Welcome back to our action packed Super-Karate Hour fellow Legionnaires! As we weave back and forth between Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes and Karate Kid, we are always ready, with an ear and an eye open, to spot any clues for things to come.

And boy, do we have some announcements and news that will heavily impact the main title going forward. If you were in 1976 and only reading the Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes title you would be missing quite a lot of what DC was scheming at the time. Because they announced it right here. 

But as you know from last issue, we ended on a cliffhanger. Commander Blud captured Karate Kid and used a machine to torture Karate Kid’s mind. But instead of capitulating to Blud’s will, Karate Kid instead went berserk and has effectively lost his mind. Can he get himself together? Is there anyone that can possibly stop the greatest martial artist in the universe? Read to find out!

Showdown with Commander Blud!

Karate Kid has lost his mind and continues to pummel Commander Blud’s henchmen until only he and Blud are standing. Val Armorr cries out “Shatter!” “Destroy!” “Kill!” And has Blud in his grip. He pulls back one of his mighty fists ready to strike, when the command of ‘No’ is called out and an invisible beam attaches itself to Karate Kid’s metal wrist bands. Who has the power to stop Karate Kid in his murderous rage? Four members of the Legion of Super-Heroes! That is who!

Cosmic Boy, the one who is the owner of the invisible beam, slams Karate Kid against the wall. Princess Projectra gasps and questions Cosmic Boy’s decision to be so rough. Unfortunately he has to, because as every Legionnaire knows, the Legion Code forbids killing under any circumstances. 

The word ‘kill’ once again triggers Karate Kid’s rage, and he lashes out at his fellow Legionnaires, giving Commander Blud the necessary distraction to make his escape. Cosmic Boy quickly realizes that he needs to somehow put down Karate Kid lest he puts them all out of commission and administers a ku-jui nerve punch, knocking him out. 

Cos tells Sun Boy to help free the girl, who is Iris Jacobs, a close companion of Karate Kid. Sun Boy frees her and she is immediately worried about Val who, just a short moment ago, was being tortured by Blud’s mind machine. But as she turns she see that he is already being attended to. By none other than Princess Projectra. Seeing how Jekie tends to him she understands there must be some history between them. And decides to take care of herself, and leaves. 

Karate Kid regains consciousness and sees his teammates stand before him. Sun Boy warns them to be ready, because even if it appears that his madness wore off, his own temper will flair up in any second. Cosmic Boy tells KK that their time-scanners detected someone trying to tamper with the time-stream and they traced it here. And it is a good thing too, otherwise Val would have killed Commander Blud.

But Val is having none of it and told them that the man he was fighting with is the same man they are here to stop. And their meddling allowed him to get away. But Cosmic Boy reminds him that they had no choice. They had to stop him from killing and uphold the prime directive of the Legion Code. 

Karate Kid still wants them to leave but Cosmic Boy once again counters that messing with the time stream is incredibly dangerous and is not the responsibility of just one person. Not even Karate Kid.

Karate Kid turns and walks away from his teammates, telling them that doing this alone is just the way it has to be. Princess Projectra is of course conerned but they will have to worry about it later. They have to stop Commander Blud. 

Meanwhile, back in Val’s apartment, Mrs. Gleichman, his landlady, is cleaning up his living room space, when she comes across a mysterious silver globe that made its introduction next issue. Thinking it is a television set, she tries to turn it on but nothing happens. After closer inspection the orb comes alive and demands to ask who she is and why she activated the monitor? But it is too late and Mrs. Gleichman has seen too much. The orb emits a powerful electric blast and kills her. 

Meanwhile, several blocks away, Karate Kid is trying to come to terms with everything that happened. Iris ended up leaving while his friends believe he is ungrateful and cold, not to mention that he almost killed Commander Blud. But he has to shake it off, because he needs to find out where Blud is hiding. And as he continues his walk a lone figure in the air draws nearer and nearer. Until the metallic bird is revealed and puts Karate Kid in its grasp and takes off. 

Like a soulless wind, the mechanical hawk carries a gape-mouthed hero over the towers of the city, to the filth-muddled Hudson River, where in less-than-gentle fashion, it releases its struggling burden. A burden that plummets sickeningly toward the oily dark waters below. Until, at the last possible moment, that fall is stopped by a beam of gravity-defying light—a glimmering ray that slowly lowers the startled Karate Kid through parted waters and into the burnished metal grasp of a member of Commander Blud’s elite Cyborg Corps.

Karate Kid immediate counters with a swift side kick right to the robot’s head, knocking it clear off. And unfortunately, the robot was not alone and he is immediately surrounded by more. Lest we not forget that Karate Kid’s skills are born of a lifetime of study, of dedication to the fighting arts of distant worlds and distant times. And so it is little wonder that the abilities so deadly against foes who are human—should prove equally effective against those who are not. Because all that remains is a figure surrounded by a rabble of robot parts. Val Armorr is victorious. 

