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

Karate Kid # 5 (Dec. 1976)
“The Tomorrow Thief”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Colorist: Liz Berube
Editor: Joe Orlando

Synopsis: No credit for the letterer this time? Maybe the rest were afraid of being outshone by Snappin. They needn’t have worried. This issue turns out to be passably entertaining.

Val has been invited to attend New York City’s Memorial Day parade, but, while he sulks on the stand and complains to Iris that 20th century people seem to "revere" war, a group of elderly World War I vets turn to face the guests and fire. They take off their masks, revealing themselves to be a mysterious military force. While Val engages them in battle, other goons kidnap their real target—Iris.

Before Val can save his friend and guide, a signal goes off in one of his armbands. He runs off, abandoning Iris to her fate!

Val returns to his apartment and communicates with someone through a hovering, ball-shaped device. The person on the other end, who appears to be wearing a crown, acts unsympathetic toward Val’s dilemma of having to leave Iris and reminds him that he must check in on demand as part of the “test.” The other terminates the message, but not before Val’s landlady, Mrs. Geichman, spies the device and thinks it’s a color TV. (Her mistake will come back to haunt her in a few issues.)

After making a hasty exit from his landlady, Val encounters an elderly woman who asks him to pick up the hanky she’s dropped. When Val bends over, the woman (really a soldier in disguise) konks him on the head with "her" purse and flees. Val realizes there’s a coded message on the hanky from whomever kidnapped Iris.

He arrives at the Empire State Building, where an elevator transports him to an underground museum full of war memorabilia. There he fights goons dressed as medieval knights, WWII soldiers, and even an African warrior. He then meets the master villain, a white-haired dude in a red outfit who calls himself Commander Blud.

The commander tells Val he wants to know which countries will engage in the next world war. Blud plans to ally himself with the losing side in order to prolong the conflict and give “even more men the chance to taste the splendor of battle!”

Val refuses to give such information and fights Commander Blud, who, on the verge of losing, uses knockout gas to subdue our hero. When Val awakens, he finds he’s next to Iris in a chamber and strapped to a machine that, according to Blud, will torture him until he reveals what the latter wants to know. Val again refuses. However, the machine works too well: Driven mad by pain, he breaks free and goes berserk, startling even Commander Blud, who wonders if Val will kill them all.

Thoughts: As I said, passably entertaining.

This issue introduces the first credible villain for Val. Commander Blud is pretty much a stereotype of the war hawk—someone who revels in battle for its own sake. However, there’s enough truth in his pontificating that he comes off as frighteningly real. In the post Age of Aquarius, people of Val’s age were identified with a desire for peace (hence, his disdain for Memorial Day); people of the older generation were identified with the ideology of war as a path to glory. Sadly, this attitude hasn’t changed much in 40 years, judging by the news and certain people I know. War is still seen by people of all ages as inevitable, necessary and a rite of passage. Commander Blud simply takes these attitudes and strips them of any pretense: War, to him, is an end unto itself.

And to “win,” he is willing to do anything—fire upon innocent civilians, kidnap, and even cheat in battle.

However, he also exhibits a certain amount of intelligence: planning years or even decades ahead by seeking to take advantage of Val’s future knowledge. (It’s nice that somebody finally takes his time traveler status seriously.)

Other aspects of the story work less well. Blud’s initial scheme to get at Val through Iris depends on his soldiers being able to kidnap her at a crowded event in broad daylight while Val tries to stop them. Lucky for them, our hero doesn’t value Iris as highly as his “test.”

It must have been something very serious indeed for Val to abandon Iris to a gang of thugs—but we will find out that the only thing at stake is King Voxv’s approval of his marriage to Jeckie. This diminishes Val in my eyes and makes it hard for me to like or care about him. Most heroes put their lives at risk to save people they don’t know. Val won’t even put his marriage on the line to save a friend.

Also, the bit about the “old lady” with the hanky is just silly. It’s awful nice that the “old lady” knew where to find Val as he frantically ran through the streets looking for Iris. It’s also nice that Val was so harried he didn’t notice the old lady’s mustache.

The story ends with a cliffhanger, but it’s the next issue blurb--promising a Legion appearance--which makes me want to keep reading.

Karate Kid # 6 (Feb. 1977)
“Showdown with Commander Blud!”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Editor: Denny O’Neil

Synopsis: Karate Kid is prevented from killing Commander Blud by the timely (heh) arrival of the Legion—Cosmic Boy, Princess Projectra, Star Boy and Sun Boy. They spend so much time subduing their maddened teammate that they allow Blud to sneak away. Iris, seeing Jeckie comfort the unconscious Val, becomes discouraged and leaves.

But Val isn’t delighted to see his Legion buddies. After they explain that the time scanners at Legion HQ alerted them that “someone was trying to tamper with the time-stream," Val throws a fit because they allowed Blud to escape and stomps off.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Geichman cleans Val’s apartment and decides to watch a soap opera on his newfangled TV set. But it’s not a TV set, and the person on the other end, not happy about being discovered, zaps the landlady.

Val walks the streets of NY, wondering how he’s going to find Commander Blud (just as he did when Iris was kidnapped last issue), and, to his luck, the villain finds him (ditto). Blud transports Val to an underwater auxiliary base, where the villain again tries to force Val to tell him who will be involved with World War III. To incentivize Val, Blud reveals he has captured the Legionnaires and threatens to “dissipate” their masses behind the force field in which they are contained. However, Val whispers instructions to Jeckie, who projects an illusion that the underwater dome is cracking and flooding the base. Val saves his teammates from the distracted Blud and then captures the villain when the latter attempts to escape.

Jeckie asks Val to return to the future, but he reluctantly refuses, saying his work in the 20th century is not done.

Returning to his apartment building, Val meets Iris, who apologizes for running off earlier. As they reach the building, the police arrest Val for the murder of Mrs. Geichman.

Thoughts: Despite the angsty overwriting, this issue manages to be passably entertaining, as well. It’s great to see Val interact with the Legion again and to see the Iris/Jeckie subplot get a start.

Still, the story relies a great deal on convenience and contrivance to make its thin plot work. For example, the Legionnaires spend too much time subduing Val when Thom could easily make him super-heavy and immobile. Val, our hero, has to be the one who solves the problem; therefore, Jeckie doesn’t even think to use her illusion power until Val tells her to.

Knowing that the creative team was deliberately shooting for simplicity and exaggeration (see below) puts some things in perspective, though. Val captures Blud by breaking a part of the glass dome and allowing the flooding water to carry him to where the villain is. It’s an exciting scene, provided one doesn’t wonder why both hero and villain didn’t subsequently drown.

However, the plot is reasonably competent and well paced, and the subplots concerning Val’s secret mission and Mrs. Geichman’s fate kept (and still keep) my interest.

There must have been a problem with the printing presses for this issues, as several pages are miscolored. Val’s yellow collar turns blue, switches back to yellow, and then turns blue again. The Legionnaires’ and Blud’s costumes, as well as Iris’ hair, are also miscolored on one page.

Odds and ends: On the letters page, Kevin L. Callahan from Brea, CA, sharply criticizes Estrada and Staton’s art in # 4, especially the stereotyped “Fu Manchu” portrayal of Master Hand. The editor defends the art team by explaining that both are from the “’cartoonist’ school of art,” which relies on exaggeration and simplicity, rather than the “illustrator” style of art which relies on detail and realism.

On the other hand, Edward B. Via of Roanoke, VA (a lettercol regular in those days), praises the art but criticizes “Jameson” for the lack of originality in # 3’s story and for overreaching in trying to create sympathy for the Revenger.

There does seem to be some complexity in this story, with the Legionnaires and the fate of Mrs. Geichman, to make it more interesting.

It could have been so realistic for Val to just tell Blud that he wasn't much of a student and had no idea who was involved in WWIII or even when it was. Ask most people out of high school about the War of the Roses and I'd bet most of us would say something vague, that it took place in England, before Henry VIII. But you've got to have a story, so Blud continues to grill Val.

Does Blud have any connection to the Bludhaven of the Nightwing comic? Did Bludhaven even exist at the time Karate Kid was published?

Comments from the letters page are a good addition to your review, HWW!

"The War of the Roses? Wasn't that a movie starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas?"

I love the idea of Val professing ignorance. He could've told Blud anything. "The next world war?! I believe it started in 2165. Do you plan on living another 189 years?"

I never read the Nightwing comic. The first I heard of Bludhaven was around the time Nighwing was published, though.

Glad you like the letters, Cramey.

Two observations on the series so far:

1. Val's motivation for staying in the 20th century is subtly changing and not in a very believable way. The first few issues told us he felt out of place with the Legion because he didn't have a genuine super-power. Now we're led to believe he's on some secret mission he can't share with even the other Legionnaires. Even if one doesn't know where this is going, it seems like an abrupt shift in Val's demeanor and purpose.

2. All we've really learned about Iris so far is that she suffers from incredibly low self esteem. She never takes Val to task for abandoning her to the goons back in # 5, yet she apologizes for running off after learning he already has a girlfriend. Where's Val's apology, huh?

Karate Kid #4

I didn’t have this one, so off we went to auction land. A bit of a disappointing issue really.

Having set himself up as a hero in the 20th century, it’s jarring to see the Legion pull Val back to finish off a villain in their time. A villain who conveniently could block superpowers, just to highlight Val’s difference.

I’m pretty sure Garth wouldn’t normally have “death bolts” and I’m wondering why the non-super force field of Brainy’s, couldn’t have contained the villain. I’m also puzzled that there’s not much interaction between Val & Jeckie beyond a generic “the Legion still needs you” line.

I wonder if the concept for this series ever got past the “We need a martial arts book.”

Once again, Val does nothing to get into the story other than be in the right place. Basically, this means hanging around Iris, who has become a lightning rod for villains. This month, her school is taken over by a Japanese stereotype. There’s some interesting touches in his background, but having another honour bound samurai running around is beyond cliché.

Having beaten up some cops, Val is warned off. He returns later to disobey that warning with a line that makes no sense. Cue martial arts scene versus minions.

With that unconvincingly over with, it’s time for the duel between Val and the Villain. It’s not the best. Somehow, having recently just declared himself a samurai Master Hand is able to fend off a guy who’s trained every day for years.

As a reward for nearly getting a classroom of kids killed (and really, Val’s blundering entrance into a hostage situation should have been the end of them), Karate Kid gets official sanction in New York. This baffles a new member to our cast, deranged looking police Commissioner Banner.

I watch closely to see if his anger turns him into a rampaging green monster, but the book isn’t prepared to become interesting at this late stage.

I’m looking forward to next month’s though. Worried about not having a villain conveniently show up, Iris tries to calm Val down with a nice iced drink. Fortunately Samurai Penguin lives in her freezer. Iris interrupts Penguin just as he’s about to address a Ninja Convention. Fighting ensues!

Samurai Penguin? Now I've got images in my mind of John Belushi and Rockhopper Lad attacking Val.

I hadn't thought about it, but Iris pretty much is a target for villains. Perhaps Val saved her from death and thereby changed history countless times, Iris Jacobs: the eternal Edith Keeler.

There really was a Samurai Penguin book, which is probably why it popped into my head...



I seem to recall hunting down a couple of issues of it, so it can't be that bad. Or it is, and I have no taste. But it's between those two.

Karate Kid # 7 (Apr. 1977)
“The Gyro-Master Strikes Twice!”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Story Editor: Denny O’Neil

Synopsis: Proving once again that being a hero is all about being in the right place at the right time, Val, accompanied by Iris, is being driven to the police station when the street in front of the squad car breaks open. A burrowing, rocket-like contraption emerges, driven by a super-villain who calls himself Gyro-Master.

“G-M,” as he soon becomes known, has no qualms about committing crimes right in front of the police. After all, they can’t stop him as he waltzes into a museum to steal a rare and valuable gyro designed by Leonardo da Vinci and on loan from the Italian government. Val, being an upstanding hero, breaks out of the handcuffs which he wasn’t wearing one page earlier and tries to apprehend the villain. But even he can’t prevent G-M from running down a blind alley in the museum and disappearing. While the police chat with the curator, Val and Iris also pull a disappearing act.

In an interlude, we are introduced to Benjamin Day, a husband and father who enjoys playing horse for his son. But when Day receives a mysterious phone call, his demeanor turns serious. He retrieves a strange-looking walking staff from his closet and leaves.

With Iris’ help, Val returns to his apartment to find out how Mrs. Geichman died. There he confronts the person on the monitor globe, who tells Val that the landlady isn’t dead and will eventually revive with no memory of what she discovered. But Val doesn’t have time to convince the two police officers who burst in and try to arrest him again. After the usual fight scene, he runs off with Iris. An unwitting comment from her makes Val realize what happened to Gyro-Master.

Val returns to the museum, where he discovers his hunch was correct: G-M never left the blind alley but was rotating so fast no one could see him. Val defeats G-M and leaves the unconscious villain for the museum guards to find.

Iris brings Val to Washington Square Park--where his karate costume will fit in with the bizarre outfits of other patrons--so they can figure out their next move. Unknown to them, Benjamin Day also arrives at the park and uses his walking staff to transform himself into a costumed being called the Hunter.

Thoughts: It feels like just about everyone phoned this one in.

The writing is incredibly lazy. The villain’s broad-daylight crime just happens to coincide with Val’s arrest, giving Val a convenient excuse to fight him and avoid going to jail. The villain’s origin is even borrowed from the Joker’s (basically, he fell into a vat of super-plastic fluid while committing industrial espionage at a toy company).

I keep wanting to pronounce the villain’s name “Year-o Master,” which makes me wonder if Mr. Elroy Soames found a new line of work by opening a chain of Greek restaurants when he got out of prison.

More laziness or outright sloppiness: The police allow Iris to accompany Val in the squad car because she is a “material witness.” Val isn’t wearing handcuffs on Pages 1-2, yet he dramatically breaks out of a pair of cuffs on Page 3.

As for the dialogue, we know G-M’s the villain because he uses words like “dolt” and “folderol.”

The art isn’t much better. Estrada competently depicts the events of the story, but the cartoonish designs continue to lack imagination. Gyro-Master, who looks as silly as Master Hand, even wears a metal helmet with a spinning “beanie” on top!

“Jameson” and Estrada spare no effort to make cops look like morons. The police talk in clichéd copspeak (“. . . if you keep yappin’ up I’m gonna book you for—“) or close one eye while making bold declarations.

The only saving grace of this issue is the introduction of Benjamin Day. No reference is made to him being African-American. He’s just a normal father and husband—albeit one who dresses like a G.I. Joe action figure. Under O’Neil, “Jameson” and Estrada quietly integrated part of the Legion’s universe—something Shooter, under Weisinger and Boltinoff, was never able to do.

Odds and Ends: When Iris tries to distract the police officer, she asks for directions to the Kwai Chang Karate School—a reference to David Carradine’s character, Kwai Chang Caine, on the TV series Kung Fu.

Two of the three letters published in this issue are from female fans, leading the editor to conclude that the “Iris vs. Projectra” debate has brought female fans “out in the open.” However, Mary Jo Duffy of Garden City, NY, mainly complains that the feud between KK and the Legion in #5 weakens the credibility of both books; she also says Iris is too much of the “Superman, save me” type of girlfriend and describes Iris’s hairdo as “silly.”

Elizabeth Smith of Tacoma, WA, makes no reference to Iris or Jeckie. Instead, she notes that Val is “settling into” the world of the 20th century, a world where he is like “a futuristic pioneer, cutting through wilderness to make his niche in the world . . . “ Smith’s letter contains a fitting typo: She says Val “may not be ready to retire from the Legion to become Prince Consort of Orlando.”

In the third letter, Mike Christiansen of Rockford, IL, praises #5 as an improvement over previous issues and votes that KK be more of a super-hero book than a martial arts book. The editor responds that, as sales figures on specific issues “trickle in,” they will have a better idea in which direction to go.

The response to Mike Christiansen's letter indicates that editorial had no clear vision for this series. I still think it must be borderline comedy, so maybe a team-up with Samurai Penguin would have helped.

The letters are the best part of the comic at this point.

It will be interesting to see what they do with Benjamin Day. Hero or villain?

Comics are always caught in that realm between commercial enterprise and artistic achievement, so it's understandable that the editors wanted to be sensitive to fans' preferences.

Still, a series tends to connect with fans *because* it has something to say, not because it's waiting for fans to tell it what to say.

This is where I'd love to read the internal memos about the series or interview the people involved (if they remembered back that far). What was the core idea behind this spin-off? Was there one, or were they just making it up as they went along? Was the writer committed or was he just handing in an assignment?

Would the book have been improved with a solid, single vision of what type of story it was telling, right from inception?

I think the second Legion Lost suffered from the same muddled direction, made worse or caused by an enforced tie-in. Many authors claim that, once they start writing, the characters take the story in different directions than what they originally planned. For that to happen, I expect you have to have solid characters to begin with. In a number of instances in Karate Kid, so far, Val seems to be out of character. (Well, maybe he was addled by time travel.)

It would be a good challenge to rewrite this series today, not that it would be a commercial venture. Of all the Legionnaires, who better to adapt to the 20th century than someone who had no superpower, but was master of an ancient art?

I summarized writer David Michelinie's (Jameson's) recollections earlier in the thread. In the same Legion Outpost article, his replacement, Bob Rozakis (who took over with # 11), is also interviewed.

When asked what DC's attitude toward the series was before he took over, Rozakis responds, "Pretty much that it was going down the drain, and if we didn't do something to save it, it was going." This is why, according to Rozakis, the book shifted away from martial arts and toward super-heroics, with guest-stars such as the Legion and Robin.

He also says DC's attitude was that Karate Kid "was a minor book. They didn't even take advantage of the fact that it was a Legion spin-off, even though you had your Legion popularity there." This is why Rozakis did a Legion two-parter.

None of this answers the question of what the original intent or vision of the series was, but I wouldn't be surprised if there really wasn't one. Based on Michelinie's and Rozakis's comments, the editors (Orlando, O'Neil, and Al Milgrom) were pretty much hands-off, so, without the sense that DC cared about the book, it's hard to imagine the writers getting too invested in a long-term vision.

Karate Kid #5

Karate Kid tells Iris that the 30th century abhors war. Aren’t his abilities linked to the numerous martial arts of the future? I’m sure that many of them have a basis in something more warlike than keep fit evening classes. Besides, what about the various invasions and that statue to Soljer?

I’m having some problems with the first panel. But really, that’s nothing. In order to get information from Val the villain stages an elaborate impersonation involving dozens of men in a hugely public, and policed, parade. There, he kidnaps Iris and makes very sure that Val is led straight to his hideout. To the extent of dressing up at least one man as an old lady to make sure Val spots that handkerchief with the clue on it. Really? How many page padded hoops is that? Certainly enough to stretch this into a two parter.

It’s as bonkers as the reason for wanting certain information from Val. Knowledge of wars that he can perpetuate. Not the technology, or the tactics. Just who’s taking part. As if there weren’t enough of them along on a regular basis. He could really pick any side he wanted by just by checking the news.

In the end, Val must have got a rumour that Brin would get his own mini series set in the past. He does his best Timberwolf impersonation in the closing pages, having been strapped to a torture machine by our nutcase villain.

Val overcoming the pain of the machine does remind me of him overcoming a will sapping device in the early Baxter issues. Very similar to me.

Where or where did Marv Wolfman get his idea for the Monitor’s satellite? Could it have been from the Monitor Globe in this issue? I had to check I hadn’t missed an issue. This whole subplot, which prevents Val ending the story in a few pages, is just dropped in without any explanation.

The main tension for me was wondering whether the landlady’s son would electrocute himself by having a TV (color too!) in the bathroom.

Karate Kid #6

And there shall come… a purpose*!

This is the issue where we find out that Val acting like an insensitive idiot is all down to lots of pent up frustration at being forced to go through tests issued through the monitor globe introduced last issue. Whoever’s in the castle is a bad guy, since he/she/it seems to have killed Val’s landlady. Bad globe!

We get to see that Val’s relationship to Jeckie is still in place, although these tests are even more important to him than returning to her. It’s just a shame that Iris has to see that relationship in such a way. Her self-esteem couldn’t have been anything but battered at having to complete with a skimpily dressed super princess from the future.

It’s to Iris’ credit that she quickly overcomes such a blow, to want to remain friends with Val at the end. Val should count his lucky blessings to have such a companion (see clod behaviour above)

The Legion serve a few functions here. Jeckie provides the story with some context while also providing a way to trick the villain later. She, and the others, arrive just in time to prevent Val killing anyone (although I think a few might have snuffed it last issue really). Oddly, despite having ranged powers, Thom, Rokk and Dirk all go in for a close combat beating. I imagine that it was Val who taught Rokk that martial arts move that ended the fight. A practical example of all those times we here that Val trained the others. Cos also extends his repertoire by using magnetic vision later on.

Even though Rokk asks Dirk to help with the prisoners and allow Thom to release the girl, Dirk just can’t help himself. An artistic error, perhaps, but one that plays right into his character.

The Legion also act as convenient hostages, while Iris is off getting used to her new status. The villain tells Val that he lured them to his back up HQ through clues left in his main HQ. In other words, all four of them were hit over the head by cross dressing soldiers while picking up handkerchiefs.

The villain certainly has plenty of resources. Submarine fleets, clunky ‘50s robots, flying robot eagles and undersea bases. I’m not sure where he got them all from. The Legion arrive due to some tampering with time (Note that Rokk doesn’t pass up any opportunity to get back to the 20th century), but I didn’t feel that it was explored beyond giving the villain plenty of convenient toys.

Val thinks that he’s saved the world. But it should be remembered that Blud was only going to take advantage of the dreadful conflicts we started ourselves.

Still, it’s a better issue, in that it gives the book some structure. It’s far too late to save it six issues in though. The art really isn’t helping either, looking very rough.

*or a porpoise, if you’re in Blud’s undersea lair.

Karate Kid #7

After last issue got a little better, my heart sinks at the sight of a villain wearing a propeller beanie on the cover of this issue.

Having had a story where Val and Iris were the targets, it is back to them just happening to be right next to villainous entrances. This issue is very much a villain-of-the-month affair. Although it should be noted that a few subplots get some panel time too. That makes it a more solid outing than some of the opening issues.

The villain, Gyromaster, doesn’t look any more convincing inside than out. In fact, the sketchy art makes him very poorly drawn in a number of panels. Gyromaster is like a version of a member of Flash’s Rogues gallery. The Top, presumably. He has (often credibility stretching) themed gimmicks to be used throughout the issue. He has an origin that’s like the Joker’s or, perhaps, Plastic Man considering the super plastics he was mixed with.

We find out so much about Gyromaster’s origins because he stops in the middle of his crime for some prolonged exposition. Sadly, growing up means that you know that industrial accidents end up about as far away from granting super powers as possible.

Back to the subplots. The appearance of the monitor globe keeps some reference to the new point of the book going. No castles in its viewer this time. Perhaps some explanation of what it was, and what it had done would have helped new readers here.

I hope someone lets the authorities know that the landlady is still alive. Certainly before she suffocates in a body bag/ morgue or before an autopsy.

Val and Iris seem content to take a walk in the park instead. If Val wants to have a lower profile, there’s nothing stopping him form changing his outfit at any time. I wonder if he brought spare uniforms from the future or if the police can now track him down by smell.

The Hunter looks interesting. A capable opponent. But also one whose determination and duty overrides his reluctance to his role. Seeing his family was a nice touch. It’s also a name of a 30th century Legion villain giving us a link.

Villains back in those days had vision, they had style, they had . . . insane amounts of money.



Interestingly (fortunately), in the 40 years since this story was published, there has been no World War III--although there have been a bunch of other wars. Commander Blud might have died of old age before the next global conflict happened.

Almost every one of these villains has told us his back story in the most unconvincing, exposition-heavy manner. It's the sloppiest form of writing. It makes me think that Michelinie couldn't be bothered to give his creations much thought.



That is certainly a major gaffe. Why Val didn't hightail it straight to the police station with his story instead of bothering with Gyromaster remains a mystery. Val had nothing invested in stopping G-M, other than he's a hero and that's what heroes do.

However, it would have been far more heroic for him to turn himself in and try to convince the authorities of his tale. He could have even done two civic duties at once by asking the police to keep the museum well guarded so G-M couldn't escape. He could have then gone back and picked off G-M at his leisure.



I hadn't even thought about that. I think Michelinie just picked the most generic name he could think of.

Karate Kid # 8 (June 1977)
“Pandemonium . . . Panic . . . Pulsar!”
Writer: Barry Jameson
Artists: Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
Colorist: Liz Berube
Editor: Dennis O’Neil

Synopsis: The villain (whose name is actually Pulsar, not Hunter—it wasn’t clear last issue) attacks the park and zeroes in on an elderly mob informant named Eddie. Val tries to intervene but is driven back by Pulsar’s staff, which shoots a pulsating energy (natch!). Meanwhile, Eddie runs in front of a horse-drawn carriage and is trampled to death.

When Val pursues Pulsar, the latter reverts to Benjamin Day and escapes. Val, not so lucky, is apprehended by the police.

In the city morgue, two attendants become startled when the late Mrs. Geichman turns out to be not so late after all. Her recovery ruins Commissioner Banner’s plans to turn Val into an example of how even super-heroes cannot skirt the law; the good commissioner responds by throwing a tantrum and stomping on his pipe.

Benjamin Day returns home, where he finds a man named Kade waiting for him. Day announces he is through being a hitman, but Kade produces a device and threatens to “press the switch” unless Day continues to cooperate.

Pulsar’s next target turns out to be Commissioner Banner himself; the villain attacks while the commissioner is giving a speech at Madison Square Garden and takes him hostage in the lighting control room. Fortunately, Val hears about the attack on Mrs. Geichman’s radio (she’s decided to forgo television after her last experience), and he arrives in time to battle the villain. Banner, proving he is more than just a ridiculous stereotype, grabs his service revolver and tries to shoot Pulsar. During the fight, Val knocks the villain into a control board, nearly electrocuting him, but manages to save him. However, Pulsar once again escapes into a crowd and reverts to his civilian identity.

