Winter Soldier: The Complete Collection (2024)

4.5 stars

"I have work to do . . . and it has to be done in the shadows. I wasn't meant for the spotlight, anyway." -- James 'Bucky' Barnes, a.k.a Winter Soldier, gearing up for his mission

'Shadows' is correct - this is one dark volume, with the plentiful action / intrigue scenes taking place at night and/or in blinding downpours, but also dark in that our protagonist is one haunted man, still reeling from the years of grief he caused as a brainwashed operative of the Russian government. Yes, Winter Solider - and I'll argue that the equally tormented Natasha 'Black Widow' Romanoff should be up there along side him the title, too, with little loss of accuracy - is a bleak, fatalistic and often very savage volume, but yet it was also exhilarating at times. Brubaker is a very good graphic-novel writer, adept mixing drama and even an appropriate touch of romance ('cuz Lord knows Bucky and Natasha absolutely need a dose of sexual healing amidst their non-stop clandestine missions for the U.S.) among the three connected action-adventure-espionage story arcs assembled in this collection. The terse, tough and tightly-worded dialogue is done to near-perfection - and really, there's so much eventually at stake here that prolonged speeches would get in the way and/or just ring false in the situations - in between the requisite shoot-outs, chases, explosions and various other hyper-violent encounters between our heroes and villains. All that, and just when things are looking particularly discouraging for our title character near the melancholic climax he receives help from three rugged friends, and damned if they don't perform a classic (or is it 'Marvel'ous?) 'hero walk' scene.

I'M CRYING!
THE END?! THE f*ckING END?!
HOW COULD THEY DO THAT ?!?!
DAMNNNNNNN
MY f*ckING HEART...!
I AM DEAD.

I LOVED THIS SO MUCH
(btw just read it if you're a fan of bucky, bc if you're not, u probably won't like it)

I LOVE BUCKYNAT WITH ALL MY HEART. BUT THIS ENDING... IT KILLED ME. THEY DESERVE SO MUCH BETTER UGHHH...

why is everything painful in these people's lives I just want them to be happy

One of my first thought while reading was "So THIS is where all the BuckyNat fanfiction originates." Here is where. X mark this spot. Ta-dah. Natasha is Queen and Bucky knows it and I know it and we are in agreement about this fact. We love her forever and would totally consider giving up careers to be safe together if only we were not addicted to action and our careers. "She always amazes me."

My second thought was how interesting it was to get things from Bucky's perspective. He's a great storyteller, and very subtly different from Steve. It reminds of the Myers-Brigg distinction of Judging versus Perceiving. Steve Rogers judges people against his moral code while Bucky tries to perceive situations as they are, to get at a "truth" of everyone's reasoning and how it brought them to their decisions. Bucky used to be like Steve more, but then the Red Room happened.

My third thought was that this story is still very high testosterone thriller, but Bucky can tell how testosterone-y he is being, at least.

My fourth thought god damn it, Bucky, you have the emotional intelligence of a bOX of rOCKS, GET IT TOGETHER, DUDE. Let! Yourself! Be! Happy! Stop deciding dumb things! Stop trying to punch my other son Matt! Invest! In more! Knives!

My final thought is Sebastian Stan totally read this to prepare for his Winter Solider and Civil War roles and he made it 10 times better by having facial expressions to communicate emotions.

The end. *bows*

This is my first Marvel comics read EVER. And I'm quite impressed. I mean, the story could have been more in terms of layers and it is rather simplistic but I was mostly like WAIT THERE'S A BUCKY-NAT SHIP AND HOW COME I MISSED THIS??? xD Now I can get little references we WERE given in Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie. But yeah, totally agree with the shippers that they should have included this in the Marvel movies because it's too good.

Lots of Cold War era references, which I enjoyed.

I didn't enjoy so much the fact that Steve Rogers as Captain America is kind of... jaded and unhinged though. xDD Still, the good parts made up for it.

Oh and the end is... good but SO heartbreaking. *tearful smiles* There had better be a sequel to continue this!

