Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Karate Kid (the series) Re-Read Thread

This thread, a companion piece to the Archives re-read threads, will review the 1970s Karate Kid series. The first Legionnaire other than Superboy and Supergirl to receive his own series, Val Armorr seemed tailor-made for the mid ‘70s. Martial arts were all the rage, thanks to Bruce Lee films and Carl Douglas’s “Kung Fu Fighting,” which topped the Billboard chart in 1974. In such an exotic action-hero milieu, someone at DC must have noticed that the company already had a martial arts character who could cash in on the craze.

Unfortunately, by the time KK #1 appeared in late 1975, the craze had already crested. Even so, the series lasted 15 issues on a bi-monthly run, taking it through the spring of 1978, when it and many other titles fell victim to the infamous DC Implosion. As such, it was quite a successful series for its time.

The first issue of Karate Kid, which was reviewed here, established the premise: KK tracks his old enemy, Nemesis Kid, through the time barrier to 20th century New York. After Nemesis Kid’s defeat, Val decides to stay in the present, which he finds more appealing than the 30th century because people “do things” such as go to school and ride busses. As a hero who had to work hard to develop his martial arts skills, he hopes to find himself in this “primitive” setting away from his super-powered teammates.

The premise borrowed a lot from “fish out of water” storylines used to launch TV dramas (McCloud) and sitcoms (The Mary Tyler Moore Show) of that era: a hero who doesn’t quite belong finds himself in a modern urban setting and reacts to things he finds strange; however, he uses his unorthodox skill set to teach those he encounters a thing or two. At least that might have been the intent. Whether or not it worked out that way, we shall see.

The series also introduced a potential new love interest for Val, red-headed and bespectacled school teacher Iris Jacobs. This, of course, led fans to wonder what had happened to Val’s relationship with Princess Projectra. Fear not; she appears, as do other Legionnaires (albeit in a clever time travel twist).

Because I don’t expect very many people to have these issues (and I have no idea if the rest of the series has been reprinted), my synopses will be longer than usual to further explain each story. Of course, SPOILERS abound.

My goal is to review one issue per week, which I will likely post on Saturday mornings, so as not to conflict with new reviews on the Archives re-read threads, which appear on Tuesdays. As with the Archives threads, please wait until the thread starter (moi) has reviewed the latest issue before sharing your comments on it; however, you are always welcome to jump back and discuss previous issues.

So, here we go . . .

I yanked Iris to use in my fanfic but I only know about her from blogs online...I have never actually read anything with her in it so this should be an interesting thread!

Karate Kid # 2 (June 1976)
“The International Dooms of Major Disaster”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Editor: Joe Orlando

Synopsis: The first issue had gotten off to a rocky start as fledgling writer Paul Levitz (eventually one of the Legion’s most iconic writers) turned in an amateurish and unconvincing script. When we reviewed that issue, I could not recall if Levitz was to be around for the long haul; however, both he and Jameson turn out to be temporary writers. The regular writer, David Micheline, will debut with issue # 3.

Starting off a series with two fill-in writers is never a good sign, and this issue does little to dispel that notion. However, it is more competently written than #1.

Looking for a place to stay in New York, Val returns to the school where he had met Iris Jacobs in the first issue. Iris agrees to help him look for an apartment but does not believe him when he tells her he’s from the 30th century. (Why she didn’t mind going off with some guy in a strange martial arts outfit is anybody’s guess.) As they argue, a tidal wave appears on the street. Val performs the obligatory rescue and then runs off to confront the creator of the tidal wave, Major Disaster, who wants the United Nations building to be vacated or he will destroy it.

Val’s initial encounter with the major does not end well, and the police arrest him. They let him go after confirming he is indeed a hero from the 30th century. (How they do that is also anybody’s guess—a call to Superman, perhaps?). Val emerges from the police station a celebrity as reporters ask inane questions such as what he thinks of 20th century girls and if he sleeps in the nude. Iris shows up in a taxi and spirits him away—now convinced he’s telling the truth.

