A Car Chase and Some Chocolate Rain in The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #2

Someone murdered Trigger Keaton, the world’s most famous TV action hero. But to be fair, everyone kinda hated him. Now the plot thickens, the sidekick numbers increase and the stuntman war escalates. Get ready for action in The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #2, written by Kyle Starks and drawn by Chris Schweizer with color assists by Liz Trice Schweizer.

Dan Grote: Gentlemen, we’re all pretty serious about the fine art of comics criticism, wouldn’t you agree?

Will Nevin: You’re goddamned right we’re serious about comics crit. And wrestling. And fish sandwiches. Those are the three things here at ComicsXF.

Zachary Jenkins: I will not stop being serious until the Eisners recognize us for the high-quality work we do.

Dan: (Pushes glasses up nose) Yes, quite. And yet it’s hard to be serious about a comic in which a shoebox full of the feces of a dead television star rains down on a group of angry stuntmen, one of whom, dressed like Woody the cowboy from the Toy Story franchise, yells, “There’s poopy in the air!”

Will: I’d like to note for the record that ComicsXF is an Eisner-eligible website. Not every place can say that, you know? And Dan, you’d suck the life out of a good fart joke, wouldn’t you? There’s a majesty to this, an artistry to the insanity. The layouts. The pacing. The plea of one common man who doesn’t want to die because he’s “only ever had perfectly normal sex.”

Zachary: Couldn’t be me.

The Saga of Skippy

Dan: This issue gives us a glimpse into the past of sidekick No. 3, Tad Haycroft, aka Skippy, aka the car from Sidecar, aka Reddit user ThatBaristaGuy. Seemingly a wimp, it turns out our boy can drive like no one’s business. What do we think of Skippy in contrast to Paul, Terry and Miles, the sidekicks we got to know in issue #1?

Will: Quite the loser, isn’t he? Sort of like Paul if things shook out badly. But we can lay the failures of his life right at Trigger’s feet thanks to the flashback scene, which I thought was effective at both reinforcing what a miserable cretin Trigger was and showing the physical and mental abuse that turned Skippy into the stunted adult we see.

Zack: I love Tad. He’s just a sweet soul who had a cute kid voice and had to deal with the monster that was Trigger. He adds a new dynamic from the cynical Paul, the boisterous Terry and the smart dummy in Miles. You need that balance to the team, and it’s fun to see a dude who is just happy to be there.

Dan: Plus he can drive like no one’s business, apparently.

CRAAAAAAAANK IT!

Dan: This issue’s big set piece is a car chase, as the sidekicks seek to evade a mob of angry, poopy-covered stuntmen in Trigger’s 1973 AMC AMX/3 prototype from Sidecar. Car chases are a heckuva thing to portray in comics, as the artist has to convey motion in a book of pictures. How do we think Schweizer did on this chase?

Zack: A lot of artists hate drawing cars because they are just not quite squares. Adding the motion, while still giving the emotional punch, is tough. And when so many car chases are about hot, nasty, badass speed, it’s easy to see why artists struggle in a static medium.

That said, Chris Schweizer isn’t “artists,” he’s an artist, and a damn good one. There’s a dynamism to the chase, aided by some great hand-lettered effects, but he smartly keeps the action tight, focused on the individuals in the car. The dense paneling and rhythmic Starks dialogue build the sense of tension and entrapment that a good chase needs. That gives us a wave of catharsis when Tad pulls a Rockford turn out his back pocket and saves the day. A fantastic use of form.

Will: Eleanor Roosevelt was a hell of a woman, Zack. I ain’t got much to add other than to say that was a heckin’ good stretch. I really did like the layouts here.

Back matters

Dan: The last few pages are a series of legally-distinct-from-Reddit-style threads about Sidecar that show a bunch of people (and series editor Jon Moisan) arguing about the show and with each other. I’m always for added value in a comic, and I understand the story takes place in present day, but given the classic-TV motif that permeates the book — from the TV guide listings in issue #1 to the muscle car at the heart of this issue to the very 1970s rainbow framing that surrounds a lot of the trade dress and text pieces — it feels at odds with what the rest of the book is trying to be. Zack, you used to be a Reddit mod, weigh in for me here. Are you yay or nay on this?

Zack: We all make bad choices in our life. Mine was trying to stop the slow decline of /r/comicbooks. So yeah, this back matter gave me flashbacks.

Not to be the guy who relates everything back to X-Men, but relating this back to X-Men, it’s the same value that good data pages in the current books give. It expands the world in ways you otherwise couldn’t in a comic, truly making things feel more like there’s dummies out there who would care about this terrible, syndicated action show.

Dan: I will say, the explanation in the thread for why the car is painted like a nine ball in billiards is brilliant.

Will: This particular bit works for me because where else are idiots arguing about ’70s television shows aside from cons and Reddit? If you need your Dukes of Hazard talk or to chat with strangers about why you think there needs to be a Welcome Back, Kotter reboot, there’s only one place to go. Plus, there’s something so inherently sad about arguing on Reddit as a cast member of the show.

Dan: Well, now I just wonder whether the guy who played Gunther on Friends is on Reddit right now arguing with people about coffee or whatever. I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.

Additional Sidekicks

If you’re in the market for a great name for a racing horse, you can’t do any better than Hoof Hearted.
I would love to visit the alternate Earth where Chris Schweizer is a fight choreographer.
Poor Miles really wanted this book to have a National Treasure subplot to it, didn’t he?
You know what would have been good back matter? Terry’s crockpot recipe for hot dogs and mac-n-cheese.
Did you know there was an actual, real television show called Martial Law and that it crossed over with Walker, Texas Ranger? I bet Kyle Starks knows that.
Trigger’s bequeathment to Paul is nearly perfect comicbooking.
I want a meteor hammer.

Dan Grote

Dan Grote is the editor-in-chief of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Winston Wisdom.

Zachary Jenkins

Zachary Jenkins co-hosts the podcast Battle of the Atom and is the former editor-in-chief of ComicsXF. Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside all this.