Bucky (Marvel Comics)
Bucky is the name used by several different fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually as a sidekick to Captain America. The original version was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Captain America Comics #1, which was published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics. Following the apparent death of the hero James "Bucky" Barnes, the Bucky nickname and costume have been used by various heroes, including Fred Davis, Jack Monroe, Rick Jones, Lemar Hoskins, and Rikki Barnes. For a time, a child looked after by Jack Monroe was named "Bucky," but she was later adopted and given the name '''Julia Winters.'''
James Buchanan Barnes
James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes was the first individual to operate as a costumed hero called Bucky. Despite his young age, his life on army bases and special training sessions make him a formidable combatant and marksman. In 1941, Steve Rogers is experimented on by Operation: Rebirth, making him a super-soldier thanks to a special serum and "vita-ray" treatment developed by Abraham Erskine. Assigned the costumed identity of Captain America, Steve operates as a special military operative during World War II and soon adopts Bucky Barnes as his young partner. Though he accepts wearing a colorful costume and mask when he and Steve are on missions, Bucky declines using a special codename and simply uses his own nickname. Since "Bucky" is a common nickname, Bucky's friends and family do not deduce his identity.Bucky's original comic book career came to a stop in 1948, when a story said he was wounded and retired. In 1964, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced Captain America to comics after the character had been missing for many years. The new stories said that Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes stopped a plot by Heinrich Zemo in 1945, but the result of this was that Bucky was killed in an explosion and Steve was left frozen alive in the waters of the North Atlantic, kept alive and in suspended animation due to the super-soldier serum in his veins. Thanks to this, the Avengers found Steve in 1964 and revived him from suspended animation. Later comics retconned that the stories of Captain America and Bucky published after 1945 and before 1964 depicted different characters who assumed the mantles of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes following their apparent deaths.
Decades after his death had been established, Bucky Barnes was brought back into comics. It is said that he miraculously survived the explosion in 1945, though he lost a limb and suffered brain damage. Following this, he is recovered by Hydra, given a cybernetic limb, and brainwashed into becoming an assassin called the Winter Soldier before Captain America uses the Cosmic Cube to restore his mind. The Winter Soldier then becomes a hero seeking redemption for his past actions. When Steve Rogers is later apparently assassinated, Bucky assumes the role of Captain America. He gives up this role soon after Steve returns to active duty.
In the 2011 crossover Fear Itself, Bucky is killed by Skadi, but is revived with the Infinity Formula, a weaker version of the super-soldier formula. As a result, he gains enhanced vitality and physical abilities.
Powers and abilities
Having trained under Steve Rogers and others, "Bucky" Barnes is a skilled marksman, a master of hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, and a gifted advance scout. He has particular skill with daggers and throwing knives. His time as the covert assassin Winter Soldier further honed his skills and increased his espionage prowess. He is also fluent in many languages.Winter Soldier's left arm is a cybernetic prosthetic with superhuman strength and a variety of weapons and high-tech devices. As a result of gaining the Infinity Formula, Bucky Barnes has enhanced vitality. His general strength, resiliency to injury, speed, stamina, and agility are also a few times greater than a normal human being of his size and physical build. None of his traits operate on superhuman levels and he does not operate at the level of a super-soldier such as Steve Rogers.
Bucky Barnes often carries several conventional weapons such as knives, guns, and grenades. As Captain America, Bucky Barnes used the indestructible, vibranium-iron alloy shield used by Steve Rogers, and wore a Kevlar/Nomex blend, shock-absorbing costume.
