Sidekicks really don't get the respect they deserve but that's for another time and place. I think it's time we give some of these sidekicks their proper respect. Especially because so many of them have moved past that phase in their lives. So, I sat down and came up with a list of 10 of the best sidekicks in the game I could think of.
1. Robin (All of them): It doesn't matter if you like; Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian or even non cannon Carrie, they share this spot. Dick Grayson is essentially the original sidekick. He helped boost Batman's sales to new levels and inspired the trend of sidekick. Jason proved that Batman wasn't a perfect individual, Tim proved Batman could be caring and so on and so forth. Each Robin has brought somehting new to the table and changed Batman's personality for the better. It doesn't matter who your favorite side kick is, without Robin they most likely would not have existed. On top of that each one that has left the Robin mantle has gone on to have exceptional solo careers as; Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler, Cat-Girl and at this point we're just waiting on Damian.
2. Roy Harper: Jason Todd once said "I thought I was the worst sidekick ever, then I met Roy Harper." He's not lying, Roy is a shitty sidekick. But he's important because up until Roy all sidekicks had been happy go lucky kids. Even Jason was until his character was revamped. But not Roy, that boy ain't right. He's on the list because he did everything wrong. The guy was a teenage heroin addict, got a supervillain pregnant, accidentally let the baby die, led a group of mercenaries they tried to kill him and took over a country and the list goes on. Roy Harper is a fuck up the worst kind but at the end of the day he always tries to make things right. It's why he works well with Jason because they're fuck ups.
3. Sam Wilson: That's right, my president is black and my Captain America is too, if only for now. Sam is on this list not because of what he brought to the table as a side kick, but because of everything he did after. Sam started out as Falcon, side kick to Captain America. On one occasion he was arrested after stopping a bank robber because the police didn't believe in black heroes, especially not from Harlem, shout out to Dipset. Then he went solo and never got a single solo series, but stayed in the hearts of fans. Then he became Captain America and did a cover with Rae Sremmurd because that's my Captain America. On top of that he's getting hated on in the comics for stopping illegal border patrols and rescuing protestors from cops. Sam Wilson has the best career of any sidekick that went solo. Now he has his own Falcon in Joaquin Torres.
4. Iron Fist: I don't care what anyone says, he started out as Luke Cage's sidekick before this whole partners thing kicked off. Who were they fighting? Luke Cage's villains. Where were they fighting? Luke Cage's turf. I don't recall them ever going after any of Iron Fist's villains. He was just Luke Cage sidekick then they moved up to buddy cop comedy. Iron Fist is on this list because he used to get treated like a throwaway in Luke Cage stories. Now he matters.
5. War Machine: Tony Stark is an asshole, and alcholoic. Half the time he wasn't even able to control the damn suit or function on a standard adult level. That's when James Rhodes came in and took control of the Iron Man suit. Eventually he moved up to his own unique War Machine suit. On one occasion it was replaced with an alien symbiotte that was bonded with his spinal cord allowing him to call the suit at will, until he learned it was also draining his life force. War Machine also made efforts to reach out and solve the inner city violence issues of Detroit by leading his own unsanctioned Avengers team.
6. Wally R. West: I have to be specific otherwise it seems racist if I call them Black Wally and White Wally. So I just go by their middle names Rudolph and David. Wally Rudolph West, the red haired wonder. The sidekick in DC that not only replaced his mentor but also had a better career than him. I know Barry Allen is great on TV but as far as comics, I just never liked his ass. Wally replaced him as The Flash and began doing things with the speedforce that Barry wouldn't be able to comprehend for years. Wally took The Flash legacy and made it his own. He refused to be a carbon copy of Barry and that's part of the reason he was great. He blazed his own path. Even now that he's returned he's a better mentor to Wally David West, than Barry is. Barry sort of just treats the kid like he doesn't exist and Big Wally is over here giving Little Wally life advice the 3rd time they meet. Dude is just better than Barry Allen. Fuck Barry Allen. Wally is alos a better leader for The Titans than Dick Grayson. He's cool man. I'm glad we got both Wally West.
7. Bucky Barnes: Remember when Bucky was Captain America for a little while? Yeah, that didn't work out. But, he did go on to have a bad ass career as The Winter Soldier. Then he took Nick Fury's job as Man on The Wall or whatevr it's called, taking out alien threats to Earth before they can get here. But can we be honest for a second, he's only on the list because of that cool metal arm. Not really, the dude went through hell in war and what did he get for it? A brainwahsing. Yet he still managed to come out better on the other side. He's no Sam Wilson but he's also no US Agent and for that he makes the list.
