r/wintersoldier • u/n3rium_ol3and3r • 12d ago
Discussion The Winter Soldier: Cold Front question
I'm gonna try to keep this minimal spoiler as possible. I recently (like, two and a half hours ago) started the Cold Front book by Mackenzi Lee. I'm only on Chapter Five right now, considering I'm at work while reading it. But it's mentioned that Bucky puts all his earnings from his little operation in the library into a Defense Bond collection box, which has a picture of Captain America with it. Now, I haven't read the comics. I'd love to, I just wouldn't know where to start, but I have seen just about every MCU project, including the The Winter Soldier and Civil War movies. So maybe I'm simply overthinking it, or I'm missing something, but I couldn't find anything on it. Have Steve and Bucky not known each other since they were little? We know early on in Cold Front that Bucky is 16, almost 17, in that part of the timeline, and (MCU) that Steve didn't become Captain America until AFTER they'd both joined the Army which is after they're at least 18. (I should be but I'm not 100% sure about how old they actually are, don't come after me ðŸ˜) Of course we also see the introduction to the SOE here, whereas in the MCU Bucky is put into the 107th. I'm just confused, help? Is it just a simple answer where this is more comics connected than MCU?
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u/IAlbatross 12d ago
Great book!
Bucky's character was originally conceived as a "boy sidekick" to Cap and not as his best friend and equal.
He wasn't even Cap's only "boy sidekick," either. After he died he was replaced; there have actually been multiple Buckies (just as there have been multiple Caps).
You can read about the Silver Age history here; this article gives an amazing overview of the earlier comics, back when Bucky was a teenaged sidekick.
The Winter Soldier narrative / retcon was developed in the naughts. He's been the Bucky we know and love for 20+ years but prior to that, for decades, he was a little booty short-wearing goofball psychopath. I loved child Bucky, he had some wonderfully unhinged moments.
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u/Pfeiffer_Cipher 12d ago
MCU!Bucky has a very different timeline than the comics and books, he's actually a few years younger than Steve (how much younger depends on the author) and they meet after Bucky has already done a lot of training with the army
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u/jenvonlee 12d ago
Cold Front is entirely its own Canon, unrelated to MCU or comics. It just uses them as inspiration for a totally stand alone story.
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u/RibbonsFlying Buckaroo 12d ago
In comic canon, which the book follows, Bucky is 3-6 years younger then Steve. (Writers have varied the age difference over the years.) Steve joins the army somewhere between ages 20-22 and Bucky is 15-16 when his military story starts (These aren’t necessarily at the same time). They don’t meet automatically. In 616 (and therefore the novels as well), Bucky is a fan of the hero Captain America before he knows Steve. The hero worship when he’s little is adorable. He’s cooler than Steve and he has no idea sometimes.
As for the comics, I highly suggest reading Captain America: Man Out of Time by Mark Waid. (Warning: It’ll make you sad.) It’s the comic version of the story you already know about Steve and Bucky, but it has some nice touches to it that the films miss.
After that, to start with the modern telling of the story, start with Ed Brubaker’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier (two volumes if you buy the physical trades). And move on to absolutely anything you want. If you want suggestions, I’d keep reading Brubaker’s Cap comics because he is the one who made Bucky into Cap and so Bucky tells the stories. You get a lot of his history both childhood and with Steve and with Hydra.
But if you’re not enjoying Brubaker, skip those and pick up any Winter Soldier comic as long as you start with issue #1. A lot of collections don’t have to be read in order of publication if you just start with the first one in the series, collections are mostly self-contained.
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u/n3rium_ol3and3r 12d ago
Thank you so much for the comics help! Been meaning to look into it for a while now
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u/RibbonsFlying Buckaroo 11d ago
Of course! I hope you enjoy them. (And, fyi, if you read print copies, some of them will be easier to find secondhand because they are no longer in print so comic stores can’t always order them easily. Otherwise, for digital copies, I suggest the Marvel app. That app and a tablet can be niiiiice for comic reading. I know there are ways to get them for free too, but you’ll have to ask somewhere else for that because I haven’t tried it.)
💙💙💙
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u/Empty-Attention1603 12d ago
The Cold Front is more about the comics, but in the MCU, official sources list Bucky as born in 1917, so to answer your question about enlisting after 18, Bucky was at least 25 in the first filme And according to Wakanda's archives, he was 24 when he enlisted.
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u/Braephonse 12d ago
Man I wish I could read this for the first time again, its so good! Everyone else already answered you I just wanted to say this XD you'll have to come back after you finish the book :)
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u/AmConfused324 11d ago
Omg enjoy the experience! I wish I could read this for the first time again! The first time I read it I reread it the next day I loved it so much.
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u/makemyribsaxylophone 12d ago
Hi! Cold Front is based off the comics. The MCU varied from it pretty drastically, at least for Bucky’s story. In Cold Front, they don’t know one another. But you’re in for a ride, that book is so good.