The Best *Classic* Sidekick Was...

[DrNewGod]

One of the Superhero Genre's favorite gimmicks is the sidekick. They are plot device, exposition conduit, deus ex machina, and convenient hostage, all in one. It begs the question, who did it best?

Batfans and Flashfans: cool your jets. This ain't about how Damien stacks up against Tim, or Wallace v. Bart. This is about The Sidekick in general. And no, it's not all-inclusive. The site's polls don't support that many options. Feel free to call out the unrecognized.

[Jim Kelly]

I think you could have arguably left a few "classics" off this poll, giving you room to include others.

T.N.T. & Dan the Dynamite had a relatively short run in STAR-SPANGLED COMICS, for a little over a year, from 1942 to 1943. They actually saw more action, together and separate, when they were brought back for ALL-STAR SQUADRON and YOUNG ALL-STARS.

Although Martha Roberts was Darrell's companion from day one, in 1939 (I'd even argue they were living together under her father's roof), she didn't become Doll Girl until very late in the run--DOLL MAN 37, in 1951, and the series ended with issue 47, in 1953.

The Wonder Girl that appeared in the WONDER WOMAN comic in the 1960s was Princess Diana herself. They retconned the Wonder Girl in TEEN TITANS as Donna Troy. But we very rarely saw Donna and Diana teamed up.

To take the place of these three, I'd nominate Ebony White (the Spirit's heroic sidekick), Woozy Winks (Plastic Man's pal) and Bulletgirl (Bulletman's other half).

[MajorHoy]

Doctor Watson?

[bat39]

I don't consider Hawkgirl a 'sidekick'. She may have started out as such, but for the bulk of her history, she hasn't been a 'sidekick'.

[married guy]

As much as I wanted to say Kid Flash, it really wasn't a contest.
The original and the best, Dick Grayson - ROBIN

[Restingvoice]

Are there canon adventures of Diana and Donna n the silver age? I only know the time travel adventure of Wonder Woman, Girl, Mom, and Tot

Doctor Watson?

Are they canon to DC history?

[Frontier]

Unsurprisingly seems like it's Robin and then the rest of the Fab Five.

Who is Pinky?

[Sutekh]

First choice would have to be Robin, the dude whose gone on to have his own series, followed by Kid Flash, Speedy & Wonder Girl, as well as Hawkgirl and Dan the Dyna-Mite, who have gone on to careers of their own.

I've love to place Aqualad there with his Teen Titans peers, but he never really broke out like the others (barely used in the Wolfman/Perez rennaissance of the Titans, never joined the League, etc.), and is probably the one who has been most effectively replaced by Jackson/Kaldur'ahm.

[Raz]

I don't consider Hawkgirl a 'sidekick'. She may have started out as such, but for the bulk of her history, she hasn't been a 'sidekick'.

Yeah I agree, even when comics were more sexist about lady superheroes Shayera was more of an equal partner to Hawkman than a sidekick (I don't really know much about Shiera though, maybe she was different?)

[witchboy]

Are there canon adventures of Diana and Donna n the silver age? I only know the time travel adventure of Wonder Woman, Girl, Mom, and Tot



Are they canon to DC history?

I don't believe Donna Troy and Diana actually interacted in the Silver Age except for a Wonder Woman appearance in a Teen Titans issue. They had some more memorable meetings in the 80s New Teen Titans.
Donna was never really a sidekick.

[witchboy]

First choice would have to be Robin, the dude whose gone on to have his own series, followed by Kid Flash, Speedy & Wonder Girl, as well as Hawkgirl and Dan the Dyna-Mite, who have gone on to careers of their own.

I've love to place Aqualad there with his Teen Titans peers, but he never really broke out like the others (barely used in the Wolfman/Perez rennaissance of the Titans, never joined the League, etc.), and is probably the one who has been most effectively replaced by Jackson/Kaldur'ahm.

I am really fond of Garth. He even got a good new identity with Tempest so he could stand out from the new Aqualad but sadly DC hasn't had much interest in him in a long time. He'd make a good supporting cast member in the Aquaman or Titans series.

[M L A]

Sandy was surprisingly competent compared to a lot of other sidekicks in the golden/silver age. Shame later writers did... THAT to him.

I get why he wasn't in SMT but I would've liked to see how he'd be done as a teen in a more modern comic. But at least he got some nice use in the 1999 JSA book even if he did turn to wallpaper after Goyer left.

[Johnny]

Grayson. No contest.

[DrNewGod]

Are there canon adventures of Diana and Donna n the silver age? I only know the time travel adventure of Wonder Woman, Girl, Mom, and Tot



Are they canon to DC history?

There were a few Bronze Age WW/WG stories.

Unsurprisingly seems like it's Robin and then the rest of the Fab Five.

Who is Pinky?

Mr. Scarlet's buddy.

I agree about Hawkgirl; anybody that's seen my comments on other threads know how I view her. I included her only because she didn't get a title of her own for a very long time, and if she appeared at all, it was as Hawkman's partner.

[Tzigone]

I don't believe Donna Troy and Diana actually interacted in the Silver Age except for a Wonder Woman appearance in a Teen Titans issue. They had some more memorable meetings in the 80s New Teen Titans.
Donna was never really a sidekick.

She was never any sort of sidekick, IMO - don't even see how it's debatable. And though many disagree with me, I find Supergirl and Kid Flash are more spinoff heroes than sidekicks (in pre-COIE). I didn't read that much of Supergirl, so am less certain there. But Wally basically got one mission with Barry, then went off to be a solo hero in the actual classic era. He teamed up with Barry after, but Ralph and Hal teamed up with Barry, too. Heck Wally did a team up with Ralph, too, I think. I liked the difference there, with those two being more independent as heroes (though certainly we saw Dick operating independently in some stories, too, but he had more with Bruce), and not being in the custody of their mentors. Wally actually had good parents back then, so it was fine for Barry, but Supes catches some flack for sticking Kara in an orphanage sometimes.