WITNESS A MODERN HERO'S FALL FROM GRACE!
The Cowl and Flyboy: renowned superhero and sidekick despite dopey names. They were famous, popular, and happy until the Cowl's assassination. Now, no one takes Flyboy seriously. Follow his trajectory from barely tolerated hero to figure of ridicule, and witness his slow descent into madness, darkness and crime.
Thematically similar to 1990′s Brat Pack, which focused on four sidekicks, Sidekick shows the disaster that happens when a child stands alone in the spotlight. The results shouldn't be this shocking, but if you can accept the reality of the situation, why would they be any different? This is a reality shot to the head of super powers solo too soon. Read Full Review
The short and skinny is that its a very well written, and generally well executed book, that I found very captivating. Read Full Review
While possible morally repulsive, Barry remains a " if not likable " character worthy of pity. It's most impressive that throughout Sidekick there isn't even an antagonist, no villain besides an already defeated one in the beginning, just Barry and his personal demons and the events that brought him to the creature we see him as today. There are rare any pages or panels that don't further the plot either through story or character development. Overall this first issue enjoys a solid pace despite its lack of action scenes. In the vein of personal favorite Incorruptible, it's these internal views with a dash of reality that makes this genre enticing. Read Full Review
Being a sidekick sucks. Flyboy is pretty crappy as far as crime-fighting partners go, and with the death of Red Cowl, his life has taken a nosedive. In this dark and depraved comic, things are only going to get worse, and more entertaining. Read Full Review
This is JMS playing with the idea of how things can go very wrong for a hero, and it's a great start. Read Full Review
"Sidekick" #1 is not solely about a has-been wallowing in his past accomplishments; Straczynski throws in a couple of surprises along the way, and one of them is a genuine shock. He's creative enough to realize that there are plenty of modern-day superhero tales to tell, and talented enough to pull one off. This is definitely a comic for people who might have tired of superheroes long ago, but it's also one for those who still dig them. Read Full Review
Sidekick #1 is a familiar tale at first but then things happen as it turns into something that's a bit shocking. Recommended. Read Full Review
In the next few months we'll get to follow the continued downward spiral that Flyboy will have to endure. Strazcynski is promising that this book will be a bumpy ride, and I look forward to seeing how far this former hero can fall. Read Full Review
Sidekick is story we've seen done before, but Straczynski has enough differences and a heck of a cliffhanger to warrant a return trip. Read Full Review
There's a great cliffhanger to the book that opens up some great potential for future storylines which I believe Straczynski will deliver. Although at this point I may not be rooting for the characters in this story, I am rooting for the creators involved and hope they'll create something special. Read Full Review
With a little restraint, Sidekick can be another worthy addition to the Image renaissance currently happening in comic stores every Wednesday. Read Full Review
While the first issue is interesting, I've seen the same thing done better (check out The Standard as one example). Here's hoping the next few issues really kicks this series up a notch and make it stand out from all the rest. Because right now, it seems like the sidekick to all the other similar comics, and who wants to be a fan of the sidekick? Read Full Review
Having been a pretty big fan of JMS in the past, Sidekick #1 was a letdown. It lacked the crispness that usually accompanies a JMS script, which is even more surprising with an original property. There are still flashes of brilliance (the scene where Flyboy watches his 'kickstarter' video and how far away he was from his goal) and hopefully the series can rebound with more character building in issue #2. Read Full Review
Overall, "Sidekick" is not a great first issue. I couldn't care less about any of the characters, it's trying way too hard to be serious, and the art is pretty good but nothing to shake a flying flesh stick about. Sure, it could turn around and offer on some of the promises its more intriguing pages deliver, but taken for what it is, "Sidekick" #1 is trying really hard to be a reinvention of superheroes that's been done a thousand times before. Read Full Review
Straczynski is known for playing the long game, often taking years for arcs to fully play out. Yet like the former hero it depicts, Sidekick is fairly easy to dispose of once the final page is turned. If you are considering a career in costumed crime fighting, and a hero has already made you an offer, this might help you to think again. Sidekick does little to encourage a return engagement next month, failing to give us a reason to connect with the character or the world he inhabits. Read Full Review
I'm sure Sidekick will expand and deepen as the series continues, but already the structure is questionable, and many of the scenes follow the standard of an "adult themed" superhero series. Read Full Review
I'm not overly interested in seeing Straczynski create a sidekick character just to mock him and make his life hell. Straczynski even said he hated sidekicks growing up. So I guess if you also hate sidekicks, you might enjoy this series more. Read Full Review
The art doesn't help, as Tom Mandrake produces some messy, cluttered pages. The characters look drastically different from page to page and faces become distorted messes when a few shadows come into play. The action is confusing and poorly staged. There are whole pages in this comic where I have no idea what happened. Mandrake is a fantastic artist, but this is not his best work by a long shot. If you hate superheroes and want to read something to kicks them into the dirt, there are way better comic books to read. Read Full Review
A sidekick without his mentor is a bum and a loser that you were expect to see. We do not get to know why he even bothers to continue down the superhero career path. We do not get to see why he chose to be a hero's sidekick and why he is going through all this effort to be a sidekick again. Maybe Straczynski is planning on revealing more about this character in future issues, but right now everything feels cliche and Flyboy's fall from grace feels a bit forced. His attempts to surprise the reader were very predictable, especially to a seasoned reader. Read Full Review
In closing Sidekick #1 reads like a hate letter to the superheroes best friend. This approach is horrible depressing, but also does not teach the reader anything. Stories with people falling from grace go completely against what comic books are made for. While people like Alan Moore have deconstructed the superhero, it is done so in a poetic way that embraces the different facets of the medium. This could be a dull television script or a bad comic book, it will fail to impress under any circumstance. There are a lot more comics that deserve your attention as compared to this underwhelmingly sadistic first issue. Read Full Review
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