Tag: Dr. Norman Grimes

Welcome back to the Super-Karate Action Hour with our third issue of Karate Kid, the spin-off to the hit series Superboy Starring the Legion of Super-Heroes!

And boy, do we have an action packed issue here. David Michelinie continues to deliver it with a new villain and Rick Estrada and Joe Staton challenge us to challenge them in who is the best deliverer of karate action on the planet.

Now, starting stance young students, and let’s get kata-ing!

The Revenger

Manhattan morning! A city bustling awake to the grumble of snarling traffic and scuffling feet—while in the lobby of an already crowded midtown bank, the somewhat softer sounds of money mingle with those of gratitude.

Karate Kid stands in line to the bank teller and thanks Iris for putting him up these few weeks and for teaching him the peculiarities of the 20th century. It is of course Iris’ pleasure and she is also happy to show him how to deposit the funds the city of New York donated to him as a thank you for defeating Major Disaster last issue.

As they continue to analyze the pros and cons of the super-hero industry, a menacing shadow falls upon the aspiring couple and crashes through the bank window. The intruder announces himself as the Revenger and warns the innocents to stay away because he’s on a mission to purge the evil in the bank.

Karate Kid of course ignores that warning and swiftly tackles him to the ground, taking the Revenger by surprise. The Revenger may have been startled and surprised, but it’s hard to tell because he swiftly hits Karate Kid with his special arm, catapulting KK across the room. 

With Karate Kid out of the way, the Revenger heads to the door that staes William J. Grant, President, and smashes it to pieces with his weapon. Aforementioned Grant huddles behind a desk, frightened and asks the intruder what he wants. The Revenger points his finger directly at him and, with a menacing voice, answers with the word ‘you.’

Meanwhile Karate Kid is back on his feet and he hears a scream. He quickly rushes over to the office but he is too late. Grant is dead with a note attached to his body that reads:

The banker is one,

Justice is done,

When the jeweler is through

Then there’ll be two.

Karate Kid is worried because he knows there will be another murder.

Later, some blocks away at the rooftop dwelling of Dr. Norman Grimes, alias of the Revenger, we find our villain feeding his pet penguins. As he feeds them he talks to them and begins to divulge his backstory and motivation for his recent killing spree.

He used to be part of a think tank and it was going quite well. So well in fact that they gifted him the penthouse he’s standing on. The Revenger continues,

“Yes, and I remember how the board of investors—Grant, Knight and Spencer— were so interested in my heavy-metal formula—assuring me that they shared my dreams of building cities with indestructible materials that would last centuries—and eliminate slums.

“So I worked hard for them…days, months, years…until finally one day…success!”

“I agreed to keep my discovery a secret while the board searched for the best way to use it in helping mankind. But I was a fool.”

“When I found that my life’s work was being sold for war materials—devices to destroy what I had sought so idealistically to upgrade—I was furious.”

“But with that anger came a new clarity—and I began to see my duty. I would make those even men pay for their perfidy! And since I still had access to the company’s laboratories, I soon created the machines of retribution: A deadly whip made of the same metal they had stollen from me. And a specially-constructed power-arm to enable me to wield that weapon in the cause of justice.”

He comes out of his trance and refocuses on his beloved pigeons. He revels in the success of killing one of his so-named thieves, and knows the others will follow.

Later about 23 blocks away to the south, Val Armorr is finalizing a deal on a new apartment that has been generously furnished by the owner. Not really considering hearts and pink to be his choice of decor, Iris reminds him that it’s cheap and that he does need a place to stay. He acquiesces and signs the lease.

However, the signing is soon interrupted by a special news bulletin of a costumed maniac rampaging through the jewelry district of the city. Karate Kid knows it must be the Revenger and without a moments hesitation he decides to take the quickest exit: The window. And despite there not being a fire escape, Karate Kid manages to effortless flip his way down, landing soundly on a car below.

Having studied a map that Iris provided, Karate Kid quickly makes his way to the jewelry district and sure enough sees the Revenger making his way through the crowed. Val goes into pursuit but is cut off by a group of thugs who have taken advantage of the commotion and made a little heist of their own. They see Karate Kid and challenge him. Val charges and quickly takes them out. 

Suddenly a shuriken whips past his cheek. A large man taunts him, telling him he might make easy work of common street thugs, but he has black belt. The man charges and Karate Kid blocks one punch and then the next, before delivering his own right hook against the man’s jaw.

The others start to rush him, telling him he can’t take out the four of them at once. Fine, but Karate Kid doesn’t want to take out four, but rather three at the same time with a sweep of the legs. The lone survivor doesn’t have much of a chance and Karate Kid easily puts him in a headlock and finishes him off with a swift kick to the body.

He continues his pursuit of the Revenger, following his tracks to Knight Jewelers, where he finds another note on top of a dead body. The note reads:

The Jeweler is through,

Now there are two.

When the leader is three,

Then settled will be!

Deflated, Karate Kid knows there will be one last killing and his last chance to stop the Revenger once and for all. 

The Revenger returns to the rooftop to exclaim his victory to his feathered friends. There is one more to go and justice will be served.

Time passes slowly, as night wraps the towering office building in a sooty shroud. A dark coverlet that hides dangers of both shadow and substance. A menacing shadow falls over the door marking D.F. Spencer, Administrator Universal concept. And explodes.

The Revenger stands triumphantly in the office with only cold blooded murder in his heart. He sees a figure sitting at a desk, with its chair spun around, looking out the window. The Revenger commands Douglas Spencer to stand, for judgement has come. But who should spin around to face him? But the Karate Kid!