PG 13 for violence and some (rather frequent) language, kissing, a couple in bed (nothing graphic)

My favorite moments:
-the cover - gah that art is so good
- finding out that Bucky was a Captain America at one time until he found it didn't suit him well xD
- finding out that Nat and Bucky works together so well <33
- why Nat's called Black Widow. For REAL.
- LOGAN AKA WOLVERINE IS HERE (in yellow, it's so cheesy but I still love him), and he's using his scent abilities (like, WHY was he not in the final showdown in Endgame??)
- Bucky saving Nat. Successfully. But WHAT IS UP WITH THAT ENDING I feel trauma
- So, there's a Red Phantom, a Red Ghost, AND a Red Skull? xD
- Bucky being a tortured/redeemed hero. *thumbs up*

{Many thanks to CheyAnn for recommending Marvel comics to me. I know it's taken forever for me to get here but I'm entirely grateful and shall always think of you when I read one now! =)}

Ugh. This was so obviously written by only dudes for dudes only.

1. Boobs don't act like that, even in comic books. See: Aja and Noto. They can draw a boob.
2. Yayyyy let's make Natasha a damsel in distress. So original! Fresh!
3. I will ship Natasha with a floorboard, for dog's sake, but Bucky's terrible man!pain sinks this one in harbor.
4. POINTE SHOES DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT. LEOTARDS DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT.

I can't tell you how much the pointe shoe thing pisses me off. Like, sure, you want to draw your men all anatomically correct. But the only thing you can get right about women is their asses and their tit*?

No, sir, you fail hard.

insane freaking insane,,, This was perfect beginning to end wowowow.

There are parts of this that are just glaringly awful and parts that are so good, that this mostly left me confused.

Things I disliked:
-The artwork. I understand the need for a little intrigue in a spy story, but the panels were so dark and confusing that I had a hard time following where everyone was, physically speaking. It didn't give me any indicator of the emotions the character felt, because the faces were indecipherable.
-Reducing Black Widow to a mind controlled damsel in distress.
-The CONSTANT barrage of horribly drawn female characters. Literally every time Nat moved, she was suddenly in a split towards the reader with her vagin* practically out on display. Boobs were just everywhere and drawn in the worst way possible.
-The gorilla. Need I say more?
-Giving no one a happy ending? The issues with consent? The lack of agency on Nat's part. Nat's evolution into the Black Widow we know is so great because she reclaimed her agency and chose to be good, even after all the bad sh*t that happened to her. She started being able to use her skills as she wished, but this took all that away from her by continuing to brain wash her MULTIPLE TIMES.

Things I liked:
-Hearing more about Nat and Bucky's backgrounds during the Cold War and how they came to know one another.
-Nat and Bucky's relationship. When they were bantering about whoever gets caught first buys dinner, I became truly invested in their dynamic. They felt like a real team, like the trusted each other with their lives and understood each other on a level no one else would.
-The writing was actually great because Brubaker has such a great understanding of who Bucky is, especially after everything that happened with Steve and the Civil War era comics. He writes Bucky well and creates very compelling stories. While some of them felt very contrived and fizzled out quickly, I was still captivated by what was going on.
-The team of Wolverine, Bucky, Steve and Clint coming together to save their girl was a great dynamic. Even though I hated the damsel in distress sh*t, I appreciated them showing that Nat has a family now, that she created on her own.

Overall, there were things I hated and things I loved. It was worth a read, but it's definitely not my favorite.

This was my first Winter Soldier read and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot. This character diet peaked my interest when someone compared Bucky Barnes to Jason Todd aka Red Hood, whom I am a huge fan of. So naturally I jumped right on this. Though as soon as I started this book I realised how different they really are, but I enjoyed every part of it.

Being that Winter Soldier was once Bucky, the equivalent to Captain America's Robin, I was expecting a run of the mill superhero book with a bit of bad attitude thrown in. I wasn't expecting this spy based read, which was really refreshing. I learnt a lot in this as well, for example I had no idea Bucky was Captain America for a while, nor did I have prior knowledge to his relationship with Black Widow. I'm mainly a DC reader, but I was stoked that my lack of knowledge in the Marvel universe also didn't leave me confused in this, which was an added bonus.

