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

Karate Kid # 14 (June 1978)
“Diamondeth Is Forever!”
“Ruby Writer”: Bob Rozakis
“Opal Artists”: Juan Ortiz and Bruce Patterson
“Lapis-Lazuli Letterer”: Milton Snapinn
“Carbuncle Colorist”: Mario Sen
Editor: Al Milgrom

Synopsis: As if Val showing up just in time to watch Iris’s rampage wasn’t enough, Robin swings by while passing through New York. The Boy Wonder tries to stop Iris (and, in doing so, apparently coins the name “Diamondeth”) but is prevented by Val, who fears an attack will damage Iris.

The two heroes fight until Val convinces Robin that he, too, is a hero. The pair then team up to stop a gang of looters who have taken advantage of the chaos, but Diamondeth slips away.

A doctor from STAR Labs arrives to explain Iris’s role in the research project but cannot explain what turned her into a diamond-like creature. This conversation is observed by Major Disaster and the Lord of Time, who reveal that they are behind Iris’s transformation, the scheme initiated by his lordship as part of a plot to become master of all time.

Meanwhile, Diamondeth has found her way into the company of King Rat, the leader of the looting gang, who plans to use her to commit a crime spree, or, if that fails, to cut her up into smaller diamonds.

Val and Robin arrive—the former having been tipped off by King Rat’s goons (the Rats ratting on King Rat—how ‘bout that?). They make short work of the remaining gang members and then ponder what to do with Iris.

Diamondeth lashes out at Val, but he and Robin disable her by striking two stress points at the same time.

Instead of returning Iris to STAR Labs, Val decides to take her into the 30th century for a cure, even if doing so violates King Voxv’s directive that he remain in the past.

Watching on a video screen, the Lord of Time and Major Disaster couldn’t be happier. It was their plan all along to manipulate Val into returning to the future.

Thoughts: As part of the series’ switch to more super-hero oriented stories, guest stars abound. In the last two issues, we’ve had Superboy and the LSH; now we have Robin.

It’s nice to see Val meet a non-Legion hero, and Robin seems like a natural ally. They are both young (roughly college-age at this point) and rely on acrobatic/martial-arts moves. Fans had also been asking for Val to join the Teen Titans, which had recently broken up (as Rozakis reminds us on the letter’s page).

As super-hero team-ups go, there’s nothing remarkable about this one. Once again, it’s a serviceable plot—the heroes fight because of a misunderstanding and then team up to confront the real threat. It could have been any hero who assists Val; Robin brings nothing special to the story. Even his attempt to locate Iris through detective work comes to nothing.

This story, too, feels padded and drawn out. Val starts to waste valuable time telling Robin he’s from the future when they should be chasing after Iris (they don’t know she’s given the police the slip yet). The looting scene is just a means to see our heroes in action (or Val, really; Robin is afforded only three panels), and the back-to-back expositions delivered by the STAR Labs doctor and the two villains drag the story out.

At least the art is fairly good this time, with inventive panel arrangements and competent action scenes. Faces are more nuanced.

This is by no means a great issue, but it does set up Val's return to the Legion.

A few interesting tidbits:

-- Val wonders if he is in love with Iris, finally providing us with some drama and uncertainty over his relationship with Jeckie.

-- Even so, Val takes it completely for granted when he learns that Iris keeps his picture in her room!

-- The doctor recognizes Val from said photo, and Robin doesn’t recognize him at all. Apparently, Val’s celebrity status as a hero from the future has been forgotten. Ah, fickle fame.

Letter’s Page Highlights: Wallace L. Hopkins of Glen Carbon, IL, and Mark Lamport of South Bend, IN, applaud the new direction and creative team.

John Gerdes of Collinsville, IL, wants Val to meet the Teen Titans (giving Rozakis an excuse to mention their break-up), while Shalom Fisch of Teaneck, NJ, has correctly deduced why the Legionnaires didn’t recognize Val at the end of # 12 (e.g., the old costumes).