However, Major Disaster reasserts his presence in the form of an earthquake. Val traces the villain to his headquarters and tells Iris to stay put. She does not and unwittingly interferes before Val can stop the major from throwing a switch. The switch sends a fissure directly toward the UN building.

Val runs ahead of the fissure and, with a super-karate kick, causes it to reverse directions and destroy Major Disaster’s building instead. Iris takes Val by the arm and, with a rather obvious smile, tells him he’s found a place to stay.

Thoughts: There is an almost goofy quality to this story which reminds me of Charleton’s E-Man series (also drawn by Staton). Jameson doesn’t take the story too seriously, an approach that can instill humor but can also backfire. For example, the residents of New York don’t seem terribly alarmed to learn Val is from the future. In a world with Superman and other heroes, I suppose many would get used to strange visitors from somewhere else, but from the future? Yet Val is treated as just another foreign pop star. This scene establishes a surreal quality to the series and, as a reader, I don’t know if I’m supposed to take the rest of it seriously.

Meanwhile, Iris fulfills all the worst stereotypes of women in films and on TV at the time: She’s none too bright, but she’s there when Val needs her. In an effort to make up for not trusting him earlier, she tries to help but only makes the situation worse. Ultimately, she’s there to be rescued and to swoon over our action hero.

As for Val, he’s portrayed as a typical action star of the time. He does what needs to be done in order to save the day, and doesn’t have much opportunity for anything else. The only “down time” occurs when he walks with Iris and tells her he’s from the future. This scene provides much needed exposition and a sense of Val’s struggle to feel useful. However, his dialogue is forced and awkward: “Stand aside, citizen—I have business here,” “Blast it, I’m telling you the truth,” “I know nothing of these comical books you speak of . . .”

Perhaps the dialogue was a deliberate attempt to create humor, as other aspects of the story are equally outlandish. When Val destroys a meteor aboard Major Disaster’s flying platform and the impact sends him falling apparently to his death, Val looks less like a master of martial arts than a comical dunce. His ability to reverse directions of the fissure is also way over the top.

So, I’m left thinking this story was intended to be part camp and part straightforward action story, but it doesn’t really succeed at either. It does, however, establish who Val is and what he can do in a much more satisfying manner than the first issue did.

The art by Estrada (joined here by Staton) is still crude but feels less rushed than the first issue.

This issue also introduces us to Nurike, the Nazi-like organization which hired Major Disaster. Nurike’s philosophy is “America for Americans”—a statement with chilling resonance today.

A couple of curiosities:

--From Val’s 30th century Uni-Charge card, we learn he may be from the year 2948!

--The letters page contains a letter from Jim Shooter, who describes the rationale for KK being in the 20th century as “weak.” The editor responds that there is “a lot more” to Val’s trip and that it involves another character Shooter created (Projectra, no doubt).

I hope you find plenty of interest to round out your portrayal of Iris, raz.

Wow....Val's fissure-diverting kick sounds like it's just too far over the top. And it's a reasonable assumption that the authorities confirmed Val's story thru Superman, but without that bit of info in the story itself, it weakens the story's foundations.

It's interesting (though not terribly surprising given the editorial policies of the big corporate comic companies) that Shooter obviously had no input into how one of his creations (especially his apparent favorite) was being utilized. Being that he was a then-current Legion scripter, it's quite a puzzler. I wonder if he was offered the book and turned it down? It would seem he'd have been the most logical person to write it, anyway.

The only logical way for the authorities to confirm Val's identity would seem to be through Superman. However, there is the matter of how they got a hold of him. Supes wasn't in the phone directory, and he lived in Metropolis, so it's not like NY had a "super signal."

Of course, everyone in the Silver Age seemed to have some method of contacting Superman. Perhaps the JLA had a hotline or something.

I'm also not surprised Shooter had no input into the series. Karate Kid was DC's property, not his, and he was, despite his contributions, just a creator for hire. That's what all writers and artists were in those days.

Thanks for the recap, HWW. I had all those issues, only because I was a Legion fan, but dumped them at some point and recall very little of the story.

