Imperial Guard #14

The Imperial Guard #14 (October, 1977)
title: "Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!"
writer: Chris Claremont
penciller: Dave Cockrum
inker: Dan Green
colorist: Andy Yanchus
letterer: Joe Rosen
editor: Archie Goodwin
covers: Dave Cockrum, Art Adams (variant)

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board: 
Astra, Electron, Fang, Gladiator, Hobgoblin, Impulse, Midget, Nightside, Magique, Mentor, Oracle, Quasar, Starbolt, Smasher, Tempest, Titan

Guest Star(s):
Majestor D'Ken, Eric the Red

Opponent:
Majestrix Lilandra, alien groups The Ex-Men and the Fatal Four

Karate Kid The Series Aftermath

commentary by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

What happened to Karate Kid after his solo-series was cancelled? Let's find out!

Kamandi #58

Kamandi #58 
"Enter the Legionnaire"
script by Jack C. Harris
co-plotting with Bob Rozakis
art by Dick Ayers and Danny Bulanadi
lettered by Shelly Leferman
colored by Mario Sen
edited by Al Milgrom
cover by James Sherman (penciller) and Bob McLeod (inker)
cover date: Aug/Sept 1978
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

Are you ready for the weirdest team-up in Legion history? Here's a story that no one ever thought could happen, with DC's two major "futures" coming into contact for the first (and until the Crisis, only) time. Karate Kid was just trying to return to the 30th Century, but somehow he lands in the Great Disaster. Now he's involved with the Last Boy on Earth, as he and Kamandi are co-starring in a movie for a bunch of lobsters....!?! Read on, McDuff!

Merry Christmas from Karate Kid The Series

1978 DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters 
story/words uncredited
art by Jim Sherman and Jack Abel
on-sale date: September 1977
"in-story" chronology: December 1977 or 1978?
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

We interrupt the current review of the Karate Kid series to bring you this special Christmas adventure! The Legion of Super-Heroes went back in time to visit Karate Kid in NYC, and while they were there they battled Superman's foe, Toyman!

Karate Kid #15

Karate Kid #15 
"Bring Back My Future To Me!"
script by Bob Rozakis
co-plotted by Jack C. Harris
art by Juan Ortiz
lettered by Clem Robins
colored by Mario Sen
edited by Al Milgrom
cover by Rich Buckler (penciller) and Jack Abel (inker)
cover date: July/Aug 1978
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

I gotta say, this is one of the more dynamic Karate Kid covers out of the fifteen issue run. The colors are weirdly vibrant and the idea that Karate Kid is going to punch his way into the correct reality and/or time-line....that's an idea that is PRIME for reusing. I wonder if Geoff Johns saw this cover as a kid?
Of course, if you spend too much time looking at this cover you're sure to notice that Karate Kid's right arm is a tad out of proportion. So don't look there. Forget I said anything. Onto the story!

DC Super-Stars #17

DC Super-Stars #17 (December 1977)
title: "The Secret of the Quintile Crystal!"
writer: Jack C. Harris
penciller: Juan Ortiz
inker: Bob Smith
colorist: Liz Berube
editor: Baul Levitz
table of contents art: Jim Aparo
cover: Joe Staton

reviewer: Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage

Mission Monitor Board: Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl; Superboy

Guests:
RJ Brande, unnamed Science Police officer

Opponent:
Lord Lorval, Ambassador of Oianus; bureaucracy

Karate Kid #14

Karate Kid #14 
"Diamondeth Is Forever!"
script by Bob Rozakis
art by Juan Ortiz and Bruce Patterson
lettered by Milt Snapinn
colored by Mario Sen
edited by Al Milgrom
cover by Rich Buckler (penciller) and Frank Giacoia (inker)
cover date: May/June 1978
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

This comic-book cover screams ACTION. And although Robin's physiology looks a little bit wonky here, and the perspective is a bit weird to accommodate Karate Kid jumping down to Robin's defense, I like the overall "feel" and coloring of it. It made me buy it as a wee lad, so it must have done something right!

Karate Kid #13

Karate Kid #13 
"Tomorrow's Battle....Yesterday!"
script by Bob Rozakis
art by Juan Ortiz and Bob McLeod
lettered by Milt Snapinn
colored by Anthony Tollin
edited by Al Milgrom
cover by Rich Buckler (penciller) and Bob McLeod (inker)
cover date: Apr/May 1978
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

This issue picks up directly from where we ended last issue, which if you are paying attention means that poor old Karate Kid hasn't had a break in three issues! If you recall, *last* issue picked up directly from where #11 ended, and that was when Karate Kid time-bubbled himself back to 1977 and was promptly snatched up by Major Disaster and his secret ally! So Karate Kid's current adventure has been continuing for more than three issues without a break!

