The comparisons between Soldier Boy and the Winter Soldier aren’t perfect; what happened to Bucky is tragic through and through. Although no one deserves to be experimented on brutally for years, Soldier Boy is obviously not the pinnacle of virtue and heroism some think him to be. He’s downright unpleasant and remorseless — abusing his sidekick, Gunpowder, and killing members of Mother’s Milk’s family in a manner that not only led to M.M.’s father working himself into an early grave in pursuit of justice, but also greatly traumatized M.M. himself and set him on a path to joining The Boys.

The original comics, created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, paint Soldier Boy a tad differently than the series. He’s a bad guy, for sure, being the leader of Payback (the original version of the Seven) and sharing key Captain America-esque tenets, including a shield. The Soldier Boy in the comics is extremely cowardly and spineless, willing to do anything to join the Seven somewhere down the line, and this storyline is a clear parody of similar patriotic heroes that exist within superhero narratives.

The comparisons do not end here, as Soldier Boy’s first team in the comics was the Avenging Squad (heh), and the “Golden Age” Avenging Squad is a clear parallel to the “Golden Age” All-Winners Squad in the Marvel Comics, which Cap was also a part of. The show presents Soldier Boy’s cover story as a brave American hero who “died” for the sake of the nation, although the truth is much more convoluted, as the show proceeds to reveal in episodes 3 and 4. Soldier Boy’s utter disregard for anyone except himself is on full display during the Nicaragua incident, wherein he recklessly almost fired a rocket launcher at a munitions dump, which could have alerted enemy camps nearby. Although things do go south due to other reasons, Soldier Boy clearly is not the heroic figure people think him to be.