Only Gary Klein of Ackley, IA, offers criticism: He protests the use of puns and bad jokes. Rozakis, however, feels that the puns and jokes “add some personality to the characters.”

When I read the way the credits were written with gem-stone monikers, I wondered if there was some plan to fold Diamondeth into the Amethyst story.

The appearance of Robin does sound like a logical addition and could be a viable pairing, if it were to continue.

Oh, Iris, always falling for the wrong guy! Now you're with King Rat? (Which reminds me of the James Clavell novel, but I doubt there's any similarity between the characters.) The gang's Plan B to cut Iris/Diamondeth up into pieces is really quite ominous and chilling. It seems like it would be above their pay grade - they're not planning it out of some horror-inducing sick fantasy (like a real mad super-villain would) but they see a big chunk of diamond, so - duh! - break it up into market-size pieces. (That one little detail was the most interesting part of this issue for me.)

These plot developments continue to give me the impression that Iris is one of the big attractions of the book. Now they've added the potential drama of Val conflicted over two loves.

I'm looking forward to see what they do with Val's return to the 30th century. This issue really was one of the more interesting ones! Of course, I don't get a sense of the padding in your concise recap...

Well, I try to be concise.

I think the "cut Iris into little diamonds" line was meant to up the stakes, but it comes across as quite silly. Given what Diamondeth was shown doing to the police and civilians last issue and this, cutting her up would probably have been the last thing King Rat ever tried.

Iris certainly embodies a lot of the pathos of the book. The reader can care about her, feel sorry for her, be annoyed with her, sympathize with her unrequited love for Val, or even admire her determination to win Val over against a princess from the future.

Curiously, there is no similar emotional attachment to Val (at least not for me), who blithely wanders from one battle to the next. Perhaps this was an intentional strategy to make adolescent boys identify with him. However, I was in that age bracket at the time and I can't recall even liking the Val depicted in this series.

Karate Kid # 15 (Aug. 1978)
“Bring Back My Future to Me!”
Writer: Bob Rozakis
Co-Plotter: Jack C. Harris
Artist: Juan Ortiz
Colorist: Mario Sen
Letterer: Clem Robbins
Editor: Allen Milgrom

Synopsis: In a time bubble sent by the Legion, Val and a docile Diamondeth arrive in the 30th century—but it’s not a 30th century he recognizes. This future is populated by talking, clothed dogs with names such as Mylock Bloodstalker and Dr. Canus. They consider Val an animal and express surprise that he talks—much like another “animal” they know named Kamandi.

Elsewhere, the Lord of Time tells Major Disaster that he’s sent Val into an alternate future—one that will happen to earth if certain events occur.

Val, apparently getting bored of standing around and, believing his new acquaintances to be creations of the villains, attacks them. However, he is laid low by an energy blast from a lobster-skinned woman named Pyra, who arrives with another canine figure named Doile and a mute (and apparently topless) human woman called Spirit.

Val quickly recovers but is no longer interested in fighting. Instead, he listens as the others relate that they are looking for a friend of theirs, Kamandi, who has been abducted by a group of lobster beings who can surf (!) and who believe Kamandi is a god. Instead of offering a hand, Val high-tails it back to his time bubble, but the thing won’t start. He’s trapped.

Observing this, the Lord of Time and Major Disaster initiate “Phase Two” of their plan. They cause a tidal wave to reverse course, transporting a trio of lobster surfers from their island back to the mainland, where our hero is marooned. Val and Dr. Canus remove Diamondeth from the time bubble just before the tidal wave crushes it.

The lobster trio believe Val to be a “godling” and want to take him back to their home, the Island of the God-Watchers, where, they say, “it will be your pad forever!” (Yes, they really talk like that.) Val resists, but his best karate moves prove ineffective against the lobster beings.

