Captain America #34 Director's Cut #[nn]
Captain America #34 (vol. 5, cover date March 2008) marks the first appearance of James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes as Captain America — the moment Ed Brubaker's multi-year espionage reinvention of the title fully paid off its central gamble. Having resurrected Bucky as the Winter Soldier in 2005 and then arranged Steve Rogers's assassination in #25, Brubaker used #34 to pass the shield to the man Rogers himself had asked Tony Stark to help save, completing a character arc that shattered the long-held comic-fan axiom that 'no one stays dead except Bucky.' The Director's Cut edition, published March 12, 2008, was itself a testament to reader demand: the original #34 had sold out so quickly that Marvel went back to press with an expanded 48-page version, underlining how decisively this mantle transfer captured fan attention in a way that few modern-era legacy transitions have.
In "The Death of Captain America Act 2: The Burden of Dreams: Part Four," Bucky Barnes steps into the mantle of Captain America, donning the iconic suit as he teams up with Black Widow to thwart A.I.M. and R.A.I.D. operatives. Meanwhile, Tony Stark races to convince the Secretary of State that the Kronas Corporation is under the control of the Red Skull, while Dr. Faustus activates a network of sleeper S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the Skull’s orders. Written by Ed Brubaker and illustrated by Steve Epting, with inks by Butch Guice and colors by Frank D’Armata, the issue’s cover by Steve Epting and Butch Guice captures the weight of legacy and the storm brewing ahead.
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The decision to kill Steve Rogers and replace him with Bucky grew directly from a post-'Civil War' editorial summit, where Brubaker proposed the plan to editor Tom Brevoort and began laying groundwork in the 'Civil War' tie-in issues of the series. Brubaker had been planning Bucky's eventual ascension to the Captain America identity from the earliest days of his run — Bucky's return as the Winter Soldier, which Brevoort had initially resisted and only approved after demanding satisfactory answers to fourteen story questions, was always conceived as the foundation for this moment. The new Captain America costume debuted in #34 was designed by painted-cover artist Alex Ross, whose sketches and costume studies were included as bonus material in the Director's Cut alongside Brubaker's full script, three 'virgin art' covers, five pages of penciled and inked art, and a three-page bonus story illustrated by Mike Perkins and Justin Ponsor. The creative core of the issue — writer Ed Brubaker, penciler Steve Epting, inker Butch Guice, colorist Frank D'Armata, and letterer Joe Caramagna — was edited by Tom Brevoort and Molly Lazer under editor-in-chief Joe Quesada.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes as Captain America, wearing the new costume for the first time in the field (Captain America vol. 5 #34, cover date March 2008; Director's Cut on-sale date March 12, 2008).
- Written by Ed Brubaker; pencils by Steve Epting; inks by Butch Guice; colors by Frank D'Armata; letters by Joe Caramagna; cover painting by Alex Ross; edited by Tom Brevoort.
- The issue is Part 4 of the 'Burden of Dreams' arc within the larger 'Death of Captain America' event (Captain America vol. 5, #25–42).
- Story synopsis: Bucky, partnered with Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff), stops A.I.M. and R.A.I.D. agents trying to exploit public unrest; simultaneously, Tony Stark presses the Secretary of State to acknowledge the Red Skull's (Johann Shmidt's) role behind the Kronas Corporation, while Dr. Faustus unleashes brainwashed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents outside the White House.
- The new Captain America costume was designed by Alex Ross; costume design sketches and studies were included as exclusive bonus content in the Director's Cut edition.
- The Director's Cut is a 48-page expanded edition produced to meet overwhelming demand after the original #34 sold out; it also contains Brubaker's full script, cover roughs, five pages of penciled and inked art, and a bonus story by Brubaker, Mike Perkins, and Justin Ponsor depicting Bucky Cap explaining to an interviewer why he carries a gun.
- The story has been collected in Captain America: The Death of Captain America Vol. 2 – The Burden of Dreams (2008), the Captain America: The Death of Captain America Omnibus (2009), Captain America: The Legacy of Captain America (2011), and Captain America: The Death of Captain America – The Complete Collection (2013).
- Captain America vol. 5 #34 is notable within the series as one of three landmark issues Wikipedia identifies as defining the run: #6 (Winter Soldier revival), #25 (Steve Rogers's death), and #34 (Bucky becomes Captain America).
Cast · 10 characters
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Winter Soldier (Bucky) dons the new Captain America suit and stops some A.I.M. and R.A.I.D. agents together with Black Widow. Tony Stark is trying to convince the Secretary of State that the Kronas Corporation is led by the Red Skull. At the Skull's behest, Dr. Faustus unleashes his sleeper S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).