Jason latour has taken this series in a interesting direction. I am hooked again. I feel Ed Brubaker had too many obligations to finish the Winter Soldier off flawlessly. I'm sure he had deadlines for many things. He is a busy man but will always be remembered as a legend. But I'm happy now that Jason Latour seems to be interested in the character.

I'm really interested to see where this series is going.

Here is an awesome scan of Bucky having more tech.

It seems like he has sonar. Daredevil envy? Sure looks like it. His arm propagates out so that his domino mask can receive the feedback mapping out his environment giving him a view of anyone that might be hiding somewhere.

Since it's done through his arm, I think it's mentally controlled just like how he can control his arm remotely.

I hope the tech part keeps on coming.

@SlimJ87D: I loved the inclusion of the tech. That is one thing that I always felt was lacking. He has used his metal arm for EMP shocks and looping cameras to make himself 'invisible' but I always thought that it could be so much more. Give it a James Bond car treatment with all kinds of gizmos and gadgets suited for different missions. It'd be cool to see him in a fight and then have blades come out of his arm a la Wolverine or the Predator.

I am really excited for the new direction. I hope that enough people stick with the book so that it does not get cancelled. There seems to be a good story to be told here.

@Cap10nate: it has been in the top 50 so I don't think it will get cancelled. And I'm sure others will be impressed with Winter Soldier 15.

@SlimJ87D: Looking at the Diamond numbers, it has been constantly falling in numbers from 53K for issue 1 to dropping down to 24K for issue 13 in December and was ranked 90th for the month.

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2012/2012-12.html

@Cap10nate: 90 out of 408 is still good. At least it's doing better than Deathstroke and a bunch of other Avenger titles. Well we just got to support the title. I'm hoping Jason Latour does something great with it and he gets an extension on writing past 19 or 20. It surely will last past the Winter Soldier movie and how knows, maybe sales will pick up even more around that time once more people know who the Winter Soldier is.

Loved issue 15. The series looks to be in good hands.

@ThexX: Well you have to look at his arm when he lands in. A sonar is sent out from it going "ping ping ping ping." His mask is the receiver.

I think for Bucky to get better his mechanical arm needs to continuously be upgraded.

@SlimJ87D: I noticed that after I posted that comment. I deleted the post from the forum but i guess the message was still sent to you.

@ThexX: No problem. I think Bucky has reached his limits in the super hero world physically since he is a street leveler. He's already a well established fighter. I'm really looking forward to them giving him tech upgrades like the sonar vision.

I don't know if this would be cool or not but what if his arm became like a utility weapon in a way? Not like inspector gadget but it could perform other kinds of unique task more like James bond kind of weapons. Like a small laser to burn open doors.

It'd be cool if he had to detach it and use it to self destruct that space station or something haha.

IGN gave the issue a 7.8 which I think was BS. I think it at least deserved an 8 or 8.5, but I think it got dinged due to art and not story.

@SlimJ87D: Agreed on the physical part and fighter part. As for the tech part it would be awesome to see more upgrades to the arm and some new gadgets. I think he should get a a blade put into the arm (Think Deus Ex Human Revolution Adams arm) also he could get some hacking tech put into the arm like he had in the The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon.

As for the IGN score I agree with you. When i saw that I wanted to slap the reviewer in face.

@ThexX: Yeah, hacking abilities that uses SHIELD servers or something for him to get into places or get information he needs. Who knows, maybe the pinky can disconnect and have a USB stick like thing? That reminds me of Robocop and his spear haha.

Well he does carry kabar knives. I want them to explain more about his gun and elaborate on it not being a normal handgun. It had explosive rounds, what if it had a stun round for people he wants to catch and not kill.

We already have a character that uses dozens of different kind of guns, Punisher. i don't want Bucky to be like Punisher, i want him to be like James Bond since that's what Ed Brubaker wanted him to be portrayed like a spy.

i also want him to get a reoccuring cast. Natasha is gone now, somewhere along the lines I want this merc to come back maybe 10 or more issues later.

There was a clear relationship they have had. Maybe she can come back not as a love interest but as a interest character he might have to compete against or get help from.

@SlimJ87D: I would like to see portrayed as the Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell) of the Marvel Universe. As for his Handgun it would be cool to know more about it and to see it get some upgrades. I don't know if you have seen the new Dredd move but maybe Bucky's handgun could be something like the handgun from the move (Lawgiver)

@ThexX: yeah I saw Dredd and his HG was awesome. I just don't want him to be a Punisher since there's no real point.

@SlimJ87D: I understand that totally and I agree with you about about the Punisher thing. The way I want Bucky to be portrayed is a Spec ops Super Soldier. I don't know if you play video games but i want him to be like Sam Fisher (From the Splinter Cell Franchise). Sam is a spy but he is also a soldier he is somebody who knows when to kill and when not kill. Hopefully this makes since.

@SlimJ87D: Who is that lady? I remember seeing that scene in the Wolverine series and wondered where she was from. Is there a story with her and James?

@ThexX: Yeah I played Splinter cell. I like Snake from MGS more though haha. Yeah you are right, that is how I want him too. Like a james bond soldier. James bond was in the SAS though, so he was a soldier before.

But yeah, more like Sam and Snake.

@Cap10nate: The lady was never elaborated on. But Winter Soldier hired her to distract Wolverine. In the end she asks him to come with her, but he says he can't because he has too much unfinished business. Kind of hinting that she has feelings for him.

There's also a potential Daken vs Winter Soldier cross over mini event. I just hope Bucky holds his own and doesn't get his ass kicked like Frank did.

@SlimJ87D: Ah OK. I actually just re-read that whole arc with Wolverine and Buck to see if I missed something. I then looked at the release date and it was the same month that Cap 14 happened and he was freed so I figured there couldn't be anything before that. I was wondering why it was never brought up who she was. It also ends with Wolverine saying via thought bubble that he gave Buck some information which is never elaborated upon. Also, is there anything more to Bucky being the one to free Wolverine other than that one frame with the picture of the skeleton with the bullet hole in the head.

@ThexX: I would love for this to continue as Buck being a character similar to Splinter Cell or Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid. I am really looking forward to Secret Avengers being released this month. Hopefully Buck makes a guest appearance in the first issue.

@Cap10nate: Nope, just Wolverine saying that Bucky helped him escape the Weapon X program and the skeletons with bullet holes in the head. So Bucky has ran into Wolverine in Japan, Weapon X and sometime during the cold war (although that story was badly written with Hulk Bucky vs Hulk Wolverine).

You know what, I think Bucky's next arc should have him as a soldier like character on a mission. And a few issues should be dedicated to that mission like he needs to divert a catastrophe of some sort and battles it out with some super soldier reject mini bosses or something. It could establish a few rogues for him, new possible reoccurring characters and that would really make it his own title.

He just needs to finally have this book as his, no guest appearances from Avenger members or Steve and Shield butting in. I'm fine with Nick Fury though, he's been MIA in marvel too much.

@SlimJ87D: I never new Bond was SAS. The only media I have of Bond is the Pierce Brosnan & Daniel Craig movies. Also I like MGS too it's my second favorite video game franchise (First is Mass Effect Trilogy). Hell I still have MGS 4 installed on my PS3 so I can go replay the game every once in awhile.

@Cap10nate: By any chance can you tell me the name of that Wolverine Arc.

@ThexX: The arc is called 'Origins and Endings.' It is a 5 issue arc in Wolverine Volume 3, Issues 36-40. Buck is mostly present in issues 39 and 40.

@Cap10nate: Thanks.

@ThexX: Yeah, in Casino Royale when they're on the train the, Eva Green, starts to guess his work and she says he was in the SAS and he nods. It's also said he was in the SAS in the books.

@SlimJ87D: Cool. Been a long time since I watched Casino Royale. Got go rewatch it now.

Question to anyone do you think Black Widow will show up again in the WS comic? and if so you think her and Bucky will ever get back together again?

@InkInk said:

Question to anyone do you think Black Widow will show up again in the WS comic? and if so you think her and Bucky will ever get back together again?

I don't think that she will show up for a while. They will both be in the Secret Avengers book so it would be interesting to see how they interact there. I doubt that they will be together for a while. I'm sure they want to play out Buck's melodrama for a while. As much as I loved their relationship, I kinda hope that he eventually moves on. Figure that will be the end of all the looking back on the Russia days and moving forward in his life.

Yikes... "moving on" sounds so painful. For me. I guess I'm not ready to accept it's over. I'm not expecting Bucky and Nat to get back together but I don't want him to move on from her either..

The first half of this issue really kicked me in the feelings, more so than issue 14. I hope Buck finds his own home, a place to belong and close friends and family. But I don't want the Bucky and Nat book to ever be fully closed.

i saw the comichron thing... Winter Soldier is pretty low in sales for a marvel title, and it's a worrying sign (it's such a good book). With the next movie coming up, i believe Marvel will hold on to the title and see if it picks up or not. Latour is doing good things =D

@Baberaham_Lincoln: it wasn't doing as bad as other titles. i believe Ultimate spider-man is doing worse and Deathstroke was down there. Dark Avengers is also down there and those books have been around for quite sometime. When sales floated around at around 80, Ed Brubaker said that sales had stabilized well enough for the book to continue on so it's making a profit I suppose.

But it does worry me too. It's a great book.