- Title: Winter Soldier #12
- Comic Vine: link
- Writer: Ed Brubaker
- Artist: Butch Guice
With the Black Widow‘s life on the line Bucky has no choice but to agree to let himself be reprogrammed by Novokov’s scientist and once again become the mindless killer known only as the Winter Soldier.
As Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists attempt to decipher the programming and objective Novokov has implanted into Bucky’s head, Wolverine and Hawkeye are called in to stop him before he can complete his mission. As they soon discover, that’s easier said than done.
Presented mostly from Wolverine’s perspective hunting down a former friend who’s even more dangerous than he remembers, the comic works fairly well. Why Cap isn’t in the field helping them isn’t made clear, and because of the structure we get little of Natasha as well. (However, what we do get seems to foreshadow how this arc will end.)
The choice to send Bucky after Daredevil seems an odd one from the Soviet sleeper-soldier’s point of view, but it should provide plenty of action for the next issue. Worth a look.
[Marvel, $2.99]