Captain America, Vol. 1: Winter Soldier Ultimate Collection

Sometimes, being proven wrong is a good thing. And with this storyline, I am glad Ed Brubaker proved me wrong- something he would continually do through his long tenure on Captain America. Captain America has been one of- if not my absolute favorite- super-heroes- since I was three years old, and along with Thor, a character I read consistently. So, when a character has been an "old friend" of yours for years like that, you tend to be very protective of their history and continuity. So, when I first started hearing about the Winter Soldier storyline, and read through Wizard magazine and other sources that the Winter Soldier was going to be Bucky, I didn't exactly have the best reaction. I was like, "What are they thinking?" Don't get me wrong, I liked Bucky. I loved seeing him in flashback, and WW2 era stories, but I came from the Stan Lee school of thought: Bucky's death was the major tragedy in Cap's life. You take that away, you take away that sense of tragedy that is important and intrinsic to the character. I thought that bringing him back was a bad move, and a gimmick. However. when I picked up some of the issues to see what it was all about, this story that pretty much set the comics world on fire- I found myself not only proven VERY wrong, but enjoying every second of it! Ed Brubaker took away all the old comic reader cynicism I had and blew it away with the awesome story he was telling. Brubaker made me realize that, by bringing Bucky back, he didn't take that tragedy away from Cap's life- he replaced it with an even greater tragedy- the fact that Bucky not only survived, but was delivered into the hands of the Soviets and turned into the legendary, lethal assassin and Cold War "ghost" known as the Winter Soldier- turned into the very type of thing he and Cap would fight against- and, for the past 50 years, was performing unspeakable acts of assassination and espionage against the nation- and the world- he once defended, by the very type of people he and Cap had fought so hard and almost literally gave their lives to defeat. the way Brubaker wove this tale- almost like an espionage story/political thriller disguised as a super-hero story- with all the foreshadowing that led to the debut of the Winter Soldier, and led to the suspicions and ultimate reveal of his identity, was masterful. you become engrossed in the mystery, and the action, and all the character-driven drama & suspense written so intricately within this saga Brubaker was building, and you can see why it work perfectly being made into a fantastic feature film. Brubaker took not only his knowledge of Cap's history, but WW2, post-war, and Cold War history and conspiracy and used it to create the perfect setting for Bucky's return and this ultimate threat to Cap and the security of the world. Brubaker didn't bring Bucky back through some gimmick-filled, comic booky resurrection- he brought him back in a very believable, organic manner, using flashbacks and Cap & Bucky's history with the Soviets during WW2 to set the stage for the recovery of Bucky's body, and his transformation into the Winter Soldier through the Soviet's influence, and provided a history for the Winter Soldier's clandestine post-war activities that was not only plausible, but left room for future embellishment. he sold me on Bucky's return in more ways than one, and it's all through his skillful writing that provides a semi-historic feel that makes it work. You not only feel for Steve, knowing what has become of his best friend and partner- and knowing he may have to kill him to stop him- a struggle illustrated well by Brubaker's character-driven script, but you also feel for Bucky himself. Every time Cap confronts his former friend, you can feel not only the physical struggle, but the internal struggle within both men- you can almost sense Bucky's hesitation as he fights not only Cap, but the Soviet's conditioning and the memories and soul of the true Bucky Barnes struggling to resurface. This struggle is what makes the book, and Brubaker would make Bucky far more interesting than ever before- providing flashbacks to WW2 that showed how skilled and efficient Bucky was, both as Cap's partner and an espionage agent, and showed why he was an integral part to the Invaders' operation. These same skills would be utilized by the Soviets when they condition him into the Winter Soldier. in time, Brubaker would turn Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier into one of my all-time favorite comic characters- and now I find that thanks to Brubaker, Cap's history- and the Marvel Universe- is better having Bucky alive & well & kicking butt in it! Equal of praise is not only the writing, but the art, provided by Steve Epting and Michael Lark, who would become a definitive Cap creatve team. Epting shows his skill here, with detailed, gritty art that still has a Steranko/Colan-inspired feel, and action scenes that would rival any feature film, with the emotions of the characters and conflicts he illustrates palpable in every panel- a very difficult thing to achieve. The Winter Soldier's awesome character design alone is a testament to Epting's artistic skill. The art by Michael Lark is also integral. Lark's detailed, slightly gritty art compliments Epting's, and here Lark does the very important WW2 flashbacks, showing the darker side of the war and the activities of Cap, Bucky and the Invaders during this time that shaped Cap & Bucky into the men they are, for better or for worse, in a way no one had done before. The scenes Lark illustrated sowing Bucky's skill & importance to Cap & the Invaders is one of the greatest panels in comics history. Everything you need to know about Bucky, and why he's fighting beside Cap & the greatest super-team of WW2, is contained in those panels. There is much more to this story than I could ever mention here- you just need to read it yourself, and become immersed in this great example of graphic story-telling. And this is just the beginning of the saga that Brubaker and company would craft, that would put Cap on top again. Brubaker's run on Cap can be considered one of those great, visionary, character-defining runs that leave an indelible mark on a character and their history, and I put Brubaker's run in league with other great visionary comic runs such as Walt Simonson's run on the Mighty Thor and Alan Moore's Swamp Thing run. Had I let my cynicism drive me, I would've deprived myself of one of comicdom's greatest sagas. Being proven wrong can be a fantastic thing- and I thank Brubaker & company for showing me that! I highly recommend not only this book, but all of Brubaker's Captain America saga. Buy this and enjoy it, and then see the awesome movie this comic masterpiece inspired. You won't regret it!

