve back. Bucky continues to attack and make himself the focus of the Skrulls’ ire to blind them to Rogers rebirth.

A couple of years ago, Marvel Comics published Secret Invasion. The premise was that the alien race of Skrulls had figured out how to shape-shift in such a way to infiltrate and conquer Earth. As part of their plan, they were able to turn the heroes of Earth against each other by taking advantage of the SHRA and the superhero civil war that created distrust amongst heroes. The heroes were able to set aside their trust issues and fight back, repulsing the Skrulls. The unfortunate downfall to this victory was that the Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, was able to wrest control and seize power from Iron Man, Tony Stark, who was the head of all heroes.

However, the eight-issue series/event was less than successful. At time the comic seemed too slow and was very formulaic in light of the House of M (HoM) event, written by Secret Invasion (SI) author Brian Michael Bendis. On the whole, the resulting year-long event Dark Reign (DR) and four-issue title Siege fell flat and continued to disappoint, promising much and delivering little.

One of the apparent influences on SI was the popular Sci-Fi show Battlestar Galactica (BG), with obvious parallels between the Cylons of BG and the Skrulls of SI. But the title felt like it wanted to borrow from the TV show but yet not. If I were to plot and write these three Marvel events — SI, DR, and Seige — I would have admitted the connection and ran with it. Here is what I’d do.

Secret Invasion

SI #1: A commando team of Super Skrulls attack the SWORD outpost and neutralizes the agency. The team then opens up a portal to the Negative Zone to unleash the Skrull military upon the Earth. Tony Stark assembles his Avenger team.

SI #2: The Skrull military attacks SHIELD and Avengers Tower. A computer virus disables the Iron Man Extremis ability and disconnects him from the Stark Mai frame, giving the Skrulls command of all Stark tech. SHIELD is defeated and the Mighty Avengers confront the Skrulls.

SI #3: As the Skrull military continues its invasion of Earth, the Mighty Avengers engage the Super Skrulls, becoming pinned down inside their own base when Spider Woman is revealed to be the Skrull Queen. The New Avengers are called in to help the Mighty Avengers escape.

SI #4: The Mighty Avengers hold off the Super Skrulls while the New Avengers and the Black Widow try to escape Avengers Tower with Tony Stark. The sleeper Skrulls on the New Avengers are revealed. The United States officially surrenders when the Mighty Avengers appear in the White House with the Skrull Queen to plead for surrender.