Bucky Barnes
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 . Barnes' original costume and the Bucky nickname have been used by other heroes in the Marvel Universe over the years.
The character is brought back from supposed death as the brainwashed assassin cyborg called the Winter Soldier . The character's memories and personality are later restored, leading him to become a dark hero in search of redemption. He temporarily assumes the role of Captain America when Steve Rogers was presumed to be dead. During the 2011 crossover Fear Itself, Barnes is injected with the Infinity Formula, which increases his natural vitality and physical traits in a way similar to the super-soldier serum used on Captain America. After coming into contact with the shadowy Outer Circle, Barnes becomes the new Revolution, bringing down the organization from within.
Bucky Barnes has been adapted into various media outside comics, including animated series and video games. Sebastian Stan portrays the character across multiple entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, the miniseries The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, the animated series What If...?, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts* and the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday.
Publication history
When Joe Simon created his initial sketch of Captain America for Marvel Comics precursor Timely Comics in 1940, he included a young sidekick. "The boy companion was simply named Bucky, after my friend Bucky Pierson, a star on our high school basketball team", Simon said in his autobiography. Following the character's debut in Captain America Comics #1, Bucky Barnes appeared alongside the title star in virtually every story in that publication and other Timely series, and was additionally part of the all-kid team the Young Allies. In the post-war era, with the popularity of superheroes fading, Bucky appeared alongside team-leader Captain America in the two published adventures of Timely/Marvel's first superhero group, the All-Winners Squad, in All Winners Comics #19 and #21.After Bucky was shot and seriously wounded in Captain America Comics #66, he was succeeded by Captain America's girlfriend Betsy Ross, who became the superhero Golden Girl. Bucky recovered and was briefly reunited with Captain America for an appearance in Captain America Comics #71, but otherwise did not appear for the rest of the run. Captain America Comics ended with #75, by which time the series had been titled Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale a horror/suspense anthology issue with no superheroes.
Captain America and Bucky were both briefly revived, along with fellow Timely stars the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, in the omnibus Young Men #24, published by Marvel's 1950s iteration Atlas Comics. Bucky appeared alongside "Captain America, Commie Smasher!", as the hero was cover-billed, in stories published during the next year in Young Men and Men's Adventures, as well as in three issues of Captain America that continued the old numbering. Sales were poor, however, and the series was discontinued with Captain America #78.
Retroactive continuity, beginning with The Avengers #4, established that the original Captain America and Bucky went missing near the end of World War II and were secretly replaced by then-U.S. President Harry S. Truman with successor heroes using those identities. This retroactively meant that the Bucky who operated with the All-Winners Squad and was later wounded before being replaced by Golden Girl was a different hero. Later comics said this second Bucky was a teenager named Fred Davis, and it was established that he and Bucky Barnes had met and befriended each other before the end of World War II. The 1950s version of Bucky was retroactively said to be Jack Monroe, a college student who had been inspired by the exploits of the original Captain America and Bucky Barnes. In the 1980s, Jack Monroe adopted the identity Nomad.
The original Bucky regularly co-starred with Captain America in flashback World War II adventures presented in Tales of Suspense #63–71. Some of these stories were adaptations of Bucky and Cap's original 1940s stories published by Timely Comics, revising details to establish new canon for the Marvel Universe. Afterward, Bucky Barnes only occasionally appeared in further flashback stories or in dreams and memories that haunted Steve Rogers, who felt guilty for not preventing his death. For a brief time, 1960s stories depicted Rick Jones as Captain America's new sidekick in the modern-day, briefly given the costume and name of Bucky. During the 1980s, Steve Rogers temporarily stepped down as Captain America and was replaced by John Walker, whose friend Lamar Hoskins then adopted the identity and name of Bucky. Lamar changed his name to Battlestar when it was pointed out that "buck" has been a slur used against black men in parts of America.
In 2005, series writer Ed Brubaker returned Bucky from his seeming death near the end of World War II in the story arc "The Winter Soldier". He additionally revealed that Barnes's official status as Captain America's sidekick was a cover-up, and that Barnes began as a 16-year-old operative trained to do things regular soldiers and the twenty-something Captain America normally would not do, such as conduct covert assassinations.
Bucky's death had been notable as one of the few comic book deaths that remained unreversed. An aphorism among comic book fans, known as the Bucky Clause, was that in comics, "No one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben". However, all three were brought back to life in their respective universes by 2006, though Uncle Ben's status was reverted in the same arc that brought him back to life.
