Brat Pack is a comic book limited series by Rick Veitch (self-published under the company name King Hell Press). It is a dark satire on superhero sidekicks, influenced partly by the publicity stunt in which readers voted to kill off Batman's sidekick Jason Todd, but also built on other long-standing rumors and undercurrents in the history of the superhero genre, prominently commercialism, violence, and the fascist tendencies inherent in heroes. Publication history Brat Pack was released as a limited series in 1990–1991. Plot The series opens with the villainous Dr. Blasphemy calling in to a radio show where the local residents of Slumburg, Pennsylvania (the setting of the story) are venting about their dislike for a teenage superhero sidekick. Chippy (the pink leather-clad sidekick of the gay superhero Midnight Mink) is widely reviled, which leads to Dr. Blasphemy challenging the host of the radio program to hold a call-in radio poll: if a majority votes for Chippy and his fellow superhero sidekicks to die, then Dr. Blasphemy will carry out the will of the people and murder them. Most of the general public call in to vote for the murder of the sidekicks, unaware of the result of their action. While Blasphemy is holding court on the radio waves, Chippy is meeting with a local priest with whom he talks about the cruelty of the adult heroes that he and his friends work for. Leaving the confessional chamber, a young altar boy named Cody notices the teen hero leave and realizes that his priest knows the heroes. That evening, Chippy meets up with his fellow sidekicks (Kid Vicious, Luna, and Wild Boy), all of whom take turns bullying the young hero. Their torment of Chippy is interrupted by the arrival of Dr. Blasphemy; as he taunts the heroes, there is a sudden explosion, killing three of the heroes and horribly disfiguring Chippy (who is protected by an accelerated healing power given to him by Midnight Mink). Horribly maimed, Chippy opts to go into hiding. Midnight Mink; the racist Judge Jury; the misandrist Moon Mistress; and the drug addict King Rad meet to discuss the deaths of their sidekicks. The four heroes (known collectively as Black October) have licensed their images to various corporations for profit; however, their contracts state that they must have teen sidekicks. They confront Father Dunn, ordering him to procure four youths from the local community for