Tag: Nathan Chapman

I gotta tell you. After four Giant-Sized issues almost back to back, it is quite refreshing to return to a ‘normal’ seventeen-page comic from the 70’s. Those write-ups were intense, especially the JLA crossover. But they were worth it!

Well, hello old friend that is Karate Kid, and your twelth issue to boot! And boy do we have a change here. Not only do we have a new writer in Bob Rozakis (hey where is Paul Levitz they promised?!), but also a couple of new artists in Juan Ortiz and Bob McLeod! Welcome to Legion HQ Juan and Bob! Bob McLeod would incidentally become one of my favorite Superman artists during the aptly-coined ‘triangle era’ but I guess Bob would not know that at the time. But this also means we do have a departure from the look of the book made famous (or infamous depending on your perspective) by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton. I will miss those guys.

And speaking of things that I gotta say, this is a pretty darn good issue, which surprised me in many ways. Iris Jacobs has stuck around and she is about to make a pretty important decision that may change her character forever. Plus we do have some timey-wimey goodness with a Superboy who can definitely throw a punch.

But I will stop here and let the story speak for itself! Gee up Karate heroes, and get kickin’!

The ‘Time’ of Your Death!

Time: One second after the end of last issue.

Place: New York City. 

Cast: A puzzled Karate Kid and a distraught Iris Jacobs.

Yes, an Iris Jacobs who walks away despite Karate Kid pleading for her to stay. But the pleading is cut short by a nasty bolt of red, as it hits Karate Kid with a nice “BZZAPT!”

Iris turns, ready to give into Val’s plea. But where Val stood is now just an empty street. She hoped that he would still be there and that he would think of her more than a friend, Princess Projectra or not. She decides that she will just have to prove herself to him. And with a defying look, she enters the large building of S.T.A.R. Laboratories Test Center.

At that same moment, Karate Kid hurtles through time and space. Luckily he recognizes the sensation and senses that he is going to the past. He lands with a bump in front of Smallville Feed 7 Grain and realizes he is in, well, Smallville. But he better get a move on because suddenly the ground cracks beneath his feet and begins to erupt. He just manages to jump over a newly created crevice. When he lands, the building nearest him starts to crumble and tumbles down, threatening to bury him beneath its rubble. But this is Karate Kid we are talking about here and with one mighty “HIIII-YAH!” he smashes that building to crumbs.

He continues to run for cover and thinks. He realizes that he recognizes what is happening and it must once again be the actions of Major Disaster who probably dragged him through time again to test him on his new playground. He tries to find the outer barrier like last time but there is not one. Is this real? Then as he continues his search he finally comes to the source of the rumble, and before him he sees…

SUPERBOY! Superboy is causing the earthquakes and seems to be destroying his own town. Instead of running away, Karate Kid charges, leaps, and kicks Superboy right in the face. That obviously got his attention and also forced him to stop creating the earthquake. Superboy wipes his chin and grimaces at Karate Kid. He demands to know who he is. What? Superboy does not recognize him? Superboy answers with the affirmative, then at super-speed delivers a quick punch, knocking Karate Kid back who was not fast enough to dodge it. However Val is not one who gives up so easily and he regroups and again, delivers a mighty leaping kick that hits Superboy back. Superboy compliments him on his fancy footwork but unfortunately for him, Superboy is invulnerable. He squares at Karate Kid and then flies right at him. Val stares, takes his time, and in one quick movement he grabs Superboy’s wrist and uses his momentum against him, swinging him right against the nearest tree. 

Superboy cannot help but be impressed but is there anything that will stop him from turning him into a pretzel? Karate Kid smiles and tosses a small rock he found up and down. Gladly, he tells Superboy as he pelts him with it, explaining how he learned this technique on the planet Falkone-IV, and he learned how to propel objects like they were bullets. Superboy barely twitches but Karate Kid uses the moment to quickly hide. Luckily that rock he threw was lined with lead so he was not able to see where he hid. He also dove into a lead-filled hole, which should give him enough time to think of his next move. 

We leave this scene and zoom in on S.T.A.R. Laboratories where Iris is trying to fill in some incomplete questions for Dr. Lewiston that she missed on her questionnaire form. She confirms that she works as a teacher but why does she want to give up a nice job up like that? She explains that she needs a challenge and she wants to prove herself. The word ‘challenge’ must have been what the good doctor was waiting for to hear, because he then says she is approved.

We return to the heat of the battle and Superboy is desperately trying to smash Karate Kid to pieces who continues to successfully dodge his super-punches. Superboy hones in on his heartbeat and charges to the ground, and Val is able to dodge just in time. But third time is the charm because Superboy hits him from below but Val just manages to grab hold of his cape. Superboy is startled and enraged, especially seeing how Karate Kid holds out his cape in front of him like a matador. Superboy swooshes in at terrific speed, and Karate Kid dodges and then quickly pulls the cape over him. And he does a good job of it too, since his cape is indestructible. But Superboy is Superboy, and he goes into a super-spin, flinging Karate Kid up in the air, and then crashes into the side of a building. 

Karate Kid jumps and is back in action. He studies his new environment and sees that he is in a big warehouse. But there is something funny about it, and something he cannot put his finger on. And then he notices that the warehouse is empty just like the town, which means it must be fake and probably another one of Major Disaster’s test sites. But if this town is fake, then that means Superboy must be fake as well. Superboy answers him that he is the real deal as he crashes through the wall to take Karate Kid down. 

