The latest flagship Captain America comic by Chip Zdarsky and Valerio Schiti, has set the hero on a journey in a new and modern world, reimagining his return in 2025 instead of the 1960s of Marvel Comics history. From the very beginning of the series, a consistent theme has been the quiet emptiness that haunts Steve Rogers. It’s an emptiness that goes beyond the typical “man out of time” trope. While Steve is certainly fresh out of the ice and from another era, his loneliness and confusion about this new world are rooted in something far more intimate: the absence of his best friend, Bucky Barnes. From Steve’s perspective, Bucky—who had always been right by his side—died in the war merely weeks ago, leaving that space beside Steve completely void.
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While fans have long understood the importance of their bond, this series shows just how significant Bucky’s influence is on Steve, elevating him beyond just a sidekick or friend, but as the very foundation of Steve’s moral and emotional compass. The comic emphasizes Steve’s grief and solitude shows that Bucky, or the idealized memory of him, is the voice that guides Steve’s actions, making him the surprising and singular source of Captain America’s ideals.
The Little Voice in Steve’s Head Isn’t His Own
Captain America firmly establishes Steve’s longing for Bucky since the first issue, where he not only talks to Bucky in his head, but asks Reed Richards if a Bucky Barnes action figure was ever produced. Issue #3 brings this recurring thread to the forefront when Steve finds himself in a fearsome battle with one of Doctor Doom’s Doombots after meeting and speaking with Victor himself. When Steve’s attempts at diplomacy with Doom go sideways, thrusting him into battle with the Doombots, he doesn’t just rely on his own decades of experience.
While in the midst of battle, Steve engages in an internal one-sided conversation with his long-lost friend. He questions Bucky directly, asking him how he would handle this dangerous new reality and the moral gray areas. Turning to Bucky in his times of deepest crisis provides a look into Steve’s psyche. In moments of great stress and uncertainty, his mind defaults to seeking Bucky’s opinions and guidance. The idea of Bucky acts as his inner moral guide—a constant presence that helps him sort through complex emotions and navigate the high-stakes decisions that someone like Captain America has to make. It is Bucky, not the American flag or the Super-Soldier serum, that serves as his guiding star. Bucky’s memory is Steve’s Jiminy Cricket, the voice of his conscience.
There is No Captain America Without Bucky Barnes
This intimate connection between Steve and the memory of his best friend fundamentally reframes what it means to be Captain America. The mantle isn’t just a symbol of a nation; it is an extension of a friendship forged in the trenches. Steve’s strength, his courage, and his morality are not abstract concepts tied to a singular united national identity, but are instead deeply personal virtues inspired by his bond with Bucky. Bucky’s “death” leaves a void that Steve tries to fill with his phantom conversations, but it is a reminder that his heroism is linked to the person he shared his life with and who helped him navigate the turbulent landscape of war.
This theme becomes even more interesting when considering the future of the series, as Bucky Barnes is very much alive. This sets up a truly potentially heartbreaking future for the comic run, depending on which way Zdarsky interprets Bucky’s past into this new modern timeline. What will happen when Steve learns that the “Jiminy Cricket” in his head is a real person, a man who has been a ghost for decades, but who is now back in the world? How will this shape Steve’s identity? Will the guiding voice in his head finally become a real-world partner once again? The future of the series will not just be about a hero trying to fit into the modern world, but about a man trying to reconnect with the very person who makes him whole.
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