Before Bucky Barnes was kidnapped by the USSR and tragically contorted into the Winter Soldier, he was little more than the plucky teenage sidekick of Captain America. Together, the two become costumed heroes, serving democratic justice to the Axis powers. However, I was shocked to read that, despite Bucky’s traditionally cheerful disposition, this Marvel hero showed a darker side of himself that echoes the monster he later becomes.

Hellhunters #3 – written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, with art by Adam Gorham – follows Nick Fury Sr. and his Howling Commandos as the team of outlandishly powered soldiers investigates a demonic threat spreading throughout Europe.

While the team rests from their travels, Sal Romreo finds the young Bucky Barnes tearfully sulking alone in the woods. Sal, initially taken aback by Barnes’s age, asks what’s wrong. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bucky looks up at the Ghost Rider and utters a sentence so dark that it betrays his boyish exterior. I think Bucky has always had the mind of a killer.

Bucky Stunned Me With This Line: “I Was Takin’ Ears Offa Nazis I Killed”

Hellhunters #3 – Written By Phillip Kennedy Johnson; Art By Adam Gorham; Color By Frank Martin; Lettering By VC’s Travis Lanham; Cover Art By Jonas Scharf & Alex Guimarães

While Marvel Comics hasn’t traditionally depicted Captain America or his young sidekick as lethal heroes, especially during their original stories, it’s an unavoidable reality that both soldiers had to kill their enemies. As much as we don’t want to think about a fifteen-year-old boy having to fend for his life while slaughtering enemy soldiers, it’s naive to have assumed it never happened. But Bucky its that he takes pride in his kills, so much so that he collects trophies from his kills. Horrifically, to Bucky, this seemed like a normal reaction to his circumstances.

For every Nazi that died at Barnes's hands, the juvenile sidekick would carve an ear from his enemies and string it as a badge of honor. However, the darkest part for me is that many of the surrounding soldiers agree with Bucky’s sentiment. While the Soldier Supreme refuses to risk getting the boy’s blood on his hands, the rest of the Howling Commandos applaud Bucky’s drive and talents. In the face of Nazis and demons, Bucky’s eager willingness to kill and mutilate his enemies is seen as a valuable tool for his fellow adult soldiers.

Marvel's "Hellhunters" Explores How Bucky Barnes Was Cruelly Molded By War

His Dark Habits Have Real-World Equivalents

As dark as Bucky’s ear-collecting hobby is, human trophy collecting was actually a fairly common practice during WWII. In the eyes of WWII American soldiers, Nazis and their allies were considered sub-human; monsters walking in human skin. Allied soldiers, especially the Americans, would far too often decapitate the heads of Japanese soldiers to decorate their camps with the skulls. While I wouldn’t describe it as routine practice, it happened enough to have developed a small culture within the military. Tragically, in Marvel Comics , this dehumanizing thinking wasn’t exclusive to adults; Bucky Barnes, too, saw his enemies as potential trophies.

Shaped by the cruelty of an unparalleled world war, the impressionable teenager developed into a creature who thrived on death.

Further into Hellhunters #3, Bucky relishes in the occultish gore-fest that his team faces as he laughingly fires a barrage of bullets toward his enemies. He isn’t just in this war to fight the “good fight”; he loves the violent chaos. Shaped by the cruelty of an unparalleled world war, the impressionable teenager developed into a creature who thrived on death. Yet, his comrades, sans the Soldier Supreme, see no fault in molding this boy as long as it's in their favor. In that way, I don’t see the Howling Commandos as any better to Bucky than the Soviets were.

The Allies Used Bucky The Same Way The Soviets Did The Winter Soldier

A Child Should Never Be Sent To War

Bucky Barnes isn’t just a product of war , he’s a product of man. Throughout the boy’s entire military career, he was used by Allied forces as a tool in the war. Despite the noble nature of laying the smackdown on Nazis, a child should never have been placed in that celebration, let alone celebrated for it. When Bucky later falls into Soviet hands, his mind had already been shaped by his own twisted sense of savage justice. In a way, I see Bucky as equally a victim of the Allies as he was the Axis powers.

I don’t really want to put the blame on Bucky, as he was only a child. It was the responsibility of those around him to safeguard the boy from the horrors of war. Instead, they encouraged his participation. If it wasn’t for the likes of Peggy Carter or Captain America ing Bucky’s participation, the teenager may have been saved from mutilation, torture, and decades of brainwashed assassinations. Sadly, Bucky Barnes's affinity for collecting Nazi ears is only a single symptom of a darker force that has always brewed in his soul and one that was fostered by his adult allies.

Hellhunters #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.