However, as many more are about to join the fray, a command of ‘at ease’ is given and the robots stop. Commander Blud has arrived. He welcomes Karate Kid to his auxiliary headquarters and tells him that all great generals have a contingency plan. In fact, it is here that he has amassed the finest robot warriors and fleet of submarines. All for the purpose of going to the site of the next World War. A site that Karate Kid will no doubt reveal.

Karate Kid refuses and Commander Blud sneers. He makes him another offer. This time, the information inside Karate Kid’s head, for the lives of his friends. And with that, the Legion of Super-Heroes arrive, albeit trapped in a force field. Blud had conveniently left a series of clues that he knew would lead them right into a trap. And now for the next step in Blud’s plan, and with a press of a button, the force field starts to dissipate the mass of his friends, and soon they will disappear entirely. 

Karate Kid rushes to Princess Projectra and attempts to smash the force field down. But it is useless and Blud tells him so. Val agrees, and he tells Blud he has won and that he does not have much of a choice. When suddenly the dome’s ceiling begins to crack, and tons of deadly black water begin to pour into the submarine chamber. 

Karate Kid takes advantage of Blud’s distraction and kicks the remote control out of his hand, and smashes it to pieces with a well placed stomp. The Legionnaires are free of the force field and the pouring water suddenly disappears. Blud is flabbergasted and does not understand what happened. But that is an easy one and Karate Kid fills us in. When he rushed over to Princess Projectra he whispered to her to use her mental powers and to create the illusion of the dome being cracked. 

Blud is not defeated and tries one last maneuver. He commands his remaining robots to attack. However, we know that Blud is not familiar with the 30th Century’s greatest heroes. Because they easily destroy Blud’s robot army. Blud dashes for the exit and Karate Kid gives chase. He sees a mini-sub ahead of Blud and knows that must be his means for escape. And with the head start he has, KK will never be able to reach him in time. Unless…and then like a human spring, Karate Kid coils himself into a modified crane position, focuses his concentration on one of the thick pressure-resistant glass portals, and strikes. Instantly the corridor fills with the fury of a flood unleashed—a torrent that sweeps the calculations super-hero off his feet and carries him swiftly down the spray-splashed passageway to a most effective and starting conclusion. And that conclusion is right to Commander Blud meeting Karate Kid’s feet. 

The “mop-up” is quickly seen to, and after the would-be time thief has been bound, the Legionnaires are set to say their goodbye once more. But must pause in order to give Princess Projectra one last chance to convince Val Armorr to come back with her. But this is turned down by our hero, which makes him very sad. His work is not yet done and he still needs to find himself.

And with that, Jeckie joins her teammates in the time-bubble and returns to the 30th Century, leaving Karate Kid alone once more. 

As he walks down the street back toward his apartment, he meets Iris along the way. She wants to apologize to him for running off like she did. It was a very childish thing to do. She extends her hand, out of friendship, and Val takes it warmly. He could use a friend right about now.

As they walk together they notice there are police cars and an ambulance parked right in front of his apartment building. When the police officers see Val, they rush over to him and put him under arrest.

For the murder of Mrs. Gleichman.

Next issue: Karate Kid in chains, a new super-villain! And more on the mysterious monitor.

Creative Team

This is yet another action packed issue in our spin-off series. And I might want to say it is one of the best. The weird plot moving devices that plagued the first parter have thankfully disappeared with this second installment. In fact, I guess you could call the first issue the padding, and the second story could be a standalone in itself.

Right from the beginning when the Legion of Super-Heroes make their dramatic entrance you know you are in for a treat. Having the team around does elevate the book up to the high floor of greatness.

Michelinie continues proving to us why he is one of the best in the comic book business. Not only does he handle the conflict very well, gives room for the Legion to turn up, but also reinforces the idea of the title that Val is here to find himself. And he is not yet ready. But by far what makes this title stick out, especially in comparison to the main book, is the B-plot. In so much as this one actually has a B-plot and the main book does not. 

I personally thought the metallic talking globe mystery would be solved this issue. But it is not. And there are consequences, such as the killing of Val’s landlady. Also, one of the most heart-wrenching moments was when Iris wants to help Val but sees he is already being attended to. And we see Princess Projectra cradling his head in her arms, trying to sooth him. And she walks away.

However, she returns, apologizing, and gives Val a firm handshake. Have they always been friends? I would assume so and it is obvious that nothing behind the scene has actually happened between the two. But does this also mean that the ‘will they, won’t they’ has been answered? Perhaps. But with Iris firmly saying that they are friends and she is happy with it definitely makes it appear to be so. Regardless, I am still interested in Iris and the fact that she is able to take Princess Projectra in stride and realize that she should not expect anything from Val in that department, shows us readers how strong of a character she really is. 

