Judomaster - The Isle Of Dragons!

Judomaster #98 is dated December 1967. The single credit is the name "McLaughlin" hidden along a rockface on the splash page which features Judomaster holding a flying reptile at bay with a spear while Suzi turns in fear. It's another angle on the cover image by Frank McLaughlin who did this and all the Judomaster covers as far as I can tell. 

"The Isle of Dragons" begins with Rip Jagger being called into the office of General Hawkins where he learns that the Japanese are using some remote and possibly uncharted islands as potential bases. On one island named Tabuki which the natives call "The Isle of Dragons". An airplane photo shows a skeptical Rip that indeed there do seem to be giant reptiles on the island. Judomaster, Tiger, Bushiri, Suzikawa, and other warriors go by submarine to the island and attempt to get on land. They are almost immediately waylaid by natives who tell that the Japanese are indeed contstructing a base and they are making use of the ancient dragons too. The natives guide the group to an ancient city and then leave. Judomaster's team is then assaulted by a giant flying reptile and all seek shelter in a cave when a second dinosaur resembling a Tyrannosaurus Rex appears. But it turns out that in the mad dash for safety that Tiger and Suzi are missing. Judomaster goes out to find them. 

He goes to the city and finds a costumed figure calling himself the "Japanese Sandman" who tells one of his comrades about using his powers to put creatures to sleep to capture both Suzi and Tiger. About that time a giant lizard appears, and Sandman uses his hypnotic power along with tranquiler bullets the Japanese troops fire to subdue and develop a control of the beast. He then makes ready to ready to make Suzi and Tiger the creatures next meal when it awakes. Having seen enough Judomaster attacks, frees his associates and taking guns they head back to the cave. But the encounter the Tyrannosaur again but use their rifles to put it down. Then they gather Bushiri's men and the whole group attack the Japanese troops in the city. Judomaster tracks down the Sandman and avoiding his hypnotic powers eventually defeats the villain. When the Sandman is put out of the way, the monsters which have been in his thrall are released and they demolish the city and the Japanese troops are stunned that their tranquilizers no longer are effective. Using dynamite they brought Judomaster and Tiger blow up the whole shebang and escape. The last scene shows them rafting to the submarine and Tiger reveals that he had substituted regular ammunition for the special tranquilizers the Japanese used thus making the monsters uncontrollable. That scamp. 

Sarge Steel turns up one more time in a story with no credits but clearly drawn by Dick Giordano and scripting attributed at GCD to Steve Skeates. The tale titled "Key West Caper" is File 115. It begins with Sarge coming out of the ocean in full scuba gear onto a deserted beach at night. He thinks back to finding his office ransacked and a note saying that Bessie his secretary had been kidnapped and taken to a location off the Florida Keys. He then gets transportation and gets to the Keys as quickly as he can and arrived at that spot. He is attacked by a guard but subdues him and then recognizes the machine gun the thug used. There is another shot and Sarge kills the sniper but others get the drop on him and take him to a house where Bessie is unconscious on a table. The villains turn out to be Eric Rinn and Roja a man and woman team of baddies who had battled Sarge a few times in his own book and had run an operation named POW. They gloat that they at last have Sarge in this power when Bessie awakes and a fight breaks out. Rinn tries to shoot Sarge who shoots him first making his shot go astray and kill Roja. Bessie grabs up a machine gun and after quick tutelage from Sarge levels the other thugs. Sarge then cradles the overwrought woman in his arms as the story closes. 

"The Power of the Bow" is the text piece in this issue and talks about the impact of the bow and arrow as a weapon in Europe, China and the Americas. This is the last issue in the Charlton Judomaster run.

  But in Captain Atom #89 dated December 1967, Tiger shows up in the Nightshade back-up feature by Steve Skeates and Jim Aparo and in this story set in the modern day he is grown up and had trained Eve Eden the Nightshade some years before when she was a girl of fourteen.

 

This issue of Judomater was reprinted in the late 70's under the Modern imprint. The Judomaster series showed a remarkable amount of skill and talent on the part of Frank McLaughlin who went on to become one of the great inkers at both Marvel and DC. Dick Giordano who headed up the Sarge Steel back-up feature of course went over to DC and became a major player in comics for many decades to come. Judomaster disappeared.