Bucky's death has also been used to explain why the Marvel Universe has virtually no young sidekicks, as no responsible hero wants to endanger a minor in similar fashion. Stan Lee also disliked the plot device of kid sidekicks, saying in the 1970s that "one of my many pet peeves has always been the young teenage sidekick of the average superhero". Roger Stern and John Byrne had also considered bringing Bucky back, before deciding against it. However, in 1990, co-creator Jack Kirby, when asked if he had ever heard talk of resurrecting Bucky, answered: "Speaking completely for myself, I wouldn't mind bringing Bucky in; he represents teenagers, and there are always teenagers; he's a universal character".
A climactic scene of Bucky's return involves Captain America using the reality-altering Cosmic Cube to restore the Winter Soldier's memories. In a later interview, Brubaker clarified that Captain America did not "will" the Winter Soldier to have Bucky's memories and personality, he only used the Cube so the Winter Soldier could remember who he truly was. Therefore, there was no loophole where a later story could claim the Winter Soldier was actually a different character and only believed himself to be Bucky because of Cap.
Barnes became a regular character in the 2010–2013 Avengers series during his time acting as Captain America from issue #1 through issue #7, and in issue #12.1. During the 2011 Fear Itself crossover, Barnes is killed but then quickly restored to life by the Infinity Formula, the same chemical that gave Nick Fury enhanced vitality and physical traits, and which itself was a weaker form of the super-soldier serum. Now enhanced in a similar way to Steve Rogers and Fury, Bucky returned to the role of Winter Soldier, this time as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in an eponymous series that lasted 19 issues. The first 14 issues were written by Brubaker, with the last story arc written by Jason Latour. Since January 2014, Bucky has been part of the cast of James Robinson's All-New Invaders.
In October 2014, Barnes was the subject of a new series titled Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier. The series was written by Ales Kot with art by Marco Rudy. It ran for 11 issues before cancellation.
Fictional character biography
Origin and World War II
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes Jr. is born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1925. Barnes grows up as an Army brat alongside his younger sister Rebecca. Their mother Winnifred dies when both children are still young. In 1938, their father James Barnes Sr. is killed during a training exercise at U.S. Army Camp Lehigh in Virginia. Bucky and Becca are adopted by their father's colleague Major Samson. Becca is sent to boarding school, while Bucky remains at Camp Lehigh and becomes its unofficial mascot. By his teens, Bucky makes a side-career of smuggling goods into the camp for the soldiers. Engaging in exercises with the soldiers in training, Bucky shows a natural ability for marksmanship and physical combat.Bucky meets and befriends Steve Rogers at Camp Lehigh in 1941. During this same time, newspapers and radio programs share news of a mysterious new hero called Captain America, a man who was turned into a super-soldier via a special serum and technology developed by Abraham Erskine. Bucky accidentally discovers Steve's secret identity after walking into his quarters; Steve decides to recruit Bucky as his partner, personally training him to become a fierce combatant. The two are members of the Invaders alongside Namor, the android Human Torch, and Toro.
When the Red Skull captures and hypnotizes the Invaders into serving the Nazis, only Bucky escapes. Bucky recruits help from Jeff Mace, a new masked hero called Patriot, and then broadcasts a call for help from America's crime-fighters so they can stop the Red Skull. Several answer, leading to the formation of the Liberty Legion under Bucky and Mace's leadership. The Red Skull then sends his hypnotized Invaders against the Liberty Legion. During this adventure, Bucky hides his true movements and plans by asking Fred Davis, a batboy for the New York Yankees, to temporarily wear his costume and impersonate him. The Invaders are freed from hypnotic control and return to the European theatre with Bucky, while the Liberty Legion remains as the "homefront" team in the United States. From that point on, both teams aid each other whenever necessary.
In the closing days of World War II in 1945, Bucky and Captain America find Heinrich Zemo trying to destroy an experimental Allied drone plane. When Zemo launches the plane with an armed explosive device on it, Bucky and Captain America jump aboard. Captain America falls off the plane and descends to the Arctic Circle below. Simultaneously, Bucky unsuccessfully tries to defuse the bomb, and it explodes in mid-air before reaching its intended target. With both Bucky and Steve vanishing from the public eye after the plane's explosion, they are assumed dead. In truth, Rogers is frozen alive by the freezing waters of the North Atlantic, the super-soldier serum in his system keeping him alive and in suspended animation.
Soon after the explosion, Bucky is found by USSR General Vasily Karpov and the crew of a Russian patrol submarine. Despite possessing no enhanced traits such as Captain America or any superhuman abilities, Bucky is still alive, his body partially preserved by the freezing waters, and is able to be revived. Along with the loss of his left arm, he has sustained brain damage and amnesia. Realizing that Bucky has retained his learned combat skills, expertise, and combat instincts, Karpov sends him to the secret Soviet agency Department X.