Sidekicks have been an important part of Marvel and DC Comics since the beginning of people in types whomping on each other between the covers of comics. The first sidekick debuted in 1940, and since then we’ve seen every kind of sidekick imaginable. The idea of the sidekick has been evolving over the last 86 years, and some of them have become some of the most popular and important heroes in their respective universes. However, not all of them began their existence as the great characters they are today. There are a lot of reasons for this, but there are lots of fan favorites characters right now who started out as pretty sorry sidekicks.
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While some of these sidekicks have been famous, saying they were a good character at first isn’t true. Sometimes, it comes from the era they were created in and other times it’s because the creators barely made them multi-dimensional. These sidekicks started out pretty rough, but have since became fan-favorites.
7) Power Girl
Power Girl is a multiversal version of Supergirl, the Kara Zor-L of the original Earth-Two. She first appeared in the ’70s, and while she’s a lot of fan’s favorite Kara, her early appearances were pretty rough. She was meant to be a “feminist” heroine of the ’70s, a mouthy character who didn’t take any guff from anyone and was very angry a lot of the time. The seeds of the character she’d become today were being planted, but she was a mostly one-dimensional character that didn’t have the gravitas she has now. Mouthier Supergirl wasn’t a great look for her, and she’s since become a favorite of many readers.
6) Stephanie Brown
There have been lots of Robins over the years, but most fans agree that Stephanie Brown got a bum rep. The former Spoiler was mistreated by DC, killed off, and then brought back as Batgirl, before being erased by the New 52. Fans wanted her back and eventually DC listened, but calling Stephanie a good character in her years as Tim Drake and Batman’s sidekick weren’t great. She was basically a cliche teen girl character in the ’90s, the basic superhero girlfriend. A lot of this was because of the creator who made her: Chuck Dixon. Dixon was always a very basic superhero writer and he made Stephanie look terrible as much as possible. Her time as Robin was a continuation of this, as creators went out of their way to make her look bad. She’s finally become a great character that is loved by fans, but if we’re being honestly, she was a bad character for a long time.
5) Rick Jones
Rick Jones was the Snapper Carr of the Marvel Universe in the Silver Age, a teen who hung out around superheroes. He was a ’60s cliche teen, and ended up mainly working with the Hulk and Captain America (he also brought together the Avengers as a whole), before being paired with the first Captain Marvel, where one would be in the Negative Zone while the other was in the real world. This was the beginning of Rick becoming something besides a cliche, and by the time he became a member of The Incredible Hulk‘s supporting cast again, he was a better character. Writer Peter David kept growing and modernizing him and eventually he’d bond with the third Captain Marvel like he had with the first. He’s not had a lot of spotlight since then, but that doesn’t change how great he is. From the ’90s to today, Rick has become a much better character and while he doesn’t have a ton of fans, he has a rather devoted group who wish he would get another chance at stardom.
4) Dick Grayson
Dick Grayson is an icon, and one of the most popular DC characters ever. He was the first Robin and since then have grown and changed, even taking Bruce Wayne’s place as Batman. While he’s always been a fan-favorite, let’s be real for a second: for a long time, he wasn’t a great character and it was a symptom of comics of the Golden and Silver Ages. These comics were much simpler and written for children and the Robin of the past was much more than a reader insert. He was a one or two-note character, either the happy go-lucky kid or jealous of everyone in Batman’s life that wasn’t him and Alfred. Seriously, those old comics weren’t great and Dick wasn’t exactly the most fleshed out character. All of that has changed over the decades and it has led him to the top of the superhero community.
3) Bucky
Bucky has become the Winter Soldier and one of the most popular Marvel characters around, thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Captain America’s sidekick died and eventually was resurrected as the Winter Soldier, becoming a much better character. Much like Dick Grayson, Bucky was written in a very particular way that was a hit with kids in the ’40s, but isn’t what we’d call good today. Bucky stayed dead for decades, and no fans missed him in fact, it was said that he was a part of Marvel’s trinity of characters who would never be resurrected. He was basically a wannabe Robin in every way. Without the massive change to the Winter Soldier probably would have stayed dead and no one would have cared.
2) Wally West
Wally West is now the most beloved Flash, having been crafted into one of the greatest characters ever. However, his time as Kid Flash was a very different story. He was yet another cliche kid sidekick, and going back to read his stories from back then showed the weakness of the character. He was even dropped from New Teen Titans in the early ’80s, and almost failed when he was brought back and made into the Flash. Honestly, most fans didn’t care about him until writer Mark Waid took over his book and began growing the character in new ways. He’s grown into one of the greatest heroes in comics, showing that no character is truly a lost cause.
1) Jason Todd
Jason Todd was the most unpopular Robin for a very long time, and looking at his old comics shows why. Jason premiered as a character that was basically just Dick Grayson — he was the son of acrobats who were killed during a performance in pre-Crisis DC — and then became the mouthy “bad boy” of the mid ’80s. He was so unpopular that fans voted for him to die (it cost money to vote and everything). He’d eventually be resurrected as the villainous Red Hood, became more popular than ever, and has since become one of the most talked about characters in the Bat-Family.
Which sidekicks do you think had the biggest glow-ups? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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