Val recognizes the “black guy in the crowd” from earlier, but, before he can pursue the matter, Banner approaches him and shakes his hand for saving his life.

When Val returns home, he finds Iris waiting for him. As they enter his apartment, she kisses him—only to find Princess Projectra also waiting for Val.

Thoughts: Eight issues into the run, and we finally get a more-than-passable issue. I wonder if O’Neil’s arrival as editor had anything to do with it.

The story moves quickly and hits all the right emotional chords. We learn that Benjamin Day is a reluctant assassin, and that Mr. Kade holds some kind of control over him. This creates sympathy for the villain as well as mystery. (What will happen if Kade presses that switch?)

The Banner subplot comes to a sudden and surprising resolution. It would have been more satisfying if Banner had been built up to be a worthier antagonist, but he has appeared only once before and mentioned in one other issue. Even so, it’s gratifying to see him pull his own weight in the fight and then make peace with Val. It doesn't look like he's going to be Val’s J. Jonah Jameson—bitterly going after the hero, no matter the circumstances. Banner turns out to have his admirable qualities, even though he’s often played for laughs (as is Mrs. Geichman, who worries that Val jumping out of her windows will raise her insurance).

The story also springs more naturally from the characters’ actions and reactions than the contrived and lazy plotting of earlier issues. Even the action scenes build toward a climax instead of just taking up space.

The issue even ends with a cliffhanger—one we’ve been dying to see. (Well, not dying, perhaps, but curious about). Just what will happen when a princess is scorned?

Letters Page Roundup: Three letters are published in this issue. The first is from Mike W. Barr of Akron, OH (yes, that Mike W. Barr, later a writer and editor for DC), who praises the series, especially Nos. 5 and 6. Barr also wonders if “Barry Jameson” is a pseudonym, to which letters page responder Cary Burkett invites readers to send in their guesses as to whether Jameson is “a) JENETTE KHAN [DC’s publisher at the time], b) TOM SNYDER, c) MICK JAGGER, d) S. LEE, or e) all of the above.”

The second letter, by Rod McLaughlin of Ramsey, MT, sharply criticizes the series: “The standard of mediocrity that KK has maintained in its premiere year of existence is frustratingly high,” even though he acknowledges that Val Armorr is an interesting character. McLaughlin also criticizes the art as “too simple, too cartoonish, and just too downright terrible to entertain.”

In the third and very short letter, Josh Penland, no address given, demands to know why Sun Boy answers to the name of Thom. Burkett responds that if your name was Dirk Morgna, you’d rather answer to Thom, as well. (Then Burkett admits they made a mistake . . . of getting up that morning.)

Ah, I hadn’t spotted the crown, making that Orando link more definite an issue earlier than I thought.

Interesting thoughts on the different outlooks between generations too HWW. I keep thinking of wars by proxy across the world, but Blud was prepared for something much larger. Perhaps that’s why he needed the information. His sort of war would have perhaps been globally devastating.

Incidentally, this was a bad issue to show my pal, Logistics Lad. Who built the subs? Who built the bases? Who does the catering for a small army? How come no one noticed? Who maintains it all?

Personally, I was more concerned about the health issues of pretending to be a museum exhibit week after week, on the off chance there’s a visitor to the secret base. Not many visitors, because…well, secret.

I’m not so bothered at Blud “cheating” during the conflict. I see it as a small representation of the “cheating” that all sides in any conflict get up to.

Also good points about Val’s time traveller status being used within the book. Also, concerning Iris’ abandonment. Considering how interesting villains seem to suddenly find her, I hope she finds out from Val just how likely it is to happen again. Did Val apologise?



I reckon that the Legion Time Bubble was really Fortress Lad, who also has the power to adapt to become parts of other headquarters, thus sealing the dome.

I’m reminded of a TMK issue where Kent Shakespeare captures The Persuader by getting his head to act as a plug in a sealing underwater dome.



Tee hee. Just what I was thinking We all know it was a fight between Earth 1 Rose & Thorn and Earth 2 Rose & Thorn.

Lots of good points about the short comings in art & dialogue in #7 too, bringing me to…



And



You do wonder what the point was. It’s almost as if it wasn’t even a decision made by the DC Comics. I’m wondering who owned them at that point. If DC were “pushed” to do a tie in, and they resented it, it would look much like the planning done for this book. The only investment made in it was by the people putting down their money to buy the thing. I’m sure everyone involved takes some pride in what they’re doing, but I doubt it really compares with their better work elsewhere.

