The Sidekicks Initiative: A Comedy Superhero Adventure

By: Barry J. Hutchison

Narrated by: Phil Thron

Once, they stood next to justice. Now they're standing up for it...

When sworn protectors of Earth, the Justice Platoon, are all horribly killed, their former arch-enemies come crawling out of the woodwork. Outnumbered, outgunned, and out of options, the US government has no choice but to activate the Sidekicks Initiative, dragging the Platoon's middle-aged ex-sidekicks out of retirement.

Now these three reluctant, out of shape former child-wonders must work together to stop the rising tide of supervillainy, avenge their former mentors' deaths, and bring the world back from the brink of destruction.

Assuming they don't kill each other first.

Featuring anaphylactic shockwaves, unexpected hippos, and an aggressive man shouting at butterflies, The Sidekicks Initiative is the first book in the action-packed new series from internationally best-selling Space Team author, Barry J. Hutchison.

©2018 Barry J. Hutchison (P)2019 Zertex Media Ltd

Fantastically Screwball...and the Outtakes!

This was a very funny entry in the expanding universe of superhero (or sidekick, in this case) novel category. If you have enjoyed series like Peter Cline's "Ex-Heroes," Drew Hayes' "Super Powered" and "Forging Hephaestus," or Scott Meyer's "The Authorities," you will likely love this book as much as I did. The storyline isn't the strongest part of this book, although it is solid enough to keep your attention. The thing that will keep you coming back again and again are the characters.

When the Justice Platoon is suddenly and summarily killed by some unknown force, the government calls on its old, retired sidekicks, activating The Sidekick Initiative and drafting middle-aged Sam; "Kid Random," Anna; "Allergy Girl," and Randy; "Butterfly King" into service. Trained by former villain turned good guy Kapitan Nazi, the Sidekicks have no idea how to use their powers, what great evil they are facing...or how they will survive. Except Randy. That guy knows how to kick some ass.

Seriously, Randy might be my favorite new character in a book in years. Basically useless, yet filled with grit, determination and a never-say-die spirit. His lines are the funniest in the book, and are made even funnier in the outtakes following the book. I've never heard an Audible book with outtakes, but hearing narrator Phil Thron crack up repeatedly at the things Randy was saying made me laugh so hard tears streamed down my face.

If you're at all interested in Superhero Fiction, this book is a great one.

Ok, Lets KICK some SIDE!!!!

Hero landing!!!
This is a hilarious novel. Great idea, great characters. You will LOVE Randy "Butterfly King", as well as the others. I had to pull over so I didn't wreck as I laughed out loud and stopped breathing. I had to step out of line at the grocery store so that people didn't think there was something wrong with me. Great one-liners. I can't say enough. I would love sequels but im afraid they will just not be as good. If you are looking for a great "laugh out loud" book in the fantasy\SciFi\super hero category. This is it. Can't-miss! I convince 3 people at work to read\listen to it. Now we walk around quoting the characters.

Funniest thing I've every heard...I really loved i

Wow...it's rare that even funny stuff can make me laugh out loud...repeatedly. I laugh inside, in my head, but you rarely hear it on the outside. Guess I'm self contained that way. But this one...Oh...My...Goodness. I laughed through the whole, ridiculous tale. Great tale, great writing, perfect amount of detail. I could see it played out on a screen in my head, that's how well it was written.

And the outtakes at the end where the narrator cracked up and had to do it over...that was the best part. You know how when someone really laughs hard over something and you can't help but join them, cause it is infectious...it was like that.

This narrator was superb. He used different voices so you could tell the characters apart, his timing and pacing was impeccable. In large part, this was as much of a success as it was because of Phil, the narrator.

Super fun with cosmic laughs!

Loved this. Not often do I laughed out loud, but could not help it. Thanks Butterfly King.

My wife wanted to know if I was okay.

Okay, so my wife and daughter were downstairs watching Stranger Things, and apparently, I laughed so hard at times that I was interfering with the show. This is by no means a deep cerebral humor, so if you don't like pies in the face and crotch jokes, you might not laugh as hard as I did. If this was a standalone book, I'd complain that the protagonist wasn't developed fully, but since this is listed as book 1, I have to assume that the characters will be developed over time. There were some truly hilarious parts to this book, and at the end, they had a bloopers section where the narrator had trouble making some of the ridiculous statements in the story. The bloopers may have been as funny as any other part of the story. My only complaint would be that at times, the story was a bit predictable and formula-esque. When I wasn't laughing my head off at something ridiculous, there were times I found my mind wondering as I lost interest. As a whole, it was a great book with good laughs, good characters, and a decent story line. I recommend this book, will be looking for book #2, and thought the narrator did an excellent job, especially considering some of the things he had to say. I'll have to check out one of Barry's Space Team Saga books to see if they are as funny.

Barry and Phil do it again.

Barry keep them coming. great story funny as usual. I loved every minute. Phil has to be one of the best narrators out there.

Hilarious and entertaining!

I had never heard of this author, but I thought the plot sounded interesting so I picked up this book and I'm so glad I did. This was such a hilarious book, I was laughing the whole time and the narrator did a great job with each of the characters.

I should have gotten it earlier

I bought this during a sale for my holiday traveling trip and it almost got me ejected due to all the laughing I did like others have said Randy aka The Butterfly King is the standout character if you liked the ant man movies you'll love tgis

Got to love the underdog to really get this one.

a book that starts with a kick to the nuts, has a lot of running jokes, and even a little bit of sadness. Overall a great book to listen to at work

Hilarious!

Hope this will be another series, like Space Team! Had me laughing throughout. Keep them coming Barry.