Bucky Barnes the Winter Soldier makes his long-awaited return to action with a splash, proving he can more than keep up with speedster supervillains.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for United States of Captain America #3, on sale now from Marvel.
When Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson launched their cross-country adventure to track down Speed Demon after the supervillain stole Captain America’s iconic vibranium shield, the superhero team-up largely comprised of a new generation of heroes inspired by the legacy of Captain America. One conspicuous absence was Bucky Barnes, a man who stepped up to claim the mantle of Captain America and wield the shield while Steve was temporarily killed in action. And as Bucky finally makes his return to help Steve and Sam in a fierce showdown, coming in faster than a speed bullet to save the day in the nick of time.
Steve and Sam’s impromptu road trip has them following Speed Demon and his accomplice Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull, has taken them to New Mexico where they team up with Joe Gomez, an indigenous man who was inspired to become a superhero after Steve saved his life years ago. The trio of Captains America discover that Speed Demon and Sin are targeting a local gubernatorial candidate who is running on a grassroots campaign that has proven popular to the people and has a real shot at winning the upcoming election. And in the lead story of United States of Captain America #3 — by Christopher Cantwell, Dale Eaglesham, Matt Milla and VC’s Joe Caramagna — Bucky steps in unannounced to save the targeted candidate from a sinister assassination attempt.
Steve, Sam and Joe’s initial attempt to stop Sin and Speed Demon goes disastrously, with the two supervillains ambushing the heroes the night before a planned public speech by the candidate. With Joe critically injured in the resulting skirmish, he is unable to actively help Steve and Sam search the area during the speech to locate Speed Demon before he strikes. And as the candidate, Mister Prescott takes the stage to speak to his supportive electorate, Speed Demon flings the vibranium shield with lethal accuracy right at Prescott only for Bucky to suddenly appear and knock it with his metal arm in midair, veering its course off by inches to save Prescott’s life.
While Bucky may not be among the fastest heroes in the Marvel Universe, he possesses enhanced, superhuman abilities and sported a formidable prosthetic arm. The experiments conducted on Bucky by the Soviet Union’s Department X gave him enhanced reaction time, along with the lethal training he undertook while being brainwashed. During the 2011 crossover event Fear Itself, Sin inflicted a mortal injury on Bucky during an epic showdown, with Nick Fury sharing his Infinity Formula to heal Bucky’s wounds before he succumbed to them. Ingesting this formula also gave Bucky a relative amount of super-speed and heightened reflexes which undoubtedly help him protect Prescott.
Bucky was last seen working with Sam and Steve to help defend New York City from invading symbiotes during the crossover event King in Black, along with a brief appearance when Captain America celebrated exposing the Red Skull for what he truly is to the rest of the world. As quick on his feet as ever, Bucky’s return has helped save a major public figure and put Speed Demon and Sin back on the run. With Bucky back in the midst, Steve is reunited with his two best friends on the job and he’s going to need both of them to defeat Speed Demon and Sin once and for all and reclaim the Captain America legacy.
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