We zoom out and we see Major Disaster watching the battle on a monitor scheme with an unknown, hidden figure. The mystery man admits that they have successfully kept Karate Kid mentally off balance and Superboy is performing the task that Major Disaster should have undertaken, but this is much easier. Major Disaster agrees and concedes that the hidden figure indeed arranged it like a masterstroke. The mystery man puts off the congratulations and decides to assemble the rest of the cast and pushes an ominous looking button. 

We return to the battle and to a very happy Superboy who tells Karate Kid that the whole town is indeed fake, because he built it. He agreed to help out the scientists from S.R.A. (Scientific Research Associates, the predecessor to S.T.A.R. labs) and test the effects that a massive earthquake can have on a town. Karate Kid accepts the explanation and puts his hand out for a hearty handshake. Superboy returns the handshake, understanding that such a mistake might happen and it probably did not look as good as he thought. But Karate Kid has another technique up his sleeve, a little trick he learned on Loback-III, where police developed a hold to overcome super-powered criminals who tyrannized the planet, a hold that he has Superboy in now. The real Superboy would have known who Karate Kid was from the onset and that was the big mistake he made. But a voice in the distance interrupts and tells Karate Kid it is he who has made the mistake. And Karate Kid follows the voice and sees none other than…

Saturn Girl! And the Legion of Super-Heroes! And they order him to let go of Superboy or they will tear him apart!

Next issue: Karate Kid versus the Legion of Super-Heroes. The master plan of major disaster and his mysterious partner! Plus: More on Iris Jacob’s’ new ‘challenge!” All in KK #13, on sale the 1st week in December!

Creative Team

I will admit that Karate Kid #11 was a bit of a head scratcher. It did not do much of anything and it felt like we were going backward rather than forward with Major Disaster as the villain. But I am surprised to say that issue #12 peaked my interest again. This was one fun comic book. It had a lot of action as we are accustomed to with the Karate Kid series, and it was also quite fun how Rozakis defined KK’s techniques to a particular place and planet he visited in the 30th Century. I thought this was quite clever and it really fleshed out Karate Kid as a character and his world and the reasoning for the techniques he uses. 

The best part of course was that battle with Superboy. Now, at this point we do not know if this is indeed the real Superboy, but if you ever imagined what a battle between these two characters would look like, it is well displayed here. Karate Kid dodging as much as he can, using SB’s momentum against him, and basically just trying to fend him off as much as he can before finding a possible escape route. What is impressive that even after Superboy tried to bluff his way out of it, Karate Kid did not let up and continued the assault and remained suspicious. It was tied off nicely with the unexpected appearance of the Legion of Super-Heroes because you were definitely not expecting that.

I am curious on what Iris Jacobs is going to do, but it looks like she will be turned into some sort of monster or possibly a new villain that KK must take down. I hope not, I think this would have been an easy copout. I do wish they would have fleshed this character out a bit more but it looks like they are using her simply to discard her. Again, we know we have about three issues left so there is not much more they can do or places to go, but I do hope they keep her safe. 

Now for the art. If you have been following along you know that I am a big fan of Ric Estrada, even though he has been quite divisive on the book. So I was quite sad to see him go. I will give compliments to Juan Ortiz though. He handled all he characters nicely, even though he could have used a bit of a brushing up on some gesturing for the fighting stances and movements that marital artists make. He is definitely good at the human form though, and he handled the action quite well. My only big complaint I guess is that Superboy does look a bit too much on the Superman side of things but hey, those are only tiny complaints. The art is not bad and it is enough to keep my interest and the pages moving. Also he did do the art for DC Super-Stars #17 so I believe that must have been his try-out.

All in all a very surprising issue in how good it was, considering what we got with #11. It is a false hope though because after three issues we are done. But you must give kudos and recognition that they were obviously trying to up the quality on the book, and no one can fault them for that. Plus Val is such a cool character and I do not mind getting seventeen pages of his adventures. 

Karate Comments

Despite the new change in team and direction of the book, it is business as usual in the letters section. This time we have three letters, two praising the book and one servicing an error.

The two praises from Nathan Chapman and Snapper Estes hit on all the points from our own coverage from last issue. Chapman even notices the less cartoony style of Estrada and how it fit perfectly with the issue. Snapper Estes (is that even his real name?) pleads for them to keep Iris Jacobs on the book. It seems Iris resonated with a lot of fans back then and I do agree. They really did not do much with her but with her decision to do something at S.T.A.R. labs in this issue, it looks like that is about to change. 

The last letter form Bill Keller puts the team to task and points out that Princess Projectra received her powers from a witch, and is the only Orandian with such powers and makes complaints about Lightning Lad’s costume. Cary Burkett, who is editing the letters page admits to the mistakes and will try to make sure it does not happen again.

Nothing forthcoming of what to expect but with the fact that we have about three issues left I do not see this changing anytime soon. Either way, we know the book has been divisive, and now that the art team has been switched, will it bring more readers into the fold and will we have a constant creative team all the way to issue #15? Time will tell!

Super-Karate Hour

Thankfully this book is still full of action. I do miss Estrada’s master depiction of our various martial arts moves but Juan Ortiz did a commendable job and also made it easy to pick out that moment that is worthy of the Super-Karate Hour!

You would probably think it was the moment when Karate Kid easily dodged Superboy’s flight attack with a cool judo technique flipping him over, but no. The moment is obviously when an entire building was crashing down on him, and Karate Kid punches right through it and destroying it with, what I assume must have been, a super-Karate punch. I would not want to be that building, that is for sure. 

And with that, we leave this refreshing seventeen page tale. But do not worry, if you were disappointed on the word count and enjoy those big Giant-Size write-ups, we will be back next week with just one of those, as we continue our coverage of Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. And until that time, always remember, no matter how life is treating you or if a building is heading your way…

Keep kickin’!