About all I remember was Iris Jacobs for the reason you point out:

She was a bit of a Barbara Gordon look-alike, with that red hair and glasses, but she was annoyingly devoted to Val, while he just regarded her as a guide to the 20th century. Was this a theme in superhero stories: average woman becomes enamoured of superhero, helps him accomplish mission, gets a thank you and brush-off at the end? (There was a New Gods story from around that time with a similar subplot.)

Maybe the whole series should be considered as a screwball comedy. The ditzy dame, the fumbling hero with noble intentions, except that they don't get married in the end. You could almost write two reviews, one taking it seriously and one assuming it's meant to be over the top.

You're welcome, Cramey. Thanks for your input.

The resolution to Iris's story in Brave & Bold is truly sad. Val returns to the 20th century to invite her to his wedding, and she is crushed. He apparently had no idea how she felt about him. Val comes across as a true heal.

I can't think of specifics, but I'm sure there were a lot of TV shows and films of that time which were built off of the idea you described: the average woman falling in love with the leading man, and, in the process, learning how beautiful she truly is (usually by getting rid of her glasses--beautiful but blind).

If the series had continued, it makes one wonder what they might have had in store for Iris. They likely wouldn't have married since super-heroes generally didn't do that in those days.

Thanks for recapping these!
Similar to Cramer, I had them all - took years to collect the whole bunch -- but I have NO idea where they are at this point. So it's definitely a blast from the past

From what I recall, the whole series was pretty ersatz - creators, storylines ... it was a disappointment (as you can tell from my avatar, I'm a Karate Kid fan)

I enjoy your description of events more than the actual book

I never really thought about how the Visitor from the Future thing would actually play out. You bring up a good point about the bizarre acceptance the denizens of the series have ... Maybe the 70s were drug filled enough to believe anything?

You're welcome, Andy. Thanks for your thoughts!

I don't know about the '70s being drug-filled enough to believe anything. I think we were just brainwashed by dopey sitcoms and simplistic action movies.

Karate Kid # 3 (Aug. 1976)
“The Revenger”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Editor: Joe Orlando

Synopsis: Jameson, we are told in the letters page, will be sticking around “to free [Michelinie] for other projects.” In this issue, he pits Val against his first new villain, the utterly average Revenger.

After NYC pays Val a “good Samaritan” check for defeating Major Disaster, Val and Iris wait in line at a bank when a villain called the Revenger bursts in. He tosses Val aside and murderers the bank president before fleeing.

The narrative then follows the Revenger, who is really an inventor who went into partnership with three investors to develop a “heavy-metal formula” (no, nothing to do with Black Sabbath). After learning the others had sold his work to the military, the inventor went berserk and vowed revenge on each of the investors, including the bank president.

Meanwhile, Val signs a lease for new apartment and learns on the radio that the Revenger is attacking the jewelry district. He arrives too late to save the second victim, a jeweler, while fighting off looters.

Because of the Revenger’s penchant for leaving cryptic notes on his victims, Val and the police easily deduce the identity of his third target, and Val surprises the villain in the would-be victim’s office. During their fight, which moves to the roof of the building where the Revenger lives and works, a falling sign endangers the caged birds he keeps as pets. The Revenger shoves the cages out of the way but is crushed to death in the process.

Thoughts: This is really more the Revenger’s story than Val’s. We learn a great deal about the villain, and we’re supposed to care about him because of his love for his birds, but he comes off as just a lunatic. His abhorrence for seeing his work used for war fits in with the anti-war sentiments of the time (e.g., “M*A*S*H”), but that's an odd motive for murdering his former partners. One might equate the Revenger’s actions with those of so-called activists who shoot up abortion clinics—but they are equally hard to understand or sympathize with.

The thin plot is dragged out by Val’s prolonged battle with the looters—a battle no doubt intended to satiate fans’ desire for martial arts action.

For humor, we are introduced to Val’s new landlady, a plump, older woman named Mrs. Geichman, who rents him a room she decorated herself—full of pink décor, including a frilly lampshade with a bow.

Iris is there to advise Val to take the apartment (it’s cheap and he doesn’t know where his next check is coming from), but has little else to do. At least she doesn’t bungle into the action this time.