Even when DC picked up the Charlton Action-Heroes including Judomaster he was barely used. Captain Atom and Blue Beetle got ongoing series as well as stints in the Justice League. The Question had an ongoing of his own for many years. The Peacemaker got a limited series. Even Thunderbolt had a run, though his rights have reverted to the Morisi estate today. Though DC mucked with the heroes they at least used them. That is all of them save Judomaster. He did make cameos here and there and other Judomasters have shown up over the decades, including one who is in the JSA today. 

Rip Jagger and Tiger were the core of the L.A.W. (Living Assault Weapons) limited series by Bob Layton and Dick Giordano along with other Charlton heroes. (More on this tomorrow.) But likely because of his WWII setting Judomaster never got the push the others did. A stunted version and unrecognizable version of Judomaster did recently appear on the Peacemaker television series. Boy was that weird. 

It's too bad. Rip Jagger is a dandy character. Judomaster battled against the Japanese but alongside other Asians so that the racism that clouded many WWII efforts was undermined. He wore the colors of the Japanese for goshsakes, an image that has always been a bit confusing. But in the end Rip Jagger, the Judomaster was truly an action-hero, a man fighting in what we naively dub the last "good war". 

No more to come. It's been a blast doing this detailed read for two of my all-time favorite series. Tomorrow something completely different.  

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

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Sarge Steel - The Third Hand!

Secret Agent Volume 2 #10 is dated October 1967. This is full year after the previous issue. Since that last issue Sarge Steel became a back-up feature in Judomaster, and also guest-starred in a few Thunderbolt issues. I've covered the Judomaster appearances, and I've reviewed his crossover in The Sentinels in Thunderbolt. The cover is by Dick Giordano and the sub-title is "The Iron Man with Steel Fist - Sarge Steel". The story is drawn by Dick Giordano, scripted by Steve Skeates, and lettered by D. Brazycki. Note that the number of this file fits in between the appearances in Judomaster. 

Part I of File #113 "The Case of the Third Hand" begins right in the middle of the action as bullets are fired at Sarge and his date a lovely lady named Linda Velvet. Sarge orders her to stay down as he tries to get at the shooter which he does, wounding the fellow but not before Linda is shot and seriously hurt. Sarge rushes her to the hospital and after seeing to her and making a report returns to the crime scene but is unable to identify the sniper. Filled with guilt he uses all his resources both official and unofficial to uncover the culprit, but he is shocked when his secretary Bessie tells him he has a visitor, an old friend name Lowell Wade from the C.I.A. Wade tells Sarge that Velvet was actually an informant for the spy ring "The Third Hand" and that was why she was shot. Sarge doesn't believe him, but then news comes that the hospital where Velvet is staying is under attack. Sarge and Wade rush to the site, but are too late as Velvet has been killed by a gas grenade attack. Sarge vows to bring the villains to justice.

Part II "Photo Finish" begins with Sarge going to Velvet's apartment to investigate but he finds two thugs there already. After a struggle he is caught in a powerful bearhug by one of the thugs, a giant of a man and knocked out. When he comes to, he finds a beautiful woman kneeling over him. She is Sarah "Sally" Tempest and she claims to be a friend of Velvet's. The apartment has been ransacked. As they talk another man appears, a friend of Tempest's named Hobart Jeffries. All three chat but then Sarge finds a clue a picture of a two-bit gunsel named Johnny Vance. Sarge goes to his own apartment to find it too has been ransacked but the interlopers are still there. The take him at gunpoint to meet with Johnny Vance at his fancy home. After a few questions which Sarge refuses to answer Vance orders his men to attack.