Val tells him that Spencer is in protective custody and it wasn’t difficult to deduce that Spencer was his last target. However the Revenger will not allow Karate Kid to stand in his way of vengeance, and swings his metal whip.

Karate Kid quickly blocks it and retaliates with a swift kick, knocking the Revenger back. But with only vengeance on his mind, The Revenger regroups and continues his assault on Karate Kid with his deadly whip. Val dodges one attack after the other. Knowing that he won’t be able to take any more direct hits, he concentrates and delivers a force of his own. He catches the whip, chops it in half, and delivers a fierce side-kick to the Revenger’s abdomen, knocking him down to the ground.

But the Revenger will not yield, and quickly back hands Karate Kid and runs off. Karate Kid gives chase and follows him to the top of his own building. The Revenger assures his friends that he will be back for them, but he has to find a new place for them first. However his plans are quickly dashed as Karate Kid appears with a flying kick, knocking the Revenger into the pigeons’ cages, destroying them. 

The Revenger is enraged and screams that he will kill Karate Kid. He administers a series of ferocious blows, forcing Karate Kid to continually be off balance. It takes every amount of strength and willpower for Val to dodge his furious blows. The Revenger squares at Karate Kid and with all his strength swings at him with his mighty arm. But Karate Kid dodges out of the way and instead his arm smashes through the support beam of a large sign standing on the roof. With the supports destroyed, the massive object begins to fall, right on top of the remaining pigeons’ cages. The Revenger has no regard for his own safety and quickly moves to put himself between his friends and the falling sign with a disastrous result. 

Karate Kid watches in complete shock as the sign crushes him and his pigeon friends fly off, escaping their own doom. Karate Kid looks at the wreckage and walks off, with the pigeons landing over the crushed body of their former master. Perhaps The Revenger has finally found peace.

Creative Team 

We are now three issues in with this interesting spin-off series. So how are we doing?

It does seem we’re getting the classic villain of the month, or at least in this case every two months, type of book. However what does save this issue is that the villain is not only new but very interesting. I do like how Michelinie gave the villain quite a bit of characterization. We not only have the motivation of revenge that drives The Revenger but also we can empathize a bit with him. Plus the designs of Estrada (and I suppose Staton), keeps it from going too much on the cheese side.

In fact, when I was reading this issue I couldn’t help but think that it was a Marvel book. We have a street level hero, albeit a spectacular one since he comes from the 30th Century, and a villain that we can sort of empathize with that is set in a real city. This surprised me but I do know that Gerry Conway was doing the same sort of thing with the Justice League books at the time, or at least starting to.

In addition to the villain, I am liking Iris as a character who is assisting Karate Kid. She isn’t doing too much except for helping him out more with the practical things, so I do wonder if we’ll see a relationship blossom. We are only three issues so the cast is still quite small, especially with a different villain jumping in with every issue. 

Thankfully, the book is still action packed and we are treated to some really nice take-downs. It is hard to match taking down a flying meteor with one swift kick. But Karate Kid still puts his skills on full display and takes down four thugs at a time, which just makes you smile. It’s still definitely riding the coattails of the martial arts craze. 

The art is doing its job. There are some wonderful moments especially when it comes to The Revengers rage and his love for the pigeons. Estrada and Staton are very good at the choreography. Especially when he takes down the black belt they take the time to illustrate the sequence panel by panel and it’s very effective.

Yes we’re only three issues in and I can so far tolerate the villain of the issue trope, but I would like to see some real direction pretty soon. Also I don’t know how this is really tying or overlapping with the main series despite some off handed comments that you really have to do some mental gymnastics to believe. But all in all it’s a great comic book and I do enjoy getting a lot of Val Armorr.

Karate Comments

Nothing too exciting in our letters page this time around. However, they’re still thanking Barry Jameson for covering for David Michelinie as he prepares for his entry into the series. The problem? Barry Jameson IS David Michelinie! So I do wonder why they’re playing a little Cloak and Dagger? Perhaps there was some legal stuff going on behind the scenes and Michelinie couldn’t publicly be credited for and hence paid for a story until something was settled. The whole poaching thing and jumping from Marvel to DC and vice versa was a very sensitive issue at the time, so I can only imagine this might have something to with it. Regardless it is funny.

But do we have two published letters pretty much praising the main series. Also it sounds like we’re getting a team-up with a major character shortly.

The second letter is from Bob Rodi, from Columbia, Missouri the town where I was born. So that was kind of neat to see. Rodi bought the issue simply because he wanted to see it fail, but he ended up being surprised. He enjoyed how Levitz handled the character and kept the main thread that Shooter started in Adventure Comics. Also he praised Estrada and Joe Staton and is amazed they are at DC. He ends of course with Long Live the Legion and…keep kicking Karate Kid!

And thank you Mr. Rodi because I’m now going to steal that for the sign off with these write-ups of Karate Kid. Who better to steal from than a fellow Columbian from Missouri?

Finally, the editor ends it saying that 80% of the letters were quite satisfied with the first effort. If we take their word for it then we can say the series is a pretty good success so far.  

Super-Karate Hour

It’s hard to top last issue’s square off between Karate Kid and a giant meteor. I don’t think we’ll ever top this. But the Super-Karate hour moment for me was when Val was in his new apartment. He had a lead on the Revenger and there was no time to waste. So he simply jumps out of his apartment not knowing there wasn’t a fire escape to help his fall. But why would he? They don’t exist in the 30th century. It was a nice moment, illustrated very well by Estrada and Staton, giving the book some movement and good vibes. 

And that’s it for this week folks! Whatever you do always make sure there is something there to break your fall. And as Bob Rodi once said…

KEEP KICKING!