The Top Most Classic Sidekick Costumes in DC Comics

By Esteban Cepero

Not every superhero has a sidekick or ever really needs one, but the ones that do create something that becomes rather iconic. While sidekicks may not seem like much, some of them have one of the most recognizable stories in comics. There’s some sidekick stories that were absolutely heartbreaking. I mean, nobody can forget the Death in The Family story-line when Jason Todd A.K.A Robin was brutally beaten then murdered by the Joker. Or when DC decided to attack youth’s greatest problem, drugs and Speedy, the sidekick of Green Arrow, was caught in the act of injecting heroin. Even though there were an array of dark DC sidekick stories, many of these sidekicks still brought some unforgettable memories, sad or happy, to the table. One of the most distinct features of all of these sidekicks that no one can forget is their costumes. These costumes are almost as iconic as the superheroes they’re sidekicks for! Therefore, let’s jump back to the most classic sidekick boy’s costumes in DC comics!

Aqualad

DC Comics

You’ll be surprised to know that Aquaman actually had his own sidekick, Aqualad! Garth, who was known to be Aquaman's teenage partner, was popular in the Silver Age of comics. Aqualad’s powers originally weren't really all that different from his mentor; with the ability to breathe underwater and communicate with any kind of marine life. He also possesses superhuman strength and speed which allows him to move through the ocean swiftly as well as withstand the high-pressure depths of the deep ocean. Aqualad wasn’t just a sidekick, he was also one of the original founding members of the Teen Titans. Crazy right? Aqualad’s costume was designed to have a tiny bit of similarity to Aquaman’s costume with colors that easily compliments Aquaman’s costume colors. Basically, if you put Aqualad and Aquaman side-by-side, you can easily tell that they’re acquainted with each other.

Snapper Carr

DC Comics

Snapper Carr, I bet you can't guess how he got that name! Snapper Carr originally made his debut as only a supporting character to the Justice League. The character would make an appearance from time to time in comics that feature the Justice League from 1969 to 1989, when the limited comic book series Invasion! gave him superpowers, in which he could teleport. Snapper Carr soon became associated with the newly created superhero team, The Blasters, in a numerous amount of comics. It was only until the year of 1993, when he lost his teleportation abilities and ended up becoming a main character in the Hourman comic book run. Due to Hourman being cancelled, Snapper became a main character in the Young Justice comic book series. Young Justice was also cancelled in 2003 and Carr then became associated with the governmental organization Checkmate, where he made his first appearance when Snapper played a small but very important role in the 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen. Snapper Carr’s costume is a clear representation of the classic style for men in the 60’s. The thing about Snapper Carr’s costume is that it’s not designed to be a superhero costume, because obviously, he isn’t a superhero. He’s not like any other sidekick either; he’s more of a “supporting character” sidekick type, similar to Jimmy Olsen. In most adaptations of him, he’s always dressed casually. 

Speedy

DC Comics

Speedy, the classic teenage sidekick of the Green Arrow! Roy Harper grew up being partially raised by the Navajo medicine chief, Brave Bow after his father was killed by a forest fire. While Roy was under the guidance of Brave Bow, he learned to become an amazing and very skilled archer. After the death of Brave Bow, Roy was soon adopted by Oliver Queen and with his astonishing bow and arrow skills, he became Green Arrow’s sidekick, Speedy. When the first costume was designed for Green Arrow in 1941, it had many clear similarities to adaptations of Robin Hood’s costume. With Speedy as the sidekick of Green Arrow, his costume was drawn up to have a resemblance to that of Oliver Queen’s; just of course with a significant color change. In the later years, there were plenty of modifications to Speedy’s costume. He would only be wearing the eye mask, or a hood, and sometimes it could stay to this classic look. Most of Speedy’s costumes are all still designed with the iconic red. 

