Winter Soldier (comics)

Bucky Barnes
Bucky in World War II. Cover detail for Captain America 65th Anniversary Special (May 2006). Art by Eric Wight.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	As Bucky: Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) As Winter Soldier: Captain America #1 (Vol 5) (Jan. 2005) As Captain America: Captain America #34 (Jan. 2008)
Created by	Bucky: Joe Simon (writer) Jack Kirby (artist) Winter Soldier: Ed Brubaker (writer) Steve Epting (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	James Buchanan Barnes
Team affiliations	Invaders Young Allies Kid Commandos Avengers Thunderbolts Department X Legion of the Unliving
Partnerships	Captain America Black Widow
Notable aliases	Winter Soldier, Captain America
Abilities	Master hand to hand combatant and martial artist Gifted advance scout Use of military weapons and throwing knives As Winter Soldier: Expert assassin and spy Via cybernetic left arm: Superhuman strength Enhanced reaction time Energy projection EMP discharger Holographic projector As Captain America: Carries a Vibranium alloy shield Wears a shock absorbing costume Use of conventional weapons

James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional superhero that appears 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 (cover-dated March 1941) (which was published by Marvel's predecessor) as the original and most well-known incarnation of "Bucky". The character is brought back from supposed death as the brainwashed assassin Winter Soldier (Russian: Зимний Солдат, translit. Zimnij Soldát), and later assumed the role of Captain America when Steve Rogers was presumed to be dead.

IGN listed Bucky Barnes as the 53rd greatest comic book hero of all time stating that (after Robin) Bucky is easily the most iconic superhero sidekick of the Golden Age and describing him as one of the central players in the Marvel Universe since his role of being Captain America. IGN also lists Bucky as #8 in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012.Sebastian Stan portrays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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 (March 1941), 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 (Fall-Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). After Bucky was shot and seriously wounded in a 1948 Captain America story, he was succeeded by Captain America's girlfriend Betsy Ross, who became the superhero Golden Girl. Captain America Comics ended with #75 (Feb. 1950), 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.