Meanwhile, Pyra discovers she has the power to restore Diamondeth to human form. But when Iris wakes up and sees herself surrounded by a lobster-skinned woman and clothed canines, she freaks out. Pyra restores her to diamond form to save her sanity but makes a note that they will have to tell Val she can cure Iris.

It will be awhile before they can deliver that information, though. Val has been captured by the lobster beings, who have tied him to a surfboard and are towing him back to the island. Bloodstalker and Dr. Canus grab onto the surfboard and hitch a ride.

On the island, the lobster beings place Val in an egg-shaped canister in a projection room, where he is positioned next to another egg-shaped canister bearing Kamandi. Bloodstalker and Canus wander into a drive-in theater, where the feature film is Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon . . . starring Val and Kamandi, who fight each other.

Thoughts: This has to be the loopiest series finale ever!

It's also one of my few encounters with the world of Kamandi, but it makes me wish I’d read more—if only to learn more about his off-the-wall supporting cast. Bloodstalker, Canus, and Pyra appear to have well developed personalities and are instantly likable.

The premise of Kamandi’s alternate future has been hijacked, of course, from the Planet of the Apes films, with dogs as the dominant life form on earth instead of apes. Even the notion that humans can’t talk and are called “animals” are riffs from the films.

Add to the mix some hippie lobsters who are on a quest to find gods and you’ve got a set up which, if somewhat lacking in originality, is at least fun.

It also appears to offer social commentary on the youth culture of the ‘60s and ‘70s, recasting teenagers as lobsters who are obsessed with pop culture (one lobster listens to “I Want to Hold Your Claw” on the radio). These “God-Watchers” watch a martial arts film. They regard the people who appear in such films as gods. Of course, they’ve created these gods themselves.

Unfortunately, the finale to his own series does nothing to redeem Val as a heroic or even likable character. Not only does he attack Canus and Bloodstalker without provocation, but he listens to their story and then tries to vamoose without even considering if this is a situation in which he could or should offer help. Granted, it’s not his quest—but I’d like to see him to do something to remind us that he’s still the good guy.

I also wish the series had been this entertaining all along. Even the art—Ortiz inks himself—has improved significantly. It’s still rough in places, but his faces are nuanced and attractive, and the inventive layouts keep the story moving.

Letter’s Page Roundup: Mike White of Mackinaw, IL, praises the new direction but criticizes the flaws of # 13, such as Val taking too long to realize that Superboy and the Legionnaires hadn’t met him yet and Superboy’s cape being stretched so far that it should yank the flag poles to which it is anchored out of the ground. (To which Rozakis agrees with Mike’s off-hand supposition that the flag poles were buried very deep in the ground. That’s right, Bob: Let the readers explain your logic for you.)

Wallace L. Hopkins of Glen Carbon, IL, also says the book has “greatly improved” under the new creators but suggests it should be set in the future so “the plots and dialogue could thereby be made more adult and realistic.” (Somehow, Wallace, I don’t think “adult and realistic” was what they had in mind.)

E.J. Pardovani of New York, NY, says he tried the hold KK used on Superboy on his own brother, but his brother broke free, even though “he isn’t super.” (To which Rozakis responds, “But you aren’t KARATE KID either!” Nice dodge there.)

Neil Durbin of Stow, OH, closes us out with another laudatory missive on the new direction. He suggests that, if the book hadn’t changed directions it would have been cancelled—which gives Rozakis an opening to deliver the bad news.

. . . and that’s it. This ends my reviews of Karate Kid. It had been decades since I last read these issues, and I remembered little of them. In hindsight, they offer little to remember.

As a whole, the series is bad—a wasted opportunity to develop a popular and versatile Legionnaire in a different setting. But considering the book’s origins as a crass attempt to capitalize on two commercial phenomena of the ‘70s—the waning martial arts craze and the DC Explosion (an attempt to restore the company’s competitive advantage by saturating the marketplace)—it’s hardly surprising that little thought was given to its creative direction.

Things started to turn around at the end, but the injection of new creative talent provided too little too late. The last few issues read as if Rozakis needed a while to find his bearings, while new artist Ortiz was paired with inappropriate inkers. On his own, he did quite well.

It’s ironic that it took a crossover to show the book’s true potential. Crossovers generally waste everyone's time, but this chapter was indeed fun. It thrust KK into a strange setting with off-beat but appealing characters.

Speaking of which, I do not have a copy of the continuation, published in Kamandi # 58. If anyone does, feel free to contribute your own review. Meanwhile, I’ll sneak in a bonus review of Brave & Bold # 198—which wraps up the KK/Iris plot line and features Pulsar—sometime in the next week.

Thanks for participating.

Thanks for this thread HWW. I do still intend to catch up.

You're welcome, thoth. Looking forward to your ideas.

It's sad that the book started to show promise in the final issues, but it seems to shine the light on the Kamandi series more than on the potential for future Karate Kid solo stories.

The acid trippiness of this final issue is fun, but I doubt it could be maintained over several issues and still deliver a compelling tale. The hippie lobsters sound dated, more suited to 1968 than 1978.

Odd that Val never fully rises to the level of hero in his own series. Maybe they were trying to write a Marvel-type hero with all-too-human failings.

I also have to wonder if this flop killed any future plans for other Legionnaire solo series.

Iris will show up in SLSH #246 (I did a search) cured of her Diamondeth change but apparently not in other Legion comics - so she and Val must have gotten to the right future at the end of the Kamandi story.

Thanks for sticking with the weekly reviews, HWW! This was a case study in how not to write a comic book story.

The specific ideas of this story line probably would not have continued past the crossover. Still, I think the story line shows that the series had enormous potential by taking Val out of familiar surroundings and thrusting him into alien (to him) and uncomfortable situations--and by having a bit of off-beat fun.

The final issue also introduces the idea of giving Val a quest, namely restoring Iris to normal. The book had never given Val a motivation which created a sense of urgency. Leaving the 30th century because he felt out of place was a start, but that idea was quickly dropped. The test to see if he was worthy to marry Projectra was also interesting, but it lacked urgency.

But if Val's goal was to find a way to restore Iris--whether he was in love with her or regarded her as a friend--this quest could have sustained the book for several issues more. Also, I would love to have seen more development of the "Do I love her or not?" idea. This would have thrown Val and the readers for a loop and created uncertainty over his future.



I think that's the case. Like many Marvel heroes, Val was temperamental, impulsive, and somewhat of a jerk. But the writers failed to given him any redeeming qualities or any reason to root for him except for the trite and unquestioned assumption of "This is the hero, and this is what heroes do."




Perhaps this is a SPOILER, but . . .





You're welcome, Cramey. Thank you for your weekly comments.

As promised, here's my review of B&B # 198, which wraps up the Val/Iris and Pulsar stories.

The Brave and the Bold # 198 (May 1983)
“Terrorists of the Heart!”
Writer: Mike W. Barr
Inker: Rick Hoberg
Letterer: Todd Klein
Colorist: Adrienne Roy and
Editor: Len Wein
“Introduce” Penciller: Chuck Patton

Synopsis: Commissioner Gordon and Gotham’s Finest have tracked a group of terrorists called the Black Heart to a building in Gotham Village. When they order the terrorists to surrender, the latter open fire. Batman crashes through the skylight to fight the so-called revolutionaries but is forced back through a window by a hail of bullets. The terrorists then storm out the front of the building and escape down an alley.

The group’s leader, Peter Travers, realizes that the police were tipped off by his former lover, Katy. He plans to kill her but says he will need “special help.”

In Manhattan, a time bubble bearing Karate Kid lands on the roof of his former apartment building. Val enters Mrs. Geichman’s room while she is sleeping, wakes her, and inquires about another tenant, Iris Jacobs. Mrs. G reveals that Iris has since moved to Gotham City.

Travers’ “special help” turns out to be Pulsar, who bursts into Katy’s protective cell in Gotham Jail to kill her. Batman intervenes and, while the two fight, Katy slips away. She takes a piece of broken glass and uses it to kill a motorist and steal his car. Pulsar knocks Batman through a wall and escapes.

Having been injured in the fight, Katy wrecks the car and tries to flee on foot. She stumbles upon Iris, who, believing Katy to be the victim of a mugging, takes the latter into her home and tends to her injuries.

While Katy showers, Val pops in through Iris’s living room window. Iris is delighted to see him and welcomes him back with a kiss. Before Val can reveal his reason for coming back, a news report announces Pulsar’s attack at Gotham Jail. Since Val thought Pulsar had reformed, he leaves to track down his former enemy. But before he goes, he sneezes (the result of failing to get his 30th century inoculations) and grabs a nearby hanky—belonging to Katy.

At Gotham Jail, Val runs into Batman—who knows the Legionnaire from previous encounters and welcomes his assistance. When Val sneezes again and produces the hanky, Batman matches it to a piece of cloth found on the shard of glass used to kill the motorist. Realizing that Iris is somehow caught up with the Black Heart, Val and Batman head to her apartment. Travers and his goons listen in on a police scanner and come to the same conclusion.

The heroes and terrorists arrive simultaneously at Iris’s apartment. Batman takes on the members of the Black Heart, leaving Pulsar to Karate Kid. Val accidentally flips Pulsar through a window and follows him onto the roof of a nearby building. During their fight, Pulsar reveals that he returned to a life of crime after his former mob bosses murdered his wife and children. When Val gains the upper hand, Travers—watching from Iris’s window—activates the atomic bomb in the hitman’s heart, setting off an explosion.

Karate Kid helps Batman defeat the rest of the terrorists, while Iris prevents Katy from escaping by sitting on her.

As the villains are taken away, Iris reveals that she once hated Val, but, now that he’s back, things can be as they once were. However, Val reveals that he came back to the past only to invite Iris to his wedding. Crushed, she tells him to leave. Val slinks away in his time bubble, leaving Batman to give Iris a consoling hug.

Thoughts: It’s very interesting—and a bit jarring—to see Val and Iris transported to the grim, noirish world of Batman. Gone are the silly villains like Master Hand and the run-of-the-mill baddies like Major Disaster. Instead these are realistic bad guys who shoot at the police with semi-automatic weapons. Despite their ordinary appearance and lack of powers, these villains are cunning and deadly. When Katy stabs the motorist to death, it is a chilling scene.

This makes Val seem all the more out of place. This guy from the future thinks nothing of entering an old lady’s room while she sleeps to ask about a friend. Val comes off as woefully naïve, not only in his dealings with Mrs. Geichman and Iris, but also in his conversation with Batman. As they run and swing across rooftops on their way to Iris’s apartment, Val launches into a clichéd speech about how terrorists think they are doing good for society even though they have no qualms about killing members of that society. This prompts some good-natured ribbing from Batman, who says he feels the same way but sees no reason to get “chatty” about it.

Karate Kid and Batman play well off each other although they have few scenes together. They meet only on Page 14 of this 23-page story, and, once they engage with their enemies, they do so separately. But there is some nice banter. When Val overhears Batman lecturing the terrorists, he throws the “chatty” comment back at him.

Of course, the real reason to review this issue is because it resolves two standing plotlines from KK’s own series: his relationship with Iris and the fate of reluctant hitman Pulsar. The latter is dispensed with very quickly. Pulsar turns out to be a mere plot device to get Val into the action; his return to crime is explained in a logical but matter-of-fact way. And then he apparently dies. (We don’t see the body, of course.) How Travers got hold of the detonation device is unexplained, but poor Benjamin Day has served his purpose.

The Iris storyline comes to a much more satisfying resolution, even though it doesn’t portray our hero in the best of light. In fact, it only highlights Val’s cluelessness. However, Iris herself comes off better in this story than she did at any point during KK’s series. She displays kindness toward Katy and still hurts over Val’s departure, yet she is willing to take him back in an instant. She can also hold her own against a female terrorist. This Iris is much more interesting and nuanced.

This, of course, makes the conclusion all the more heartrending. For all her multi-layered personality, Iris is as naïve as Val. She accepts without question the notion that he has come back to live in the 20th century and come back to her. When Val tells her the truth, it devastates her.

One of the things I admire about this story is that neither Val nor Iris are wholly to blame, though each bears some fault. Each saw in the other what he or she wanted. Neither saw the truth.

Odds and Ends: The story is well plotted, though it relies on a great deal of convenience to get Val from Point A to Point B. Most notable is the hanky—part of which is left at the crime scene and part of which Val takes with him because he just happens to sneeze. The parts of the hanky fit together neatly, revealing a black heart emblem.

While such a coincidence can be viewed as a weakness of the story, it is also a sign of craft. We’ve talked about the craft of writing comics in our reviews of the Bates/Shooter-era Legion stories, and, although such writers did not always produce the most believable scripts, they sure kept the story moving and got characters in and out quickly. Mike W. Barr was no exception.

This story apparently marks the first DC work for Chuck Patton—hence the “introduce” credit. He does a bang-up job. My only complaint is that some of his poses (the cop on Page 4, Batman on Page 9) make the characters look squeamish.

There's some very nice dialogue, as well:

Gordon (upon being introduced to Karate Kid): “I don’t care if he calls himself the Cisco Kid; I’ll take all the help I can—“

Val (upon entering Iris’s apartment): “Excuse me, Miss, but I’m lost. I took a left at the year 2000, but I don’t think—“

Iris: “Val, how could you? Do you think I could stand to see you married to someone else, after the way I cared for you . . . the way I care for you?”

That last line, simple but eloquent, says it all.

Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth # 58
Written by: Jack C. Harris
Art by: Dick Ayers and Danny Bulandi

Before I get into the review itself I want to thank HWW for the recap of KK #15, which I don't have and have never read. This book is slightly less confusing to me now. One quick note: although it may seem that dogs are the dominant species on Kamandi's earth, the reality is that there are several dominant species, many of which are quite territorial. The dog characters tend to be relatively neutral when it comes to the various conflicts between species; they are, however, fierce and loyal allies of the sentient human, Kamandi.

So on to the story itself. We start with the obligatory late 70s two or three pages of heroes fighting each other over a misunderstanding, in this case the fact that Kamandi thinks KK is just another movie character he is being forced to fight. KK himself is even more clueless than Kamandi, who thinks this is all really happening. On page three KK recaps the final issue of his own book to Kamandi, who flashes on the fact that they both know the same dogs and comes to the realization that KK is actually as real as Kamandi himself. They discover that they are the main attraction at a drive-in movie; they can even see the lobster boys in their station wagons (why everyone showed up in a station wagon is beyond me).

All this time, near the projection booth itself, Dr. Canus and Bloodstalker (the latter being a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Toby) have been watching the action. On page six, however, they are discovered by the lobster boys (who talk like mid-60s L.A. hipsters). The lobster boys then start shooting paralyzer rays at them. Luckily for our canine friends, the lobster boys are lousy shots (or maybe just too stoned to shoot straight), and Bloodstalker quickly comes up with a plan: fake being paralyzed.

'Stalker's plan works well enough to get them into the projection room, where they manage to cause the image on the screen to flutter. This upsets the audience, inspiring Kamandi and KK to...do nothing. The lobster boys soon demand new "gods" to populate the screen and storm the projection room, freeing our heroes and destroying the projector itself in the process (Bummer, man).

While the movie screen burns (how the flames in the projector room caught the screen on fire is never explained), our heroes escape in a flying car populated by Iris, Doile, Spirit (who has a line of dialogue, incidentally) and Pyra, who could possibly qualify for Legion membership based on her piloting skills alone.

