Bucky's Back In Captain America: White

by Vince Brusio

The script was written years ago. It was 2007. Jeph Loeb had submitted a story to the powers-that-be at the House of Ideas, and now it's here in the Captain America: White TP (AUG161024), drawn by none other than long-time collaborator Tim Sale. In this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview, Jeph Loeb reflects on the project, and how he hopes he moved the needle for America's greatest patriot.

Captain America: White TP (AUG161024) is in comic shops October 26.

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PREVIEWSworld: With a lot of the focus being on Cap in the movies these days (hooking up with a modern version of the Falcon to fighting alongside the Black Widow), why did you choose to go back in time and tell a story that takes place in World War II?

Jeph Loeb: Well, the easiest answer is that we started this back in 2007 when there was no Cap movie!  Actually there was no Iron Man movie!  But after seeing The First Avenger it certainly gave us both hope that folks would like to read a story from that period.

All of the "color" books -- Daredevil Yellow and Spider-Man Blue and Hulk Gray -- take place in another time.  They are remembrances of comics that Tim and I grew up on and fell in love with.  And in the first three, they were love letters to the characters Karen Page, Gwen Stacey and Betty Ross who were dead at the time and from our point of view were being forgotten.  

Captain America: White focuses on Cap's partnership with Bucky whom, at the time, was gone.  We all know the Winter Soldier story changes all of that but for years and years, Cap's guilt about what happened to Bucky was an integral part of his character.  We tap into that.

PREVIEWSworld: Captain America was being published when Atlas comics were going for 10 cents back in the 1950s. Is this new book a bridge back to those Glory Days when Bucky and the Howling Commandos were as familiar to readers as listening to The Shadow on the radio?

Jeph Loeb: (laugh) I'm not sure if anyone reading this knows what a radio is!  You mean on the Internet?  You mean The Shadow movie (laugh)?

No, the hope of the story is to remind fans and to introduce readers to these fantastic characters -- Bucky and The Howlers as they were running around in World War II.  If anything, we hope to tap into the millions of viewers who are enjoying television's MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER which is closer to this time period.

And no, Peggy won't be making an appearance.  Again, when this was written, MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER wasn't even an idea!

PREVIEWSworld: What’s your earliest memory of reading a Captain America comic book? How did it impress you? And is that magic somehow woven into what you’ve done with Captain America: White?

Jeph Loeb: A little.  I came to Cap around the time that he had gotten his own title after Tales of Suspense.  Beautiful Gene Colan artwork.  There's an amazing story of how Bucky is alive and Cap deals with all his pain about his death and it turns out to be something that Doctor Faustus had unleashed on Cap.  Really powerful stuff.

PREVIEWSworld: If you could get on a soap box at a summer convention panel, and elaborate on what you thought the significance of Captain America was in pop culture, what might you say?

Jeph Loeb: He's an idealist.  He looks for the best in mankind and is often proven true.  But what makes him so interesting, to me at least, is that although he's a man out of time, he eventually embraces the "today" of his life and works with it.  In a world where things change so rapidly, that could be why he's still so relevant.  Not so much as a symbol of America, but of the best that we can be. 

At the end of the day, what are your parting thoughts about the time and energy you put into this project? How did the chemistry between Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale work to create something for the fans?

Jeph Loeb: I can never explain how working with Tim brings out something -- I know it sounds corny -- magical. And like most magic tricks they are best left unexplained or else you wind up with a live rabbit and hat with a false bottom which isn't fun for anyone -- and this has been a blast! 

Tim and I grew up reading the same comics, sharing a love of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and later of Neal Adams and Jim Steranko.  It was an amazing time to be learning about storytelling in this artform.  We are very different people in our backgrounds and our beliefs, but that love of Marvel and those heroes led to the formation of a friendship that has gone on for decades. 

Captain America: White is as much about Cap and Bucky as it is about working closely with anyone you care enormously about — and that begins with Tim and Richard Starkings who have been with us for the entire journey as well.  With an extra big shout out to Dave Stewart who lovingly colored each page and Mark Paniccia who pushed this project up the hill like a young Marine taking on the entire Axis powers!