CHARACTER PROFILES

CAPTAIN AMERICA

Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1941, not for one of Timely's existing titles, but for his own book, CAPTAIN AMERICA #1. During the ongoing political instability in Europe, which quickly escalated into war, America was unsure about it's position in what would soon be their war as well. Simon and Kirby knew they needed a hero to stand for all the things the U.S. stood for. They needed a hero that could triumph in the face of insurmountable odds, with nothing more than the strength of his own character. The found Captain America. Unlike the more powerful heroes of other companys, Cap (his nickname) was willing to cross the Atlantic and take the fight for freedom to der fuhrer himself, and that's just how Timely wanted it.

Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, Living Legend, Super-Soldier. Steve Roger's was a weakly and frail young man who wanted desperately to serve the country he loved so much. Unfortunatly, it was his frailty that caused him to be rejected by the U.S. military. He was labeled 4-F, unfit for service. Fortunately for Steve, and the country as well, his plight was seen by visiting general, Chester Phillips, who was scouting for test subjects for the highly secretive Operation: Rebirth. General Phillips took the young man to Dr. Abraham Erskine (code-named "Professor Reinstien, in interest of national security), who had been developing a Super-Soldier serum, that could turn any man into the ultimate soldier. Rogers was given the serum, exposed to the crucial Vita-Rays neccessary to complete the process, and became America's one true Super-Soldier. Right there in the lab where Erskine had transformed Steve before the General's eyes, was a Nazi Gestapo agent bent on destroying Erskine's project before it could succeed any further. The Nazi agent killed Erskine, and was attempting to kill the others, but this was the kind of thing Steve signed on for. Ignoring personal danger, Steve used his new found strength to stop the assassin, who inadvertantly fell into the Vita-Ray machine, killing him instantly. Operation: Rebirth had been effectively destroyed, it's only success, Steve Rogers: Captain America. Steve was trained for the next few months under the watchful supervision of General Phillips. Steve became the ultimate soldier. He became Captain America. Outfitted with a red, white, and blue uniform made (I believe) of leather and chain-mail, and originally a triangular shield, wich was soon replaced by an aero-dynamic and indestructable shield (the reason for the change I don't know). As America's super-patriot he helped found the WWII super-group, The Invaders. He continued to fight for the U.S. before he was lost in action in 1945 fighting Baron Zemo.

After Cap's dissappearance, the Government decided the U.S. still needed it's hero, at least four others have held the mantle of Captain America, none as well as the original. Decades after the war, Cap was found floating in ice by Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers. He has remained with the team almost constantly ever since. Though long past his own time, Captain America continues to be the inspiration to his countrymen that he was created to be.

BUCKY

Bucky was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby because Simon thought that Cap should, quote, "have a kid buddy or he'd be talking to himself all the time." Though basically an imitation of a certain crusader's sidekick, Bucky holds his own in the "kid buddy" field.

James Buchanan Barnes' father, Pvt. George M. Barnes, had died a few years earlier, and his mother, Winnifred, was left to care for young Jim (as his family called him), and his older sister Rebecca. When she died and left the two teens alone, Rebecca went to live with their Aunt Ida in Albany, and Jim felt abandoned. Like many young men in the early days of WWII, Jim wanted to join the war effort, but as he was a few years too young (16 or 17), he, like many others, lied about his age to join the army. Because of his feelings of abandonment, he broke off contact with his sister, though she still tried to keep track of him over the years. Jim took to calling himself Bucky (a shortened form of his middle name Buchanan), and was stationed at Camp Lehigh Virginia for training. Though he was treated like a "mascot of the regiment" by his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Mike Duffy, he befriended a private named Steve Rogers, who unbeknownst to anyone at the camp, was Captain America stationed there in secret. One night he discovered Steve's secret, and expressed his desire to join him in his fight against the Nazis. Bucky was already an excellent fighter and athlete, and could hold his own in a battle (I don't know if there's a reason for this), so Steve relented, got Bucky a costume, and (somehow) cleared Bucky with his superiors as his sidekick. As a superhero, Bucky helped found such war-time superteams as The Invaders, The Liberty Legion, The Kid Commandos, and The Young Allies (though that last one has not been confermed in current continuity as far as I know). Unfortunately, like so many other soldiers of war, Bucky was killed in action. While thwarting an attempt by Baron Zemo to bomb the U.S., Bucky died preventing the experimental rocket from hitting it's target. His sister Rebecca was told that he had died somewhere over Germany, but they kept the details classified, including his identity as a superhero.

After James Barnes demise, many others assumed the identity of Bucky, none as well as the original. Rebecca married a man named Procter and took his surname, she has (at least) two grandchildren, Scotty and Kimmie (making them Bucky's great-nephew and niece).