This story reminds me of a similar yarn in Daredevil from roughly the same time, when DD fought another revenge-based villain called Copperhead. That story benefited from the noirish motif of the villain and some real detective work by the hero. "The Revenger" has none of these elements. It even lacks suspense since the writer dumps the villain's back story onto us through heavy exposition.

Talk about a mixed message with The Revenger. Anti-war murderer, bird-lover. Great description as "utterly average".

Did NYC in the 70s really hand out Good Samaritan checks? The city was on the verge of bankruptcy when this issue came out.

At this rate, I'm wondering why the series lasted as long as it did!

Alas, that's what passed for characterization. I know even less about Jameson than I did about Orlando, but I suspect he, like Levitz, was very young. There is an amateurish quality to his writing, like someone who is just starting out.

For instance, the huge info dump that tells us the Revenger's back story is just lazy writing. In DD story I mentioned, our hero had to work hard to figure out Copperhead's identity. This story requires nothing of Val or of the reader.




Maybe there were just so many good Samaritans that the city couldn't keep up with paying them all.




It gets better. At least my wishful memories say it does.

Karate Kid # 4 (Oct. 1976)
“The Rage of Yesterdays Lost”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Letterer: Milt Snappin
Editor: Joe Orlando

Synopsis: It’s good to see the letterer credited, as Snappin’s contribution is just about the only pleasing aspect of this issue. Even the colors seem garish on the first few pages and, later on, in the Asian villain’s orange pigmentation.

Val has been recalled to the 30th century to help the Legion deal with a super-power-nullifying robot. He defeats the robot with a single kick but, when his teammates congratulate him, Val rebuffs them, thinking they are rubbing it in that he doesn’t have a genuine super-power. At his request, they send him back to the 20th century.

He arrives just in time to see the NYPD speeding to an emergency: The building where Iris teaches has been taken over by a villain called Master Hand—so called because, ironically, he has no hands but a hook for one and a sword for the other. He also dresses in samurai garb and sports a Fu Manchu moustache. (No, really!) Master Hand threatens to kill Iris and the children he has taken hostage unless “all Western trade and influence in the Orient” is removed “within one month!” A lofty goal, that. If you’re going to be a villain, it’s good have high ambitions. When a surly police commissioner named Banner threatens to have Val arrested if he interferes, Val stalks off.

Meanwhile, Master Hand tells Iris he was born into Japanese aristocracy but denied “the glories of [his] birthright” because he was also born without hands. Believing Japan to be corrupted by Western influence, he replaced one of his hooks with an ancestral sword and hired a bunch of goons to set things right.

However, Val hitches a ride by hanging onto a police helicopter and drops to the roof of the building, where he tussles with some of the goons before confronting the villain himself. He appeals to Master Hand’s sense of honor, and the villain agrees to duel with Val, promising that his goons will obey whichever of them wins. Val wins, naturally, and Master Hand tries to commit seppuku. Val intervenes by breaking his sword-hand and lectures the villain that leaving him with his life is not the same as leaving him with “nothing.”

Even though Iris and the kids emerge unscathed, Commissioner Banner is not happy with Val and tries to arrest him. Fortunately, an “agent from the governor’s office” arrives just in time to appoint Val an honorary police officer answerable only to the governor. Val walks off with his arm around Iris while the commissioner fumes.

Thoughts: It would be easy to tear this marginal effort apart—from its thin plot to its stereotyped and one-dimensional villain, from the equally stereotyped police commissioner to the artwork which goes beyond crude (the faces are hideous). But it may be more useful to try to figure out what the creative team attempted to achieve.

I’ve read very few Charleton comics, but, now knowing that Orlando spent much of his career at Charleton (helming non-super-hero titles), I imagine he attempted to bring a similar sensibility to Karate Kid. This story struggles to entertain a juvenile audience with its broad attempts at humor, simplistic characterizations, and cartoonish art. It might fit in well with The Mighty Crusaders and the other Charleton properties I’ve seen.

