When Heroes Go Bad

I’m going to be honest. I LOVE stories where a hero turns evil. I think there might be a sadistic part of my nature, but I love when a noble hero breaks the rules and code he or she has previously lived by. A fall from grace is always interesting.

A while back in the comics, the character of Daredevil was given control of his mortal enemies, the ninja clan The Hand in a storyline that was titled Shadowland. Using this small army at his disposal, Daredevil essentially eliminated crime in the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen.

But soon his methods got more and more extreme, turning the neighborhood into a police state but without the police (who are too scared to enter the neighborhood). Instead of just fighting crime he and his private army of ninjas would imprison dissidents in the dungeons below Shadowland, the fortress built on the remains of a blown up housing block. The character reaches a true level of darkness though when Daredevil fights and kills his long time enemy Bullseye in the same manner Bullseye killed Matt Murdock's (Daredevil) former flame, Elektra.

That seems to be the true sign a character has taken a dark turn. When they throw away their moral code and resort to killing (See Previous Blog Entry). Usually the victim is an enemy, as in the case of Daredevil, but it is not long before the hero turns on their allies and friends.

Such was the case of Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern, in the Emerald Twilight storyline. In that story, Hal Jordan was driven mad with rage after his entire home city was obliterated. In a quest to gain the power to resurrect his fallen friends and family he attempts to drain the power of the Oan power battery, the source of energy for all Green Lanterns. In his attempt to gain this power he slaughters several of his fellow Lanterns eventually gaining the power to rewrite time and wipe out all existence (as revealed in the mega-crossover Zero Hour).

What’s interesting about both these instances is that it is later revealed that it was not a case of the hero turning dark, but a case of the hero being possessed by some otherworldly entity. Daredevil was possessed by some demon the Hand worshipped called coincidently enough The Beast of the Hand and the entire plot of placing him in charge of The Hand is an attempt to bring this demon into the physical world. Same with Hal Jordan who is possessed by Parallax, the entity of fear who slowly started to possess Hal in an effort to free itself from the Oan power battery.

Neither of these heroes have control of their actions and after an exorcism and a bit of soul searching are able to resume their roles as heroes (Daredevil’s road to redemption was a little shorter than Hal Jordan’s who had to both sacrifice his life, take on a new persona and then be resurrected before he resumed the role of Green Lantern many years later). Essentially both of these heroes get to be reaccepted into the hero community by claiming "the devil made me do it."

But sometimes it isn’t always an outside influence that causes a hero to go bad. Sometimes a hero just snaps. While super heroes are blessed with powers and abilities beyond mortal men, they still have the same personality flaws that ordinary humans have. And from time to time ordinary people just snap. So when one sees the horrific damage a single unhinged individual can inflict on the world around him, just imagine if that person had super powers. Two examples of this can be seen in Marvel’s The Sentry and Mark Waid’s Irredeemable. Both of these characters are excellent examples of a super hero becoming unhinged and ironically both the main characters in these stories are archetypally similar to Superman.

Now in Marvel, The Sentry is a hero who, after retconning, has been in the Marvel Universe since its beginning (in actuality he started out as an April Fool’s day joke in Wizard Magazine about a lost creation of Stan Lee). As the first Mini-series starring the Sentry came to a close it was revealed that the Sentry and his arch nemesis, The Void, were both aspects of the fractured personality of Robert Reynolds. Essentially it was revealed that the world’s greatest hero was a schizophrenic and his dual personality was also the greatest threat to the world.

In Mark Waid’s Irredeemable, the hero is known as the Plutonian, another Superman type character. While the Sentry’s fall from grace can be blamed on psychological issues, in the case of the Plutonian it is merely a case of being unable to deal with the constant pressure of being a hero. Being a super hero can most easily be equated to being a celebrity and we have certainly seen plenty of news stories where a celebrity has lost their mind from living a constantly scrutinized life. Now add being able to fly and super strength to the equation and the pressure must be even worse. Thus what happens in this series. The hero decides to become a villain and kill his allies and those who would oppose him, using his powers for selfish gains.

Another great example of heroes falling from grace is Garth Ennis’s The Boys. Of course in that series, ALL the super heroes have fallen from grace. The Boys are a secret black ops team for the CIA whose sole purpose is to monitor super heroes and to take them out if they get too big for their britches. To essentially prevent situations like what occurred in Irredeemable and The Sentry from occurring in the first place. An excellent case of how truly petty and human heroes can be when they’re not posing for pictures after saving a cat from a tree.

It was said best in Spider-Man, “With great power, comes great responsibility.” But on top of that responsibility comes an added pressure. I can only imagine the pressures a super hero would feel. It has to be the most stressful life time job you can have. Just look at the pictures of Presidents before and after they take office. In just a matter of four to eight years these individuals look like they’ve aged almost twenty years. I feel being a super hero would be similar to that level of pressure.

Religion in the World of Super Heroes

Zauriel

Now before I say anything about religion and super heroes I am just going to say I am an Atheist and a Geek. So that means I know a lot more about the latter than I do the former so if I write anything that is considered blasphemous please know I am only doing so in order to relate the subject of religion to the subject of comic books. I am not trying to insult any one's faith or belief. Except for Odin worshippers. They deserve to be taken down a peg.

One important thing to realize about religion in the world of super heroes is that it is real. That is to say that, for the most part, characters can actually witness and observe a supernatural presence in their lives. And this goes for all religions. Both the contemporary and historical belief systems are represented in the world of comics. Characters like Wonder Woman and Hercules get their powers from the Greek Gods. Zauriel, a fallen angel from the Judeo/Christian pantheon, was actually a member of the Justice League. The Spectre, a member of the Justice Society, is supposed to be the embodiment of God’s vengeance. Doctor Strange has fought demonic entities from every belief system in the world. There is physical evidence for the divine. And yet characters like Tony Stark (Iron Man) and Hank Pym (Giant Man, Ant Man, Yellowjacket, Wasp) are both written as Atheists and men of science, so their is still room for skepticism in their world.

Now before one assumes it is only mystical characters who believe in religion, there are many non mystical practitioners of faith in comics. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, is a practicing Catholic who will attend confession prior to busting crooks heads. Both Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat of the X-Men) and Ben Grimm (The Thing from Fantastic Four) are Jewish. Even Islam is represented in comics with Nightrunner (a member of Batman Incorporated) and Dust (from X-Men) both portrayed as traditional Muslims in their civilian identities. And much like political affiliation (see past entry) the religious beliefs of characters does not get in the way of their duty as heroes. These individuals don’t ask if the person they are saving share their belief in God(s), they just save them.

While sometimes super heroes have religious beliefs, there are also times where religious beliefs get formed around a super hero. In the follow up to the epic Kingdom Come, simply titled The Kingdom, the lone survivor of a horrific tragedy decides to build a religion around the hero who saved him, Superman. He builds a church and wears the S shield around his neck like a cross. So strong is his belief that when Superman actually confronts him and tells him to abandon it, this young individual is manipulated into a super villain, named Gog, who is sent back in time to kill the very hero he worshipped.

In DC Comics there are even characters that refer to themselves as The New Gods and they claim to be in communication with the Source, supposedly the divine energy that created the whole Universe. Their origins come from apparently the first planet of Old Gods splitting into two separate worlds called Apokolips and New Genesis. Now these two worlds are diametrically opposed to each other with New Genesis lead by the wise All Father and Apokolips ruled by the powerful Darkseid. Both these planets have made their presence known to the people of earth, and in the case of Darkseid tried to invade earth.

So basically in the world of comics there is both concrete proof of particular religious beliefs and yet there is still divergent opinions on the subject of religion in this world. The major conflicts among religious beliefs in reality seem to be that no one can concretely prove their belief system is correct and others aren’t, whereas in comics EVERYONE can prove their belief system is correct. So this seems to me that regardless of proof or no proof there will always be religious strife.

Super Heroes Should Not Be Agents of the State

In a previous post I wrote how Super Heroes should not have a political preference (See here). Now since a political preference and/or philosophy can influence an individual’s actions and such actions can affect the world around them, I feel the need to further elaborate on this subject. Because if a regular person’s actions can have an affect on the world, then the actions of a super powered individual would be even more so. And if past stories are any indication, the end result is never positive for the rest of the world.

The graphic novel Superman: Red Son, depicted a world in which instead of landing in Kansas, the craft that carried young Kal-El landed in Soviet Russia during the height of Communism. As such, Superman ended up being raised a communist. Now in the normal DC Universe, while Superman is American, he has no allegiance to the American government. In this Elseworld (DC stories that occur outside continuity) story though, Superman ends up becoming the Russian Premiere, not just a party member but the literal embodiment of the philosophy. Communism under Superman nearly takes over the world.

And he is still Superman. He is still this paragon of morals and virtues. This is not a story where Superman is the bad guy (of which there have been a few), even though he is part of a philosophy that Americans have been told are the ultimate bad guys. But with the ultimate superhuman as their standard bearer, even the Communists become heroes. Russia fills the role of America as a nation that protects and helps the rest of the world.

That first example might be a bit of an extreme. In that storyline, the Super-hero actually becomes the State, as opposed to an agent of it. Perhaps a better example would be Marvel’s Civil War (2007). For those unfamiliar with the storyline, a group of young heroes are involved in an incident that claims the lives of over six hundred innocent civilians. Because of this there is public outcry for accountability for the actions of super heroes. The government then decides to put all super heroes under the command of S.H.I.E.L.D. (if you saw the Avengers, you know who they are). If you want to be a hero you have to register your powers and identity with the government or you have hang up your mask and cape.

This simple bit of legislation causes a rift in the super hero community in the Marvel universe. Many heroes do not want to be told who they can and cannot save, or how to do it. Two sides are drawn among the heroes, with the pro-registry heroes being led by Iron Man and the anti-registry heroes being led by Captain America. I was of course shocked that Captain America was the hero who ended up fighting the system. If there is any hero who is a better example of “agent of the state” than Captain America I can’t think of it. But fight the system he did and it ended up in his death (of course comic book death ain’t what it used to be and he was back within a year). Still, the lasting damage was done. Heroes who had once been friends and allies were torn apart and repercussions to that stories is still being felt in the comics today.

Another great example of the evils of super heroes being agents of the state is Watchmen. For the sake of my own sanity I will be referencing the comic NOT the live action film. Now in the world of Watchmen, two of the heroes in this story are prominent figures in the government, Edward Blake aka The Comedian and Doctor Manhattan. The first is the ultimate wetworks man, doing all the dirty deeds that every conspiracy theorist thinks our government does on a daily basis. The other is the ultimate nuclear deterrent. Not only are these two super heroes agents of the state but they represent the two things people think are most evil about any government.  Assassination and nuclear annihilation. These are not the roles of super heroes, yet in a world where super heroes work for the government that is EXACTLY the role super heroes are called into play.

As I said in my previous entry, super heroes are supposed to be better than the mere mortals that they protect. They are supposed to have a higher moral code that only people of near godly status could attain. To put them in the employ of the government drags them down to our level. And I say they are not meant to be pulled to our level, we are meant to rise to their' level.

Defending The Amazing Spider-Man

I recently saw The Amazing Spider-Man in theatres (IMAX, which I highly recommend for this particular type of film) and absolutely loved it. I was a big fan of the Raimi Spider-Man films (Part 3 not withstanding) but I felt this one just blew those other ones away. And then I went online and saw that I was in a bit of a minority and a large section of critics and fans seem to hate this flick. Well now I am going to tell these people why they are wrong. If you have not seen the film, I am about to spoil everything so stop reading, go out and see it and then continue reading this blog.

First off the bat, Andrew Garfield is a better Peter Parker than Tobey Maguire. Peter Parker was a tiny, nerdy and awkward kid before he gained his super powers. I never felt that sense of awkwardness when I was watching Tobey. But Andrew? I bought this kid hated life in High School. And that’s supposed to be part of the appeal of Spider-Man. While the life of the Wall Crawler is exciting and fun, being Peter Parker just plain old sucks. Andrew Garfield looked like a miserable kid and that falls more in line with the Peter Parker of the comics than the previous version. This Spider-Man was more of a wise ass and quick with a quip or joke which is again, what makes the character so appealing.

Second point, mechanical web shooters. I understand why Sam Raimi chose to give Spider-Man organic web shooters in his film. It takes time and energy to explain and that takes away from the story. But without the mechanical web shooters you are missing out on an import fact about Spider-Man. He’s smart. Peter Parker is a mechanical whiz kid. The Raimi films never truly established that. They tried by showing him talking with Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius, but they never showed him applying any sort of mechanical knowledge. It actually saddens me to see many people asking “Why did they give him mechanical web shooters?” They should have been asking why he never had them to begin with in the Raimi films.

Third point, I actually cared about Uncle Ben’s death. If you didn’t know Uncle Ben was going to die stop reading this right now. Seriously. I don’t want you reading this. I spit on you. But seriously, I felt more pain when Martin Sheen’s Uncle Ben died than when the previous Uncle Ben, Cliff Robertson (RIP) did. Not to take anything away from Mr. Robertson’s performance but there didn’t seem to be any emotional connection between Cliff and Tobey. The death of Uncle Ben is supposed to be the driving force that makes Spider-Man want to be a hero. He could have stopped the crook who killed his uncle but he didn’t. Now in the previous version, Uncle Ben is killed when he gets carjacked. But in this version Uncle Ben is killed when he actually tries to stop the criminal from getting away. So not only did his Uncle die when Peter failed to act, but he died because he ACTED when Peter didn’t. That to me seems much more traumatic and Andrew Garfield's emotional crying over his dead uncle was much more emotional than Tobey cradling the dying Cliff Robertson.

Fourth point, there was actual romantic chemistry between Peter and Gwen Stacy in this film. Part of that may be attributed to the fact that Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are actually dating, but their on screen relationship felt much more believable to me than that of Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire. And I love that. Because since the love interest in these films is Gwen Stacy as opposed to Mary Jane Watson, we know that there is tragedy in store for Mr. Parker. Sorry to spoil it for you folks but in the comics Gwen Stacy dies and these films seem to be keeping with the comics very closely. This actually goes for all the characters in this film. I felt a much closer interaction between the characters in this film than in the original. I especially loved the dynamic between Peter Parker and Flash Thompson in this version. In the Raimi version Flash was a one note bully who quickly disappeared once the film got into the second act. In this version he starts off as a bully but ends up as a close friend to Peter, even offering his condolences to Peter about his dead uncle, which again falls in more with the comics.

Now just so I don’t seem like a complete gushing fanboy I will say there were a few things in this film I didn’t like. The post credits scene where they try to set up a looming threat in Spider-Man’s future didn’t seem like much of a tease to me. Also there are several scenes where Peter comes home bloodied and bruised in front of Aunt May and she doesn’t seem to show enough concern. That bothered me a bit. If anything the one thing that truly bothered me about this film was not the film but the marketing. All the posters, billboards and cardboard standees kept saying “The Untold Story.” The thing is, Spider-Man’s origin is probably the MOST retold story in comics ever. There was the original, the revamp in the 90s, the Ultimate version, the 60s TV series, the 70s cartoon show, the 90s cartoon show, the Raimi film, the MTV cartoon show, the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon show, the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon show and I’m sure I’m leaving one out. We all know the origin story. Peter Parker gets bitten by a spider and then his Uncle Ben dies and he decides to fight crime. That's all you need to know. 

But now that the origin story is out of the way I look forward to the direction this new franchise is headed. Since establishing genetic engineering in this film with the Lizard I look forward to seeing all sorts of different villains from the comics (I cross my fingers for Sinister Six). Also since we have established Norman Osborn is in this universe (we didn’t see him in the film but he was mentioned by name several times) AND Gwen Stacy is in this film I am sure we will be seeing the death of Gwen Stacy storyline (and hopefully not the J. Michael Straczynkski version of events where Gwen and Norman sleep together. That was just creepy).


To sum it up simply, The Amazing Spider-Man feels closer to the source material than the previous films. There is a reason why Spider-Man is such a loved character and one of the most successful comics of all time. And there is little need to change those things we love when moving to a different medium. What we love in the comics we should love in the films as well. Don't fix what ain't broke. Sadly, Raimi broke the franchise with the third film so this reboot was needed.

Born Bad but Became Good

Nature vs. Nurture. It is the constant argument people have about what determines a person’s behavior. Now in the real world we tend to fall into the roles we are either born or raised into. But in the world of fiction it is always far more interesting for characters to play against type.

Mephisto aka The Devil

Now if we are to believe the world of fiction, the most evil being in all existence is The Devil. I'm not debating issues of religion so I am solely reffering to the depictions of the Devil in various fictions. He is the ultimate enenmy of man. And since he is the ultimate evil, it is assumed that the son of said Devil would be just as evil. And that is where we get to the playing against type with Danny Wormwood and Daimon Hellstrom, both fictional sons of the Devil and both characters who strive to do good with their lives.

Daimon Hellstrom, star of The Son of Satan comics published by Marvel Comics is basically a super hero. He rules a corner of Hell and is powered by the souls of the damned but he uses those aspects to do good in the world.  To do good in a world that can obviously see his demonic aspects and treats him accordingly. Further proof of his noble nature is that he has a sister, Satana, who freely and joyfully embraces her evil side while Daimon fights to control his.

While not a super hero, Danny Wormwood is also a son of the Devil (different Devil daddy than Daimon) who has abandoned the role he was born into. In the Avatar Press mini-series Chronicles of Wormwood, Danny Wormwood is the Anti-Christ. His purpose in life is to begin the Apocalypse and end the world. Instead he becomes a TV Executive and settles down to a quiet life with his girlfriend, and his best friend a talking rabbit (and a mentally handicapped Jesus who spends all his time at a bar). Now while he is not saving anyone like the heroic Son of Satan above, he is never the less choosing to fight against his true nature, which takes just as much moral fiber as being a super hero. His true nature is to be evil and sometimes choosing to just not be evil is as good as being good.

Now going beyond good and evil (unintentional Nietzsche reference), sometimes it is just raw animal nature that makes one behave badly. Something deep down that forces and controls their actions just so they can survive. For this type of behavior I am going to examine a popular anti-hero, Blade. For those unfamiliar with comics or who did not see the 1998 film, Blade is a half human half vampire hybrid. While he has none of the weaknesses of typical vampires, he still has their super human strength and their thirst for blood. Both of which he uses to hunt the bloodsuckers down.

Now there have been several vampires-turned-hero characters in film, television and comics (future blog entry?) but there is a very special reason I chose Blade. He was born the way he is. The other vampire characters who became heroes can remember a humanity prior to their being turned and can remember what life was like without their thirst for blood. Blade has never known a life before his thirst.

And that is what makes Blade’s fight against his base nature so amazing. It IS his nature. Drinking blood is as natural to him as drinking or eating is to a normal human. There is no alternative reference for him to realize his thirst for blood is wrong. But he sees the immorality in killing humans so he can survive. Like a vegetarian he finds killing for food morally wrong. He even develops a serum that makes him feel like his blood is burning  in order to make up for his physical need for blood. More than just going against his nature, he goes to extremes to deny and hate who he naturally is.

The capacity for good or evil is in every character. While it is enjoyable in fiction to see a noble character’s fall from grace it can be just as interesting to see an individual from infamous origins rise to a position of virtue.

When Is It Okay For A Super Hero To Kill?

Super Heroes do not kill. Since Superman’s first appearance in 1938, and the flood of all the heroes who came after him, it has been established that heroes do not take the lives of those they fight. No matter how vile a villain, the heroes try to find a way to not take a life. But to every rule, there are always exceptions.

In Superman #22, Superman travels to a parallel Earth where three Kryptonian criminals survived the destruction of Krypton. After they murder all the people of Earth, Superman finds himself the only one left to carry out punishment. Using this world’s version of Kryptonite (which has no effect on Superman) he exposes the three criminals until they die. So it would seem that genocide is one instance where a hero is allowed to kill.

Not to be outdone, Wonder Woman also took a life during The OMAC Project. In this storyline, Maxwell Lord, a former ally of the Justice League and the man who financially backed the League for many years, had helped to found a secret organization called Checkmate. This organization was hatching a plan to eliminate all meta-humans (the DC Universe term for people with extraordinary abilities). As part of his plan, Maxwell had killed Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle, and had also psychically taken control of Superman. Refusing to tell her how to free Superman from his control, Wonder Woman felt she was left with one option. She snapped his neck 180 degrees. So freeing a valued friend, colleague and powerful weapon could be another reason a hero is allowed to kill.

Warren Ellis’s super team, The Authority, appears to have much less hesitance to the need to kill. For them it seems like the simplest solution to a problem. If someone is a big enough bastard (a term they enjoy using quite a bit) then that person should be eliminated. This super team does not regulate themselves to only fighting alien threats or mad super villains but actively seek out brutal dictators and war criminals. In essence, The Authority does what super heroes would really do in the real world. After saving the day they throw lavish parties in their orbital headquarters and appear on talk shows. In the case of the Authority, nothing really allows them to kill, it’s just no one is willing to stop them.

But even the Authority draws some lines when it comes to killing. While they do kill, it is usually people who would receive a death sentence anyway were they to be brought to trial. Which puts them lengths ahead in the morality department when compared to The Punisher. The Punisher is the ultimate indiscriminant killer in comic books. There are despotic super villains who don’t have the same body count as Frank Castle. And yet the Punisher still gets to enjoy the status of “hero”.