If you're just now joining us in the time stream, though, Karate Kid has somehow found himself back in Superboy's Smallville. Although he is confused about the whys and wherefores, he believes that he is facing off against a fake Superboy. As the victim of Major Disaster's manipulations more times than we care to count, the Kid thinks that the Superboy he faced last issue and is currently wrestling with when this issue opens is either a. a robot or b. a replica of some sort. (What, no thought that he might be an alternate universe Superboy?) Suddenly added to the mix: a Legion of Super-Heroes mission team who does not recognize Karate Kid as a member! He therefore thinks that they, too, are fakes. And that is all you need to know....!

"The Alien Among Us!"

In the early Seventies DC Comics self-published a bi-monthly "fan magazine" called The Amazing World of DC Comics. It featured histories and interviews, similar to The Comics Journal or Wizard but with a distinct DC "house" slant. Issues were dedicated to the Justice League, Shazam, Wonder Woman, and perhaps most famously, the Legion of Super-Heroes. 

TAWoDCC #12, dated August 1976, was a follow-up to the Legion-centric issue, this time about all of DC's "future" and science fiction series. As part of the theme, an eleven paged sci-fi horror story by Mike Grell was published. In the interview with Grell in that same issue (which we re-published here) Mike says that the story was the second work assignment ever given him by DC (the first was an Aquaman back-up that appeared in Adventure Comics #435) and that this story was originally intended for Weird War Tales (a series that DC published from 1971 to 1983). No reason was given for why it was not published in that book at that time. Oddly enough, it was eventually published in that book two years later (!) in Weird War Tales #67 (Sept 1978). 

I recently found my copy of The Amazing World of DC Comics #12 and re-read this story. I thought other Mike Grell fans would get a kick out of it, so here it is in all its 1974 black and white goodness. Enjoy! 

Just For The Grell Of It

While cleaning up my study I came across my old collection of The Amazing World of DC Comics from the early 1970s. There is an awful lot of general nostalgia there, but we're here to talk about issue #12 (July/Aug 1976) in particular.

As you can see from the cover, this issue spotlights DC sci-fi comics. For fans of the Legion of Super-Heroes, this issue includes a four page interview with then-Legion artist Mike Grell.

t the time of this interview Mike had been on Superboy/Legion for approximately two years, and was soon to be leaving it. (There is an ad in the issue for Superboy/Legion #221, which is two issues away from Grell's last story). He had just started his stint on Green Lantern/Green Arrow and The Warlord was on issue #5.

Karate Kid #12

Karate Kid #12 
"The 'Time' of Your Death!"
script by Bob Rozakis
art by Juan Ortiz and Bob McLeod
lettered by Milt Snapinn
colored by Anthony Tollin
edited by Al Milgrom
cover by Rich Buckler (penciller) and Jack Abel (inker)
cover date: Feb/March 1978
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

Well even though this issue starts, literally one moment after the end of last issue, we are in a very different 1977 New York City, folks. Not only do we have a new cover logo (did you notice?) but we have a brand new creative team. New writer Bob Rozakis kicks the story off with a bang, and new artists Juan Ortiz and Bob McLeod hand in a more-than-capable job. The cover this time is by Rich Buckler, who was doing a lot of DC covers at around this time.

Clearly DC was trying to sell this book as a super-hero book and not as a karate or kung-fu tie-in. And you know what? It worked, because this is the first issue of Karate Kid that I actually bought off the stands!  I got it because of the Legion and because of the art inside.

The Action Comics Back-Ups

Before we close the Time Bubble door on the Silver Age Legion of Super-Heroes series, we here at the Legion of Super-Bloggers wanted to pause one last time to look back at the fourteen Action Comics stories. In this particular series there is a lot of foundation for where the series ended up going.

Karate Kid #11

Karate Kid #11
"Disasters of Yesteryear!"
story by Jack C. Harris
additional material by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Al Milgrom (penciller) and Jack Abel (inker)
cover date: Dec/March 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

This cover seems to be light-years away from the Mike Grell and Grell-inspired covers that used to wrap around this series. Has DC decided that the Legion fandom isn't going for this book, so there is no need to maintain Mike Grell's covers? (He was still doing the Legion covers at the time.) Or did DC think that Legion fans would buy this even without Mike Grell's covers? Either way, this cover seems like the Hero should be a bit more of the center of attention, don't you think?

The Least Helpful Legionnaire?

In the Legion story from Action Comics #387 (April 1970) the Legion is faced with the problem of having to drop one member to meet a heretofore unmentioned, archaic membership limit rule.

Brainiac 5 hits on the idea of asking the Legion's computer to tell them, "Which Legionnaire is the least helpful to the group?" The idea is that the computer would tell them the least powerful, or least useful, or least active member.....but we really don't get any criteria other than this one panel (above) reprinted from the story in question.

