The League of Regrettable Sidekicks: Heroic Helpers from Comic Book History

Description

A hilarious spotlight on the strangest second bananas in superhero comics, including junior partners, animal assistants, and even heinous henchmen (sidekicks of the villain world). Complete with vintage art and publication details. Batman has Robin. Captain America has Bucky. And Yankee Doodle had Dandy. Being a superhero is hard work, which is why so many comics characters rely on a sidekick for help. Someone who can watch the hero's back, help search for clues, or, if nothing else, give the hero someone to talk to. But just as not every superhero achieves the glory of Batman, not all sidekicks are as capable as the Boy Wonder. In The League of Regrettable Sidekicks, author Jon Morris discusses some of the strangest iterations of the sidekick phenomenon, and in the process explores how important these characters were to comic book storytelling. You'll meet plucky but forgotten helpers like Thunderfoot (explosive-soled assistant to the Human Bomb), heroic super-pets (like Frosting, polar bear pal of space hero Norge Benson), fan favorites (say hello to Rick Jones, sidekick to half of the Marvel Universe), and obscure partners of iconic heroes (Superman Junior's career barely got off the ground). Plus- pernicious profiles of regrettable henchmen and minions, the sidekicks of the supervillain world. Vintage art from the comics completes the experience. Drawing on the entire history of the medium, The League of Regrettable Sidekicks celebrates characters and stories that haven't seen the light of day in decades, pulling from defunct and long-forgotten comics publishers as well as DC and Marvel. In this third volume of his Regrettable series (The League of Regrettable Superheroes, The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains) Jon Morris provides insight and context, as well as his signature mockery of and affection for these overlooked treasures from comic book history.

JONATHAN MORRIS is a cartoonist and graphic designer. He's the author of The League of Regrettable Superheroes (Spring 2015), which sold nearly 20K in its first six months, and the follow-up The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains.Since the late 1990's, he's operated the blog Gone&Forgotten, an irreverent, in-depth look at the worst, the lowliest and most unfortunate stories and characters comic books have offered. In 2001, he was invited to participate on a superheroes-themed episode of the public radio program This American Life, which remains a popular and frequently-rebroadcast episode. Jon also operates The Chronological Superman, a blog dedicated to chronicling every appearance of Superman beginning in 1938 through the end of 1949. He's a frequent contributor and contest judge on Project-Rooftop, a site dedicated to superhero redesigns, and has curated such comic book-related collaborative online events as DC FIFTY-TOO, CORNERED, THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE-REDUXE EDITION and others. He also writes about television, music and popular culture in general. His webcomic Jeremy- Just Turned Nine was nominated for the industry's Ignatz Award in 2001, and he is currently the editor for, and contributor to, the annual Halloween comic book event BOO! Halloween Stories, available through Comixology.

Nominated for the 2019 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Comics-Related Book "This snarky, vividly illustrated ride through comic book history is a hoot."-BookPage "A gorgeous technicolor reference tome."-Tor.com "The League of Regrettable Sidekicks is the perfect gift for the comic fan in your life."-Free Press "The exquisite artwork allows readers to visualize each character as they make their way through the book and is an entertaining read all the way to the end."-Bio Gamer Girl. "Even non-comics fans could have a great time flipping through this reference and laughing with a friend...or a sidekick for that matter."-Pop Matters "Entertaining, well-written and researched...Highly recommended!"-My Comic Book Praise for national bestseller The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains: "Fascinating."-Entertainment Weekly "A sequel to Morris's acclaimed The League of Regrettable Superheroes, this quick-read volume is a chronological encyclopedia of the strangest and silliest antagonists ever to appear in sequential art."-Vulture "In the realm of comic books, the undisputed guru of all things ridiculous, forgotten, and regrettable is Jon Morris."-VICE "[A] delightfully fun rundown of more than 100 of pulp history's most marvelous forgotten baddies."-Parade "Full of gorgeous vintage comic art and poignantly entertaining character entries."-PRINT magazine Praise for The League of Regrettable Superheroes: "A volume rich with historical anecdotes and informed commentary on every era of comics history."-A.V. Club "With its gorgeous full page images of the comics and humorous descriptions of the heroes, each second-stringer gets a few pages of glory."-BoingBoing "Jon Morris has compiled the histories and art of some of the strangest and most unusual superheroes that ever saw print and collected them here for you. Definitely check it out!"-Nerdist "This compendium of short-lived superheroes (from actual comics) will thrill and amaze."-Mental Floss "A great idea, executed with adroit prose, attractive design and painstaking production quality... turning what could have been a merely dutiful archive into a vibrant, living, expertly curated tour of a long-neglected and seriously goofy facet of American cultural history."-NPR's Monkey See