The dynamic between James and Natalia was cool, I had no idea Black Widow was so cool. She kind of reminded me of DC's Mera, who is also a freakin bad ass. The stories flowed nicely through this run, although it picked up after the first arc with Doctor Doom, who was kind of annoying. The rest was more of a spy, mystery type read, which Ed Brubaker seems to write perfectly. The end of the series finishes on a somewhat butter note too, one which was satisfying, but far from happy.

Overall this was a great book and I'm gutted there isn't more to read. I'm going to try and hunt down more of Bucky's adventures cause he's a really interesting character. To top it all off the art was stunning, especially the action shots of Black Widow...damn. Yes I know she's not real, but still...damn.

I had issues with the beginning of the story, I was unconvinced by the story. Bucky is dead but not dead. He's entangled with the Black Widow, somehow, unconvincing, as I said.

But the story unfolds, and you have to be a bit patient, because it becomes better. The full arc is built from three consecutive stories, „The Longest Winter”, „Broken Arrow” and „Black Widow Hunt”, but I can't imagine how one could read any of the stories separate. The point is that Bucky and Black Widow are hunting for three sleeper agents (similar tu Barnes) that were ready to be mind controlled. While the first two are relatively easily disposed of, the third goes rogue, and the two are set to find him.

I will not give spoilers; I was displeased with the first part of the story, I found it shallow and hard to understand at times. And the acrobatics, man, they seem quite pointless at times. But after the introduction is out of the way, it gets a lot better, redeeming itself for the lousy beginnings.

I definitely recommend the complete collection; the story broken into volumes makes little sense.

Maybe my love for Bucky Barnes and Natasha Romanoff makes me biased—but this was phenomenal.

From the story to the art to the dialogue to the colouring. This is what comics are supposed to be like. Adventurous. Sorrowful. They push and pull and they bring out the bad and the good and the terrible and the heartfelt.

Sure, we all know that Nat can take care of herself and there was the slight damsel in distress moment throughout the story, but I think in this context it wasn’t that. It was I need help because just this time I can’t help myself and i think that really worked for the story.

I can’t wait to deep dive into stories that came after this one because it’s tragic and gorgeous and wonderful.

This edition combines The Longest Winter, Broken Arrow, and Black Widow Hunt.
Although I liked seeing James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes AKA the Winter Soldier in action as a good guy, I liked the storyline of The Longest Winter less than Broken Arrow/Black Widow Hunt. I’m not a big fan of Doctor Doom. There were also places where I had trouble figuring out what was going on in the art panels; some were more stylised than others. Broken Arrow/Black Widow Hunt had a more gripping plot, and I liked the art more. Natalia "Natasha" Romanoff, the Black Widow, is captured and brainwashed, back to her enemy super-spy ways; and James leads a desperate SHIELD search, trying to stop her from completing her mission and to help her get her mind back. His love for her is very clear and very touching. (Before this, I was unaware of a relationship between the two characters.) Definitely more emotional than many superhero stories, and the ending made me feel melancholy. Though appearances by Daredevil and Wolverine add a touch of fun to the plot.

This is a beautiful and painful love story. It took me some time to catch up to it because there is a lot of backstory to it. But once I did, it immediately became interesting. There is so much depth to Bucky Barnes and Natasha that is hardly explored in the Marvel movies. THIS needs to be made into a movie. It's perfect. Winter Soldier is probably going to be the best love story I'll read this year. It'll be difficult for any love story I read in rest of the 11 months of 2019 to live upto this one.

I read this in 2012/13 when it came out. It was the first comic series I read religiously as it was released. After TFATWS finale, I wanted to revisit these volumes to see if I could put my finger on WHY mcu!bucky isn't Right and all I'll say is, Mr Brubaker, I'm so sorry the MCU did gave nothing but DUST and injustice and POOR IMITATION of this character and arch. One of the best Winter Soldier stories ever told. Safe to say but I love it with all my heart, even if this comic breaks it every time.

I fell in love with Bucky in his Winter Soldier persona so it was great to see him go back to it, albeit in a hero capacity. He's so much better as a behind the scenes character who gets the job done.