Kid Flash

DC Comics 

I still don’t know how the Flash can be considered the fastest man alive with Wally West in the picture; well, probably because Wally is only a kid, he’s actually considered to be the fastest boy alive! Wally West is the known nephew of the Barry Allen’s girlfriend and soon-to-be wife, Iris West. During a visit with uncle Barry to the Central City police laboratory where Barry Allen worked his forensics analyst profession, the exact same accident that gave Allen his super speed abilities completely repeated itself on Wally, he was shocked by electrically-charged chemicals that altered his DNA. After being shocked, Wally was imbued with the same powers as the Flash. Knowing this, West decided to use his powers for the greater good as Barry did and went under the alias of the young Kid Flash. Wally never really had the best relationship with his own parents and if he ever needed someone or anybody to turn to for any moral support and advice, Wally would always go to his aunt and uncle. Wally West soon became one of the founding members of the popular team mostly filled with sidekicks, the Teen Titans. Wally became pretty great friends with Dick Grayson, who was better known as Robin at the time until he later switched up his alias to be known as Nightwing instead. Sometime in later, later issues, Wally somehow contracted a weird, unknown illness that had affected his whole body. The effects were pretty bad, basically the more he would use his speed powers, the faster his body starts to deteriorate. The cause of this was because of the fact that Wally was only a boy when the electrified chemicals hit him and changed his DNA, so Wally was still in the process of developing and maturing. This means that as Wally's body matures more, his changed body chemistry is slowly starting to kill him. When Wally first became the Kid Flash, as you can see in the comic panel above, he was given a much more smaller sized version of the Flash’s costume.In many issues later, there was a big redesign to the costume. Instead of red being the dominant color as it is for the Flash, it became yellow. Kid Flash’s costume can actually be widely compared to the Reverse Flash’s costume, except with the fact that his eyes aren’t glowing red. Even if DC decided to keep the original costume, it would be extremely weird and quite confusing for it be the very same as Flash’s. So artists made a very smart move with the new design to it. Kid Flash’s costume now can be described as unique and iconic to the character.

Robin

DC Comics

The Boy Wonder, Robin! As most comic fans may know, the very first Robin was the one and only, Dick Grayson who made his debut all the way back in 1940. Dick Grayson was known to be the youngest kid in his family of famous circus acrobats that were called the "Flying Graysons.” Dick witnessed as a money hungry mafia boss murdered his parents in cold blood to force the circus they worked for to give him money. Batman took Dick Grayson in as a legal ward, also revised as his adopted son. Bruce Wayne could relate very well to Dick’s situation as he also had to see the horrible death of his parents with his own eyes at a young age. Dick soon went on to become the iconic crime-fighting partner of Batman, Robin. A numerous amount of authors have depicted the first Robin to be the very first son of Bruce Wayne. Throughout the years, Batman and Robin fought side-by-side against crime in the city of Gotham. As Robin continues to grow older, he spends a decent amount of time as the leader of the Teen Titans. Robin’s costume has to be the most “sidekick” costume ever designed. Robin always rocked the green, red, and yellow colors on the costume. The costume was redesigned in many ways in later adaptations but originally, Robin stook to the classic “underwear outside of pants” superhero look, instead he didn't wear pants under it. Obviously, the costume was a bit cheesy but he is a sidekick. The later redesign gave him tights instead.

It was in 1984, when Grayson retired his alias as Robin and created his very own superhero identity to use as he fights crime on his own or with affiliations with other teams, as Batman would later gain Jason Todd as the new Robin. Grayson took on the mantle of Nightwing. With a new identity also came a new costume. Nightwing’s costume was a classic blue and black costume. Nightwing lead the Teen Titans and in later comics, the Outsiders. With Batman being the protector of Gotham, Nightwing had to find his own city look after. Therefore in his first run of comics, he becomes the guardian of a city known as Blüdhaven. The city neighbors Gotham and is known to be caught in a very terrible time. Nightwing has also operated in other cities, he’s protected the streets of New York, Chicago and of course, Gotham. There has been many moments when Dick Grayson has been forced to obtain the identity of Batman himself. Though, Grayson didn't accept the offer to take up the mantle of Batman when Bruce Wayne was working to recover from his broken back. When Dick decided to finally become the “Batman” alias was during the Zero Hour miniseries. He acted as Batman, from issue #0 of Robin in the year 1994 all the way to the Batman: Prodigal storyline in 1995. Dick was one of the only previous Robins and people that Batman can truly trust to become the Caped Crusader. This wasn't the only time Dick assumed Bruce's second identity, he did it again in 2008 after Bruce Wayne's supposed death and in the Final Crisis storyline. As he became Batman, Dick had to move back to Gotham and took Bruce's son, Damian Wayne as his Robin. When Bruce made his comeback, it wasn't until 2011, that both superheroes shared the Batman mantle. Dick later went back to the Nightwing alias in DC's The New 52 continuity refresh.