Part III "Blues for Linda" begins with Sarge getting punched around by Vance's thugs, but he turns the tables and using his superior skills defeats the thugs, even getting to Vance who winces from a shoulder wound. Now Sarge knows that Vance was the man who shot Linda and is the man he had wounded. He knocks Vance out and heads back to his office having fully unlocked the secrets. He finds Sally Tempest in his office going through his desk and tells her that he knows the whole story. She is the one involved with The Third Hand and used Linda, playing on their friendship. She had used blackmail to keep Johnny Vance at bay when he wanted her position in the organization and there were documents she had that he wanted. Linda had them and when Vance had learned of her betrayal he had tried to shoot her. The documents were still missing though. While Sarge is relating this tale a hand appears from nowhere and knocks him out. When he recovers he finds Hobart Jefferies has arrived and it was Hobart who had killed Linda with the grenade at the hospital. But Sarge is able get Sally to think that Hobart has betrayed her and when she shoots him, Sarge is able to disarm her and turns her over to the authorities. Later he talks to Wade and shows him a Coney Island plush bunny which had been in his car and had belonged to Linda. The documents were inside all the time. The story closes as Sarge somberly reflects on the romance that might have been.

The back-up feature is Tiffany Sinn. Tiffany Sinn had two previous appearances in Career Girl Romances #38 and #39. 

The story is titled "Muscle Beach Style!". It's written by David A. Kaler and drawn by Jim Aparo. The tale begins with the beautiful Tiffany preparing for a new case while reflecting on her previous ones. As she finishes her make-up, she is anxious to see what the latest C.I.A. caper will bring. She flies to California and on the flight is given her briefing papers by the stewardess and later is given more information by a cabbie. She is to uncover how vital fuel formulas are being stolen and transmitted to foreign agents. After a night's sleep and a shower, she begins her new job at the laboratory and meets Aldo Bateman a handsome fellow who immediately begins to woo Tiffany. They begin to date, and he takes her to the beach where she gets some sun while he goes through a meticulous and rigorous exercise regimen. They date a few more times, each date the same. The agency decides to plant some bait and announces a new formula. Tiffany notices that Aldo is very interested in this new information and on their next date, again at the beach she notes that his exercise regimen, to that time very rigid, was extremely different. She takes note that some men with binoculars are closely watching Aldo as he goes through his moves. Aldo notices her keen interest and suspicious as she attempts to report grabs her up and attempts to carry her out to the surf where he plans to drown her. Others at the beach think they are just two playful lovers and ignore Tiffany's struggles. At last she uses her judo skills to defeat Aldo and drags him back to the beach. It seems his exercises were a complex code he used to transmit the secret information. He is arrested and Tiffany tries to dry off and rest on the beach. Her bosses want her to come back in report, but she says she can't with hair such a mess.

And that completes the run of Sarge Steel/Secret Agent comics. This is a solid issue with a return of the series to a more detective/noir feel. The first-person narration adds to that feel as does the real emotion Sarge seems to feel for Linda. While he is doubtless a cad, Sarge does seem to have some feelings for the women in his life and that has been missing in some of the previous issues. Steve Skeates is pretty wordy in this one, the explanation requiring a lot of exposition. The twists are here, but they are a bit difficult to follow if you don't read carefully. The maguffin, is discovered at the end, but there was not really any real foreshadowing of its ultimate location as there might've been in a tighter mystery story. The Tiffany Sinn story was a lot of fun. Jim Aparo was a dang fine artist and his skills as a storyteller are well on display here. 

Dick Giordano was an amazing talent, tucked away at Charlton Comics, he trudged along for years producing outstanding artwork. In time he'd replace Pat Masulli as editor at Charlton and under his tenure flourished the "Action Hero" line, in all probability the brightest era in the company's long history. He was scouted by DC and became an editor there and eventually a key part of their transformation in the 1980's. DC eventually bought the Action Heroes from DC including Sarge Steel who has gone onto become an integral part of the DCU.  He also became the longtime partner with Neal Adams in Continuity Associates, the premiere stable of artists in the field. 

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

More Sarge Steel to come.

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Ditko Cover Classics - Captain Atom #89!

Captain Atom #89 is by scripter Dave Kaler and artists Steve Ditko and Frank McLaughlin. The Captain Atom series comes to an abrupt halt with this final issue in the 60's run. Captain Atom must confront his old enemy The Ghost as well as a new magic foe called Thirteen who is aided by his talking cat Faustus. 

You can read it at this link. 

The Nightshade feature closes out as well as we see our heroine battle old foe Jewelee in a story by Kaler and artist Jim Aparo. 

But it's not over, not quite. More Captain Atom this weekend. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Captain Atom #88!