The Legion intro is wholly unnecessary. It seeks to establish Val as something of an antihero who is misunderstood by his teammates. Instead, Val comes across as churlish.

However, there’s a missed opportunity for Val to interact with Projectra, who appears but says nothing. She could have confronted Val and demanded to know why he wanted to spend so much time in the past away from her. Val, unwilling to tell her the truth, could have reacted much as he does here in an effort to cover his true mission. (The true reasons for Val’s 20th century sojourn had already been planned, evidently, as hinted on the letter’s page, where we learn that an Iris-Projectra meeting is scheduled for around # 7 or # 8.)

The Commissioner Banner confrontation also comes across as a forced effort to establish Karate Kid as an antihero. After Val defeated Major Disaster and worked with the police to stop the Revenger, you’d think they would welcome his assistance. However, this was the ‘70s, the era of Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, and other popular antiheroes. Legitimate authorities were either incompetent or could not be trusted. That’s fine, as it goes, but Banner is a silly character—sporting two different hats, smoking a pipe (during a hostage situation!) and tripping over his tongue when he loses at the end. He is shoehorned into the story and does not pose a credible threat for Val.

Neither, unfortunately, does the villain. In our Archives reviews, we’ve taken the regular Legion book to task for introducing Tyroc, but Tyroc as a stereotype has nothing on this character. Jameson makes no effort to imbue Master Hand with complexity or subtlety. He’s not even a serious threat for Val, who outmaneuvers and defeats him quite easily. The character even looks ridiculous in his samurai costume with hook and sword for hands.

(As an aside, Master of Kung Fu introduced a similar villain a year or two before this. Razor Fist had *two* sword-hands. Ridiculous, yes—however did he go to the bathroom?—but at least his character design was more appealing and he seemed a more formidable threat.)

One arguably positive aspect of this story is that it builds off the themes of issue # 2, in which a xenophobic organization wanted to rid the UN of foreign influence. Here we experience xenophobia from the opposite viewpoint, as Master Hand wants to rid Asia of Western influence. Val, as a mixed Asian-Caucasian hero, is the perfect character to explore these themes. Master Hand even mentions his mixed lineage. However, little is done with these themes here other than some verbal sparring between the two.

So, does “The Rage of Yesterdays Lost” accomplish its purpose? I think not. It strives to tell its juvenile audience something meaningful about honor and nobility, but once again our villain is a mere fanatic whose motives are hard to sympathize with. (Sadly, such fanatics are all too common in the daily news these days.) One could sympathize with his handicap if he didn’t look so ridiculous, and if it really had some bearing on the story, but it does not.

If this were a Charleton comic, perhaps its simple aims wouldn't have fallen so flat, but even at DC in the ‘70s, there was an effort to move—slowly and grudgingly—beyond comics as disposable entertainment for young children. DC held to certain standards of excellence in craft, even when the stories were not all that good. Orlando and crew seemed to be applying a different set of standards that did not serve the character or the company.

Karate Kid #2

Major disaster just happens to decide to attack the UN. He wants it cleared within 3 hours, but doesn’t say why. Val just happens to be nearby, and so is drawn into the issue’s plot. It’s as basic as that.

In the fight, Karate Kid kindly waits for a meteorite to be pulled out of orbit and travel through the atmosphere towards him. Disaster & his henchmen kindly wait for Val to take a pose to deflect the thing. You know, rather than just have a fight between people who are a dozen feet away on an ACME flying platform.

The two come into conflict again, when Val and Iris just happen to also be within sight of Disaster’s HQ. Val can see the effects of Disaster’s weapon emanate from there.

Val shows amazing leaps of multiple storeys and stomping ability that Stompa of the Female Furies would be jealous of.

With Disaster defeated Iris and Val walk off into the sunset. Oblivious to the corpses of the flood and earthquake victims or a city in crisis.

That Disaster, only too eager to work for Nazis here, ever ended up in the JLA makes me wince. A pontificating loony working for a bunch of clowns does not a good conflict make.

