What The Buck!?

A few weeks ago we talked about Captain America becoming a fascist. No, not that one. The first one. The one that became leader of the KKK. Well, if that version of Cap was so messed up, imagine how his version of Bucky must have ended up! Today's Z-Lister is Jack Monroe/Bucky/Nomad from Marvel Comics!

So here's the short of it. In the 1950's, Stan Lee wrote Captain America stories. In the 1960's he put Cap on The Avengers and established he was frozen in the 1940's and that the 1950's stories didn't count. Then in the 1970's, this writer Steve Englehart established the Cap and Bucky of the 50's were different people. Cap was actually William Burnside and Bucky was Jack Monroe. They used a flawed Super Soldier Serum to be the new Captain America and Bucky. They went crazy, were arrested by the FBI, and then brainwashed by an evil psychiatrist. William became "The Grand Director" and leader of a Neo-Nazi regime, and Jack was seemingly killed. Seemingly.

The gun Jack was shot with was actually full of blanks as the evil psychiatrist had other plans for him. Luckily, SHIELD recovered Jack before those plans could be enacted. SHIELD cured Jack of his mental trauma and Jack met the real Steve Rogers. The two became good friends and Jack even donned the Bucky costume again to help defeat a terrorist named Viper (who later became Madame Hydra). During this adventure, Cap realized it was a bit wrong of him to bring Jack-a grown man with mental issues connected to the Bucky identity-into this fight as Bucky, so Cap gave Jack the Nomad costume. During a time when Captain America was displeased with how America was being led, he suspended his American citizenship and became a world-trotting vigilante known as The Nomad. Since he still had the costume lying around he felt Jack could use it.

As Nomad, Jack teamed up with Captain America against the likes of The Slayer, The Sisters of Sin, Baron Zemo, The Red Skull, Madcap, and The Slug. Nomad had a brief solo career, but was recruited by Steve Rogers after The Commission of Superhuman Activities legally took the Captain America identity away from Steve. Kind of like a copyright issue, seeing as how the shield, the suit, and the serum inside Steve's body were all made and on a US government pension. As "The Captain", Steve formed a team to help him continue fighting evil in the US. On this team was The Falcon, The Demolition Man (a fan favorite), Nomad, and Nomad's girlfriend Vagabond. During one adventure, Nomad, D-Man, and Vagabond are captured by criminals. With the authorities on their way and the criminals outgunned, they offer to bring the heroes with them. At that time, Cap and his team were considered outlaws so the police would surely arrest them. While Vagabond and D-Man choose to face the authorities, Nomad accepts the villain's offer. After all, D-Man and Vagabond seem to hitting it off quite well. Steve finds Nomad drunk at a bar the next day and tells him he's turning himself in to the CSA. Steve wants to make a compromise with the organization, but Nomad claims Steve is a coward for selling out to them. The two then part ways.

Continuing to be the vigilante known as The Nomad, Jack is continuously hunted by Captain America and the CSA. Jack deals with real-world issues like the AIDS epidemic, homelessness, gang warfare, hate crimes, and drug rings. He even adopts the infant daughter of a drug addict and names her Bucky. Jack becomes more calm and laid back after joining The Undergrounders, a network of freedom fighters who help him battle injustice and care for his child. Jack's further adventures include teaming up with Daredevil and The Punisher, being present for a space event called "The Infinity Crusade", helping Doctor Strange battle an ancient magical queen, fighting The Hate Monger, meeting Man-Thing, and fighting the mother of his child Bucky-who had been brainwashed into an assassin.

Jack's death is faked and he is captured by Henry Gyrich, a former friend of The Avengers who betrayed them. Gyrich infused Jack with nanomachines that allowed Gyrich to control Jack's body and turn him into a criminal-killing criminal known as The Scourge of The Underworld. He was fought and defeated by The Thunderbolts and a gunshot from a distant assailant jogged Jack's mind back on track. As Jack visits the family that adopted Bucky, we learn the man who shot him was The Winter Soldier, the original Bucky.

While his history follows similar steps to William Burnside's, we can see Jack Monroe received much better treatment. After the trauma of becoming a failed Bucky, Jack essentially got to live his dream by becoming the sidekick of Captain America-the real one, this time. But as his career went on he began to see his dream was only a figment. You see, someone like Superman or Batman or Spider-Man doesn't need to concern themselves with government intervention. But Captain America abides by the flag. He's been shown to resist his country's demands before, but his time as Captain America in the modern world has taught him when to fight and when not to fight. Steve Rogers will go against what his country tells him, unless he and his superiors can meet a compromise. That much is certain. But as a fan of Captain America, and as a person who's been manipulated by his government, you have to imagine how stressful Jack's life as Nomad was. When he could not trust his government, he looked to Captain America to be the one thing he could trust. And then when that one person folded and turned himself in, Jack had nothing else to believe in except his own actions.

While William's story was one of a hero's descent into madness, Jack's is a story of victimization. Victimized by his teacher, his government, his idol, and finally shot in the head by Bucky, the person he emulated by force and by choice. Nobody knows what will come for Jack next, or if anyone at Marvel even knows he exists, but I like to believe Jack is still out there. Wandering the country. Not as a hero or a symbol or a vigilante, but as a Nomad.

Thanks for reading.