As our heroes make their escape the lobster boys set about rebuilding their "god watching" apparatus. I'm not sure why this is important, but it takes up half of page twelve, so I felt like I should at least mention it.

Back in the flying car (which is actually a small space ship, it turns out) Pyra brings KK and Kamandi up to date on the Iris situation, explaining that she only has enough power to either return KK to his own timeline or fix Iris, but not both. KK decides to take Iris home as is, figuring he has a better chance of curing her using tech from his own timeline.

Before leaving, however, Val works with Pyra to hook his time bubble and her spaceship up with something called the Vortex. This Vortex is apparently the cause of the Great Disaster that created Kamandi's timeline and is known even to the Lord Of Time, who refers to it as the greatest secret in all time and space, stating that the power of the Vortex is beyond even his grasp.

The linkage is successful, and as KK and Iris float off in the time sphere Kamandi remarks that it was "great to meet another intelligent human being, even briefly." I turn the page expecting Spirit to smack Kamandi with a heavy blunt object for that last remark, but instead just see them all waving goodbye to KK as he fades out.

The last few panels serve to set up the next issue of Kamandi, in which the group in the flying car have to figure out how to get beyond a wall that seems to go on forever.

Final thoughts:

I find myself wishing I had followed the Kamandi series more closely over the years, as I found the story to be quite entertaining, with some pretty interesting characters throughout. Although KK's part in the story was as a guest star rather than an ongoing character, some effort was made to move his own story along, and (if I remember correctly) leads directly to his return to the Legion. The Ayers/Bulandi art is actually quite good. Anyone who can make a lobster looked bummed out gets my vote. One last note: I can't help but notice that the giant wall on the final page has more than a passing resemblance to the barrier surrounding the Sorcerers' world in the Magic Wars saga so many years later, even to the gold-colored panel with what looks like some sort of lock in it.

Thanks for the review of Kamandi # 58, Hermit. I always wondered how the story turned out.

I love it that KK and Kamandi figured that the way to annoy their captors was to do nothing. This supports my theory that the story was meant to comment on pop culture and the obsession with celebrities then and now. If the "gods" of the screen don't do what you want them to do, just go crazy and find other gods.

It's interesting that Pyra had only enough power to do one thing or the other. It forced Val to make a choice. He obviously made the right one: If Iris had been restored to normal, she and Val would have been stuck in Kamandi's timeline--hardly a good trade-off.

KK's time bubble was destroyed by the tidal wave in KK # 15. Did Kamandi # 58 explain how it got repaired?

It's also interesting that Major Disaster and the Lord of Time apparently disappear as KK's antagonists after this issue. They never were actually defeated, and nothing seems to have come from the Lord of Time's plan.

I think I would have enjoyed a few more Batman/KK issues. Val could learn a lot from Batman - and maybe he could even teach Bats a few tricks from 30th century martial arts.



Too bad to see this ending for Pulsar. Maybe it's more realistic to have him helping the terrorists, but I wouldn't have minded to see him fight with the good guys, even as a plot device.



Well, maybe not a solo Iris series, but she could have appeared as a character in some more DC titles. Manager of the JLA Satellite? Administrative Assistant to Perry White?



Sad, but again, very true to life. I wonder if Val would have married her if he couldn't return to the future for some reason, just because she was there, available and willing.

It sounds like the issue ended the series on a higher note overall than had been seen overall. At least there was some finality. Poor Iris. I hope she went on to better things.

Maybe if you were a lobster, it would make sense. It all sounds very trippy.



Probably a wise decision, but I'm curious as to how power would cure Iris.



This all sounds quite interesting!



This description does make me curious to read the Kamandi story. I read the tale published as part of that DC Weekly they did a few years ago, but never saw the original. And the lobsters sound hilarious....



I wonder if that was the inspiration. The wall also brings to mind the wall/the Source in Kirby's New Gods.

Thanks for the Kamandi review, Hermit! It does sound amusing.