Marvel; $3.99

Bucky Barnes hasn’t had the easiest life. Once the plucky sidekick of Captain America, he was long thought dead, only for it to turn out that his body had been recovered by the enemy and turned into a living weapon, a master assassin, for their own ends. Though he was eventually saved and given a second chance, he knows that isn’t the norm; he’s now using his own life experiences to help those in similarly awful situations and are looking for an out. Unfortunately, while he’s been doing the best he can, so has Hydra – and they’re not happy with what Bucky is doing.

Bucky is such a cool character and this looks like it’s going to be a really cool book. It’s definitely an interesting plot, but the artwork shines through in this debut issue – the usage of color (or lack thereof) and the harsher angles present in Bucky’s memories (versus the standard comic book format for reality) gives this Winter Soldier series a distinct visual flavor. This looks to be the start of something very cool for Marvel and I’d definitely recommend even the most casual Bucky fan pick this one up.

-Carrie Wood