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Sidekicks throughout the comic book medium were commonly known to be young adults, however, with the introduction of heroes such as Spider-Man, who despite being a teenager was the star of the comic, that perception would dwindle, making a handful of sidekicks become more developed and deeper characters.
Unfortunately, some of these characters were relegated to their traumatic origins, receiving little fan reception and ultimately being removed from the landscape via death or disappearance. Let’s take a look at some of the saddest stories that sidekicks have in the world of Marvel comics.
10 Andy Maguire’s Transformation into “Alpha”
Created by Dan Slot, Andy Maguire was a classmate of Peter’s who while out on a field trip to Horizon Labs would be exposed to an experiment dubbed the Peter Particles. These particles were hyper-kinetic energies tied directly to the expansion of the universe that potentially put Andy’s power on a level on par with the cosmic entities.
Unfortunately, Andy in his brash arrogance did not heed the lessons Spider-Man tried to pass on, becoming extremely reckless with his newfound power. Taking on the name Alpha, Andy would cause a commercial airplane to malfunction and endanger Aunt May, convincing Peter to use alien technology to reduce Andy’s power to a mere fraction of what it previously was.
9 The Perpetuating Depression of Mr. Immortal
Operating under the banner of mutant, Craig Hollis had the ability to resurrect himself from any death, effectively making him immortal. Unfortunately, this ability would have Craig’s friends and family come and go as he’d inevitably outlive them, resulting in a constant state of depression. Interestingly enough, Craig would be revealed to be homo-supreme, the final step in human evolution which surpassed homo-superior. Taking up the name Mr. Immortal, it is believed that he will be alive to see the end of the universe.
8 Zeitgeist Melts His Girlfriend
Briefly seen in 2018’s Deadpool 2, Axel Cluney is a mutant with the ability to spew an acidic ooze from his mouth that dissolves any substance on Earth. Unfortunately for Axel, his mutant powers would manifest while kissing a girl on the beach, severely injuring the girl and sending Axel into a state of disarray. He would go on lead a celebrity faction of the X-Force but has remained relatively obscure for years.
7 The Neglected Broodling
Akin to Ridley Scott’s “Alien,” the Brood are a parasitic race of aliens that scathingly infects a host and causes them to go through a metamorphosis that results in another Brood member spawning from the host. However, for Broo, who was “born” under the supervision of S.W.OR.D., he was disconnected from the hive-mind his race inhabited, giving him an understanding of trust and compassion. Abandoned by his species, Broo would not only go on to join the Jean Grey School of Higher Learning but also came into possession of a King Egg, making him ruler over the Brood race.
6 Spider-Bite Aides Spider-Man
Created by Tom Taylor, Nathan’s story is both tragic yet inspiring as it invokes a grounded level of heroism that’s often missed in the grandiosity of modern comic books. Suffering from cancer, Nathan is one of Spider-Man’s biggest fans hoping to one day be a sidekick to the web-slinger, a wish the hospital grants by orchestrating for Spider-Man to meet the young boy.
Taking him on imaginary adventures and even providing a web-slinging ride to ease the boy’s worries, Nathan’s fate has remained open-ended.
5 Jennifer Walters Gets A Blood Transfusion
Jennifer Walters is the cousin of Bruce Banner who became a world-renowned lawyer, however, due to her father previously being tied up in criminality, one of the cases that Jennifer works implicates the crime boss, putting her in the crosshairs of the mob. While out with Bruce, a couple of the crime boss’ goons shoot and critically injure Jennifer, resulting in Bruce giving her a blood transfusion to save her life. The gamma-irritated blood of Bruce fuses with Jennifer and much like the Hulk, she gains the ability to manifest into a massive, green Amazonian-built monster but unlike her cousin who manifests into a raging beast, Jennifer contains her composure while in her Hulk form.
4 Rick Jones Is Experimented On By The Intelligencia
Rick Jones is a long-standing character in the Hulk’s mythos as he was the teenager who was almost annihilated by Bruce Banner’s Gamma Bomb test before being saved by Bruce. Since then, Jones has been a close friend to the brute and even went on to assemble the Avengers in a bid toward stopping the Hulk’s rampage. Unfortunately during Jeph Loeb’s “Hulk” run, Rick is kidnapped by M.O.D.O.K. and The Leader, mutating him into a giant blue brute that resembled Abomination. Now endowed with super-strength, Rick takes on the moniker A-Bomb, however, this would be short-lived once Doc Green, one of Bruce’s many Hulk-personas, began “curing” all gamma-powered individuals, resulting in Rick reverting to his human form forevermore.
3 X-23’s Traumatic Cloning and Training
One of the more gritty origins would be that of Laura Kinney, the female clone of Wolverine. After 22 failed attempts at producing a clone through the recreation of the Weapon X program, mutant geneticist Sarah Kinney is coerced into being the surrogate of the 23rd clone of which was successful. Stripped from her mother, the clone is trained to be an assassin having her feral genealogy be exasperated by a trigger-scent that forced her into a blind rage. Sarah attempted to keep some humanity instilled in her daughter and treated her with kindness but would, unfortunately, meet her demise when Laura is tricked into being exposed to her trigger-scent.
2 Norrin Radd Abandons His Planet
The Silver Surfer is debatably one of the coolest comic book characters as his enigmatic and honorable personality is complemented by his immense power. However, prior to becoming a Herald of Galactus, he lived a quaint life on his home planet of Zenn-La as Norrin Radd. The planet was successful in creating a technological utopia but would be threatened with the arrival of Galactus and his World-Engine.
Intent on preventing the consumption of his planet, Norrin bargains with the comic entity to become his servant if he spares his home planet. Granting his request, Norrin is stripped from his family and bestowed a portion of Galactus’s Power Cosmic, but is now subjugated to finding worlds for his master to consume.
1 The “Fall” And Rise of Bucky Barnes
Though the idea of character deaths is a dime-a-dozen in comic books, a common rule of thumb was that Uncle Ben, Jason Todd, and Bucky Barnes are all characters whose death was supposed to be an unwavering pillar. This notion would ultimately change in subsequent years as both Bucky and Jason have been resurrected as anti-heroes. Nevertheless, the drone explosion that sent Cap into the ice also resulted in Bucky being abducted by the Russian’s.
Being injected with a variation of the Super-Soldier Serum, James is brain-washed into being an elite and covert assassin on behalf of the Russian government. It wouldn’t be until his childhood friend, Steve Rogers reconnects with him that Bucky is saved and brought back from his mental captivity.
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