Not like most Marvel Comics heroes, Cap and Bucky have been created contemporaneously with the older DC heroes. Their dynamic feels particularly harking back to Batman and Robin, the latter of whom had debuted months earlier than “Captain America Comics” #1. Many of the main DC heroes even have their very own Robin equal: Child Flash, Marvel Lady, Aqualad, Speedy, and so on. Few of the Marvel heroes do, although, as a result of Lee by no means grasped what made a child sidekick a good suggestion.
Within the 1974 ebook “The Origins of Marvel Comics,” Lee wrote: “One among my many pet peeves has all the time been the younger teenage sidekick of the common superhero. As soon as once more, if yours actually have been a superhero, there is no manner I would pal round with some freckle-faced teenager. On the very least, individuals would begin to discuss.”
That final half is not unfounded: Batman and Robin got here beneath fireplace within the Nineteen Fifties for supposedly selling homosexuality to youngsters. As for why Bucky died violently and pointlessly, that is Lee underscoring the hazard a baby could be in the event that they tried preventing crime; it is not simply foolish for superheroes to associate up with children, it would be irresponsible.
Regardless of Lee’s protestations, there was a sidekick in a few of his early Marvel Comics: Rick Jones. Launched in “The Unbelievable Hulk” #1, Rick was a younger runaway and somebody for the Hulk to bounce off of. He later united the Avengers with an SOS sign when the Hulk was in hassle. In together with Rick, it is clear Lee did perceive why superhero tales had sidekicks: The youngsters have been there to offer the younger readers a personality during which to see themselves, and somebody the primary lead may discuss to. If Batman is Sherlock Holmes, Robin is Watson (and Commissioner Gordon is Inspector Lestrade).
The distinction is that Rick Jones not often received concerned in precise battles and did not have a twin id. In “Captain America” #110, Rick briefly dressed up in Bucky’s outdated costume, however Steve determined this wasn’t a good suggestion. When Cap did get a brand new associate, it was the Falcon, who was a grown man and equal.
The larger frailty and complexity of Marvel’s heroes is commonly described (together with by well-known figures like George R.R. Martin) as Lee’s biggest innovation to the superhero system. That is exemplified in Spider-Man, a teen who himself was a superhero fairly than the loyal assistant to 1. The closest prior comparability could be Captain Marvel, a baby who turned an grownup hero by saying the magic phrase “Shazam!” However even that runs on the concept children would solely reply to an ideal grownup hero; Captain Marvel subsequent to Spider-Man is the distinction between an influence fantasy and seeing your actual struggles mirrored again at you.
Equally, although Johnny Storm all the time behaved like a little bit child brother, he was nonetheless an equal member of the Incredible 4. Although led by Professor X, the X-Males too have been teenage heroes in Spider-Man’s vein, and, like him, ostracized from society, reflecting the emotions of actual ’60s youngsters far more than plucky Bucky.