Darren Watts

I just finished the Donna Troy episodes. 
 
Holy crap! I had heard for a long time that Donna had the worst continuity in comics, but I had no idea! I never really read the character, honestly, so I knew very little of this story. I never dreamed it would be that bad. Just amazing. 

Explain This, Comics Guys!! continues our history of Quality Comics with Part II, featuring the hilarity of Black Condor, Madame Fatal and the Red Bee as well as the debut of Kid Eternity!! Come support Michael the bee in his Superhero Sidekick Retirement Home over here: https://explainthis.podbean.com/
Both Fox and Fiction House are on the list to get to as publishers, so he'd certainly turn up there. If you'd like us to dedicate a show just to him, back our Patreon and start telling us what to do!! dw

One of my favorite parts of this book to write was the chapter on archetypes, which refers back to the earliest breakdowns of superheroic "character classes" from Champions. I address all of the different subtypes of Bricks, Energy Projectors, etc. present in the Golden Age, rename a couple (the "Martial Artist" is better explained as the "Mystery Man"), and add a fistful of brand new subarchetypes. Forthwith to demonstrate, an excerpt from "The Sidekick":
 
<4> The Derivative Kid
The first type of Sidekick to spring to most players’ minds, the Derivative Kid has more or less the same powers or skills as his mentor at a lower level, a costume either based on his mentor’s or specifically designed to stand out in contrast, and the stock standard personality for kids in 1930s and 40s popular culture: inquisitive bordering on outright nosey, brave, usually a wisecracker, and with an absolute faith in and even hero worship of the adult he’s working alongside. Robin defines the archetype the same way Batman does that of the Mystery Man, and his popularity led to a small army of clones: Bucky (Captain America), Speedy (Green Arrow), Sandy (Sandman), Pinky (Mr. Scarlet), Stuff the Chinatown Kid (Vigilante), and Dusty (The Shield.) The Guardian had an entire team of noncostumed preteens similar to the Our Gang kids of the movies in the Newsboy Legion. In a rare gender switch, Cat-Man took on a girl Sidekick named Kitten. If the mentor hero has superpowers, his Sidekick might as well. Toro had the same powers as the Human Torch, usually portrayed as being a few Active Points less. Similarly, Dan the Dyna-Mite (TNT) and Roy the Super Boy (Wizard) had similar powers to their mentors.
 
<4> Female Counterpart
Several superheroes of the period had their girlfriends wind up joining them in their war against injustice on occasion. Most notable was Hawkgirl, who appeared in Hawkman’s first story as Shiera Saunders, and was eventually given her own set of wings and costumed identity. (In the retconned stories of the All-Star Squadron, she keeps up protecting the homefront when her husband enlists after Pearl Harbor.) Bulletman created a second Gravity Regulator Helmet for his girlfriend Susan to wear, and she joined him in his adventures as Bulletgirl. Doll Man’s girlfriend Martha underwent a similar transformation late in the Golden Age, duplicating her boyfriend’s power to shrink and adopting a costumed identity. The Human Torch briefly teamed with Sun Girl, who had no powers but was armed with several interesting gadgets that were given no explanation, including a “Sun Gun” that fired blinding light beams.
 
<4> Comic Relief
Several superheroes in the Golden Age had Sidekicks who were mostly suited to slapstick comedy rather than serious superheroing, even if the hero himself was generally not portrayed as particularly lighthearted. Green Lantern was frequently aided by a portly taxi driver named Doiby Dickles, who would drive his cab “Goitrude” into dangerous situations armed only with a ludicrous approximation of a Brooklyn accent. Captain Marvel, who had already acquired a superpowered “family” consisting of his long-lost sister Mary and best friend Freddy Freeman (better known as Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Junior) also had a recurring sidekick named Uncle Marvel, a “lovable old fraud” character who claimed to also have superpowers that his various physical ailments prevented him from showing off at that particular moment. Plastic Man was regularly aided by Woozy Winks, a doltish ex-con who once saved the life of a wizard and was rewarded by being gifted with invulnerability.
 
<4> The Boy In Charge
A similar archetype to the Sidekick is the Boy In Charge, a teen (or even younger child) with no or limited powers but who has access to a much more capable ally who for whatever reason is bound to the young hero and follows his orders. The ally can vary widely in power level, from a cheerful adult bruiser of a chauffeur to a magical genie who can grant wishes in a wink. Examples of this type include Star-Spangled Kid & Stripesy, Johnny Thunder, The Boy King, and Kid Eternity (who summoned any number of temporary Sidekicks from the mists of history.) Two players can work together to create this sort of partnership if the characters themselves are of approximately the same value (perhaps one is smart and skilled while the other handles the rougher stuff.) Otherwise, it’s best to have the player build the more powerful servant as their primary PC, with appropriate limitations to reflect that the “sidekick” is actually the one in charge. Perhaps the more powerful ally can only appear for a limited amount of time each day, or is inconveniently sized for some activities (like the Boy King’s giant statue.)
 
<4> Unusual Sidekicks
Some comicbook Sidekicks defy any sort of categorization. The Vigilante was occasionally assisted by an ornery old cowboy named Billy Gunn, who the hero had met when he was running an arcade at Times Square and persuaded to come out of “retirement.” The Crimson Avenger, who in many ways resembled the radio show hero the Green Hornet, further appropriated the idea of an Asian sidekick like Kato, called Wing. Unfortunately, where Kato was an impressive combatant, skilled driver and inventor of Green Hornet’s souped-up car, Wing mostly told jokes in pidgin dialect while his mentor did the crimefighting. Captain Marvel had yet another occasional sidekick in Tawky Tawny, an anthropomorphic tiger who wore a loud suit and hat. An actual tiger who had been given a serum that allowed him to walk and talk like a human being, Tawky became friends with Captain Marvel after accidentally causing a panic in the city, and took a job as a docent at the Museum of Natural History when he wasn’t helping his pal fight criminals...

