Civil War: Casualties of War - Winter Soldier - Winter Kills #1

Oct 17

Oct 17 Civil War: Casualties of War - Winter Soldier - Winter Kills #1

Winter Kills

Christmas Eve, 1944

On the last Christmas of World War II, the Invaders were in London to celebrate the holidays. It’s young members — Bucky (James Barnes) and Toro (Thomas Raymond — are excitedly getting ready for a dance, because they get to meet some girls. Toro is taking forever because he’s not used to wearing a formal uniform. Once he is ready, Bucky asks Captain America (Steve Rogers) if he’ll be joining them. Steve tells them he is staying behind to work on cracking some Nazi codes, prompting James to tell him to take some time off, it’s Christmas after all.

They also bump into the Sub-Mariner (Namor) who is going with the Human Torch (Jim Hammond) to celebrate the holiday at Falsworth Manor. It was understood that Toro was coming, but the youth has changed his plans. He and James asks why Namor is going to the Falsworth’s when he doesn’t care for surface world holidays. The Prince of Atlantis tells them that he’s going because the chef is without peer and he enjoys watching the Torch squirm when Jacqueline Falsworth hits on him. With that, James and Thomas head off to the dance, little did James Barnes know that would be the last Christmas he ever celebrated…..[1]

Now

…. That is until now, and despite the holiday season, James Barnes — now the Winter Soldier — feels none of the holiday spirit in the air. People in the streets are going through the motions, but James can see the fear and uncertainty in their eyes following the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) and the superhero civil war that is currently on going.[2] He can understand people’s feelings of helplessness, which probably isn’t all that different when the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner ruined half the Bowery in their first meeting back in 1940.[3] As he enters the 54th Street subway station, he thinks about how after the death of his father, Christmas was always a time to reflect back on happier moments.[4] In the here and now, James longs for it to be 1944 again. As he boards a train, James gets a call from Nick Fury, who has an important mission for him. Barnes tries to tell Fury to give him one night. However, Nick hasn’t taken a night off since 1952 and James reluctantly asks for the details.[5]

Elsewhere in the city, three of the Young Avengers — Patriot (Eli Bradley), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), and the Vision (Jonas) — are staking out a warehouse for criminal activity. While Kate’s thermal scan binoculars can’t detect anything inside, the Vision’s 30th Century technology can detect that whoever is inside is using a sophisticated system to mask their presence. They are being observed by the Winter Soldier, who asks Fury what these kids are doing here. Fury says they are the Young Avengers and that they are going to ruin all the months of work he has spent sniffing out this Hydra operation.[6] Fury needs this Hydra cell operational so he can know who is working for who. When James asks him to clarify why, all Fury will say is that it’s complicated.[7]

The Winter Soldier confronts the three Young Avengers and tells them not to bust the Hydra operation. Thinking that Winter Soldier is a threat, the three youths attack him. After a brief scuffle, James manages to convince them that he is working for Nick Fury. However, their fracas attracted the attention of a Hydra guard who has come up to the roof to find out what the commotion is all about. Quickly, Barnes grabs one of Hawkeye’s arrows and throws it with lethal accuracy. Unfortunately, the guard manages to squeeze off a couple of rounds before he was killed. With the situation blown, the Young Avengers insist on helping Winter Soldier deal with the rest of the Hydra agents, but insist that they will not kill anyone.[8] James accepts this and really wants to get going because he has an appointment to keep. When they enter into the fray, Barnes is surprised by how skilled the Young Avengers are, but notes that they could use some more training. The fact that this is a role reversal of being Bucky to Captain America, and admits that it feels weird. Despite this, the four of them wipe out the Hydra base in record time.

When they are done, Winter Soldier tells them to high tail it before the “pansies” working with SHIELD show up to give them trouble. Kate takes this as an insult since some on the pro-registration side are their friends and wonders what decade he’s from that he would use such a dated term. James apologizes, saying he’s not from around and quickly departs. Although they never figured out who this masked man was, the Vision analyses his movements and inferred his true identity.

Later, James is out of costume and has arrived at the grave of Jack Monroe, the man who once succeeded him as Bucky and a man he murdered as the Winter Soldier.[9] He apologizes for killing Munroe, particularly since so much of Jack’s life was spent emulating an idealized version of Bucky. His vigil is interrupted when the Young Avengers arrive, having deduced who he really is. They also learn why he has come to mourn Jack Monroe, and his views on Christmas, particularly since his father died a few weeks before the holiday back in 1937. He has some parting advice for the young heroes, telling them that the path they have taken takes away a lot. He warns them to ever let it take Christmas, because they never did during the war.

1944

Bucky and Toro have arrived at the Christmas dance and one of the girls has caught Thomas’ eye. However, he is too nervous to approach her until James forced him to do so. As he watches his friend go, James is surprised when he is joined by Steve. Rogers decided that James was right and took the rest of the night off, the war can wait. Glad that his best friend is there, James asks Steve to help him trick Toro and his dance partner to step under the mistletoe, saying that he wants Toro to become a man.[10]

Now

After leaving the Young Avengers, James goes to another section of the graveyard where he meets with the Sub-Mariner. He has come out of respect and is pleased to hear that Barnes is still alive.[11] They have agreed to meet at the grave of their old wartime friend, Toro, to pay their respects. While there, James asks Namor how Thomas died, since he was there at the time. Namor tells him he died a hero, but it is not a short story. James tells him that’s fine, he has nowhere else he wants to be.[12]

