There is, in fact, a scene in the novel A Catskill Eagle, where Hawk takes Rachel Wallace gently to task for implying that he is Spenser’s sidekick. He reinforces the idea that even when working toward a common goal with Spenser, that he is own man, acting out of his own motivations, and he would have been doing the same thing (in this case, looking after the welfare of Susan Silverman) even if Spenser was not involved.
I have never looked at Hawk as a sidekick again. I think Parker also tried to get the idea across by not including Hawk at all in two of the later novels (Thin Air and Hugger Mugger) and having him make only a brief one-chapter appearance in Paper Doll.
Sorry about that. But if the incomparable Meyer were here, he would somehow make us both feel good about it.
And I would LOVE to read a Magee adventure written by Meyer, but I doubt anybody out there today would be capable.
Cuthbert, from the Dark Tower series. He has always stood out for me because he makes such a strong impression with relatively little screen time. Should that be page time? Whatever. He’s so cool, he doesn’t even need to show up in the books.
I agree that Hawk is not exactly a sidekick. Sure, he’s a sidekick in the books, but in real life he’s his own person with is own agenda. Frankly, I would prefer to see more of Hawk and less of Spenser and Susan.
Catskill was the first Spenser novel I read, and it’s one of my favorites; that’s the very scene I was thinking of when I responded to EC. I think both Spenser and Hawk would resist Hawk being thought of as a sidekick, and furthermore the reader gets that impression because we tend to see the adventures that Spenser is most invested in. If we saw more Hawk centered adventures, Spenser would come off as the sidekick.
Evil Captor, take a look at Cold Service, published last year or the year before, and Double Deuce, which has to be 15 years old or so. Spenser is definitely subordinate to Hawk in these stories. Hell, in Service he might as well be wearing green fairy boots, hot pants, a domino mask, and a yellow cape.
Ojo, Captain Vallo’s (Burt Lancaster) sidekick in the Crimson Pirate, played by Lancaster’s friend from his circus acrobat days, Nick Cravat. Short, dark and freakishly strong, Cravat couldn’t drop his Brooklyn accent for the role, and decided to play the character as a mute, communicating through empathing gestures, piercing whistles, ropes, and violence.
A great character - sort of a cross between Harpo Marx and Jackie Chan - and the perfect sidekick. Observe
Hawk was much better in the early Spenser novels, when he was a very bad man with an odd sense of honour, who treated Spenser with wry amusement and helped him out only for money: now he’s become a wisecracking black Santa who has nothing better to do then babysit that damn dog and sit around waiting for Senser to ask for free help, he’s much less interesting. I liked him better when it was clear that he killed for money.
Dory from “Finding Nemo.” She doesn’t make nauseatingly hip references/wisecracks, she’s totally devoted, and overcomes her…um…handicap, to totally help save the day.
Wulf Sternhammer, from the old 2000AD strip Strontium Dog. Let’s face it, who doesn’t want a cheerful seven foot tall time-travelling Viking who wields a giant hammer - der Happy Stick - which was forged from a shard of Mjolnir to watch their back? Plus he addressed everyone as “old cucumber”, stuffed his dirty socks into Hitler’s mouth to stop him ranting, and could take Johhny Alpha in a straight fight.
My first thought was OJ’s Kato Kaelin. But he wasn’t fictional, and he was not much of a sidekick.
I’d nominate Andrew Vachss’s Burke’s Max the Silent. A Mongolian killing machine who can’t hear or speak. Best line about him (paraphrased): When Max was arraigned for attempted murder, nobody laughed when the judge said “You have the right to remain silent.” They all knew that Max never attempted to murder anyone.