8. Kato: What is The Green Hornet without Kato? He's Batman with ony detective skills and a gun. Like he's the notthat interesting but Kato is the shit. Especially that Bruce Lee portrayal. I mean, what hero wouldn't trade their side kick for Bruce Lee? Maybe Marvelman but that's a different world like Cree Summers. Kato is a legit bad ass. As far as I'm concerned it should be called Kato and The Green Hornet. Why does Kato not even get mentioned in the title? We can get Batman and Robin but not even Green Hornet and Kato? Nah, forget that. Kato is the real MVP.
9. Rick Jones: You probably can't remember Rick Jones, and that's okay. The dude is more forgetable than Jimmy Olson. Yet, he's been a sidekick to damn near everyone in the Marvel Universe at some point. Rick has been a sidekick to two different Captain Americas, two different Captain Marvels, The Incredible Hulk, Rom The Spaceknight and now he's even popping up to help The Totaly Awesome Hulk. Dude gets around in the superhero community but always finds a way to be useful. The thing is people love him for his heroics but he has a dark secret. Like Tony Stark, Rick is also partially responsible for Bruce Banner becoming The Incredible Hulk and he's been trying to atone for that ever since, unlike Tony, almost dying from space cancer at one point.
10. Rick Stone: You may not know the name Rick Stone but you probably know a version of the character known a Richie Foley. That's right Rick Stone is Static's sidekick sometimes best friend to Virgil Hawkins. Between the comics and the animated series, they've had some ups and downs. Like how Virgil couldn't accept the fact that Rick was gay in the comics. But Virgil got over it and grew as a person. What about Richie's racist dad in the cartoon, who probably beat Richie's mom too because she was nervous to even breath around him. They got through it. That's always been the biggest strength with these two. They may not always agree and disagree over some big things but they always reconcile and come to each other's rescue when needed. He's not even really a sidekick just a good friend who won't snitch. But isn't that what a sidekick really is?
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
Follow @OriginalKingD
1. Robin (All of them): It doesn't matter if you like; Dick, Jason, Tim, Stephanie, Damian or even non cannon Carrie, they share this spot. Dick Grayson is essentially the original sidekick. He helped boost Batman's sales to new levels and inspired the trend of sidekick. Jason proved that Batman wasn't a perfect individual, Tim proved Batman could be caring and so on and so forth. Each Robin has brought somehting new to the table and changed Batman's personality for the better. It doesn't matter who your favorite side kick is, without Robin they most likely would not have existed. On top of that each one that has left the Robin mantle has gone on to have exceptional solo careers as; Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Spoiler, Cat-Girl and at this point we're just waiting on Damian.
2. Roy Harper: Jason Todd once said "I thought I was the worst sidekick ever, then I met Roy Harper." He's not lying, Roy is a shitty sidekick. But he's important because up until Roy all sidekicks had been happy go lucky kids. Even Jason was until his character was revamped. But not Roy, that boy ain't right. He's on the list because he did everything wrong. The guy was a teenage heroin addict, got a supervillain pregnant, accidentally let the baby die, led a group of mercenaries they tried to kill him and took over a country and the list goes on. Roy Harper is a fuck up the worst kind but at the end of the day he always tries to make things right. It's why he works well with Jason because they're fuck ups.
3. Sam Wilson: That's right, my president is black and my Captain America is too, if only for now. Sam is on this list not because of what he brought to the table as a side kick, but because of everything he did after. Sam started out as Falcon, side kick to Captain America. On one occasion he was arrested after stopping a bank robber because the police didn't believe in black heroes, especially not from Harlem, shout out to Dipset. Then he went solo and never got a single solo series, but stayed in the hearts of fans. Then he became Captain America and did a cover with Rae Sremmurd because that's my Captain America. On top of that he's getting hated on in the comics for stopping illegal border patrols and rescuing protestors from cops. Sam Wilson has the best career of any sidekick that went solo. Now he has his own Falcon in Joaquin Torres.
4. Iron Fist: I don't care what anyone says, he started out as Luke Cage's sidekick before this whole partners thing kicked off. Who were they fighting? Luke Cage's villains. Where were they fighting? Luke Cage's turf. I don't recall them ever going after any of Iron Fist's villains. He was just Luke Cage sidekick then they moved up to buddy cop comedy. Iron Fist is on this list because he used to get treated like a throwaway in Luke Cage stories. Now he matters.
