Nerd Rage: A Random Study of Sidekicks

There is so much to discuss in the world of comics and television. In the segment for this week, I feel one that is overlooked is the importance of sidekicks. They give so much depth to a character, and always add the option of more stories and purposely interesting interactions.

Sidekicks seem to just never get any credit, and hell, there have been some great ones in the history of television and comics alike. But the main ones that probably come to mind are the ones that everyone knows, or has heard of, or about. You have your Dick Grayson/Robin and you have your Bucky Barnes/Bucky. Those two are great sidekicks, but there are plenty out there that get overlooked, especially when it comes to female sidekicks. Here are others who have made their mark that get overlooked:

Kato (The Green Hornet)
Kato was The Green Hornet’s unnamed, masked driver and sidekick.

Harley Quinn (The Joker)
Love interest of the Joker, and his on again off again sidekick.

Tonto (The Lone Ranger)
The Native American companion to the Lone Ranger.

Dr John Watson (Sherlock Holmes)
Friend, assistant, and personal consultant to Sherlock Holmes.

Chewbacca (Han Solo)
Long time friend of Han Solo, and personal body guard.

Gabrielle (Xena)
Xena’s traveling companion, who later becomes her dearest friend.

Iolaus (Hercules)
Hecules’ best friend and sidekick throughout the televised series.

Sidekicks are underrated. Given the situation that most sidekicks provide support and backup, I feel that so much more could be done with sidekick characters. There’s not even a need to give them their own series, but if more characters in the comic/television universe had sidekicks, a lot of the bland and uninteresting story-lines that get targeted and ripped to shreds could become interesting. Of course, you are going to have those who oppose the idea of sidekicks. Many fans of Christopher Nolan’s Batman would prefer he remain without a sidekick, out of fear that we will see shades of Batman Forever, which was followed by Batman and Robin in which although I had no problems with the casting, the scripts were seriously flawed.

There are plenty of ways to WRITE a sidekick. Grant Morrison does it perfectly in the new Batman and Robin comic series. But as far as movies, although I am completely against it, if there was a chance that a Robin was going to find his way into a Nolan movie, I would love for him to have shades of Burt Ward, who played Robin from 1966-1979. And if you are a Batman fan, or just appreciate good stories, they are old but some of the early Batman stories and ideas from them were just extremely fun.