Come dressed as your favorite sidekick (or make one up) and swing into action at Eagle Harbor Book Company at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25 to hear author Jon Morris talk about his new book “The League of Regrettable Sidekicks.”
This event is free and open to the public (costumes are encouraged, but not required).
Morris, a cartoonist and graphic designer, is the author of “The League of Regrettable Superheroes” (2015), which sold nearly 20,000 copies in its first six months, as well as the follow-up, “The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains.”
Since the late 1990s, he’s operated the blog Gone&Forgotten, an irreverent in-depth look at the worst, the lowliest and most unfortunate stories and characters comic books have offered. In 2001, he was invited to participate on a superheroes-themed episode of the public radio program “This American Life,” which reportedly remains a popular and frequently rebroadcast episode.
His new book shines a hilarious spotlight on the strangest second bananas in superhero comics, including junior partners, animal assistants, and even heinous henchmen (those are sidekicks of the villain world).
Being a superhero is hard work, which is why so many comics characters rely on a sidekick for help. Someone who can watch the hero’s back, help search for clues, or, if nothing else, give the hero someone to talk to.
Batman has Robin. Captain America has Bucky. And Yankee Doodle had Dandy.
But just as not every superhero achieves the glory of Batman, not all sidekicks are as capable as the Boy Wonder. In “The League of Regrettable Sidekicks,” Morris discusses some of the strangest iterations of the sidekick phenomenon, and in the process explores how important these characters were to comic book storytelling.
Readers will meet plucky but forgotten helpers like Thunderfoot (explosive-soled assistant to the Human Bomb), heroic super pets (like Frosting, polar bear pal of space hero Norge Benson), fan favorites (say hello to Rick Jones, sidekick to half of the Marvel Universe), and obscure partners of iconic heroes (Superman Junior’s career barely got off the ground) — plus pernicious profiles of regrettable henchmen and minions.
Vintage art from the comics completes the experience.
Drawing on the entire history of the medium, this book celebrates characters and stories that haven’t seen the light of day in decades, pulling from defunct and long-forgotten comics publishers as well as DC and Marvel.
Visit www.eagleharborbooks.com to learn more.