Having never read a Winter Soldier comic, or any Captain America comic published this century, and not really liking Avengers-centered comics in general, I can say that this is easily the best of all those things I have ever read. It is psychotically gorgeous, such a beautifully polished book that I wonder how Marvel was even able to afford making any other nice-looking comics when this was coming out because it clearly sucks up all the beauty in the room; that's just how good it looks. I have also almost-never read a Brubaker comic I wasn't impressed by, and this is a damned impressive book. It is, somehow, a straight-up intense-as-f*ck spy comic that still manages to show all the joyous moves one can make when one has access to Doctor Doom -- like, things that totally should not work but not only do they totally work, but they make the book thrive.

It is, however -- I mean, oh god -- the most grotesquely square-jawed book o' sheer damn manliness I have read in a looong time, and I get that this comic is a few years old but still? Like, Black Widow is just reduced to Big Dumb Girlfriend, and then the climax of this entire epic-epic hinges on what a Big Dumb Girlfriend she is, and literally multiple issues end with the dudes high-fiving with their dicks and Winter Soldier saying, "LET'S GO GET MY GIRL" like to the extent that it might have actually been a joke? I don't f*cking know. I mean, even Bond is post-modern now, but we're really gonna go with "let's go get my girl?" I mean for f*ck's sake Ed Brubaker, this is why we have neckbeards comicsgating, is you perpetuating f*cked-up norms like this.

But man oh man, the art and the Doctor Doom stuff, pretty f*ckin good. Now stop talkin and start high fivin cuz LET'S GO GET MY GIRL

This was a lot of fun and nothing like anything else I’ve read in years. As a large, action comic spanning 14 issues, plot wise lots there was happening and the graphic nature helped me visualize a lot of what can be lost in text based media without a graphic component.

That being said with this being serialized issues compiled into one complete edition the action stayed consistently high for over 300pgs causing the pacing to slow and plateau halfway through due to the one consistent level, instead of peaks and valleys. That being said still a very enjoyable read!

I primarily read this because I knew that Bucky and Natasha had a relationship during some of the graphic novels and I wanted to read about them since I like the pairing. And this definitely had that.

Some of the artwork was great but some was just too chaotic and hurt my brain so it lost a star for that. The other star was lost because of the ending. Ugh. How about you let the girl make the choice instead of making it for her.

holy crap I finally finished a book for the first time in 2+ weeks who am I? but also feels like cheating since it’s just a g.n. but still quite a feat with this hefty boy right here. I loved nat and bucky’s ops together and their chemistry and relationship is just so tangible and amazing and gah I could go on and on and ON forever about how much I love them. and the conclusion? broke me into tiny little shards that are the size of little bullets that bucky had fired most likely. just great overall

What was that ending? Why? Why was that needed?

First off, kudos to Marvel for putting in a one-page summary of recent events leading up to this series. As someone familiar with the Winter Soldier character only from the second Captain America movie (at the time I stopped reading comics regularly, Bucky was still dead), I appreciated the rundown. It wasn't elaborate, but it didn't have to be: just the basic facts needed to set up the current storyline. This needs to be a regular thing with superhero graphic novels. Marvel and DC have countless decades of continuity that not every casual reader is going to be familiar with, and having the bare minimum needed to set up the story is a highly useful feature. Wish it happened more often.

Ed Brubaker writes this as an action-oriented spy series. It works very well for the material. Agent Barnes is back and working under the radar again, trying to track down some missing sleeper agents before they wreak havoc. The plots are wonderfully twisty, and, while comic book brainwashing always works, Brubaker goes the extra mile to set it up as a believable story element. You can't just brainwash someone immediately. It takes time and money and special equipment and just the right touch on the controls. He also makes good use of iconic characters like Doctor Doom and Wolverine and so on. They fit very naturally into the story he's telling.

I'm always happy to see Butch Guice's artwork. He's come a long way since the days of the Southern Knights. His panel layouts are particularly striking, and he seems to be letting his inner Steranko out to play, very fitting for this title. In fact, I'd say that the story and art combined tell a tale that seems like a melding of Steranko and Howard Chaykin--the cover of the book practically screams American Flagg--but updated for the 21st century. This book was all kinds of fun. Recommended!

