10 Shocking Times Sidekicks Quit
3. Roy Harper - Green Arrow comic
DC comics made a very strong point of their 1970s Green Arrow/Green Lantern comics being relevant, edgy, and covering some genuinely serious topics. This included an infamous storyline where Oliver Queen finds out his ward and sidekick Roy 'Speedy' Harper is a heroin addict.
The issue was meant to be controversial, and at the time it was, being published without the approval of the Comics Code Authority due to its depiction of drug use and paraphernalia.
Speedy, a long-established character, started using heroin as a result of depression and loneliness. Like many addicts, he began selling his possessions for drugs, including equipment he and Green Arrow used.
When Green Lantern and Green Arrow found Speedy using heroin, Oliver reacted violently, attacking him and offering him no sympathy. Oliver kicked Roy out, leaving Green Lantern to take care of him and get him into treatment.
After becoming drug-free, Speedy, who no longer trusts his mentor nor feels he owes him anything, leaves Oliver and sets out on his own, first continuing to use the name Speedy then later becoming Arsenal.
Speedy's leaving Green Arrow is not as shocking as the powerful and, at the time, unheard of in comics real-world issue that caused it.