A lot of time travelling heroes, go to great lengths to conceal their presence. So, as not to change their past, or to give people in the past ideas about what the future would mean for them and act irrationally as a result. Not Val, who is swamped by reporters as news of his origins leak out. “Hey, we can do what we want, as there definitely going to be a future,” a bystander should say as Rip Hunter goes by giving out future technology because the game’s up.

The bright spot of the issue is Iris Jacobs. She’s clearly sweet on Val and will be his guide in this era. I’d like to see her developed to be more than Karate Kid’s foil/ sounding board/ damsel in distress though. But the whole relationship is odd considering Val has Jeckie back home. Even readers then would have seen plenty of panels to show how close those two were. Doomed from the start really.

EDIT: HWW correctly points out that the dialogue is very clunky, and the art is less rushed than issue #1, but still…

I've given up on the idea that Karate Kid changes history every time he defeats Major Disaster or loonies like the Revenger or Master Hand. Perhaps in the original timeline, Iris was beheaded by Master Hand; perhaps one of the kids was supposed to die but instead will grow up to become Edith Keeler and change history by advocating the removal of Western influence from Japan, thereby carrying on the master's work. (Stockholm Syndrome and all that.)

It's best not to think about these things. The writer and editor certainly didn't.

I too wondered about the people who must have been killed by Major Disaster's flood and earthquake. If he hadn't intervened, maybe more would have perished? (No, stop thinking about that.)

And Iris . . . did her dalliance with Val prevent her from finding the man she was supposed to marry or did she bitterly turn away from men altogether because of this clueless guy from the future? (No, stop it!)

I didn't know Major Disaster had joined the JLA at some point. That makes me glad I don't follow comics anymore.

By the way, according to Wikipedia, "Barry Jameson" is a pseudonym for . . . David Michelinie.

Yeah, she was destined to meet and fall for Cosmic Boy on one if his time trips around Legends. After filing for a restraining order due to him being a tool, she was to rebound into this hirsute Brin Londo chap. So, it could have been worse.



Twice, if you count Justice League Antarctica.

EDIT: Three, if you count Justice League Elite as a proper JLA team.

Karate Kid 3

Still wearing the same clothes after all these weeks, Val just happens to be in a bank as it’s attacked. It’s very handy for the book that Karate Kid is such a trouble magnet.

Despite being new to the century and its “peculiarities” Val has picked up on enough snappy patter for bank related puns during the attack.

The villain, the Revenger, is out for the bank manager as “the evil in this building.” Is it a story where The Revenger will make a political point against 20th century banking systems, with Val realising that he could take lessons from the future to solve problems in the past? Or am I being optimistic.

Probably optimistic, as Val completely fails to stop the murder. He an expert in sci-fi martial arts. We’ve been shown his, let’s face it, superhuman willpower, resistance and strength in the past two issues. But he’s taken out like a novice here, just because the writer needs that death, and isn't terribly fussy how the plot gets there.

Iris races in. Not to be shocked at the death or to try and help. But to let Val know that they should go to another bank as the murder has inconveniently closed this one down. Ever practical, our Iris.

The relationship between the two leads has remained platonic. Both know that Val will use the money he got from the city in defeating Major Disaster to get a new flat. No hint of him having just stayed with Iris. It's nice of the city to remember Val, since it must have been really busy rebuilding large areas after the earthquake and tidal wave shown last time.

This issue shows why the Hawks have such a successful crime fighting career. Give a villain a pigeon coop, and they just can’t help giving away all their secrets in one exposition filled scene.

On his way to foil the Revenger's attack on a second victim, there's, what I imagine will be, an obligatory martial arts scene to give Val his work out, and provide some filler. It's a bit better than issue 1 at least.

With such an obvious connection between the victims, The Revenger finds that his third and final victim has been taken into protective custody by the authorities.

Having passed a note left with the second victim to the police (it’s the least he could do after wandering all over a crime scene), Val stands in for the last victim.

It’s a shame that we don’t see Val interact with the authorities. His standing as a Legionnaire in the 30th century compared to 20th century New York may have offered some subplots and a supporting cast member or two.

