is it april yet? YES IT IS!
Those of you who follow me on Tumblr or Twitter are likely to be very familiar with my use of the #isitaprilyet hashtag, since I've been using it for a long time. Since Marvel announced the full title of Captain America 2, in fact (on July 18, 2012).
It's April, and in four hours I'm boarding a flight to meet up with
jennalynn, and at midnight tonight it will finally, fiiiiiiinally be movie time. I am practically bouncing up and down in my seat.
I did much the same thing in the passenger seat of the car that
agonistes was driving in 2012 when the title release happened. (Luckily, she's a very good driver.) Several of you may remember that during the few months leading up to that, I would often repeat that if I was very good and ate all my vegetables, maybe we would get the story of the Winter Soldier, and I would helpfully enumerate all the things in the first Captain America film that made it likely. And then Marvel released the title, and I shrieked like a banshee in delight, and since then I've been counting down the months, weeks, and days.
Why does this matter so much to me? In order to answer that, I'm finally going to also answer the December meme topic that
musesfool asked me to write about, and that topic is: Bucky Barnes.
Everyone's got a canon that's particularly near and dear to them. Most people have several, in fact - I know I do. But if I were ever asked to pick one, just one and no more, I think I'd have to name Captain America the canon of my heart.
(It's a hard choice. Comics-wise, I'm also very fond of Wonder Woman and Iron Man and various of the X-Men, in that order. Other-canon-wise, the Wheel of Time comes to mind immediately. Etc.)
You see, military service has long been a tradition in my family. I think that we have someone in every generation - and often several someones - who served their country, going back at least to the Civil War, which is as far as we've been able to track. I have a cousin who served with the Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, which lots of people now know as the Marines of "Generation Kill." My father served in the Air Force for a full twenty years before retiring, honorably, at the rank of sergeant; his service included time spent in Vietnam. As far back as I can remember, my view of military service has been to see it as a good thing, and as a great opportunity for career, travel, discipline, advancement, and a way to give back to America.
Yes, I know there are problems with American exceptionalism, with jingoism, with policy both foreign and domestic, with the way that our military has been used. I don't disagree. I love my country, but love does not mean ignoring imperfections. And no matter what problems have existed, past and present, that does not for one second change my opinion of the good men and women who commit to this kind of work for many, many reasons.
So - I grew up with that view of the military, and I grew up knowing my dad had served and learning a lot from him of what that was like, and then when my dad started traveling on business trips in his next career, he'd bring presents back for me and my sister with each trip. He knew I liked to read, so he brought me comic books.
Among others, he brought me Captain America.
When I was growing up - in the late 70s and early 80s - Bucky Barnes was long dead. That didn't mean I didn't know the story, from various flashbacks in comics and pieces haphazardly patched together over the course of years. I loved Cap, and I liked the idea of him having a sidekick, a partner, someone he was close to and who was close to him. I missed Bucky without ever having really met him, but I was glad he'd existed; I could identify with him the way that many, many teenage boys over the years likely did as well. Bucky gave us all a way to dream ourselves into the story.
One of those boys who dreamed was Ed Brubaker. In fact, Brubaker was so convinced that Bucky couldn't have really died (no body, no death) that he made up ways that Bucky could still be alive. He basically wrote fix-it fic for years as a kid (like so many of us do) -- and then he grew up and worked in comics, and eventually came to work on Captain America... and in 2005, he wrote the story of the Winter Soldier.
When I read that story, it was like something caught fire in my mind. All my childhood dreams came rushing back, brought forward by a man who'd been a kid like me, and who loved and didn't want to lose Bucky, either. And this time, Bucky was older. Bucky'd been shaped by some horrible experiences; Bucky had grown up, too. His story fit right in with the general zeitgeist of the time, and it fit well. It still does. And for me, it resonates right down to the bone.
Who is Bucky Barnes? James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes isn't a larger-than-life hero; he's a person who got caught up in the extraordinary and responded to it to the best of his ability. He's love and loyalty and humanity; he's imperfect and he's someone who understands betrayal and deceit as well as how to seize small moments and make the best of them. He's dedicated to who and what he believes is right. He stands by his friends. He knows hard choices and desperation; he's lived them (more of them than he can remember). He's done things he's not proud of, but he did them because he believed they were necessary, and that by doing them himself he could spare others - especially Steve. The bond he has with Steve Rogers is amazing and I believe unbreakable, despite everything, and there is SO MUCH everything....
