Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Tomorrow,
Captain America: The Winter Soldier will be 'pon us. Ol' Groove hopes to be part of the multitudes who hit the local cinema to see it this weekend. Love me some
Cap, in the comics and the movies! I s'pose it's not giving anything away to let it slip that
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes will be a huge part of the new flick, so Ol' Groove thought it'd be cool to go back to the time during the Groovy Age when Marvel made the attempt to make Bucky cool. Roy Thomas, along with artists Rich Buckler, Dick Ayers, Frank Robbins, and Don Heck concocted a mini-epic in which the Invaders (
Cap, Sub-Mariner, The Original Human Torch, and
Toro) were captured by the
Red Skull, leaving
Bucky (not worth of the
Skull's attention) alone.
Bucky, with
Captain America-like determination, set out to collect a new group of heroes to rescue the Invaders:
The Patriot, The Thin Man, Red Raven, The Whizzer, and
Miss America (the last two had recently been revealed to have maybe/perhaps been the parents of
Quicksilver and
The Scarlet Witch). The group would be called
The Liberty Legion, after Roy's boyhood/fan-days "tribute" to
The Justice Society (or perhaps
The All-Winners Squad?). The story ran back-and-forth between
Invaders (issues 5-6) and
Marvel Premiere (issues 29-30). Here's
Bucky, large and in charge courtesy Thomas, Heck, and Colletta! From Marvel Premiere #29 (January 1976)... "Lo, The Liberty Legion!" Check it out!
 |
| Cover art by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia |
And just 'cause Ol' Groove loves ya baby, here's Roy's behind-the-scenes on
The Liberty Legion:
