#marvel sidekicks

[magnetothemagnificent]

Can you explain the Jewish sidekicks post?

So. We all know (I hope) that Jews invented the superhero comic book medium. One of the most famous sidekick-hero duo, Batman and Robin, was created by Jews (Bill Finger and Bob Kane), as was Captain America and Bucky (Jack Kirby and Joe Simon). Sidekicks have become a staple of the superhero genre (although unfortunately in modern comics they've been in decline).

In Jewish storytelling and theology, the idea of the lone hero is a foreign one. All of the most notable Jewish heroes in Tanakh did not act alone- Avraham had Eliezer. Moshe had his brother Aharon to act as his interpretor, Yehoshua to act as his right-hand man and apprentice, Aharon and Chur to hold his hands up in the battle with Amalek, and when leading the Jewish people alone became too taxing for Moshe, he set up a system of delegates to ease his load on his father-in-law Yitro's advice. Eliyahu had Elisha. Devorah had Barak. While the relationship types between these people varied from siblings to master-and-apprentice to a married couple, the running theme is that all these great leaders had assistance.

In fact, for Noach, while he was considered a righteous man in his time, one of his main criticisms is that he acted alone, that he didn't make enough of an effort to reach out to others. In the very beginning of the Torah, G-d says "It is not good for Man (humans) to be alone, I will make him a counterpart" (Bereishit 2:18).

The idea of a lone hero getting all the credit and responsibility is present in various European mythologies, and subsequently Christian theology with Jesus as the singular Messiah and saviour. In contrast, while the idea of Mashiach is bit more fluid in Jewish theology, even Mashiach is thought to not act alone, with two counterparts to Mashiach, a Mashiach ben David and a Mashiach ben Yosef being recognized, as well as Eliyahu HaNavi to usher in Mashiach. This also intersects with Jewish ideals of masculinity contrasting with Western ideals. The ideal Jewish man is not characterized by brute strength and the lone wolf persona, but rather by a gentle, intellectual man with close bonds and loyalty to his family and community. (I highly recommend reading the essay by Jonathan Sexton in Chapter 5 of 'Jews in Popular Science Fiction' for more about superheroes and Jewish masculinity, especially with regards to Batman).

Sadly, there has been a noted decline in the popularity of and depiction of sidekicks in superhero media, which coincides with the increasing erasure of Judaism and Jewish influence in the field. Sidekicks are integral to the superhero medium, and it's a shame more people don't recognize their significance.

[mostsanescarletspiderfan]

I Will never understand the criticism that sidekicks are groomed into that position.

The history of child superheroes has always been rotted into the idea of giving the children the power to control their own lives, even if they started out as support characters it's undeniable that the story is about being able to fight agonist the world.

There isn't much you could even do to stop a child from trying to help others, people give a lot of shit for Batman to take in kids as crime fighting partners but honestly what could he possibly say? The man himself is proof that you can't really stop someone that you have little to no authority over (looking at how young bruce ran from home to start training).

You might make the argument that Bruce wasn't a teen hero when he came back but he ain't the only one who started out young, look at Superman, Spider-Man or hell even Aquaman. All characters who became heroes at an extremely young age and would later on take sidekicks because honestly the best possible scenario is that the adult superhero can train them to be better, the reality is simply that the one who chooses to be a hero isn't the adults, it's the children.

[vertigoartgore]

1994's Marvel Comics Presents Vol.1 #173 cover by Simon Bisley.

[jasontoddsguns]

Marvel loves handing out Ironman suits/Symbiotes also as much as DC loves giving out sidekicks.

[wanderingmind867]

You know, Marvel had less of the teen sidekick trope than DC. I think. Bucky Barnes, the original Human Torch's sidekick Toro and Rick Jones. I think that's it for teen sidekicks. I mean, we had some teen heroes (spiderman and the o5 X-Men). But only three teen sidekicks.

But then we look at DC and we have enough teen sidekicks for me to think we need to call child protective services on all these child soldiers. Just going by wikipedia, we've got Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Speedy, Snapper Carr, Green Lantern's rascist Inuit/"Eskimo" friend Pieface, etc. Seriously. Do I have to call social services to report 15 child soldiers in the greater united states!? This is bordering on the surreal. At least Marvel didn't do the child soldier thing nearly as often! Maybe Stan Lee just understood it was a bit weird. I don't know. But I'm glad Marvel had less child sidekicks.

[sadanddumbcat]

Every time a comic image is posted and tagged with Stucky an angel dies. 😔🙏

Save an Angel! stop tagging comic panels with Stucky.

[weirdo-from-bonesborough]

Hey I’m sorry was Bucky Barnes introduced as Winter Soldier and Jason Todd introduced as Red Hood in the same fucking year?

[the-sprog]

I see we're talking body swaps 👀

Justice League collective body swaps are GREAT. I know people go for Batman for who to swap Cap with. And I see you, I love you, but I raise you: one of the sidekicks.

My first instinct was to say Robin because this is what I imagined:

The Cap's powers are not his body's they're Billy's. Billy is the one they were bestowed upon. So what if the powers go with him? And his body reverts back to his child self?

I am a devoted "Cap's look is self actualizing. He looks like what he believes a hero should look like, and as a kid that was his dad" but also mixed w aspects of themselves. Which means Billy ending up in Damian's body which immediately transforms to make him look like what Damian imagines a hero looks like.

And the League find themselves in front of a darker skinned Nightwing.

Billy has some explaning to do. And Batman is not ready to get hit w a dose of angst.

Fuck I want to write it now.

[browsethestacks]

Marvel Comics New Champions Variant Covers (Oct2023)

[magnetothemagnificent]

The gender envy I get from Golden Age boy sidekicks......

[ye-olde-tardis]

I was thinking about Heros and Sidekicks, and how Loki and Mobius are totally hero and sidekick material, right? But then I was like, wait a minute, who's the sidekick? And I decided that it's Loki, because Mobius literally has him in a collar in the first season.

[vertigoartgore]

2012's Winter Soldier Vol.1 #1 variant cover by Gabriele Dell'Otto.

[necrotic-nephilim]

ok so sending my question here bc this is more marvel comics than mcu related so im like. sliding you a note in class about an somewhat related but mostly tangential topic here 😂

so i've been wanting to get into bucky comics (and winter soldier comics) recently but as a dc fan now whose only marvel comics background is reading matt fractions hawkeye (the best ever, currently rereading it to feel something again actually) and part of wilsons ms marvel run back when i was in high school i have no idea where to start. you said that you have read comics for bucky; do you have any recommendations?

hello i love being slid notes this is so sweet <3 bc luckily Bucky is one of a small handful of characters i can *actually* give good recs for on the Marvel side of the fence! so i'm MORE than happy to give recs bc i actually already have a list i'm happy to share. also, BIG agree on Fraction's Hawkeye run, oh my god. that comic means *so* much to me and though i haven't really read Hawkeye comics outside of it, i love it a lot. 10/10 taste <3

so when it comes to Bucky, he has a *lot* of Golden and Silver Age comics as Captain America's teen sidekick and all. skip them. they're not worth it and they're not the version of the character you want to read. honestly, you should just start with his return as Winter Soldier, and go from there so

Captain America (2005) - this is Ed Brubaker's run, it's fantastic and it's the run that brings back Bucky as the Winter Soldier. i will warn you if you're used to DC comics, Marvel does this really confusing thing called legacy numbering. (DC sometimes does it but not as much) so you're gonna notice it'll jump from issue #50 to #600. you did not somehow miss hundreds of comics, it's just numbered that way bc it's the 600th Captain America comic overall. this run is super good though.

Captain America & Bucky by Ed Brubaker - once again numbering is weird just don't mind it. but this will give you a primer on Bucky's backstory as Cap's sidekick without you having to read all the Silver Age stuff and it's a great comic.

Captain America: Forever Allies (2010) - if you want to read where Bucky was Captain America for a bit, this comic is good for that. it also briefly touches on Secret Allies, a team he was on as a teen during the war. i'm not the biggest Cap!Bucky fun, but this is decent.

Winter Soldier (2012) - by *far* the best Winter Soldier solo run. Ed Brubaker my beloved. this is just amazing. this was where i started with Bucky and tbh if you vaguely understand his comics backstory and don't want to read all the Captain America stuff, i think you can start here. you get to see his relationship with Natasha, his spy work it's just. everything <3

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March - if you want to see a story that takes place during Bucky's time brainwashed under Hydra, that's what this one is and it's pretty solid

Thunderbolts (2016) - this comic is most known for the relationship between Bucky and a young girl who's a cosmic cube named Kobik and it's just so delightful. the whole team is really fun and explores moral greyness in superhero work, but mostly i love this one for Kobik.

Winter Soldier (2018) - i really enjoy this mini-series, it has Bucky trying to save a young boy who's forced to be a weapon and there's just a lot of good stuff. always have a soft spot for Bucky trying to do right by kids.

Falcon & Winter Soldier (2020) - a good team up mini-series. also Bucky has a cat so yk, that's delightful. <3

there are other Winter Soldier comics and comics he's in but Marvel's comic world is big and fucking confusing (to me as a DC fan, anyway) so these will be the easiest to start with. my top recs are probably Captain America & Bucky and Winter Soldier (2012), though i'm incredibly biased to any comic written by Brubaker for Bucky. i love Bucky so dearly. he is everything to me. i hope you enjoy!

[daydreamerdrew]

Captain America (1968) #110

[ninebaalart]

Me and my friends LOVE this "secret sidekick" variant cover by Luciano Vecchio with this ghostly, fiery Mikuesque skater girl sidekick. Her designs slaps. Anyway top is my fanart, below is the original design.

[flashfuture]

Something really special about Dick Grayson being the first kid sidekick Ever in comics. Even at Marvel, Bucky came on the scene a year later absolutely inspired by Robin. And would kid Bucky have snapped kid Robin in half? Easily. But the legacy of what it means to be a child superhero rests with one Richard Grayson