Captain Atom #88 is by writer Dave Kaler and artists Steve Ditko and Frank McLaughlin. In a truly strange tale with a message, Captain Atom travels to a distant planet in answer to an S.O.S. from long ago. He finds a deadly menace in the form of giant insects. 

You can read it at this link. 

In a story by Kaler and artist Jim Aparo, Nightshade confronts the menace of The Image, who travels through mirrors. There's a distinct Alice in Wonderland aspect to this ongoing tale of Eve Eden. 

More Captain Atom tomorrow. 

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Ditko Cover Classics - Captain Atom #87!

Captain Atom #87 is by writer Dave Kaler and artists Steve Ditko and Rocke Mastroserio. Captain Atom comes up against a dangerous foe in the oddly named Fiery-Icer, though there's little doubt what he does. The villain and his henchmen trap Atom a few times in this story. 

You can read it at this link. 

Nightshade, the Darling of Darkness gets her own back-up feature at long last in a story by Dave Kaler and Jim Aparo. We learn something of her origin as well as a new deadly enemy. 

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The Phantom Stranger!

The Phantom Stranger has always fascinated me. He was a true enigma, a "hero" who existed in that strange nexus between DC's superhero books and its burgeoning horror comics line-up. Often teamed with others such as Dr. Thirteen in his own title and later Deadman in that same title, he also joined forces with Batman, Superman and the entire Justice League of America. But in all his appearances, the white-haired mystery man never revealed his truest nature. He just showed up where needed and stood up for the innocent who were confronted with supernatural menaces. The Phantom Stranger Omnibus offers up over three decades of adventures. 

The Phantom Stranger first debuted in the 1950's in stories written by John Broome and drawn for the most part by Carmine Infantino and Frank Giacoia. The Stranger here is a somberly dressed mysterious figure who suddenly appears to those needing help and giving them that help. 

The character was revived under the editorial control of Joe Orlando during DC's horror boom in the pages of Showcase. This is a vintage 50's tale with a frame by writer Mike Friedrich and artists Jerry Grandenetti and Bill Draut under a provocative Neal Adams cover. Kids being under threat was a thing on these early DC horror covers. 

The Phantom Stranger quickly gets his own title again, and again we have more unpublished 50's material with new stuff by the Friedrich and Draut team. Draut offers up a tasty cover. 

The next few issues keep up this format with more great Bill Draut art under some Neal Adams covers. Otto Binder writes the frame stories. 

The fourth issue shakes up the format as apparently DC has run through their cache of vintage Broome-Infantino stories and give us a completely new comic with fab interior art by Neal Adams. Robert Kanigher becomes the writer for a time. This issue also sees the addition of Dr. Thirteen to the story mix and he will stay around in the book in some way for much of its run. A new nemesis named Tala is introduced and she too will be a common enemy for Phantom Stranger to battle. The book gets downright crowded as four teenagers are also added to the cast. Their names are Spartacus, Attila, Wild Rose and Mister Square. The stories for a time are the teens find a menace, Phantom Stranger shows up to save them and Thirteen is on hand to debunk the whole affair. 

Mike Sekowsky joins Kanigher on the book for a few issues, while Adams stays to offer up fantastic covers. 

Bob Haney and the Ross Andru / Mike Esposito team hook up to give Phantom Stranger some higher profile when he teams up with Batman in the pages of The Brave and the Bold. 

The big breakthrough for the series is in issue seven when Jim Aparo becomes the regular artist on the series. He will help define the character for DC and give the mysterious figure a more heroic aspect. Adams will keep on making some amazing covers for the book. Gerry Conway will step in with Kanigher to write a few stories as well.  

The four teenagers are eventually faded out and Dr. Thirteen becomes a back-up feature in the book, allowing more room for The Phantom Stranger to build his own world fighting Tala and her agents as well as an alchemist named Tannarak. The great cover for issue fourteen is actually a reference to the Thirteen back-up story. 

It works out great for Phantom Stranger when he next guest-stars in The Brave and the Bold because Aparo is the regular artist on that series as well under a creamy Nick Cardy cover. 

With the twentieth issue Aparo takes over the cover art chores from Adams, and the series had even progressed to the point where the enigmatic Stranger could even have a romantic interest as well in the form of the gorgeous Cassandra Cross, though it would be a few issues before that became a regular thing. 