There has never been a character as thoroughly shafted as the Black Widow. Okay, maybe a few of Kyle Rayner's girlfriends. And Janet van Dyne. Fine. Black Widow's treatment in comics and film is typical of the genre's writing of characters who are women. By golly it bugs me, though.

I should make it clear that, this being a grimdark Winter Soldier book, I don't necessarily object to the brainwashing and theft of her agency. Mind games can be an interesting plot device and they're an important part of her past and character. Honestly, it bothers me way more that the Winter Soldier movie took their decades long flirtation/friendship/relationship and turned it into a one time botched protection mission. The audience is expected to just forget the age and breadth of her character. NO WAIT.What bothers me the most is that this book ends with her memories of a single person being completely extracted, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind style, and all of the other heroes accepting this as fine and normal. Excepting, of course, Bucky's manpain. Because they give the choice about recovering the missing memories to her boyfriend for some reason, instead of explaining the situation to her and giving her a choice.

So to sum up, after an initial setup wherein she gets to fight a little evil, flirt, and remind us that they have the ideal superspy relationship, Natasha spends most of the book being used by the bad guy to make Bucky feel feelings. Bored now. But at least the art is extra drab so there's no risk of mistaking this book for something that would be any fun to read. That said, there are a few pretty hilarious Doom moments and this story is a pretty important chapter in the canon of both of these characters. So maybe read it. If you have to.

"Never even realised how lost I was without her. But I always was. Just some lost soldier who forgot he ever had a home - until she gave me one."

I'm a sucker for angst and Brubaker has mastered it in this instalment of the Winter Soldier arch, ending it off with a heart-wrenching conclusion - I just hope to god Marvel doesn't use this in a later movie, not after whatever unthinkable things are going to be going down in Infinity War - anything else would just be cruel.

BuckyNat forever

Brubaker inicia la colección dedicada al Soldado de invierno con el recurso del telesketch: un argumento que coge todo lo que había hecho con el personaje en El Capitán América y lo desenreda, difumina o deshace para dejarlo expedito con vistas al siguiente equipo creativo. Tiene números muy buenos (los 4 dibujados por Michael Lark) en la línea del thriller de misterio y acción que tan bien le da. Peor funcionan los dibujados por Butch Guice, sobre todo los del primer arco. Recupera al Fantasma rojo y enchufa en la trama a un Doctor Muerte de una manera particularmente ridícula con una narrativa muy dinámica y, también, confusa. Exhibe las carencias del dibujante a la hora de representar la acción, acentuado por unos entintadores que no aciertan a darle el volumen y la presencia que su trazo demanda. Desde luego no hasta el punto de hacerlo ilegible, pero sí de lamentar que no pudieran contar con Steve Epting

Hello, gorgeous volume. I love your drawings, I love your colors, I love the way you look and feel. You make me feel like I'm falling into your complex, gritty world.

The story is also interesting - it has a more mature feel to it, going deep into unpleasant pasts which come back to hunt Bucky and Natasha (who, by the way, make a lovely duo).

I'm not sure I'm a fan of brainwashing as an all-powerful plot device which can corrupt individual minds completely within an instant... and I'm sure as hell raising an eyebrow when it can be defused by somebody just standing there and saying "Snap out of it!"

However, even if I feel it doesn't work in this story, which seems to want to go for depth and suffering rather than easy solutions, the story in itself was beautiful and sad and... well... all the feels.

I really enjoyed reading this series , loved getting to read more about Black Widow & Bucky :)

they are 2 of my favorite characters from Marvel! omg that ending had me so mad but i get why they did it (sigh) .

Winter Soldier.

This mini-series was recommended to me by a consummate Bucky fan, so I was very curious to read it. The closest I've come to reading an actual Bucky-centric comic was Matthew Rosenberg's Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier which I positively adored. I find the character of Bucky incredibly interesting, but never really bothered to dig deeper. Here's a fellow who was trained as an assassin and spy, an extraordinarily young recruit to the Howling Commandos, a brainwashed Manchurian Candidate sort of monster for HYDRA during the Cold War, and a reformed double-agent eventually joining the Avengers ranks. It's an interesting character, and a difficult needle to thread well. Matthew Rosenberg, I felt, nailed it with a fun degree of levity. Ed Brubaker nailed it with a much more serious and somber tone in this mini-series. Man, it'll break your heart.

