On the other hand, Old Wounds does feature Francesco Francavilla on art, and that alone is probably worth the price of admission. It’s cool, and one of the more unique Captain America stories I’ve read in recent years, but it’s less essential than The Life Story of Bucky Barnes. That one is a little more out there, telling the story of the replacements for Cap and Bucky who finished out World War II after the originals were presumed dead, and a parallel story set in the present. There’s also a second Captain America and Bucky volume, called Old Wounds.

Seriously, Chris Samnee drawing Captain America, Bucky, Namor, and the original Human Torch fighting in World War II? Why would anybody pass this up? What really makes this essential, though, is the Chris Samnee artwork. The fourth chapter is even about some of Bucky’s Cold War exploits as The Winter Soldier. Think of it as less of a pure Captain America story and more as something of a prequel to The Winter Soldier, and it works even better.

The focus is squarely on Bucky, though, and he narrates each issue. Each issue is a standalone story, serving as a snapshot of Cap and Bucky’s years together. Anyway, it’s suitable for newbies and comics experts alike. Here’s another easy window into Cap’s World War II era adventures, and it’s another one that if you squint a little, can kind of take place in between the scenes of The First Avenger. Buy The Marvels Project on Amazon Captain America and Bucky: The Life Story of Bucky Barnes For readers just looking to get a broader look at Marvel history, this is a wonderful starting point. Erskine defected from Nazi Germany, who the mysterious synthetic man in a red suit visible during the Stark Fair sequence of The First Avengeris, or which other mystery men were fighting the good fight in the Marvel Universe of the late ‘30s and early ‘40s? Then this is the book for you.įor movie fans, you’ll be able to wrap your head around the differences in Cap’s origin just fine, and you can imagine that much of this takes place in the margins around the events of The First Avenger. But the Brubaker/Epting/Stewart combo delivers a story that looks and feels right at home in the big screen world of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter.

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