10 Shocking Times Sidekicks Quit

Sidekicks in comics have been, almost from the start, an integral part of superhero lore. Dozens of heroes have had a 'junior' version of themselves, sometimes played for laughs, sometimes as equally competent partners in crimefighting.

Being a sidekick isn't a bad gig. You get to take part in world-changing events, get outfitted by your rich hero or whatever team they belong to, get to meet A-listers, even miss the occasional day of school.

But all good things come to an end.

Sometimes the sidekick thing doesn't work out. Your hero suddenly doesn't have time for you, or they change their crimefighting style so that you no longer agree, or you just get too old to be running around in short shorts and ankle boots.

When this happens, some sidekicks decide to go big and make a statement with their departure. Not content to quietly slip off into the night, they part with their mentor hero in dramatic, often shocking ways.

Like with many things in comics, the departures aren't always permanent, but they absolutely can change the status quo in their storylines. With that in mind, here are some times that comic sidekicks surprised the world and quit their roles.

Not really surprising spoiler: Batman has a hell of a time managing his sidekicks.

Now, there have been a couple different Aqualads. Here we're focusing on Garth, an outcast Atlantean with powers similar to Aquaman.

Because of the fact that he was different from others in his civilisation, he was ostracised and grew up on his own. One day, he stumbled across Aquaman, helped him out of a jam, and became his sidekick. Being the Silver Age of comics, he provided a lot of comic relief, often making fish or water related puns and jokes.

As the years went on, Aquaman grew more and more distant and concerned with his own family and duties as King of Atlantis.

Things grew steadily grimmer for Garth - he almost lost an arm, was forced to fight a giant sea monster to the death, had to pick a side in an Atlantean crisis, fought Aquaman, and lost the love of his life Tula during Crisis on Infinite Earths.

This finally caused Garth to snap and he left Atlantis, beginning a rivalry with Aquaman that grew into outright hatred.

Years later, now a superhero in his own right called Tempest, he made amends with Aquaman, but as his equal.