As is tradition with Bucky and Natasha centric stories something from the Red Room rears its ugly head to haunt them once more. In this case, it's people that Bucky himself trained way back in those days of old. These are people left in cryostasis, awaiting the chance to be woken up and given orders by their handlers to undermine the United States. Only this time? This time they've been auctioned off on the black market - which is bad enough. Worse, one of them had already been opened and that asset is now on the run.

This reads like a James Bond story, complete with an intense romance at the forefront of it all and tragedy waiting in the eaves for a chance to strike. It's a short series, but don't discount it for that reason. It'll hit you where it hurts and illuminate future interactions between the Winter Soldier and Black Widow for years and years to come. Brubaker is way too skilled a writer for his own good, and the art in this series only elevates the writing itself in its detail and dynamism.

Plus? Brubaker, as he always does, makes adequate use of the various character's histories that he writes about. This isn't a retcon, but rather a deeper building of lore. Gotta love when a writer manages that.

I've been wanting to try out the Marvel Comics for a while now, and I had heard the Brubaker run of Winter Soldier was one of the best, newer runs. I also heard it stared a romance between Bucky and Natasha, two of my favorites in the MCU, so I was sold.

I will admit it took a bit to get into. It wasn't until about the Broken Arrow storyline that I felt I was following the story. I'm not sure if that was because I needed to get into the flow of the characters or the Longest Winter storyline just wasn't as good. Whatever the case, I personally didn't love the Longest Winter.

As the collection progresses, I enjoyed it more and more. I settled in to some of the "cheesier" superhero aspects and even enjoyed some of the newer characters. Like, I personally know very little about Daredevil, but I really enjoyed his short appearance. I see why this is regarded as one of the better done and tragic romances in the comics. While cheesy at times, it ultimately is really well done and fun to read.

I have found while branching out into comics and graphic novels that I am not a fan of more traditional drawing styles. Something about the sketchiness of it all is hard for my brain to take in and process. However, there are some really striking panels throughout.

One of my few complaints about this isn't even necessarily a complaint. I was just caught off guard. There were times you could tell this comic was entirely done by dudes. For example, a scene where Natasha gets out of the shower and wraps a towel around her head only for all her hair to be sitting wet outside the towel.

It's dumb and not important, but moments like that coupled with comic Bucky feeling far more agro than MCU Bucky made me realize how masculine of a story this was even if Bucky was constantly talking about his love for Natasha. Even the way he speaks of his love for Natasha at times was off-putting, but it by no means ruined the story for me. It was just something I noticed.

Overall, I must agree that this is a wonderful introduction to Marvel as someone who has loved the movies for years.

See Black Widow's pelvis and ass on display in numerous splits. Because apparently that's the only way she fights. *eye roll* See an artist prove that they don't know how ballet works without saying they don't know how ballet works. See Black Widow used to give Bucky some exquisite man pain that can only be relieved by punching stuff. See Black Widow lose all bodily autonomy at the hands of both the bad guys and the good guys (oh, yes, that final scene where *Bucky* gets to have final say in medical decisions for Natasha? That's gross. Yay patriarchy. But our hero gets to have a noble moment. *Manly sniffle*)

On top of all the sexism, the coloring is extremely murky, to the point where it obscures characters and action.

Some funny Doom scenes though.

I don't read a lot of comics, so I'm not sure how to rate this. On the one hand, it kind of dumps you in the middle of a vast and unfamiliar narrative (I would imagine it's like trying to start watching a soap opera or start watching GoT in season 4). But you get the gist pretty quickly. The art was great, the plot was engaging, and it was really cool to see characters interact from completely different "movie universe" franchises, like Captain America, Wolverine and Daredevil. Black Widow is awesome, and of course Bucky will always be my favorite. Really enjoyable!