Good story. My favorite tales are often the origin stories. Winter soldier is not the only character discussed from Captain America's past. Takes place shortly before Civil War.

The Winter Soldier was the first part of a trilogy by Ed Brubaker. At the heart of the story is Russian businessman Alexander Lukin, the Red Skull, Captain America, Sharon Carter, and Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier.Things start with Lukin acquiring the Cosmic Cube by using Barnes to assassinate the Red Skull. Lukin thinks the cube will allow him to dominate the world economy, but the cube never does all that it master wants. At the same time, Cap finds out his former comrade in arms is alive (he thought Barnes died in World War II), and becomes obsessed with finding his friend and bringing him back from being the Winter Soldier, an assassin used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.The story is fast paced and exciting. Ed Brubaker’s writing style is short and direct and pushing things along with a mix of intrigue and action. Some of the artwork is lackluster, but the story is good enough to overcome those shortcomings.

This book was cool. Red Skull is killed by Winter Soilder. Winter Soilder is a hired hitman who has been killing high targerts for years for the Russians. A guy named Lukin controls him. He also gets that damn cosmic Cube that the Red Skull always uses but always messes up. Captian America is being hit with all kinds of past fake memories. Fights with Crossbones the Red Skull main soilder and Aim and Hydra. Winter Soilder is of course connected to Captian America past. Turns out Bucky is still alive and has been brainwashed. He even kills the guy that used to be Nomad. Who is dying and messed up because of the super soilder serum has been destroying his body. Wasted a chunk of the story going into his backstory. Captian America must come face to face with The Winter Soilder at the end. There fight was not that long but it was cool. Also is the Red Skull really dead? Crossbones breaks out the Red Skull crazy daughter who is brainwashed and held by Shield. Overall the story was pretty good. Cap has to stop what is messing with his head and deal with his past. The book is not the end . The story continues in 2 other books. A good read though.

Before reading this (in expectation of the new movie) I had heard pretty much nothing but how awesome this volume was. I went into it with fairly high expectations - I'm not a huge Cap fan, but I am a big Brubaker fan from his other comics with Sean Phillips.However, what I found was good - but just not as great as I had been lead to believe it was going to be. It's a pretty decent story, although I felt the ending was a bit too clean, although it was fairly clever. It didn't really inspire me to seek out more of Brubaker's run on Captain America, but it served as a nice introduction to the titular character, as well as providing a nice bit of setup for the movie.All in all I'd say it's worth checking out if you're a big comics fan, big Cap fan, or really really loved the new movie. Otherwise you might be better off seeing if your local library has a copy first, or if you happen to know someone with a copy you can borrow. but then again, given the price on Amazon, it's probably worth the cost, just for the length alone - you're paying less than $1 an issue here.