5. War Machine: Tony Stark is an asshole, and alcholoic. Half the time he wasn't even able to control the damn suit or function on a standard adult level. That's when James Rhodes came in and took control of the Iron Man suit. Eventually he moved up to his own unique War Machine suit. On one occasion it was replaced with an alien symbiotte that was bonded with his spinal cord allowing him to call the suit at will, until he learned it was also draining his life force. War Machine also made efforts to reach out and solve the inner city violence issues of Detroit by leading his own unsanctioned Avengers team.
6. Wally R. West: I have to be specific otherwise it seems racist if I call them Black Wally and White Wally. So I just go by their middle names Rudolph and David. Wally Rudolph West, the red haired wonder. The sidekick in DC that not only replaced his mentor but also had a better career than him. I know Barry Allen is great on TV but as far as comics, I just never liked his ass. Wally replaced him as The Flash and began doing things with the speedforce that Barry wouldn't be able to comprehend for years. Wally took The Flash legacy and made it his own. He refused to be a carbon copy of Barry and that's part of the reason he was great. He blazed his own path. Even now that he's returned he's a better mentor to Wally David West, than Barry is. Barry sort of just treats the kid like he doesn't exist and Big Wally is over here giving Little Wally life advice the 3rd time they meet. Dude is just better than Barry Allen. Fuck Barry Allen. Wally is alos a better leader for The Titans than Dick Grayson. He's cool man. I'm glad we got both Wally West.
7. Bucky Barnes: Remember when Bucky was Captain America for a little while? Yeah, that didn't work out. But, he did go on to have a bad ass career as The Winter Soldier. Then he took Nick Fury's job as Man on The Wall or whatevr it's called, taking out alien threats to Earth before they can get here. But can we be honest for a second, he's only on the list because of that cool metal arm. Not really, the dude went through hell in war and what did he get for it? A brainwahsing. Yet he still managed to come out better on the other side. He's no Sam Wilson but he's also no US Agent and for that he makes the list.
8. Kato: What is The Green Hornet without Kato? He's Batman with ony detective skills and a gun. Like he's the notthat interesting but Kato is the shit. Especially that Bruce Lee portrayal. I mean, what hero wouldn't trade their side kick for Bruce Lee? Maybe Marvelman but that's a different world like Cree Summers. Kato is a legit bad ass. As far as I'm concerned it should be called Kato and The Green Hornet. Why does Kato not even get mentioned in the title? We can get Batman and Robin but not even Green Hornet and Kato? Nah, forget that. Kato is the real MVP.
9. Rick Jones: You probably can't remember Rick Jones, and that's okay. The dude is more forgetable than Jimmy Olson. Yet, he's been a sidekick to damn near everyone in the Marvel Universe at some point. Rick has been a sidekick to two different Captain Americas, two different Captain Marvels, The Incredible Hulk, Rom The Spaceknight and now he's even popping up to help The Totaly Awesome Hulk. Dude gets around in the superhero community but always finds a way to be useful. The thing is people love him for his heroics but he has a dark secret. Like Tony Stark, Rick is also partially responsible for Bruce Banner becoming The Incredible Hulk and he's been trying to atone for that ever since, unlike Tony, almost dying from space cancer at one point.
10. Rick Stone: You may not know the name Rick Stone but you probably know a version of the character known a Richie Foley. That's right Rick Stone is Static's sidekick sometimes best friend to Virgil Hawkins. Between the comics and the animated series, they've had some ups and downs. Like how Virgil couldn't accept the fact that Rick was gay in the comics. But Virgil got over it and grew as a person. What about Richie's racist dad in the cartoon, who probably beat Richie's mom too because she was nervous to even breath around him. They got through it. That's always been the biggest strength with these two. They may not always agree and disagree over some big things but they always reconcile and come to each other's rescue when needed. He's not even really a sidekick just a good friend who won't snitch. But isn't that what a sidekick really is?
You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet. You can also check out his playthrough of Sleeping Dogs.
Follow @OriginalKingD
Loved your whole list, from top to bottom, and agree with pretty much all of your sentiments.
ReplyDeleteOther than hating Barry, I'm especially receptive of your Wally Rudolph West analysis. Beyond what I just said, I agree with every little thing, including that he came off as a better mentor to Wally David West than Barry did/does thus far, and that's despite the fact that the two Wallys have only really interacted together once, in the issue you reference (even if it totaled 3 times at that point). You know you're doing something right when you make that good of an impression on someone you've only really met once.
I'm probably unnecessarily harsh on Barry. Wally R. is just The Flash that I grew up on and I kind of hated when they brought Barry back to replace him. I really do hope we get more interactions between Wally R. and Wally D. because it just seemed so natural.
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