Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3, Nova 16

Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry w/ Wilson (c) and Cowles (l)

Ran Shen's plan to get Peter and Mila Hitzig out of Hydra's clutches has put him at odds with the Soviet's plan and thereby put him at odds with the Winter Soldier. To make matters worse, it's also put him at odds with Peter Hitzig's plan, who wants to return to Hydra with his wife. All these plans collide on the train as Hydra enforcers Shocky Dan (maybe the best name?) and the Drain have shown up. After an all-out fight that leaves Shocky Dan with a melted face and Shen with a couple bullet holes, Winter Soldier makes his way for the scientists. Shen recovers enough to use some adrenaline (or maybe Infinity formula? Who knows?) from Fury's cache and is able to use Shocky Dan's shocking gloves to rush Hydra on the other side of the train. The Drain, who has already had Peter Hitzig kill himself, tumbles out of the train with Winter Soldier, though he's wearing a jetpack so neither fall to their death immediately. Shen goes to Mila and tries to think of a new plan but the bomb Hydra left on the train puts everything on something of a faster timetable.

Story
All the plot lines involving the Hitzigs have come to a head here as Hydra goes up against SHIELD goes up against Winter Soldier. On top of it, it all happens on a train with a bomb in it. Couldn't ask for a more action-packed story. Plus, a story with Shocky Dan and the Drain? How could we be so lucky? 5/5

Character
Though Shen is ostensibly our protagonist here, the key character developments come from the Winter Soldier himself. Shen only has development insofar as "he's a pretty tough guy." Winter Soldier, though, gets another random flash of Cap which tells him not to kill Shen when he's badly wounded and defeated. The issue also ends for him as the Drain sees into his soul to realize he's been brainwashed and who he really is, coming dangerously close to revealing everything to Bucky before directing him to kill himself. There's not a lot that can be done with character here (we know Winter Soldier has to survive and we know that he's probably not going to learn that he's Bucky Barnes) but what can be done is done interestingly. 4/5

Writing
Remender continues to hit on a great tone here as everything starts to go crazy. It's action-packed and it's tense but it manages to the pseudo-noir feel consistent even as these crazier elements, like Shocky Dan and the Drain, are introduced. The book moves pretty well and our villains are enticing enough to keep everything particularly tense, even we start to gain sympathy and worry for Mila. 5/5

Art
The art in this book is unflinchingly good as Roland Boschi nails the look of every character, making everyone unique while still not cramming in so much detail that it draws the eye away from the story. His Winter Soldier is appropriately terrifying just as his Drain is appropriately creepy. The colors fit the style and the tone perfectly with a lot of reds and blues, nothing too showy. The colors in the flashback moments as Bucky involuntarily pictures Cap are a little more muted and serve to show us the separation of time and tone really well. 5/5

Miscellaneous
This cover doesn't blow my mind the way the last one did but I still rather like it. I'm also into the idea that someone with psychic sorts of abilities could see into Bucky's past through all the brainwashing and that they could just as easily undo his training if they had a shot at it. Hadn't really considered it before but it's pretty neat to see now.

Total score: 5/5


Nova 16
Duggan (w) and Baldeon (p) and Pallot (i) and Sotocolor (c) and Deschesne (l)

Nova and Bill have tracked Skaarn only to find that he's armed himself with incredibly powerful weapons. Bill is removed from the fight quickly as Skaarn draws his attention away by attacking the bay of his own ship holding the Korbonites. Nova sticks with Skaarn but quickly finds himself outmatched. He regains the edge when Skaarn begins to threaten Earth, nearly pulverizing Skaarn. Instead, he captures Skaarn and decides to hand him over to Cadivan the Mighty so he can get the bounty in exchange for the Nova helmet he still has. The whole mission has set Nova back on a path to find his father, which will likely be made more difficult by the fact that his family is being evicted back on Earth.

Story
The continuing fight between Bill, Nova, and Skaarn finally reaches its climax here and, as we've seen a couple times already, Sam seems to have a wealth of power inside him that really explodes outward when his adrenaline kicks in. The defeat of Skaarn and Sam's grown-up decision to not kill him and to let someone else get the credit for taking him down while he gets to give a Nova corpsmen a proper burial make for good story points as well as good character moments. This series has plenty of directions it can move in and Duggan is setting himself up a nice little corner of the universe to play around in. 5/5

Character
I've already said a good deal about Sam's character here but it's important to note that the writing style is really paying off. He's clearly still childish but he's making strides to be more of a hero and it's shining through here. Nova's starting to understand his role in the universe a little bit more and starting to gain a little bit of Spider-Man's much vaunted "responsibility." Of course, that responsibility is a universal thing but it's also going to mean at home which could lead to much more. 5/5

Writing
Pretty much feel like I've covered this one already. The writing is pretty sharp and the characters all come across nicely. The threats are big enough to be worrisome but never so big that this book shifts its tone from "a book driven by a child superhero." Strong stuff here. 5/5

Art
David Baldeon's pencils and Terry Pallot's inks are sharp and clear, further upholding the "book driven by a child superhero" tone and making sure that it never strays too far away from the Spider-Man style of books (that's the best comparison to draw to this book, really, and it feels like the comparison they'd want me to make, so I think that's all positive). The colors are brighter and the effects are bigger during some of the fights and it all matches the almost colorful tone of the book. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I really enjoyed this issue. Beta Ray Bill's involvement didn't hurt as I'm a big ol' sucker for that guy but I think this arc and this issue have really stood out as defining pieces for this NOVA run. There's plenty going on and plenty to look forward to for this book.

Total score: 5/5