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[MarkWarner]

Hooray!!! The new reading group choice is now back to its normal Wednesday slot.

Although, not a massive hit last week (and a bit)'s book Gold Medal #1 was certainly an interesting oddity. Well worth a look at if you have not seen it before.

Now for this week's selection. I was sent a small note saying "How about another Charlton Action Hero with a Judomaster choice". It sounded like a plan. As no book was mentioned I noticed that we had one right on our U.S. public domain cut off date.

So here is Judomaster #98 https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=30856. The main story (and half the book) is The Isle of Dragons.

[crashryan]

I was one of the fanboys who got excited when Dick Giordano ushered in Charlton's new age. I liked both Judomaster and Sarge Steel so this comic was a double hit. All these years later some of the bloom is gone but I still enjoyed re-reading it.

Frank McLaughlin was related somehow to Dick Giordano--brother-in-law, maybe? He later developed into an excellent inker. Here he does a commendable job but his sources are painfully obvious. The first two story pages are so Giordano-influenced I still wonder if Dick pencilled them for him. The rest of the story is Swipe City. Back in the day my beady little art-spotting eye immediately recognized copious lifts from Al Willaimson's Flash Gordon comics for King, which had appeared the previous year (hint for swiping: steal from old stuff readers aren't likely to remember). It's funny that Williamson had swiped some of his shots from Alex Raymond. A sort of family tree. Trouble with doing so much swiping is that readers doubt stuff that you actually drew all by yourself. The Dan Adkins effect, it was called.

While on the subject of swiping it's rare to see the same panel swiped by two different artists in the same issue (our page 5, panel 6; and page 26, panel 3). Hell, I've swiped that head myself. But I digress.

I like the concept of a WWII superhero. This one doesn't deal much with the time period, but I don't care. In my book soldiers and dinos are a sure-fire combination. McLaughlin's script is good enough and it's a lot easier to read than most Joe Gill stories. All the "Japs" and "Nips" sure grate on the ears. Does anyone know why Suzi goes on a combat mission wearing a Suzie Wong dress?

I don't know who wrote the Sarge Steel story (definitely not Gill), but he does an admirable job of fitting both a backstory and plenty of action into eight pages. Having a villain return was still rare in Charlton. It's great to see Roja again. Giordano drew some hot ladies in Sarge Steel, and Roja was one of his sexiest.

In sum this is a winner, both for its own merits and as nostalgia. Even the crummy Charlton printing is a tiny bit better than usual. Plus we get the opportunity to buy kissable--singable!--pin-ups of The Monkees!

[Morgus]

ah, Judomaster...can't say a bad thing about him. had the comic as a kid. But why, oh WHY did he wear that uniform? And what is with those plumes out of the top of their heads?? Any REASON i never heard of?? Remember when Diana Prince (Wonder Woman) had to go without the costume for a while and relied ONLY on martial arts? I bet the comic could have worked like that...And something I never ever noticed when I actually had this one...the bad guy saying he was THE JAPANESE SANDMAN...oh, wow...now The Cellos will be going through my mind for the rest of the day...Rang Tang Ding Dong, everybody...by the way, from out of nowhere, my kid was listening to that song with me the other day and he SITS BOLT UPRIGHT in the car and says:"What are they singing in the background??? Sounds like they are accusing someone of doing nasty things to their own mother..."  I smiled back over the innocence of the period...you're right crashryan...dinosaurs and WW 2 are a great way to spend the day...Giordano, huh? Now I know why I liked the second story better back then...

[narfstar]

I like Judomaster but not this one. The story seemed like it was thrown together to allow Frank to showcase his art. He knew judo and he liked drawing and I'll bet he liked dinosaurs. I did like the art and never pay attention to or catch swipes. My first commission peace was a Frank Mc Judomaster. As a kid I did not like the topknot as making him look sissy to me. The topknot was a traditional Asian hairstyle. While I did not care for this story the art still puts it in the ups category.