The Revenger seems inconsistently written in the last act. He’s enraged at his plan falling apart. So, he threatens to kill Karate Kid. When he has the opportunity to do just that, he then turns to run and plan for a later day. It's a fatal change of heart.

We have a decent rooftop finale, where the villain sacrifices himself to save Hawkman’s informants. There’s a dialogue box that suggests the villain “..cared, perhaps, a bit too much.” But he dies saving the birds he loved and that Karate Kid clearly couldn’t give a fig about.

The only character with any empathy in the book is the idealist who sacrifices himself at the end, having been screwed over by the people he gave his discoveries to, to use honourably. Such an origin is horribly clichéd though, and since there’s no depth shown here, the villain comes across as unbalanced as he lurches form one part of the formula to the next.

Val having wandered off in the last panel, leaves a perfectly good super suit waiting for a new owner. I think it resembles Fastball’s, from the early Justice League Detroit run a lot.

^What bothered me about that last scene was how Val doesn't even bother to check to see if the villain may still be alive.

By the way, I forgot that I had in my possession a copy of The Best of the Legion Outpost, edited by Glen Cadigan. It contains an interview with Michelinie and and his successor, Bob Rozakis.

Some highlights:
--"Barry Jameson" was intended to be a collective pseudonym for Levitz and Michelinie, who collaborated on issue # 2.
--After Levitz left, Michelinie continued to use the name because he was embarrassed to tell people he wrote something called "Karate Kid." He thought the title was corny, like "Two-Gun Kid" or "Ringo Kid."
--The name "Barry Jameson" came from Michelinie's middle name (Barry) and father's name (James).
--Michelinie was never a Legion fan and brought in the Legion only when suggested by editorial.
--He did not work closely with Estrada and does not recall having any input into the visual designs of the villains.
--He does not remember Orlando being involved on a "day-to-day, detail-type basis."
--One thing Cadigan mentions that I found interesting is that the villains had complex motivations. This is at least partly true, in the case of Master Hand.

Thanks for doing this!
I do remember that the series became better as it went on (which is the reverse of today's market - where the books start strong and then fall off rather quick)

Why does Major Disaster become a recurring villain? I don't know but I do recall that he was so rarely used anyway at the time that he would be easy to fit in there. (And let's get real, someone with elemental disaster powers would be very employable in the supervillain world). Val karate chopping his way to victory against this kind of power? Yeah, it would have been done in a more subtle way today, but it was the 70s

The Revenger seemed part of the disgruntled guy who becomes a villain motif (similar to Rampage over in Marvel at around the same time). Not terribly compelling, but it is one motivation.

Again, we see more of the weird disconnect between Val and the Legion when they appear/are mentioned. Maybe there's some dissonance with this? An alternate Val? Some other part of the quest that is yet to be revealed?

It would have been cool if the quest had a definite goal/villain.

Thanks for checking the Best of the Outpost HWW. I was off to try and find where I'd read some more about the series, but was going to go to the legion companion.

I did remember that there was a bit of a writer-go-round early on, but thought Barry Jameson was there after someone quit or due to rewrites or such. In other words, not very good things causing the book to be an uphill struggle.

In one of the S/LSH letters pages, someone suggested that Val looked older in the Karate Kid series and wondered if, from the Legion's perspective, it took place at some point in their future. The editor confirmed this. (There might even be some evidence to corroborate this; in issue # 1, we're told it's been a year since Nemesis Kid was captured.)

It likely was just an answer to address what the fan perceived as a discrepancy. (How could he tell if Val looked older with Estrada's "bare minimum" art?) But, if true, perhaps they were planning on leading up to Val's split with the Legion. They could have planted clues about his feelings of being out of place and his antagonism with the others.

Chalk this up to another realm of untold stories . . .

For a series this poorly written, the name "Major Disaster" is certainly appropriate.



The concept might have made more sense if Val had been sent to capture a villain who was threatening Orando and had escaped to the past (sort of like Alastor in the second Legion Lost series). By doing this he would prove himself worthy of Projectra.



Iris the sociopath? Maybe she should be the prime villain, in disguise.