You want your Fourth of July fireworks? These are the star spangled sidekicks for the ages.
5. Jack Flag
I like Jack Flag. He's not afraid to wear his patriotism on his sleeve, or hair. Ultimately, the problem with Jack Flag is that he's sort of out-American-ing Captain America, and you can't have that. Plus he was in charge of Captain America's hotline in the 90's. Yup, he, along with some others, ran the phone bank. It's possible he's on the list because of his later adventures, which were pretty good, and he was in a wheelchair, which makes heroing harder.
4. Rick Jones
Rick Jones is the sidekick's sidekick, and if he's sidekicked with a hero, he's instantly in the top 5, just by seniority. Rick learned the superhero sidekick trade in a brief partnership with Cap, where he actually asked to wear the guise of Bucky. It didn't last long, but it set the stage for so many Rick Jones adventures, and he might well be the nexus of the Marvel universe.
3. Nomad
If only for the uniform…
2. Falcon
Sam Wilson is so much cooler than he should be. He wears that, and he talks to birds. Say what you will, but it's a little cooler than Aquaman, I think. Actuallly, every time Falcon has shown up in recent issues, it's been fantastic. He's a man you can trust, and he's sort of graduated from sidekick to damn good buddy you can always count on.
1. Bucky
Who the hell else could it be? Bucky got to be Cap's sidekick because he walked in on Steve Rogers while changing. It's an inauspicious start to greatness, but you can't argue with results. The results were that Bucky got blown up. Still, Bucky is responsible for much more punching of Nazis than any of the other sidekicks, which is worth big points in the sidekick sweepstakes. Plus, to this day, James Buchanan Barnes can still rock the 70's collar, which is interesting, because he wasn't really allowed off the leash during the 70's all that often.
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Some rights reserved.
Kinda odd that Rick Jones has yet to appear in a Marvel movie, despite being so integral to the comics universe.
What’s Grifter doing on this list…wha…he’s not Grifter of Wildcats fame? HUH?! He’s a dood named Jack Flag…? Nah, that’s Griifter, man! Cole Cash. For real.
#1 and #2 are obvious but (I know this is borderline blasphemy) but a good case can be made for Sam being #1. He’s such a great character and has been for a long time.
Falcon. is. awesome.
Somehow, I knew D-man wouldn’t be on here.
Still suprised we haven’t heard of anyone being cast as Rick Jones in the Avengers movie.
No D man? Come on. Other than that its very good.
Jack Flag is great. I don’t remember him being very awesome as a sidekick, but the Thunderbolts arc where they were chasing him for not being registered was awesome. And then seeing him show up a short time later in the Guardians of the Galaxy was a great transition. He was a good human perspective into that series. and his catch phrase was priceless; “I hate this cosmic stuff.”
No Battlestar? What type of list is this! 😉 Very good list, all good choices. I too might place Falcon at #1. Always had an affinity for the character despite not having read that much of him.
@keith7198. You are right on about the Falcon. If it weren’t for the resurgence of Winter Soldier/Bucky/Cap over the past few years, I think that the Falcon would be sitting at #1.
Somehow I have never noticed Falcon’s awesome little bird feet before.
Falcon
Rick Jones! the perpetual loser
How could you have jack flag over dman
I wonder if Marvel will put Falcon in a future Cap movie? It would be cool, but I don’t even think comic book fans could take a movie version of him seriously.
I would of liked to see falcon number 1 too, and I am surprised agent 13 didnt make the list!
Jack Flag over Diamondback or Sharon Carter?
If you didn’t remember that Diamondback was a Cap sidekick, even though it was during the only run of Cap you read as a child, that probably disqualifies her automatically.
I always considered Sam more of a Partner in crime fighting when they teamed up. But nonetheless, glad to see him on the list.
@chaz I think you’re probably right.
@jimski-seldom right and wrong again. Diamondback came well into the late 90’s I believe and pre-dates Jack Flag. But that quibble aside, the list got the top three spots correct. Anything after that is ripe for differing opinions.
@TheNextChampion Falcon is no goofier looking than the Joker and movie goers took him seriously enough Heath ledger got an oscar for it. It’s all about how you present it.
I wuld actually switch #1 and #2. I know that’s blasphemy, but to me, Falcon is the ultimate Cap sidekick. In fact, I’d go so far as to say they were more partners, than hero/sidekick.
@John: I think people took the Ledger Joker more seriously because he played a psychopath first and the Joker second. (if you get what I mean)
Jack Flag fit in great with the recent Guardians of the Galaxy run by DNA. I love that run, along with Nova and how it all ended with Thanos Imperative. Anyway, good list, I agree with ed209AF on Falcon being a partner more than a sidekick but then again whose book is it? Oh and btw, Joker doesn’t look goofy, he looks crazy and evil, 70’s style superhero spandex with wings is a bit flamboyant. I like that Falcon still rocks the same style though. I wanna see Winter Soldier looking Bucky partner up with Cap in a good mini series or solid story arc, no more two Caps anyway right? Maybe a stand alone HC graphic novel.