Now there are many who would argue that Frank Castle is in fact an “anti-hero” but I find that more of an excuse. The very fact that Frank Castle has teamed up with characters like Daredevil, Spider-Man and even Captain America, shows that Frank Castle is clearly on the side of the Angels (and no, I am not referencing that BS storyline where Frank Castle actually WAS an angel and had to send demons back to hell, I hated that run of the book). Frank Castle seems to only get a pass because the targets of his fury are mostly criminals. The only time the other heroes seem to have a problem with his methods is more out of a sense of territoriality (Punisher tries to kill a Spider-Man villain for example) far more than an objection to the actual killing.

So why is killing still such a taboo among super heroes? If the Authority can kill and the Punisher can kill, and even Superman and Wonder Woman can kill, why is killing not an acceptable practice among super heroes? Why doesn’t Batman do himself a huge favor and snap the Joker’s neck? I’m sure the citizens of Gotham City wouldn’t complain, they might even throw a parade.

But then we need to take a look at the motivations of super heroes. Beyond just being endowed with amazing powers and abilities, most heroes are motivated to do what they do because of a death close to them. Batman lost his parents, Spider-Man lost his uncle, Daredevil lost his father, and each of those losses was due to a criminal act. So not only is their fury towards criminals justified but also their appreciation of the sanctity of life. Criminals have families as well and it is not the job of heroes to rob those families of their loved ones, regardless of their crime. Plus there is the argument that once you start killing, where do you stop? 

Being a Sidekick Doesn’t Suck

It’s a running stereotype that has been around since comic books first began. Sidekicks are considered jokes, cannon fodder, or, in some bizarre circles, objects of pedophiliac fantasy (Pick up Top Ten Vol. 2 if you want to see a great story about that). But in the actual world of super hero comics I have observed that being a sidekick is a noble calling and leads to great things for the young hero or heroine involved.

Nightwing

To me, the idea of being a sidekick is akin to being an intern or an apprentice. You are a young and inexperienced individual who is learning the ways of your trade from an older and more experienced individual. This is a belief that it would seem most comic book writers share. When the sidekick first appeared in comics, it was an attempt to add a lighthearted youth with whom the main hero could banter. But now, sidekick is a mere stepping stone to becoming a true strong independent hero.

With a few exceptions, nearly all of the early sidekicks in the DC and Marvel Universe grew up to be heroes in their own right. The Teen Titans, a young team of sidekicks, is the perfect example of this. Robin (Dick Grayson) grew up to become Nightwing. Aqualad grew up to become Tempest. Speedy grew up to become Arsenal and then later Red Arrow and a full fledged member of the Justice League. All them grew out of the shadows of their former mentors, or in some cases grew into their mentor’s role. Kid Flash (Wally West), when his mentor Barry Allen (The Flash) perished in the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, the young sidekick stepped into the role and became the new Flash, continuing a strong super hero legacy. Even Dick Grayson wore the mantle of Batman for a little while.

Bucky

Winter Soldier

Though sometimes when a sidekick steps out of the shadow of his mentor it isn’t always as a hero. A few years back Captain America’s World War II era sidekick Bucky was brought back to life as a Soviet trained assassin codenamed The Winter Soldier. The same happened with Jason Todd (Robin 2) who was resurrected as The Red Hood, a brutal vigilante who abandoned the non-lethal methods of his mentor Batman who believes the only way to really defeat criminals is to adopt their methods as your own. But whether a hero or a villain, these former sidekicks grew into interesting and complex characters, not just the tag along heroes that they are stereotypically thought of as.

A perfect example of this is the Disney movie Sky High. In this film the world they occupy is so blessed with super-heroes that a special school exists to teach the offspring of these heroes. Now a super-hero school is not a new concept (X-Men). But when the protagonist attends his first day of class he finds that the young heroes are divided into two groups based on their powers. 

The cool and awesome powers get classified as “Heroes” while the lamer powered students are grouped into “Sidekicks”. Now of course the story of the film ends up having the underdog sidekicks saving the day. But here’s the problem. First as I’ve already stated, sidekicks are usually younger than their super hero mentors. So maybe they assign the newly graduated sidekicks to a hero who graduated a while ago, but according to one of the sidekick teachers, that is not the case. Also, if you were a hero, why would you want a sidekick with a defective power? Marvel’s the Human Torch (original torch Jim Hammond, not FF Jonny Storm) had flame based powers and he had a young sidekick named Toro who had the same powers. That makes sense.

Now it is true that comic book characters are ageless and will outlast the fans of today and tomorrow. But in the world they inhabit it is assumed they will age and possibly one day die. That is why sidekicks are important. Sidekicks are to become the next generation that will take over protecting the world when one day the hero is no longer able to keep up the fight.