Fred Davis
Fred Davis Jr., created by Roy Thomas and Don Heck, first appeared in Marvel Premiere #30 as a young character asked to temporarily impersonate Bucky in 1942. Starting with What If? #4 by Steven Englehart and Sal Buscema, it was said that Fred Davis assumed the Bucky identity following the apparent death of Bucky Barnes. Since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby established in 1964 that Barnes seemingly died in 1945, Fred Davis was used to retroactively explain the young hero's appearances in comics published between 1945 and 1948, as well as the series All-Winners Comics.In Fred's introduction story, he is a teenage batboy for the New York Yankees, a few years younger than the heroic Bucky Barnes. In 1942, the heroic team known as the Invaders is hypnotized by the villain Red Skull, Bucky escapes. The young hero encounters Jeff Mace, the masked adventurer called Patriot, and together they join with other heroes to create the Liberty Legion. 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 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 "home front" team in the U.S. From that point on, both teams aid each other whenever necessary. Fred Davis then resumes his normal life, thrilled to have been able to help America's superheroes.
Barely over two years later, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers are seemingly killed. President Harry Truman fears the death of Captain America and his young friend will be a blow to American morale. He asks William Naslund, the hero known as Spirit of '76, to assume the Captain America identity. Fred Davis is contacted as well and asked to operate as the new Bucky. Only other superheroes and a few people who have worked personally with Bucky realize that Davis cannot be the same person and is a few years younger. As Bucky, Davis works alongside Naslund and both join the post-WW II superhero team called the All-Winners Squad.
When Naslund is killed in 1946, the Captain America identity passes to Jeffrey Mace, whom Davis met when he first impersonated Bucky. Davis continues to assists Mace as Bucky, fighting criminals and spies. In 1948, Davis is shot while on duty as Bucky and seriously wounded. Now having a permanent limp, Davis retires the Bucky identity.
In 1951, Davis joins the secret V-Battalion, a private organization that hunts war criminals. He eventually became one of its leaders. Decades later, he is killed by a Russian sleeper agent who wants to send a message to the original Bucky Barnes, now known to still be alive.
Powers and abilities
As Bucky, Davis was trained in hand-to-hand combat and acrobatics. He also had skill as a baseball player.Jack Monroe
Though this character was depicted as Bucky Barnes in the 1953-1955 Captain America run, these stories as originally presented were rendered non-canonical in 1964 by The Avengers issue #4. A 1972 retcon designed to reintegrate these stories into Earth-616 canon established him as a separate character.In 1953, an orphan named Jack Monroe, who idolized Captain America and Bucky, discovered that his history teacher also had a similar passion, to the extent of undergoing plastic surgery to make him look like Steve Rogers and assuming his name as well. In addition, "Rogers" had discovered, in some old Nazi files stored in a warehouse in Germany, the lost formula for the Super-Soldier serum that had given Captain America his abilities. The two used the serum and began to fight Communists as Captain America and Bucky. Unfortunately, "Rogers" and Monroe were unaware of the stabilizing "Vita-Ray" process used on the original Captain America. As a result, despite their bodies being enhanced to peak human efficiency, they slowly grew paranoid and dangerously insane. By the middle of 1954 they were irrationally attacking anyone they perceived to be a Communist, at points resulting in them committing racist violence against Hispanics and African-Americans. In 1955 the Federal Bureau of Investigation managed to hunt them down and placed them in suspended animation. The 1950s Captain America and Bucky would be revived years later after the return of Steve Rogers, going on another rampage, and would be defeated by the man they had modeled themselves after. Monroe was eventually cured of his insanity and took up the superhero identity of Nomad, an identity the original Steve Rogers himself had once taken in the 1970s, and teamed up with the original Captain America on a number of occasions. At one point during his solo career, Monroe was injured severely enough to need to be placed in stasis once again. He was revived and brainwashed by Henry Peter Gyrich. Monroe was then forced to become the new Scourge of the Underworld and sent to kill the Thunderbolts. Monroe eventually broke free of the conditioning, helped the Thunderbolts to defeat Gyrich, and then disappeared. Monroe was last seen reassuming his original Nomad costume. At this time, he had checked in on his former ward he called Bucky, who had since been adopted. Monroe was starting to have delusions again, and started hallucinating; his sanity was again destabilizing, as it had when he first became Bucky. In the same story, Jack Monroe was shot by the Winter Soldier and dumped in the trunk of a car.