Superhero

Sidekicks | The Transfer Student

This series was originally published by Fanboy Entertainment. When their publishing model fell through Oni Press came to the rescue and saved this absolute gem. I think because of this that J Torres brings most of his indie work first to Oni rather than moving on to other pastures like Image Comics or whatever. While Ait Planetlar have Brian Wood as their golden boy, Marvel have Bendis and Millar, Image Comics have Robert Krikman, I like to think that Oni have Torres.

He has written some great stuff but this little 3 issue mini-series is what made me a Torres fan that hunts out everything that he does. The man knows how to write a good yarn that doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes you smile at the end of it, while at the same time making you CRAVE for more of the story. You get a full story, however he sets things up that he can keep going and that’s an amazing talent and one that I appreciate greatly.

Sidekicks is a great little series that will remind you of the good things of school. The story is set at the Shuster Academy for super humans as they teach them to become responsible adults and know how to control their powers. Much like the X-men, except the world were Sidekicks is set isn’t actually explored in any detail, allowing Torres to write about High School kids with a bit of a twist. It’s that twist that makes it fun. While most of these kind of stories are done to death, Torres doesn’t make the story about their powers, as you’re not allowed to use your powers EVER except during PE class. So whenever the powers are shown they’re done to great effect.

This particular tale follows Terry as she’s decides whether or not to join the Academy. Meanwhile there’s a mystery at hand with a bunch of amateur vigilantes from the Academy called Pow, Biff and Bam. Their identity is a secret and is never told flat out who they are but it’s pretty damn obvious anyway, which again is a great way to not get bogged into the cliches. Let the reader work something out for himself. Just make it obvious enough and everything will be fine.

This was the first time I was introduced to Takeshi’s work and instantly you take a serious liking to his style. His work oozes with personality. Each page is filled with little details that most artists wouldn’t bother with, mainly due to time constraints. I think he does excell however in showing these teens, where their body language and their facial expressions can tell the story even if Torres was asleep for a while (which he never is).

Sidekicks is one of my favourite teen books ever. Within 100 odd pages Torres and Miyazawa manage to get me interested in these characters and care about these characters; others have spent 100s of pages to get the same effect without much success.

Writer: J Torres
Artist: Takeshi Miyazawa
Letterer: Takeshi Miyazawa?
Book Designer: Keith Wood
Publisher: Oni Press