Ed Brubaker revisits Cap's past by writing an alternate history to his sidekick, Bucky, in The Winter Soldier. Originally dead from an explosion over the English Channel pursuing the evil Baron Zemo during WW2, Brubaker imagines Bucky surviving the blast and being turned into a cyborg assassin, brainwashed into fighting for the Russians. Steve Epting's art is ridiculous - it's just so good! And his character design of the Winter Soldier is brilliant, with the mechanical arm and neo-terrorist look being faithfully replicated in the upcoming movie.Unlike the movie though, the plot centres around an evil Russian general and the cosmic cube taking over the world through purchasing American land, which works really well in the book but I don't see ANOTHER Cap movie centring around the cosmic cube so I expect that plot element to be jettisoned. From what I've seen of the movie so far though, they're using a lot of the book in the movie - Crossbones (one of Red Skull's lieutenants), the Falcon (one of Cap's old friends), certain scenes like Bucky punching Cap's shield with his mechanical arm - but it doesn't look like Hugo Weaving's returning as Red Skull so, even though he's in the book, he probably won't be in the film.But enough talk of the movie! The book is awesome, so even if the film winds up sucking next year, at least we have Brubaker and Epting's great Cap story. And Brubaker should really be congratulated simply for writing a readable and fun Captain America book - off the top of my head, I don't think there are any great Cap books besides this! But it's more than that. We understand Cap's loss a lot more, seeing his friendship with Bucky in far more detail than in other books during the many flashbacks set during WW2, and understand how close they were and why it was so painful for Cap to lose him.While it's recognisably a superhero book, Brubaker's written it in a very sophisticated way so that it reads like an espionage thriller with double agents, real historical events, unexpected emotional depth, and superhero action all thrown into the mix. Epting's accomplished art gives the book a gloriously realistic appearance while the muted colour palette perfectly suits the serious tone of the book. Cap might be looked at as an anachronistic, even outdated character, and dressed kinda silly, but Brubaker and Epting make him look like a tragic figure, which isn't something I usually respond to (miserable superheroes are DC's speciality, not Marvel's) but it's the right approach for this book. With Bucky's backstory that involves remaining youthful after decades, getting a robot arm, being brainwashed, and so on, it would be too easy to undermine if Brubaker was anything less than completely serious in his approach.The only complaint I would give the book is that it feels overlong at times. The middle of the book sags a bit especially as Brubaker takes several tangents to explore every angle of Cap's long and varied history (taking in other Captain Americas who filled in for Steve Rogers while he was frozen in ice). But it's a minor complaint when so much of the book is so well done in every way.With The Winter Soldier, Brubaker writes the best Captain America book ever while also resurrecting a forgotten character, giving Bucky a new lease on life and turning him from an easily mocked sidekick into a brilliantly realised and transformed new character, and a superhero in his own right. The Winter Soldier is a great read and anyone (and I used to fall in this category) who thinks Cap only works in team books, should pick this up to see him carry the story brilliantly.

Great stuff. Good story that is the inspiration for the second Captain America film. I read it and liked it, my 12 year old daughter loved it too. it was a present for her as she is a fan of the films and at the affordable price I want her to appreciate the comics and not just the film. Hopefully Marvel will cotton on to this and produce these cheaper collections for all of their films.

If you haven't picked up a Marvel comic in years - or even, ever - this terrific collection of the Ed Brubaker run is a fantastic jumping on point. The storyline is utterly compelling, and told in an incredibly engaging and dynamic, almost cinematic way. I literally couldn't put this down. If you ever needed to be convinced that modern comics can be this good, I'd highly recommend this trade paperback.

I ordered this as a surprise present for my grandson & he loved it. Captain America is his favourite. It’s like an old fashioned comic book, brilliant.

I bought this for my partner. It came the next day in excellent condition but the cover was different (doesn’t really matter unless you really want that exact cover). He thoroughly enjoyed it.