Worst of all, as Feiffer also pointed out, the kid partners were created to give the primary audience -- kids -- someone to "identify with". But the kids wanted to identify with the adult heroes. The kid partners just got in the way.

Worst of all, as Feiffer also pointed out, the kid partners were created to give the primary audience -- kids -- someone to "identify with". But the kids wanted to identify with the adult heroes. The kid partners just got in the way.

***

I remember arguing with my cousin as a child. We both wanted to be Batman. Nobody wanted to be Robin.

Working backwards:

*I never did understand this kid's code name, and there's a bit of a problem when a super-hero team has a character who can run fast and he isn't the one named Speedy.

I'd love to read the real explanation, but I liked Fred Hembeck's take on it in one of those old 'Daily Planet' DC house ad pages from the late '70s-early '80s: Flash asked Green Arrow basically the same question, and GA replied, 'Because if I had a sidekick named Kid Flash, it would have really  been confusing!' The last panel is just Arrow turning and walking away while Flash, with a confused look on his face, says, 'Oh.'

Are younger versions of heroes, set in the past like the original Superboy, a good idea?

I thought Superboy was, but I can see where the idea could start to wear thin...surprised nobody in the '60s tried a 'Teen Lantern'!

Should super-villains have kid sidekicks?

If  we assume super-heroes have them, and it makes sense for a story, and isn't just a case of 'needing' a kid version, why not?  Have there been any notable 'younger versions' of villains in the past? Say, a 'Captain Nazi Jr'?

Are kid sidekicks in general a good idea?

In today's 'less than kid-friendly' comics? I doubt it. But if they're intended for younger readers, it makes sense.

Are same-powered kid sidekicks a good idea?

I don't think so...as you noted about Robin, it makes the story more interesting if the sidekick can contribute something different. Bucky fits that description, too; he didn't just take 'junior super-serum', put on a smaller costume, and carry around a little shield.

How many successful super-hero kid sidekicks have there been who had their own powers and costumes?

Not counting Jimmy Olsen as Elastic Lad...none.

Did Robin have any skills, weapons or abilities that Batman himself did not have? He brought something to the table in terms of personality and appearance, but what did he bring in terms of action and gimmicks?

Dick Grayson's acrobatic skills come to mind as something that Batman's crime-fighting efforts gained fom the partnership. I don't think Batman had been established as having any notable ability as an acrobat before Robin was introduced. But at some point, didn't certain writers play down Dick's family-taught ability, and give Batman credit for it as part of 'training' Dick to be Robin?

Edit: Monte partially asked that last question as I was typing.