[crashryan]

In my youth, before I'd done professional work, I was rather self-righteous about swiping. Getting a taste of deadline pressure and the limits of one's abilities gave me a more nuanced outlook. These days swipe-spotting is  more of a hobby. Some comic artists swiped a lot, some only occasionally, but it's safe to say that very few never used any kind of reference. What fascinates me about swiping is how certain swipes propagate over time. George Olesen, not a well-known artist, drew a cigar-chomping villain in an issue of The Hawk, not a well-known 1950s western comic (1954). That villain reappeared in a Mel Keefer issue of The Texan (1959), a Dick Giordano issue of Nukla (1966), and in another 60s adventure comic whose title I don't remember. A 1936 Terry in the Pirates panel, portraying Pat Ryan taking on two assailants at once, has reappeared frequently over the years courtesy of Everett Kinstler, Jim McLaughlin, Wallace Wood, Sal Trapani, and numerous anonymous artists. Alex Raymond is surely the most-swiped artist. Some Golden Age cartoonists built entire stories from Flash Gordon swipes. I've done my share of swiping, and I point out swipes for entertainment, not to judge the swiping artists.

Concerning Judomaster's costume: I've always liked both JM's and Tiger's costumes. They're bold, dramatic, and unique. I always interpreted the topknots as a nod to the samurai topknot. It didn't bother me back then but now I question the wisdom of JM&T basing their costumes on the Japanese Rising Sun and "Meatball" flags. Would unschooled Japanese soldiers take them for friends? Would unschooled Allied soldiers take them for enemies?

[SuperScrounge]

The Isle of Dragons - Okay. Do wish they had identified who was who earlier, though. Suzi was easy enough to guess, but I wasn't sure who was Bushuru & who was Tiger until halfway through (& then there were the two people who didn't have names.) The Japanese Sandman is a rather clunky and odd name. It's one thing for a character in the story to use the term Nip (since it's set during WWII), but when the author used it in a caption it was a little jarring. The ending was odd. Shouldn't bullets do MORE damage than tranquilizers?

The Power of the Bow - Interesting.

Case of the Key West Caper - Not bad. Kind of a old private eye style mashed up in a spy setting.

[paw broon]

Thoroughly enjoyable.  The Charlton action heroes are good fun and even though Judomaster was always lower down on my list of the characters I enjoyed, this is still a good package, especially with a Sarge Steel story in the back.  It is very reminiscent of those DC war comics with dinosaurs.  I think that the art is/was the reason I wasn't quite as keen on Judomaster, preferring the look of Thunderbolt and Blue Beetle stories, with PAM, Boyette and Ditko.  Finding these Charlton titles in wee local newsagents in the '60's was exciting because they looked different from DC comics with different heroes - and, of course, they had The Phantom!
The first panel on our page 10 still confuses me and the other dinosaur with the flicking tongue on page 14 is an enormous Komodo dragon and they're cool.
The villain is one of those ropey hypno types, like The Ringmaster but he's bad enough to be entertaining, imo.

[narfstar]

Just the opposite for me Paw. I was not a PAM fan. He is still not one of my favorites. Ditko had a dramatic style but I preferred the straight forward dynamics of Frank Mc. When I was a kid I was put off by the topknot thinking it made him look like a sissy. So artistically, Judomaster is tops on my SA action hero list

[paw broon]

For me, Thunderbolt was so exciting.  A graceful action hero.  Then I realised PAM did other stuff when I saw Gunmaster and some of those Charlton westerns.  Been a fan ever since. 
Re. the topknot. I've never had a problem with it and I always liked the colourful costume. I admit I am a sucker for more obscure heroes and Charlton were definitely more obscure to me when I was a lad.  DC comics were everywhere but Charltons turned up now and then in mixed bundles that appeared in local newsagents. And to mention The Phantom again, Charlton had him in colour and up till then all I could get were the British and Australian editions in b&w.  Exotic, eh!

[crashryan]

Moving off-topic, but I'd be curious, paw, to hear what you thought of Charlton's Boyette, Aparo, and Newton Phantoms.

[MarkWarner]

The book starts with a really great looking cover. PLUS, inside of it we start with an advertisement for The Monkees "Singing" Pin-ups.