The Bucky of the MCU is different in some ways from the Bucky of childhood comics canon. He's a little older than Steve now, rather than a teenage sidekick. Their relationship is more one of equals. He retains the darkness and complexity of Brubaker's version, and I think that the MCU's background so far works well with regard to that, and without alienating the comics origin. He and Steve look out for each other; they take care of each other as best they can with the unique skills that each of them has, and they have since they were both kids.
I believe that Bucky's convinced (and will likely always be convinced) that Steve's a better guy than he is (morally). He himself may not be a bad guy (and he's never wanted to be), but Steve's something special. He recognizes and values that, and it's just part of why he loves Steve. Steve truly is his best friend, and as far as he's concerned, will always be.
We'll pause here for a second to contemplate the added level of horror that brings to the Winter Soldier.
Yep.
I have so much mental space around how Bucky and Steve, Steve and Bucky, lived and worked and existed after they aged out of the orphanage. Some of it's drawn from comics; some of it's drawn from fandom; some of it's just how I see things working together for them. Shared apartment, shared space, shared experience - and then the war came along.
I have so much mental space around how the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow operated, together and apart. Everyone knows the quote about how she helped bring him back from being a weapon, a thing, to being a person, and how they both paid for it. James and Natasha, Natasha and James... they found each other in the darkness of a world where you couldn't trust anyone, and it worked for them. It worked in part because of who Bucky is, deep down in the soul where no memory implantation can touch.
Bucky is... well, he's Bucky. Complex, loyal, human Bucky.
You know, I could keep writing for hours, I suspect, but my alarm just chimed to remind me that it's time to go to the airport. So, although this is one of the more incoherent posts I've ever made, so I'll just sum up by saying that Bucky Barnes inspires ALL THE FEELS, and I'll always love him for it.
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/311739.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)
It's April, and in four hours I'm boarding a flight to meet up with
jennalynn, and at midnight tonight it will finally, fiiiiiiinally be movie time. I am practically bouncing up and down in my seat.
I did much the same thing in the passenger seat of the car that
agonistes was driving in 2012 when the title release happened. (Luckily, she's a very good driver.) Several of you may remember that during the few months leading up to that, I would often repeat that if I was very good and ate all my vegetables, maybe we would get the story of the Winter Soldier, and I would helpfully enumerate all the things in the first Captain America film that made it likely. And then Marvel released the title, and I shrieked like a banshee in delight, and since then I've been counting down the months, weeks, and days.
Why does this matter so much to me? In order to answer that, I'm finally going to also answer the December meme topic that
musesfool asked me to write about, and that topic is: Bucky Barnes.
Everyone's got a canon that's particularly near and dear to them. Most people have several, in fact - I know I do. But if I were ever asked to pick one, just one and no more, I think I'd have to name Captain America the canon of my heart.
(It's a hard choice. Comics-wise, I'm also very fond of Wonder Woman and Iron Man and various of the X-Men, in that order. Other-canon-wise, the Wheel of Time comes to mind immediately. Etc.)
You see, military service has long been a tradition in my family. I think that we have someone in every generation - and often several someones - who served their country, going back at least to the Civil War, which is as far as we've been able to track. I have a cousin who served with the Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, which lots of people now know as the Marines of "Generation Kill." My father served in the Air Force for a full twenty years before retiring, honorably, at the rank of sergeant; his service included time spent in Vietnam. As far back as I can remember, my view of military service has been to see it as a good thing, and as a great opportunity for career, travel, discipline, advancement, and a way to give back to America.
Yes, I know there are problems with American exceptionalism, with jingoism, with policy both foreign and domestic, with the way that our military has been used. I don't disagree. I love my country, but love does not mean ignoring imperfections. And no matter what problems have existed, past and present, that does not for one second change my opinion of the good men and women who commit to this kind of work for many, many reasons.
So - I grew up with that view of the military, and I grew up knowing my dad had served and learning a lot from him of what that was like, and then when my dad started traveling on business trips in his next career, he'd bring presents back for me and my sister with each trip. He knew I liked to read, so he brought me comic books.
Among others, he brought me Captain America.
When I was growing up - in the late 70s and early 80s - Bucky Barnes was long dead. That didn't mean I didn't know the story, from various flashbacks in comics and pieces haphazardly patched together over the course of years. I loved Cap, and I liked the idea of him having a sidekick, a partner, someone he was close to and who was close to him. I missed Bucky without ever having really met him, but I was glad he'd existed; I could identify with him the way that many, many teenage boys over the years likely did as well. Bucky gave us all a way to dream ourselves into the story.
One of those boys who dreamed was Ed Brubaker. In fact, Brubaker was so convinced that Bucky couldn't have really died (no body, no death) that he made up ways that Bucky could still be alive. He basically wrote fix-it fic for years as a kid (like so many of us do) -- and then he grew up and worked in comics, and eventually came to work on Captain America... and in 2005, he wrote the story of the Winter Soldier.
When I read that story, it was like something caught fire in my mind. All my childhood dreams came rushing back, brought forward by a man who'd been a kid like me, and who loved and didn't want to lose Bucky, either. And this time, Bucky was older. Bucky'd been shaped by some horrible experiences; Bucky had grown up, too. His story fit right in with the general zeitgeist of the time, and it fit well. It still does. And for me, it resonates right down to the bone.
Who is Bucky Barnes? James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes isn't a larger-than-life hero; he's a person who got caught up in the extraordinary and responded to it to the best of his ability. He's love and loyalty and humanity; he's imperfect and he's someone who understands betrayal and deceit as well as how to seize small moments and make the best of them. He's dedicated to who and what he believes is right. He stands by his friends. He knows hard choices and desperation; he's lived them (more of them than he can remember). He's done things he's not proud of, but he did them because he believed they were necessary, and that by doing them himself he could spare others - especially Steve. The bond he has with Steve Rogers is amazing and I believe unbreakable, despite everything, and there is SO MUCH everything....
The Bucky of the MCU is different in some ways from the Bucky of childhood comics canon. He's a little older than Steve now, rather than a teenage sidekick. Their relationship is more one of equals. He retains the darkness and complexity of Brubaker's version, and I think that the MCU's background so far works well with regard to that, and without alienating the comics origin. He and Steve look out for each other; they take care of each other as best they can with the unique skills that each of them has, and they have since they were both kids.
I believe that Bucky's convinced (and will likely always be convinced) that Steve's a better guy than he is (morally). He himself may not be a bad guy (and he's never wanted to be), but Steve's something special. He recognizes and values that, and it's just part of why he loves Steve. Steve truly is his best friend, and as far as he's concerned, will always be.
We'll pause here for a second to contemplate the added level of horror that brings to the Winter Soldier.
Yep.
I have so much mental space around how Bucky and Steve, Steve and Bucky, lived and worked and existed after they aged out of the orphanage. Some of it's drawn from comics; some of it's drawn from fandom; some of it's just how I see things working together for them. Shared apartment, shared space, shared experience - and then the war came along.
I have so much mental space around how the Winter Soldier and the Black Widow operated, together and apart. Everyone knows the quote about how she helped bring him back from being a weapon, a thing, to being a person, and how they both paid for it. James and Natasha, Natasha and James... they found each other in the darkness of a world where you couldn't trust anyone, and it worked for them. It worked in part because of who Bucky is, deep down in the soul where no memory implantation can touch.
Bucky is... well, he's Bucky. Complex, loyal, human Bucky.
You know, I could keep writing for hours, I suspect, but my alarm just chimed to remind me that it's time to go to the airport. So, although this is one of the more incoherent posts I've ever made, so I'll just sum up by saying that Bucky Barnes inspires ALL THE FEELS, and I'll always love him for it.
This entry was originally posted at http://silveraspen.dreamwidth.org/311739.html and mirrored to LJ. Please comment where you wish! (There are
comments currently posted at Dreamwidth.)