The Phantom Stranger becomes a member (of sorts) of The Justice League of America in a great story by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, Dick Giordano and cover artist Nick Cardy which put the characters as well as creators in the thick of things in Rutland, Vermont. This was my first introduction to the character, and I loved him from the get-go. Wein was the regular writer of The Stranger's own book by this time as well. 

The Dr. Thirteen back-up stories were phased out and The Spawn of Frankenstein took over in the back pages of the book with great stories stuff by Marv Wolfman and Mike Kaluta. 

The Spawn of Frankenstein met The Phantom Stranger in a wild full-issue yarn that brought both series to turning points. This was my very first Phantom Stranger issue. Dr. Thirteen returns in this story as well and his wife plays a key role. 

The Phantom Stranger series gets a jolt when writer Arnold Drake joins artist Gerry Talaoc as the regular team under Nick Cardy covers. The Spawn of Frankenstein is taken over by different talents as well. 

I like the Drake-Talaoc material fine, but it lacks the verve of the stuff that Aparo was producing. Aparo for his part does become the regular cover artist on the series. The Black Orchid becomes the new back-up feature. 

Bill Draut returns for a single issue on the interior artwork. I really like his clean lines. 

Mike Grell joins Drake on a story which co-stars Deadman, a character DC was desperately trying to find a place for. 

Drake and Talaoc wrap up their run with this mummy story. The series is still quite good but has seen its best days behind it. 

Paul Levitz writes and Fred Carrillo takes on the art as Phantom Stranger battles a new villain named Dr. Seine, a chap who hates the Stranger from a previous encounter. 

Deadman becomes a regular co-star in the series as it reaches its end with issue forty-one. We leave the Phantom Stranger having found some love in Cassandra Cross and the Deadman abandoned as usual with the story's end. 

The two mystical stars hook-up again in an issue of DC Super-Stars battling gargoyles and demons in Rutland Vermont. Terry Thirteen is on hand yet again as well as the creators of this wandering mess of a story which captures more than a smidgeon of its plot from the great TV movie Gargoyles. 

The Phantom Stranger joins Dr. Thirteen and Abel to celebrate the one hundred fiftieth issue of House of Secrets. 

The Stranger then becomes relegated to the back pages of the DCU showing up as a partner in The Brave and the Bold and DC Presents with Batman and Superman respectively. It's good to see Aparo draw him again and I've always liked how Dick Dillin represented the hero as well. 

Though completely unheralded on the covers, The Phantom Stranger becomes the regular back-up feature in the revived The Saga of the Swamp Thing comic book. Bruce Jones writes the first story but Mike Barr becomes the regular writer. Dan Spiegle offers up some lovely artwork for the series as well. Tony DeZuniga and Fred Carrillo will also draw installments of the run. Joey Cavalieri and Nicola Cuti write some for the character as well. 

Eventually the Stranger joins Swamp Thing in the series and gets his only cover appearance in the first of a two-part tale by Dan Mishkin and artists Bo and Scott Hampton. 

The Stranger next is drawn by Jim Aparo again in the pages of Batman and The Outsiders in a Christmas story. 

He joins Superman and the Joker of all people in a story by Paul Kupperberg and artist Alex Saviuk in the pages of DC Comics Presents. 

The final new comic reprinted in this massive twelve hundred and more volume is the issue of Secret Origins featuring the Phantom Stranger. And in a brilliant move to maintain the enigmatic nature of the mysterious hero, he is given four different possible origin stories talents such as Alan Moore, Joe Orlando, Dan Mishkin, Ernie Colon, Paul Levitz, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Mike Barr and Jim Aparo. 

I want to caution everyone who might have actually read down this far that only the Phantom Stranger stories are reprinted in the omnibus edition in all its glorious color. To read the Dr. Thirteen and Spawn of Frankenstein stories, I needed to fish out my two copies of Showcase Presents. The Black Orchid back-ups are not reprinted in those, and I've ever read them. 

The Phantom Stranger is one of my favorite DC characters. His absolute mystery is fascinating and I'm very happy that DC never sought to undermine that core enigma. If they have in the decades since, I've remained blissfully unaware. 

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