Top 10 Best Comic Teenage Sidekicks

One of the sillier concepts from the old days of comics that isn't around so much anymore is the teenage sidekick. It never made sense to me, why would kids relate more the brat kid being kidnapped every issue rather than the big strong hero saving the day?? Maybe that's why they died out. But for awhile everyone had a kid sidekick and today I want to run through what I think are the ten best.

A lot of times Sidekicks are there for comic relief. Such as Woozy Winks and the lame Uncle Marvel. Sometimes they're just..boring like Jimmy Olsen or Stripesy (Before the New 52 made him sort of badass). And sometimes they are just so lame like when Sandman had a sidekick named Sandy no one remembered (until rebooted in the 90's). When they do work they really work however. 

You may wonder why Donna Troy isn't on here, and let's just say it's a long story. This list does not take into account these characters appearances in movies or tv nor does it include future alter ego's they would aquire (good or evil). Just how they functioned as a sidekick. This list is rated by there impact and lasting appeal. And most importantly, they had to have spent time working with the hero they are emulating. These days the rule seems to be make a teenager with super powers have almost no relationship at best with the adult hero they are emulating, and that's just not a sidekick to me. 

Johnny Thunder (JSA)

Why the JSA needed a mascot, as he was called, is anyone's guess. But that's what he was an honorary member who hung around and had a friendly thunderbolt around to do his bidding (whether he knew it or not). 

Snapper Carr (JLA)

At least Johnny Thunder had a sort of cool gimmick. Snapper's gimmick? He snapped his fingers. And talked in that 60's jive that no real kid ever talked in. However, despite being useless to the team he did manage to last, and DC did try to evolve the character a few times. 

Bucky (Captain America)

Some may call foul with Bucky Barnes being so high on the list. But before his reinvention as the Winter Solider, he was a pretty boring sidekick for Captain America. He was just a kid, and that was about it. He was there to be caught and before 2004 he had vanished from comics for decades. 

Aquagirl/Aqualad (Aquaman)

Well of course Aquaman needs a kid sidekick to pal around with. Aqualad at least hung in there, unlike Aquagirl who killed during the Crisis and made no impact at all. Garth would of course evolve into Tempest and do pretty well over the years.

Speedy (Green Arrow)

Poor Roy Harper always had a hard time. He was Green Arrow's sidekick but he never really stood out in any way. Even with the Titans he was only a part timer. In the 70's he'd get a Heroin addiction which got him tossed out. In the 90's he became a single father. And after the reboot, well that's another story. 

Damian Wayne/Jon Kent

Just to show these trope isn't 100% dead yet, though it still seems like once a sidekick is established they have to rushed off into there own solo book ASAP. Tim Drake for instance. Nevertheless we have Clark Kent's son and Bruce Wayne's son. Damian is a bit more rough and tumble and Jon follows his father's path of truth and heroism. It's no wonder the two don't get along well. There backstories are convoluted and I don't have all day to go over them. 

Batgirl (Batman)

I admit this one may be cheating, but I need a few women on this list so here we are. To be fair this entire list could be Batman sidekicks, but since that's a topic for another dat here we are. 

Supergirl (Superman)

I am referring to the origibal version here who was just a young girl when she landed on Earth. At first her presence was a secret, she qas "Superman's Secret Emergency Weapon", but after she made her debut she did a great job on her own. There are way to many versions of this character to get into it here and now but yes she did have a 90's version who was also badass. 

Kid Flash (The Flash)

I know people are gonna hate that I am not mentioning Impulse or the other Kid Flash, but I am going to stick with Wally West here. Before he was ruined by DC he was Flash's side kick who got his powers literally the same way Flash did. Wally had a lot more issues growing up, though not as much as Roy Harper, and even stopped being a hero before he graduated into the Flash role after Barry Allen was killed. 

Rick Jones (The Hulk and a million others)

I picked on Bucky and Snapper for basically being useless. You could argue that was unfair because they had no powers. Well my argument is Rick Jones, professional side kick as Linkara would say. He started off in the pages of Hulk but soon was helping everyone from Captain America to The Avengers to even ROM. And he's still around which is really cool. Yes creators have done crazy things to him involving super powers and stuff but in this day and age just being a normal guy who liked to help out isn't really fun anymore.

Robin (Batman)

Yes I mean Dick Grayson, I know there have been like five Robin's at this point. This was the very first and most definitely the model. The thing that made him cool wasn't that he was a kid, but he was a skilled kid. You could believe he could go out and help Batman every night. Yeah, the bright costume was silly, but we can forgive that. In the silver age Rovin was paired off with Jimmy Olsen a lot, since Superman had no side kick in those day), but it was when the character went of to the Teen Titans that he really grew. Before his character was so bland that all the creators did was replace him with another kid who was the same-right down to the samne origin! But Jason Todd was never as popular and Dick Grayson ended up have a solid career ecen after he finally dropped the Robin name and became Nightwing. 

    Did I miss your favorite? Comment below.