What about the superhero side of the parody in “Teenage Kix?”

Teenage Kix was the first superhero team the Boys took down in the comics. (The name likely derives from the popular ’70s song “Teenage Kicks” by punk rock band the Undertones, who, like Garth Ennis, is from Northern Ireland.) While the comic team was still a Teen Titans parody, the show has taken some extra liberties and made some significant changes.

There were eight Teenage Kix in the comics, but only four in the show. Only Jetstreak is in both versions. The show gives him the power to take flight, turning him into a parody of Sam Guthrie/Cannonball from Marvel’s New Mutants. 

Sheline is more a parody of a superhero/super-villain archetype, i.e. the sexy catgirl. Think Catwoman, Tigra, Black Cat, Cheetah, Cheshire, etc. The show stifles the sexiness by giving her some of the grosser habits of cats, including a human-sized litter box.

The Boys’ target on Teenage Kix is Rock Hard (Andrew Iles), who has stone skin like Ben Grimm/The Thing from the Fantastic Four. Except he’s grown morbidly obese, and so he’s now an immobile human mountain in Teenage Kix’s basement. 

What cements the Teen Titans parody is the show’s creation of Countess Crow, a clear parody of the Titans’ young sorceress, Raven. (Unlike Raven, Countess Crow can only control corvids, with no magical powers.) Created by Marv Wolfman and George Péréz for their 1980s run on “The New Teen Titans,” Raven later became a favorite for a whole new generation thanks to her starring role in the 2003 “Teen Titans” cartoon (voiced by Tara Strong). Maitreyi Ramakrishnan has previously cosplayed Raven, and Countess Crow might be the closest she gets to actually playing her.

definitely doing a proper photoshoot of raven one day💜🐦‍⬛ pic.twitter.com/GGDW9WhS3u

— Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (@ramakrishnannn) June 1, 2024

“The Boys” is streaming on Prime Video.