And in # 6, Mrs. Giechman sees a castle on the hovering globe and thinks an Errol Flynn movie is on.



Thanks.

Given the number of super-hero battles in the DC Universe, Blud may have been setting his sights too low by aiming for human conflict. If he'd wanted to know when the next alien invasion was going to take place, he might have really had a good time.




Perhaps they dressed that way just to test Val.



I'm not bothered by it, either. It was totally in character for him.



Thanks again.



Nope.




DC was part of Warner Communications then.

The reason for the book's launch, as well many others, can possibly be found on Wikipedia :



The move ultimately failed, as noted in the article, and led the famous DC Implosion.

Karate Kid 8

Ah well, it’s not Hunter (with the Legion link), it’s Pulsar. Still, he looked interesting last time.

Looks like Val & Iris just happen to be walking past another super-crime scene this issue. If it wasn’t for that pesky Legion he could join another team, get a monitor room, and let the crimes come to him

You get your deterrents, where people are bumped off in front of a crowd. Then, you get your quieter killings, where the victim is bumped off in the privacy of their home.

Pulsar seems to get this confused. He scares off a huge crowd, but only to face his victim in an alley, where he is homeless.

Once again Val, expert in martial arts, gets thumped around a bit by someone who can’t be anywhere near as well trained. We know that Pulsar has a kid. That definitely eats into your training time. Val could spend some of the extra time he has learning to dodge. He definitely could use some time with Batman from Imaginary Adult Legion (not what you think, sewer minds). It’s not as though Pulsar disappeared into a crowd.

Poor Eddie, killed by a horse and carriage that was just making its way to one of DC’s mystery titles. His final expression that of an evil soul facing, not only his just fate, but a monologue by Cain or Abel. I wonder if his death by third party is supposed to let Pulsar off the hook later on. As if that was his first assignment. Right.

Jeepers. Neither Val nor Iris did let the authorities know about Mrs Gleichman. They just left her in the morgue. Some tenants. She’s remarkably calm about leaving the Monitor Globe with Val, knowing it to be a death trap. If only the globe gave Val tips on crme scenes. Still, the radio gives us something a little different. Handily, Val lives only “moments” away.

HWW mentioned that the book goes out of its way to make the police look like caricatures. What better way to show that, than by embarrassing a whole stadium full of their supporters?

Pulsar doesn’t kill (possibly deranged) Commissioner Baxter on the podium. Instead, he manages to kidnap him and haul him up to a lighting room as a hostage. I wonder if there’s a missing panel showing all the policemen at a doughnut concession stand.

Much like earlier villains, Pulsar’s actions are confusing. He has to kill Baxter (possibly to save his own family) but doesn’t even when Val allows him time to, and Baxter draws a gun on him.

He may well want to get caught, but does his best not to. The police, despite the hostage situation, leave the only door completely unguarded. His supersuit must be as insulated as Val’s footwear to have survived the electrocution on the control panels.

The soles of Val’s suit saving an energy related injury provide the book’s best bit of continuity, as they saved his feet when tackling Nemesis Kid back in #1.
It would have been easy to continue having Baxter be Val’s raving opponent. So, it’s a nice scene to have them appreciate each other. At least this time.

Finally, Iris makes a move. Val doesn’t seem to mind at all. It’s not as though he’s going to get busted from a thousand years away…oh dear. Poor Iris.

Despite the plot contrivances and the dodgy dialogue, this was a bit of an improvement. Even the art looked a little better this time round. I’m curious to see what happens next issue, which is a first for the series.

Blud stars in Giffen's Invasion as Earth's defender! Since Giffen is involved he even gets to kill Karate Kid too!



It must be very boring waiting for the next world war to start. What better way to pass the time than Military re-enactments! That explains why they had all the outfits ready at a secret underwater base.



Ah yes. The DC explosion. Not necessarily the best thing for book quality. Still, it had some interesting ideas in there.

Jameson. Just the picture I had of him. I'm glad that you mentioned Kade. He didn't have to do much to be interesting. In fact, his quiet confidence stood out.

Ironically, there is still a (tenuous) Legion connection. Pulsar Stargrave was introduced around this time.




Good point. I guess I'm so used to heroes having to demonstrate less skill and resourcefulness than in their originating series that this one went right past me.



On the other hand, my cousin as two kids (as does Benjamin Day) and they definitely result in him getting his exercise.




I wondered about that, too. I suppose Pulsar was trying to work up his nerve to kill the commissioner. He got out of killing poor old Eddie, after all.