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Captain America and Bucky #625: Review

Dec 2011
James Asmus, Francesco Francavilla

Story Name:

(No title given)

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Captain America and Bucky #625 Review by (January 11, 2012)
Review: Something new: a rare story focusing on Fred Davis, the second Bucky who was retconned into existence long after his comics career was over. See, CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS ran from 1941 to 1949; in AVENGERS #4, Stan Lee declared that Bucky had died and Steve had been frozen in ice in 1945—so who were Cap and Bucky from 1945 to ’49? Eventually they put some thought into this, and Rascally Roy Thomas (master of all fake Golden Age Marvel) gave us the answer in WHAT IF? #4 (what is it with issue #4s here?). Replacements for Cap and Bucky were recruited and those are the guys the 1940s comic was about. And so Fred Davis was born, over twenty years after he “retired” as Bucky. And it took this long to get a story that focuses on him (Jeff Mace, the third Cap, saw his day in the sun with CAPTAIN AMERICA: PATRIOT last year). So how do they do? Francesco Francavilla’s art has the same juvenile quality as Chris Samnee’s but is still acceptable as befits they younger hero. And Asmus and Brubaker’s script brings the obscure Fred Davis to life…the only problem is the tired “android duplicates” plot. Having bad guys impersonate the heroes was an old hack plot when MAD parodied Plastic Man sixty years ago (they joked about it) and what with the Skrulls starring in an epic event a few years ago plus the continuing presence of Mystique, Chameleon, and others too numerous to mention, perhaps we should retire this plot device for a couple of decades. And do the writers not think that we can see the truth about Will Naslund coming as soon as he showed his overly-familiar face? One can only hope the art carries this until the writers come up with a new twist.

Comments: Story follows the account of William Naslund’s brief tenure as Captain America as outlined in the classic WHAT IF? (Vol. 1) #4. Brief cameos by the Sub-Mariner, Toro, and Adam II (plus John F. Kennedy) in the flashback sequences.




 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Captain America and Bucky #625 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

Fred Davis recalls how he was summoned to the White House where he met an equally befuddled William Naslund; neither of them can guess why the President wants to see them. When President Truman meets with them, he confirms the rumors that Captain America and Bucky have died in battle and asks them to carry on as the new Cap and Bucky…. As the now-elderly Fred Davis concludes his speech before a meeting observing the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he is seized by a black android. Steve Rogers, in attendance that day, leaps forward and engages the robot, piercing its metal face with a flagpole. He then rushes the injured Fred to the hospital. Later, Cap visits Fred who is at first uncomfortable speaking with the original Captain America, who looks far younger than his years. Soon Cap asks about the killer android and Fred reveals that it is the same type of robot that killed the second Cap, Bill Naslund. He relates how the Invaders were in Boston when they uncovered a plot by the rogue android Adam II to replace world leaders with android doubles. In the effort to rescue a young Senatorial candidate, John F. Kennedy, the mission succeeded but Naslund lost his life. A nurse then enters and announces that Fred Davis has another visitor—William Naslund….

This William Naslund turns out to be the grandson of the original, who died without knowing his girlfriend Lilith was expecting his child. Will is a Pentagon scientist specializing in drone warfare and has been assigned to help them investigate the rogue android. Fred Davis is stunned: Bill Naslund was his closest friend, who was able to help him through the stress and uncertainty of their earliest days as the new heroes—so why didn’t Fred know Bill had a girlfriend? Cap and Will Naslund head out accompanied by the original Human Torch to check out the remains of Adam II, stored at a nearby SHIELD facility…

…where a door in a deserted building suddenly opens and out comes an android Bucky Barnes….

 



Francesco Francavilla
Francesco Francavilla
Francesco Francavilla
Francesco Francavilla (Cover Penciler)
Francesco Francavilla (Cover Inker)
Francesco Francavilla (Cover Colorist)
Plot: .

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Human Torch
Human Torch

(Jim Hammond)

Plus: Bucky (Fred Davis), Captain America (William Naslund), President Harry S. Truman (Harry S. Truman).

> Captain America and Bucky: Book info and issue index

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