So we here at the Legion of Super-Bloggers thought it would be a fun experiment for a few of us to throw out our ideas as to who WE thought was "the least helpful" Legionnaire.

The only rules are 1. the Legionnaire(s) we suggest had to be one of the 26 then-current members from 2970, as shown below; and 2. we have to explain why or how we think s/he are the "least helpful."

Want to play along? Well, read on and see if you agree with any of our choices!

Karate Kid #10

Karate Kid #10 
"Death Duel on Orando"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Jack Abel
colors by Carl Gafford
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Al Milgrom (penciller) and Jack Abel (inker)
cover date: Oct 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

This time around we're talking about the issue of Karate Kid that I always wanted but never had.

As a wee lad I saw a few issues of Karate Kid for sale but never picked them up because 1. I wasn't a fan of the cartoony art and 2. I wasn't a huge karate/kung fu fan. It has something to do with my father and brother loving that stuff and me not wanting to get into their "realms," but the point is, I was never out there searching for any issues of Karate Kid. 

Until this issue.

I saw a copy of the cover in the Amazing World of DC Comics #14 (which I devoured, as it was all about the Justice League) and saw that the Legion of Super-Heroes was guest-starring. So I did in fact bug my father to take me to the local 7-11 and to the local grocery store and to the local drug store but no, I never did find a copy of this book!

Flash forward to today, when via the Legion of Super-Bloggers time bubble I have access to scanned versions of this series and I FINALLY read this story 40 years after it was published.

Karate Kid #9

Karate Kid #9 
"The Black Belt Contract!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Al Milgrom
cover date: August 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

In typical mid-Seventies fashion, we start this story on the docks, after dark, with two shadowy characters in trench coats, one an Angry Black Man and the other a debonair White man, discussing underworld activity. An episode of SHAFT? Perhaps it's BARNABY JONES (a Quinn Martin production)? No, it's the newest issue of Karate Kid. 

Karate Kid #8

Karate Kid #8 
"Pandemonium....Panic.....and Pulsar!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
color by Liz Berube
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Mike Grell
cover date: June 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

I never went to any, but I hear that those live stadium shows in the late Seventies were just fab.
Here we have Karate Kid and Pulsar fighting on stage as Police Commissioner Banner tries to keep out of the way and three DC Comic staff members frantically take notes. Groovy, baby. Mike Grell back on double-duty pencils & inks clearly enjoys what he is doing. Looks like this is going to be another all-out action issue in the mighty Marvel DC manner!

Karate Kid #7

Karate Kid #7 
"The Gyro-Master Strikes Twice!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Mike Grell
cover date: April 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

I can't imagine being a kid in the spring of 1977 and seeing this cover and not wanting, nee, NEEDING to pick up this title. Just look at that cover! The Gyro Master is throwing toys at Karate Kid!! And they are twice as deadly as....as....er....slinkies?

Also, point of order but we're about to find out that the Gyro Master actually does NOT strike twice. He actually strikes once and then just loiters around. So that's kind of a let-down, too. But really, who should be counting?

Let's get right to the action, shall we?

Karate Kid #6

Karate Kid #6 
"Showdown With Commander Blud!"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
edited by Denny O'Neil
cover by Ernie Chan (penciller) and Mike Grell (inker)
cover date: Feb/March 1977
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

Here we are again folks, slumming in 1977 New York City with a few members of the Legion of Super-Heroes. According to the cover (again by Ernie Chan and Mike Grell instead of Grell solo) Karate Kid has been "driven WILD, the Kid stalks friend and foe ALIKE!" It would have been nice if the Legion had appeared on the cover, too, cuz, you know, the Kid kicking Commander Blud in the face as illustrated here is just not that dynamic. Plus the lack of any background at all doesn't make this one of the better covers.

Karate Kid #5

Karate Kid #5 
"The Tomorrow Thief"
script by David Michelinie writing as Barry Jameson
art by Ric Estrada and Joe Staton
color by Liz Berube
edited by Joe Orlando
cover by Ernie Chan (penciller) and Mike Grell (inker)
cover date: Nov/Dec 1976
review by Russell "Bilingual Boy" Burbage
dedicated affectionately to Glenn "Continuity Kid" Walker

Here we are again, it's Kung Fu Fighting time! Errr, I mean, Karate Kid reading time. This month we get an antagonist who seeks to take advantage of the fact that Karate Kid revealed that he was from the future..... something I'm not sure he should have done in the first place, but it's in the past now (see what I did there?). Fresh from being named a deputized police officer of the state of New York last issue, Karate Kid finds himself a minor celebrity this time around....in more ways than one.