Sure, a few times. They were present when the Atlantic Charter was signed, saving both FDR and Churchill from Atlantean assassins. The Axis Legion tried to get him a couple of times, mostly for the morale hit we would have taken. Captain Patriot worked as his personal bodyguard a lot (he was one of my GM NPCs and I periodically needed to get him out of the story for a bit, as I disliked playing more than one at a time.) dw

Hence the Mechanically-Enhanced Brick in the archetype list. There were several robots (a couple of which were human brains in cans), and at least one notable retcon in Commander Steel (who was basically the Six Million Dollar Man thirty years early, making him at best the Two Or Three Million Dollar Man.)

I can't answer what would break the feel of YOUR game, nor am I in the business of "forbidding" anybody's fun. I simply say in the book that the idea of eastern martial arts was far less pervasive in pop culture during the period, and far less common in character backgrounds. The more "period" your game is, the more it will stand out as unusual. If you're looking at the GA from a retro perspective, taking into account lenses from other periods and other fiction, then it becomes much more of a common trope- the kind of fiction that, say, Iron Fist draws on retcons characters into that period who clearly use such arts, the same way lucha history presumes a historical line of luchadores extending far back before the arrival of masked wrestlers in actual Mexican culture, or the way Judomaster was retconned into WWII-era stories in the Silver Age. 

The same, for example, goes for powered-armor heroes. The trope of suits of exo-armor providing strength, protection and weaponry was popularized by Heinlein in the Fifties, so there aren't really any historical examples of GA comic heroes using it. Does that mean you can't put one in your own game? Of course not. But the book will explain why they're not common, and why *I* didn't include any in the CU.

Explain This, Comics Guys!! continues our history of Quality Comics with Part II, featuring the hilarity of Black Condor, Madame Fatal and the Red Bee as well as the debut of Kid Eternity!! Come support Michael the bee in his Superhero Sidekick Retirement Home over here: https://explainthis.podbean.com/
Both Fox and Fiction House are on the list to get to as publishers, so he'd certainly turn up there. If you'd like us to dedicate a show just to him, back our Patreon and start telling us what to do!! dw

Explain This, Comics Guys!! continues our history of Quality Comics with Part II, featuring the hilarity of Black Condor, Madame Fatal and the Red Bee as well as the debut of Kid Eternity!! Come support Michael the bee in his Superhero Sidekick Retirement Home over here: https://explainthis.podbean.com/
Both Fox and Fiction House are on the list to get to as publishers, so he'd certainly turn up there. If you'd like us to dedicate a show just to him, back our Patreon and start telling us what to do!! dw

I just discovered the bats$%# world of Fletcher Hanks. Any chance of that appearing in a future show? 

Explain This, Comics Guys!! continues our tour through the Golden Age by Explaining Quality Comics!! Part One includes the life of Busy Arnold and the stories of Doll Man and the Ray. https://explainthis.podbean.com/

Hey True Believers! How about trying a sample of the star-spanning podcast Explain This, Comics Guys!!, this week featuring the Kree? Otherwise we've wasted a lot of money on this Psyche-Magnitron... https://explainthis.podbean.com/

Hey True Believers! How about trying a sample of the star-spanning podcast Explain This, Comics Guys!!, this week featuring the Kree? Otherwise we've wasted a lot of money on this Psyche-Magnitron... https://explainthis.podbean.com/

In Soviet Russia, Explain This Comics Guys!! listens to you!! Get all the info on all six Red Guardians and the rest of the Black Widow supporting cast in our 30th episode!! dw
https://explainthis.podbean.com
 

Hey comics fans!! Why not enjoy some of the holiday break with a few episodes of Explain This, Comics Guys!!? Today we start taking on the Eternals, so the ep goes well with pie...  https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

The deadly hands of Explain This, Comics Guys!! bring you the story behind Shang-Chi!!   https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

Curse you, you big red cheese!! Part 3 of the History of Fawcett Comics is up at Explain This, Comics Guys!!   https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

Curse you, you big red cheese!! Part 3 of the History of Fawcett Comics is up at Explain This, Comics Guys!!   https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

Curse you, you big red cheese!! Part 3 of the History of Fawcett Comics is up at Explain This, Comics Guys!!   https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

Curse you, you big red cheese!! Part 3 of the History of Fawcett Comics is up at Explain This, Comics Guys!!   https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw

Holy moley, kids! I've been out of town and remiss about bugging you about Explain This, Comics Guys!! A new ep drops today, part two of our History of Fawcett Comics, and you should certainly check it out!! https://explainthis.podbean.com/

Holy moley, kids! I've been out of town and remiss about bugging you about Explain This, Comics Guys!! A new ep drops today, part two of our History of Fawcett Comics, and you should certainly check it out!! https://explainthis.podbean.com/

In a world...with this much comic book content... a single podcast does what it can to keep up while posting every other week. In other words, enjoy our Suicide Squad Explainer where we guess who will survive the movie!!  dw  https://explainthis.podbean.com/

In a world...with this much comic book content... a single podcast does what it can to keep up while posting every other week. In other words, enjoy our Suicide Squad Explainer where we guess who will survive the movie!!  dw  https://explainthis.podbean.com/

The power of Throg compels you to give "Loki Part II" a listen!! This, and much more, is Explained by the Comics Guys.  https://explainthis.podbean.com/  dw