Who asked for a return to Heroes Reborn?

So this picture just blipped on my radar, and apparently its supposed to be the Heroes Reborn Bucky, Rikki Barnes.

Who? What? you ask.

Back in 96 Marvel gave up creative control of the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America, and The Avengers to Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld for a full year. In that year the creators had the freedom to do what they needed to do to reinvigorate the characters without the shackles of continuity. It was kinda like a trial run for the Ultimate Universe.

Anyway, Liefeld really liked the Bucky/Cap Dynamic and decided to make it more 90s by making Bucky a girl



In the years since, the heroes were returned to their native universe and the 'reborn' universe became a 'real' place as the Counter-Earth, which is one of those troubling continuity traps of the Marvel U.

Honestly, I'm intrigued by this idea. As much as I love the new Captain America (and I do!), I think he works better when he's really forced into that mentor role. And what better sidekick than effectively him from a different world, it ought to be fun. I trust Brubaker and I know that he'll make this the best storyline of 09, but I can't help wondering if it's a bit too convoluted for it's own good. I worry about characters that I can't explain with less than a paragraph.

But hey, chalk up another one for Rob Liefeld's enduring characters, who woulda known.