super side

[marycatelli]

The kid sidekick. The trope of the Golden Age that has perhaps taken the worst beating. Possibly because adolescent boys are no longer considered the chief audience.

But there are really very few plausible reasons for a superhero to have an underage ally, most very grim, though they do exist. A playful, brightly colored world where all the villains are thieves or pranksters and no one is in real danger is really the only cheerful possibility. The grim ones?

• Driven youngsters will play the hero regardless of what the adult thinks, and sidekick status is the only way he can provide some protection, guidance, and instruction.
• Powered youngsters will be attacked and so fighting regardless, and heroics give them a way to learn and keep in practice
• Whoever supervises the superheroes is cold and callous about endangering children
• The hero knows that the alternative to being his sidekick is being supervised by a cold and callous authority
• The youngster's power is the only one that would fix the problem, which would have to be grave.

All of which would color the world.

To be sure, for children's tales, they can all be toned down in the name of a fun story.