Recurring Characters

Winter Soldier, Nick Fury, Sub-Mariner, Young Avengers (Patriot, Hakeye, Vision), Hydra, (in flashback) Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, Sub-Mariner, Toro)

Continuity Notes

This, of course, is one of many references to the fact that Bucky went MIA in 1945. Since Avengers #4, it was believed that James died near the end of World War II. In reality, his body was recovered by the Russians who transformed him into an assassin called the Winter Soldier, as told in Captain America (vol. 5) #11. With no memory of his past, Buck has only recently had his mind restored at the time of this story. See Captain America (vol. 5) #14. Bucky has survived the years by being placed in suspended animation until he was needed for missions.
The SHRA was recently passed into law in Civil War #2. It was a law that required heroes to register with the government. This caused a rift in the community between those who supported and those who were against the new law. It will remain on the books until Siege #4.
The first clash between the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner was originally chronicled in Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10.
Jame’s father, George, died in 1938 during a training exercise while he was stationed at Camp Lehigh. See Captain America #620 for all the tragic details.
Nick Fury’s stating he hasn’t taken a day off since 1952 is not a topical reference. Fury has lived a long life thanks to the Infinity Formula (first referenced in Marvel Spotlight #31), which has slowed his aging process.
Fury does a bit of exposition on each of the Young Avengers. The details:
- He confirms that the Patriot is using Captain America’s original triangular shield. Eli Bradley became the Patriot as a founding member of the Young Avengers in Young Avengers #1. He found Cap’s old shield in the ruins of Avengers Mansion and has used it since Young Avengers #3. Cap originally used a triangular shield in his first appearance in Captain America Comics #1, but switched to his trademark circular shield in the following issue of that series.
- Nick Fury refers to Kate Bishop as the new Hawkeye. She earned the right to use that name in Young Avengers #12, during a time when the original Hawkeye (Clint Barton) was killed in Avengers #502. He has been resurrected since (in New Avengers #26) and started operating as Ronin starting in New Avengers #27.
- Fury states here that the Vision is not the same one that was an Avenger. The original android Vision joined the Avengers back in Avengers #58. He was a long serving member on the team until he was destroyed in Avengers #500. Since then, the time traveling Iron Lad downloaded the Vision’s memory into his suit of Psychokinetic armor and it eventually gained sentience, creating a personality that combined Iron Lad’s persona with the Vision’s. See Young Avengers #1-6. The original Vision will eventually be restored in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
Nick Fury has gone underground for months after it was learned he staged an illegal coup in Latveria, as seen in Secret War #1-5. While on the run from the law, Fury uncovered the fact that Skrulls have been infiltrating positions of power, as told in Mighty Avengers #12. This is all ahead of a planned invasion that will take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.
The Young Avengers state that there has been too much death lately. They are likely referring to the death of Goliath (aka Bill Foster), which happened in Civil War #4. As of this writing, he remains among the deceased.
Jack Monroe was the Bucky of the 1950s who took on the mantle in Young Men #24. After his own stint in suspended animation, he was awoken in the modern age in Captain America #153-156. In more recent times he reinvented himself as the Nomad starting in Captain America #282. While still programmed to be an assassin, the Winter Soldier assassinated Jack in Captain America (vol. 5) #7.
As proof that he has fun some times, Steve reminds Bucky that he once punched Hitler. This is a reference to the cover of Captain America Comics #1. Although this cover has often been referenced in other places, there has yet to be a story Steve where we see Captain America depicted hitting that Nazi piece of shit in the face.
Namor mentions how he too once had issues with his memory. This is in reference to the tale told in Sub-Mariner #1. It tells how Namor had been stricken with amnesia in the 1950s and wandered New York for decades until his mind was restored in Fantastic Four #4. Namor lived this long due to the fact that Atlanteans have longer lifespans than ordinary humans and age much more slowly.
Toro is listed here as a loving husband, as he had married to Ann Raymond just prior to his death in Sub-Mariner #14. Toro lived until the Modern Age is likely due to the fact that he was an Inhuman, as revealed in All-New Invaders #8, like Atlanteans, Inhumans have a much longer lifespan. While dead here, Toro will be resurrected in Avengers/Invaders #12.

Topical References

This story is stated as occurring during the Christmas season. This creates some issues as the Sliding Timescale compresses time on the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe. One standard metric is that one year of time passes in universe for roughly every four years worth of publications. Due to the ubiquity of the Christmas season, the holiday is often observed by real time standards, often breaking the rules of the Sliding Timescale. Case in point, this issue was published in 2007. Based on my index’s metrics, the publication years where Christmas would be celebrated would have been 2005 and 2009, putting the events of this story happening somewhere five months in between. You could argue that this is a topical reference and you can generalize this to some general holiday, and its reminding Bucky of Christmas 1944. Or you could accept that Christmas is never going to play by the fictional rules because, magic? Comics? Something like that.
The homeless veteran has a sign that states that he fought in the Vietnam War. While this was possible when this story was originally published in 2007, it will become increasingly impossible as the Sliding Timescale bumps the Modern Age forward. Per History of the Marvel Universe #2, all references to Modern Age characters being involved in historic Vietnam have since been changed to the fictional Sin-Cong Conflict, as would be the case here.
James is depicted as having a “flip” style phone that were quite popular in 2007 when this comic was originally published. They have since fallen out of common use thanks to the advent of the smart phone. As such, its depiction here should be considered topical.