Now let us move to the art. We will have some additional comments in the letters page, but I still really enjoy what Ric Strada and Joe Staton are bringing to this book. They handled the Legionnaires very well. Certainly, the strength is their depictions of the many movements that Karate Kid employs against his adversaries. They do have a cartoony look to their characters, but I think it is very effective here. Michelinie gives them vibrant villains to depict and they bring it to a very Bond-like level. The balance of the art having a cartoony with a bit more realism is what makes it work. So far. I just hope they keep that balance because it can easily slip into a campy feel.

My main complaint in this issue is that there are a lot of coloring mistakes. I mean a lot. I do not know if the color code for purple is too close to another color, but purple shows up quite a bit. The coloring is really off that at times you do not know which character is supposed to be which. I do not know if a digital version exists and I also have not seen these issues in a reprinted format, such as in a graphic novel form, but I can imagine if they exist the coloring mistakes would be corrected.

But all in all this was just a really fun issue. Karate Kid continues to be an additional treat to compliment the main line. The entire creative team understands what this book is about and with Denny O’Neil joining the fray, I do not think they are going to let up on the action any time soon. 

Karate Comments

With this issue’s Karate Comments we have two letters but boy do we have a lot of revelations. And not just revelations but important, book changing, no…LIFE CHANGING revelations. 

The first is from Kevin L. Callahan who comments on issue #4 and in particular Ric Estrada and Joe Staton’s depiction of Master Hand. And it is a very good point, something that I failed to mention during my write-up of that issue.

“If my name were Wu instead of Callahan I would have been offended by Karate Kid #4…I have voiced my objections to the Estrada/Staton tea before, though usually on more overall grounds. Their job on KK #4 harkened back to the days of the pulps, which featured a leerling, incredibly slant-eyed Fu Manchu perpetrating the “Yellow Peril” stereotype…the representation of Master Hand…was no more than a caricature and a very unpleasant one.” 

And he makes a very important point, especially the depiction of the inner monologue of Master Hand when he lays out his motivations. Unfortunately these types of depictions were quite common during the period and for me it is very interesting to see that it was so strongly frowned upon, even in 1976. Sometimes when we look at older books we automatically make the assumption that everyone believed these to be okay, especially the so called mainstream. But it proves that it was not the case.

We do have Denny O’Neil as the editor on this one, and if you are familiar with Mr. O’Neil, he was never shy on these sorts of criticisms, especially in his own books or putting the company that pays his salary to task. 

The response is that both Estrada and Staton come from the so called “cartoonist” school. What is interesting is that these criticisms will come up on Staton’s work in the future, especially when he moves to the New Guardians in the 80’s. Also they point out that this letter is the only negative one with this complaint, but come on, that does not say much.

As for the second letter it takes the opposite view and praises the artwork, especially pertaining to the authentic depiction of the various martial art movements. The response chalks it up to their painstaking research and also to Denny O’Neil who was the co-creator of Kung Fu Fighter. But then it gets interesting because what comes next is very enlightening and has ramifications for the main book, Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, that will mark another milestone that is the history of the Legion of Super-Heroes.

…”Not only is KK involved in a field within [Denny O’Neil’s] expertise, but it’s also the companion title to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, which Denny will be Story Editing beginning with #224.”

So there we go, we knew Murray Boltinoff would be departing but it will be Denny O’Neil who takes the gig. And if you think that is all, it gets even better. Get ready Legion fans!

“KK fans may also wish to note that the man who wrote the first issue of this mag will be moving on to take over the scripting chores on Superboy/LSH with the December release of that mag. And Paul Levitz promises to work closely with Barry Jameson to maintain a synchronized continuity between the two titles.” 

HOT DOG! Can you believe it? In just a couple more issues we will be officially welcoming Paul Levitz to the main book and we are in store for some greatness. Plus it is great to see that Denny will be editing both titles and I do hope there will be some shared plot lines between the two books.

So that being said and with the new editor now aboard (and having not read ahead), here’s my wish list for Karate Kid.

1. Deeper exploration of his relationship with Iris. They might have closed the book because they shook hands as friends, but I still want to know more about Iris. 
2. A definite hopping between the two books, but not every issue. I want to see a marvelous three to four parter that has ramifications for both the Karate Kid and Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes books.
3. More original villains, especially those that are trying to mess with the time-stream. 

I think we will be in good hands and I am definitely looking forward to reading on and seeing what is to come. 

Super-Karate Hour

This was one action packed book. But our Super-Karate Hour definitely has to be when Karate Kid took down a literal army of robots with his bare hands and his feet. It was very well depicted. Are we at ‘Meteor-kicking’ level? Of course not, and frankly we will never be again. Because how can you top that? But this was still a great moment the creative team continues to incorporate a lot of action in this book and I hope this continues.

Sorry robots, but I do hope other robots learned their lesson. Karate Kid is the greatest martial artists of the 30th century. And I think we can say of any century. And if there is one thing Val loves to do, it is to take down evil robots bent on world and time-line destruction.

And that is it for the latest issue of Karate Kid! We have a lot of things to look forward to and I cannot wait to welcome Paul Levitz soon. 

But in the meantime, always brush up on your martial art skills and…

KEEP KICKIN’!