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Someone has to stand up for these characters.
There are right and wrong ways to do the sidekick or “mascot” character. For me if the character contributes something important to the team and not just comedy I can totally accept them. Some people absolutely hate these kinds of characters and will tell you that they hated them as a kid and all kids hated them as kids.
They are wrong. I can’t say for certain that he’s lying. The video we’ll be picking apart is called “12 of the WORST TV Sidekicks WE Love to HATE but Secretly Loved”, though I don’t know if “The BEST Classic 80s TV Sidekicks” is part of a series name like the ones I do on this site or meant to be part of this video’s title alone. However, seeing little love for most of the characters, including the usual targets, I had to come in for defense. To be fair, the host of The GEN Xperience does defend a couple but if this were a stronger defense I would just make it a daily video and call it a day, not part of an unofficial article series where I beg to disagree. I also can’t defend every character on this list because a couple were for shows I didn’t really watch and one I actually agree with him on. Look, I can defend mascot sidekicks and even I have my limits. Given what I defend on this list that might surprise you.
Of course all of these characters come from 1980s productions, or in one case a show we could watch in 1980s through reruns but whose first season was in 1979. As an 80s kid myself (born in 1973–yes I am that old–but really didn’t pay attention until practically 1980) I have different memories of these characters and more fondness than he does, even on the ones that are indeed loved to be hated by other “more mature” people. Me? Disagree with the internet? Surely you jest. Watch the video for context (18:49 runtime plus whenever YouTube shoves ads in there), then read my thoughts.
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“I shouldn’t have had the last five chilli dogs.”
Sonic The Hedgehog #88
Archie Comics Publications (November, 2000)
“Family Matters” & “Picking Up The Pieces”
WRITER: Karl Bollers
PENCILER: Fry
INKER: Andrew Pepoy
COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo
LETTERER: Jeff Powell/LIP
EDITOR: J.F. Gabrie
Only the first story has credits so I assume they did both the main and back-up tales. I’m reviewing both stories together because of that and because part of the first story leads into the second. Besides, at this point I’m used to multiple storylines going on at the same time like some attempt at emulating soap operas. The summaries will be in separate paragraphs, though.
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James Gunn’s DC Movieverse is really not off to a good start, is it?
The above behind the scenes, released for Superman Day, focuses more on James Gunn and an overview of his plans than on Superman or the plot of the former Superman: Legacy. Some critics are even speculating that he dropped “Legacy” from the title just so we have to call it “James Gunn’s Superman” to tell it apart from every other Superman project. The serials are technically the only other project called Superman (or at least the first serial) while the 1988 cartoon from Ruby-Spears gets called Ruby Spears Superman for the same reason. Given that he put himself into the intro for Creature Commandos, replaced Krypto’s breed with that of his own dog, and the backstage video for Superman Day not really being about Superman or the movie directly, then throw in the news that test screenings haven’t done well and led to reshoots–a concept Marvel Studios has ruined by overusing what used to be a minor problem with movies in the past–and there is already low expectations.
However, I haven’t seen any real optimism killers, not even the altered costume, until a supposed leak by X-Twitter leak dropper My Time To Shine Hello, who put his latest leak about the movie’s plot behind subscription and I’m not spending money on that. So I’ll grab both Cosmic Book News and Bounding Into Comics and get the transcript that way. It’s not good news. It also might not be real. I’m not aware of his reputation with these leaks and the whole thing sounds really silly…but this is a guy with a strange sense of humor and we already got incel remakes of the Sons Of Themyscira in Creature Commandos so it could be accurate. I just don’t want to treat a rumor as fact, but since everyone else is buzzing about this I might as well add my two cents, if only as a warning not to do stuff like Superman versus cancel culture! Which might sound good until you remember a bit of Gunn’s past.
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You’re already shooting him. Pimp slapping him seem a bit unnecessary.
Space Adventures v3 #39
Charlton Comics Group (April, 1961)
Four stories with Captain Atom starring in three of them. Why not just give Atom a longer story and really do something with it? At that point you might as well. Captain Atom the comic has back-up stories. It’s how we followed Ted Kord’s first adventures as the Blue Beetle, and Ted would return the favor with the Question in his own title. Well, let’s get through this batch.
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Here’s my own view on earlier discussions on the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers colors. This is not a new stupid thing to say. We’ve had Black Rangers of multiple colors since.
BW Media Spotlight 