That some of you don’t know about Bucky Barnes and the space pig.
So, look, I too was an English lit major, and I understand that the recent Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier comic was trying to do this interesting literary thing about self and memory and identity. But mostly it came off as a pretentious combo of 1) acid trip and 2( exercise in getting Bucky laid by a blue alien chick who I don’t think they realized they accidentally named after asthma medication.
It was the kind of comic several critics adored and called “genre-bending” but I didn’t find the story either new or well-told (and trust me, comics fans will go along with just about ANYTHING, plotwise, if you can tell us an engaging story). Subsequent comics have mostly ignored it. However, it has a couple of character moments that just shine, and the greatest of these is:
Bucky Steals A Space Pig.
I’m just going to let this scene speak for itself.
So, to recap: Bucky freakin’ Barnes stole an alien beast out of an alien temple on an alien world because it was alone and looked scared. And then he hid it in his coat so he could sneak it into a restaurant and feed it.
And when we eventually see it, here’s the Sacred Reznor:
So when people ask me why I love Bucky Barnes, I say that he’s had just about the worst luck of anyone in the Marvel universe (yes worse than Wolverine) and would have every right to be a Tortured Angsty Superperson, but he doesn’t let his past determine who he is now; he somehow manages to hang onto a sense of humor; and he knows he messes up a lot, but when he can, he chooses to be kind.
Kind enough to steal a space pig because it looks sad.
I was also an English lit major and found the many, many meta-references of Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier EXHAUSTING. It was like a bunch of lit-nerd in-jokes in search of a story. But I can never hate it because it named the space pig after a guy who looked like Bucky Barnes a solid decade before Bucky was brought back from the dead. Tumblrites, meet Trent Reznor, circa 1994:
Floppy hair? Check.
Leather? Check.
Angst? SUPER CHECK.
Naming the pig “Reznor” was the best joke of that entire comic.
That some of you don’t know about Bucky Barnes and the space pig.
So, look, I too was an English lit major, and I understand that the recent Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier comic was trying to do this interesting literary thing about self and memory and identity. But mostly it came off as a pretentious combo of 1) acid trip and 2( exercise in getting Bucky laid by a blue alien chick who I don’t think they realized they accidentally named after asthma medication.
It was the kind of comic several critics adored and called “genre-bending” but I didn’t find the story either new or well-told (and trust me, comics fans will go along with just about ANYTHING, plotwise, if you can tell us an engaging story). Subsequent comics have mostly ignored it. However, it has a couple of character moments that just shine, and the greatest of these is:
Bucky Steals A Space Pig.
I’m just going to let this scene speak for itself.
So, to recap: Bucky freakin’ Barnes stole an alien beast out of an alien temple on an alien world because it was alone and looked scared. And then he hid it in his coat so he could sneak it into a restaurant and feed it.
And when we eventually see it, here’s the Sacred Reznor:
So when people ask me why I love Bucky Barnes, I say that he’s had just about the worst luck of anyone in the Marvel universe (yes worse than Wolverine) and would have every right to be a Tortured Angsty Superperson, but he doesn’t let his past determine who he is now; he somehow manages to hang onto a sense of humor; and he knows he messes up a lot, but when he can, he chooses to be kind.
Kind enough to steal a space pig because it looks sad.
Best visual representation of functional depression I’ve ever seen. You go to work, do the things that people expect you to do, then come home and just… blank out. Microwave is your best friend. Cleaning makes no sense. Drinking helps a little, sometimes. Every evening is the same. Nothing ever changes except the amout of trash waiting to be thrown out.
This is why I loved Fraction’s Barton. Clint’s very visible depression gave me a hook that I could suddenly relate to. I’ve been where Clint was. It sucked. But seeing Clint keep going kind of gave me hope.
is… is that what that is?
fuck, that explains everything
There’s a million reasons to love Fraction’s Clint Barton, but the way he is visibly but quietly struggling with mental issues is one of them.
the reason why joss whedon’s inaccurate characterization and poor writing with clint barton in avengers pisses me off so much is because whedon misses the entire point of clint that makes him such a longstanding and well loved member of the marvel comic universe. clint is talented, enormously so. he’s the best archer in the world, excellent at hand to hand combat, he’s intelligent, and on and on that puts this little mortal man on the same level to be on a team with a super soldier, a god, a total screaming genius with a superscience suit, the most capable assassin and spy ever trained, and a hyperstrong rage monster.
but the thing is, even with all that, clint is the most unfailingly human member of the team. clint hides his intelligence, he gets himself into fights where he’s outnumbered and then gets hit in the head, he tells terrible jokes or makes puns in the middle of a fight, he gets cut up and beat up and ends most fights covered in bandages or in the hospital. he’s disabled, he has hearing aids. he isn’t this Badass Action Hero w/ Included Bow. he’s talented and capable, but he trips, he gets punched, he gets cut, he gets shot, he runs out of arrows, he gets knocked down. he isn’t motivated by revenge or a need to prove himself or a sense of duty or an overdeveloped sense of right and wrong. he’s motivated by the fact that he wants to help, because he can, because he used to lead a shitty life, because he should.
clint barton is just as much average joe as he is an avenger. he’s a disaster and a hero. clint barton’s not the cookie cutter male action hero that joss whedon painted him as in avengers. he’s not a silent broody badass, stalwart hero archetype, solid shield agent.he’s so much more. he’s a fuck up. he’s trying.
I know Steve is really talented with his shield and is like an expert with it
but just imagine him smacking it in his face
or tripping over it
or waking up in the middle of the night and he shuffles off to the bathroom only to step on the edge of the shield and it smacks him in the shin and he curses loudly enough to wake up the other Howling Commandos who just sit up and start laughing at the way Steve is holding onto his leg and swearing
Seriously, though, super-soldier or not, watching Steve learn to use his shield must’ve been A+ comedy!
Steve throws it at some HYDRA goons but misses them by a mile and it bounces off a wall and flies out through a window, and Steve is just standing there, whoops, while Bucky rolls his eyes, takes out the enemies with his rifle, and jogs back outside to fetch the shield.
Steve hasn’t learnt the ctrl+c to crouch move yet; he holds the shield in front of his face and a HYDRA sniper shoots him in the thigh. Bucky facepalms because Steve you idiot, the shield only protects the bits of you actually behind it. Eventually, Steve masters the art of hiding his entire body behind the shield, tortoise-style, by ducking and having Bucky chuck pebbles at whatever parts of him are sticking out – of course Bucky has a wicked good aim and an even more wicked sense of humour, and Steve ends up with some rather embarrassing bruises.
The Commandos are on a stealth mission to infiltrate a secret HYDRA base, except the shield slips, falls, and does that rolling-metal-lid-dropped-on-the-ground sound like clang!!-grooiinnng-rooiinng-ooiinnnng-rnnnng-rrnng-rrnng-rrnng until Steve puts his foot on it. Everyone stops and just stares at him.
Also, my personal headcanon is that Steve once bet the shield in a hand of poker and Bucky won it. So it’s actually been Bucky’s shield since October 1944, Steve’s just borrowing it.
I’d like to direct your attention to a certain comic book Captain America: The Fighting Avenger…
I don’t have the panels with me, but Steve has tripped over his shield in the comics.
jinlinli 