If You Can't Kill Bucky, Then Who Can You?

Well...Bucky's back. No. Seriously. Just saw him hanging out with Steve and Fury. Right over there before his wake.

Have you read Fear Itself 7.1? Thumbed through the issue and learned that Bucky Barnes is alive? Revealed plans from Marvel Comics are to put him back in his own issue, Winter Soldier, which will be appearing in 2012. Most of you probably got wind of the spoiler before the release, but rest assured, it was fully explained and embraced in the issue.

If you missed it, Bucky Barnes had been filling the role and uniform of Captain America and took on Skadi, Herald of The Serpent, in Fear Itself #3. He threw his shield, hit her in the face, and then she ripped off his mechanical arm and shove the butt end of her Dark Asgardian Hammer through his chest. Big hole, take a look.

Not going to criticize the storyline; it's actually well-written and makes complete sense; Bucky was about to undergo a criminal trial and Nick Fury used the moment to fake his death. What I'm developing, though, is a theory; and it boils down to a slow-bubbling cauldron of concern.

I don't have problems with Bucky Barnes, not even if he returns as the Winter Soldier; I liked his character. Just not sure about the mentality and this type of hype; it isn't just with Marvel; DC has done it's share of killing great superheroes and villains during explosive events and then bringing them back. (Batman, Flash, Green Lantern and Superman, for example.)

So here's my question: who can I write off? Scarlet Witch? Johnny Storm? Janet Van Dyne? Both Bucky and Steve Rogers have been killed twice (at least). The first time was in the 1940s after Baron Zemo's drone rocket explosion. Rogers returned in Avengers #4 (Vol 1, March 1964) because he landed in icy waters in suspended animation; Bucky, it turns out, was recovered by the Russians and programmed as their Winter Soldier assassin. Their second deaths are more recent: Rogers' was at the hands of a sniper attack after Civil War, but it turns out he was never dead. Bucky, as we see, was just killed in the Fear Itself event.

(I remember reading Secret Avengers #15; man, I should've paid more attention. I thought Black Widow was mad at those reporters; she was just covering up the truth!)

Alright, I should take bets. How long before Thor returns? What about The Serpent; I know that's long odds, but I think it'll pay off.