10 Comic Book Crazes You Totally Forgot Were A Thing

If you think of your favorite comic book superhero with a sidekick, there's a good chance one name will come up above all else. Batman and Robin have been around for 80+ years, and despite the fact that Batman's work is inherently dangerous, he felt it necessary to drag a child around with him to fight crime.

It's not really a thing anymore — there aren't a lot of superheroes who have sidekicks like Robin, but in the 1940s and well into the '50s, it wasn't just normal to have a kid along for the ride, it was almost mandatory.

Robin wasn't brought into Batman's world right away; he was introduced later to try and bring more children into the book, and it worked. Kids loved seeing the bright colors on the kid kicking butt and taking names alongside their favorite superhero, and that led to a mini-explosion of the practice.

Green Arrow had Speedy, Captain America had Bucky Barnes, and the list goes on. The most recent superhero sidekick who fits the description of a child who should have been in school instead of beating up bad guys is Hit-Girl from Kick-Ass. Still, Mark Millar's tale of an assassin is more of a commentary on why kids shouldn't be sidekicks than being supportive of the practice.

Fortunately, teenage sidekicks aren't really a thing anymore, and while the Teen Titans are still around, they aren't sidekicks to anyone — not anymore.