fairestcat:

Bucky [previous page]: What’s on your mind, Eli?
Eli: I don’t know…a bunch’a stuff… I mean…you know about my grandpa, and what they did to him…and you know how this country has treated black people, like…a lot. And, I don’t know…I guess I set out to honor my grandpa. And then after I met Cap…your cap…I stopped being angry so much.
Bucky: But now?
Eli: Now that he’s dead, and with the whole registration thing and all…I don’t know what it means anymore. To be a black kid calling myself “Patriot”, y’know? ‘Cause I don’t really feel like I love this country a lot of the time.
Bucky: I know what you mean…but… Man, this was way more Steve’s territory than mine… But I think you have to realize that America is bigger than its politics or its problems. Steve would say, America is an idea. But I’m not sure I really know what that means, sometimes.
Eli: Yeah, me either.
Bucky: See, Steve always tried to see the best in everyone, and I’m not like that. But I’m trying to be, you know? I think just like most people, America isn’t just one thing. It’s not just slavery and what happened to the Indians…it’s not just what happened to your granddad. It’s also the New Deal, and the Civil Rights movement, and democracy…
Eli: And Martin Luther King.
Bucky: Yeah. But really, if I were you, I’d be having a hard time carrying that name, too. The difference is, I knew the first man to carry it…Jeff Mace. And I think Jeff would be proud to have someone as smart and brave as you keeping the name alive. Just like he kept Cap’s name alive for a time.

— From Young Avengers Presents #1 by Ed Brubaker, art by Paco Medina

fuckyeahblackwidow:

Evil Bald Dude: I’ll be the first to admit that my past endorsement of Norman Osborn was… foolhardy, Captain America. I didn’t have all the facts. But you should consider that perhaps the same is true for the Black Widow. She used to be an enemy of the state. Your enemy. And you really think she just… turned good? Noble? She’s a former Russian spy. The very best that program ever produced. My experts call her the most dangerous woman in the world. The Black Widow, running circles around men and woman who possess ten times her strength. She led the Avengers, for God’s sake— without super-powers.
Bucky: Your pitch needs work. As far as I’m concerned, these are all positives.
Clint: There are some things a suit like you won’t ever understand. Like trust, trust in battle. Trust when the chips are down. The kind of trust that lets you put your life in another person’s hands. A person like Natasha.

Natasha’s tracked tag is starting to sound a lot like Evil Bald Dude. Don’t be Evil Bald Dude.

From Black Widow #2, by Marjorie Liu and Daniel Acuña.