Challenge #2: Bucky|Clint: Off-Panel BFFs
Bucky and Clint: Best Friends!? HOW?!
In Captain America #46, Bucky casually mentions that "even Clint Barton" says he's not responsible for the Winter Soldier's actions.
literaryll and I turned to each other and said, "How does Clint know about Bucky's history as Winter Soldier?!" It doesn't seem like something Bucky would volunteer to someone he barely knows, let alone someone he's had mostly antagonistic interactions (i.e. Clint). We went over their on-panel history and couldn't find any support for this sudden development. Let's examine it:
In Captain America #37 they get off to a rocky start with Clint threatening Bucky over Steve's legacy.
We next see them together in New Avengers #48 where Bucky invites Clint and the other Avengers to move in with him at Steve's old apartment.
In New Avengers #50, Bucky tells Clint to stop breaking his house.
In New Avengers: The Reunion #1 Bucky gives Clint some good advice and Clint shows him some respect, but their interaction is still largely antagonistic.
After several hours trying to figure out how this happened - partly because we felt cheated not to get this revelation on panel - we decided to ask Ed Brubaker himself at Emerald City ComiCon. First, I asked him when Clint would next appear in Cap. After responding with "I love Clint!", he gave Spoilers for Captain America #50 (highlight to read): Clint saves Bucky from someone trying to kill him and the New Avengers throw Bucky a surprise birthday party!
It was a natural segue into our question du jour and the exchange could be summarized like this:
Me: How does Clint know about Bucky's past as the Winter Soldier?
Bru: Everybody knows.
Me: O_o Really?!? How?!?! Nick Fury destroyed SHIELD's records.
Bru: He did? Oh, yeah. Well... Clint doesn't know then.
Me: But he does.
Bru: (shakes head)
Me: You wrote it. Bucky mentions it on the trip to China with Namor.
Bru: Oh, yeah. Well... They're friends.
Me: Since when?
Bru: (excited) Clint moved in with Bucky!
Me: Yeah, I saw that and I liked it... but still... it doesn't seem like something Bucky would just talk about.
Bru: Yeah, he doesn't. But they have a bond.
Me: They do?
Bru: Yeah - Steve.
Me: (grinning) They bonded over Steve?
Bru: Yep.
Brubaker was adorable, friendly and delightful to talk with. (He also told me Eli Bradley would appear in Captain America #600 with the Ultimate Universe (female) Bucky.) But, dang. Talk about OFF PANEL BFFs! We'll just have to explain it ourselves!
The closest we've seen to this alleged "friendship" was in this week's New Avengers #52 where they were united in their reasoning for helping Doctor Strange and they piloted the Quinjet together.
How did Bucky and Clint's friendship come to be?
Was it through Natasha? Sam? Steve? A mutual "understanding"? Sex? None of the above?
Challenge Guidelines:
In Captain America #46, Bucky casually mentions that "even Clint Barton" says he's not responsible for the Winter Soldier's actions.
literaryll and I turned to each other and said, "How does Clint know about Bucky's history as Winter Soldier?!" It doesn't seem like something Bucky would volunteer to someone he barely knows, let alone someone he's had mostly antagonistic interactions (i.e. Clint). We went over their on-panel history and couldn't find any support for this sudden development. Let's examine it:
In Captain America #37 they get off to a rocky start with Clint threatening Bucky over Steve's legacy.
We next see them together in New Avengers #48 where Bucky invites Clint and the other Avengers to move in with him at Steve's old apartment.
In New Avengers #50, Bucky tells Clint to stop breaking his house.
In New Avengers: The Reunion #1 Bucky gives Clint some good advice and Clint shows him some respect, but their interaction is still largely antagonistic.
After several hours trying to figure out how this happened - partly because we felt cheated not to get this revelation on panel - we decided to ask Ed Brubaker himself at Emerald City ComiCon. First, I asked him when Clint would next appear in Cap. After responding with "I love Clint!", he gave Spoilers for Captain America #50 (highlight to read): Clint saves Bucky from someone trying to kill him and the New Avengers throw Bucky a surprise birthday party!
It was a natural segue into our question du jour and the exchange could be summarized like this:
Me: How does Clint know about Bucky's past as the Winter Soldier?
Bru: Everybody knows.
Me: O_o Really?!? How?!?! Nick Fury destroyed SHIELD's records.
Bru: He did? Oh, yeah. Well... Clint doesn't know then.
Me: But he does.
Bru: (shakes head)
Me: You wrote it. Bucky mentions it on the trip to China with Namor.
Bru: Oh, yeah. Well... They're friends.
Me: Since when?
Bru: (excited) Clint moved in with Bucky!
Me: Yeah, I saw that and I liked it... but still... it doesn't seem like something Bucky would just talk about.
Bru: Yeah, he doesn't. But they have a bond.
Me: They do?
Bru: Yeah - Steve.
Me: (grinning) They bonded over Steve?
Bru: Yep.
Brubaker was adorable, friendly and delightful to talk with. (He also told me Eli Bradley would appear in Captain America #600 with the Ultimate Universe (female) Bucky.) But, dang. Talk about OFF PANEL BFFs! We'll just have to explain it ourselves!
The closest we've seen to this alleged "friendship" was in this week's New Avengers #52 where they were united in their reasoning for helping Doctor Strange and they piloted the Quinjet together.
How did Bucky and Clint's friendship come to be?
Was it through Natasha? Sam? Steve? A mutual "understanding"? Sex? None of the above?
Challenge Guidelines:
- Write fic addressing the question using 500 words or more (word limit is flexible!)
- Fic may be gen, slash, etcetera.
- Post a link to your fic on buckycap by 4 July 2009 [ETA: Extended to receive entries.]. Please use standard headers.
- Voting will take place the following week.
- All participants to receive a banner.
- Winner/s to receive a banner and COMICS featuring Bucky and Clint!
- HAVE FUN!