After a bit of confusion, I realized that the poster doesn't actually sing to you, but it has lyrics on it "so you can sing yourself to sleep at night or wake up swinging in the morning". BLIMEY!!

I was a BIG Monkees fan when I was a kid, and I suppose I still am. But I think I might pass on the "kissable" aspect of these!

Anyway, after that excellent start, it's on with the main feature "The Isle of Dragons" featuring Judomaster.   

"Holy Mackerel!!! These things have been extinct for centuries" Judomaster might be good at his martial arts, but I am not sure I'd let him loose in a schoolroom. 

I liked the obligatory / half hearted  "GROWL"



The Power of the Bow - A strange meandering little one pager. A long bow in knowledgeable hands is a pretty formidable weapon!

Case of the Key West Caper - How VERY cool are Eric Rinn and Roja?? And stupid Sarge Steel has killed them YET AGAIN!!!



Verdict: A hit! It could be nothing else with The Monkees, plus Eric Rinn and Roja. The book was certainly readable .. but it took hardly any time to finish. Now, I am working hard selling Grit I am not sure I'd have blown 25c on this book. Plenty of better things for a young lad to spend his hard earned money on

[narfstar]

While I like Judomaster stories, just not this one so much, I agree with him on the centuries part. I have a degree in science and am one of thousands of science and creationism believers. It is very easy to believe that the earth is less than ten thousand years old. Explaining the science would be too much here but I invite everyone to go to www.icr.org and read objectively without preconceived notions.

[Morgus]

Aw Mark, it was only 12 cents  that shouldn't be too big a hardship...even in 60's coinage. by the way, I must have seen that dang ad to sell GRIT a hundred times as a kid, but never asked until now...what WAS it?? Weekly paper? News magazine? is it still ALIVE?

[narfstar]

I think it was a weekly with news like USA today for younger readers.

[crashryan]

Grit was a weekly tabloid "family newspaper" which was founded in the 1880s (!). For decades it was very popular in small towns and rural areas. Check out its Wikipedia entry for the full story, including a sidebar on Grit's connection to Little League baseball. The paper ran upbeat stories aimed at small-town readers. It also ran a smattering of newspaper strips like Joe Palooka and Donald Duck.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grit_(newspaper)

Wikipedia says the paper used comic book ads to solicit juvenile salesmen from the 1940s through the 1970s. After a series of buyouts Grit survives as a bi-monthly glossy magazine stressing "rural American know-how." Here's the official website:

http://www.grit.com/

In my entire life I have seen a single issue of Grit. I found it in a barber shop in Snohomish, Washington around 1963. Having seen it mentioned so often in comic books I browsed the issue. To me it had a Reader's Digest vibe. The big difference is that while RD often ran negative and "serious" articles, Grit was relentlessly positive. In fact the Wikipedia entry quotes a 1900 editorial directive:

"Avoid printing those things which distort the minds of readers or make them feel at odds with the world. Avoid showing the wrong side of things, or making people feel discontented. Do nothing that will encourage fear, worry, or temptation..."

That would describe Grit when I saw it in '63.

[mr_goldenage]

For  the Charlton "Action" heroes were a personal favorite of mine. I loved them all...even the Sentinels. Judo Master and Tiger were a great deal of nonsense fun set during WW II. I'm the type that loved Captain Atoms first costume, thought Nightshade should have had her own book. Wacky eh? I loved the off-beat titles and characters like B-Man and the like from Harvey "Jack "Q" Frost anyone? Dell's Super Heroes, and such titles. THUNDER Agents was my all time favorite series of that era. Sure I bought DC & Marvels, my first two DC titles were Adventure Comics #336 and FF 45 From Marvel as a kid in 1965. Flyman 36 from the Mighty Guys ect. So that is where my enjoyment came from.

Mr_Goldenage

[paw broon]

Keeping us a bit off topic for a wee while longer, I have to say that I agree so much with what Mr_Goldenage writes. Jack "Q" Frost and Spyman and Pirhanna (if I've spelled that correctly) and the others were great fun.  Discovering The Sentinels was good even though it wasn't exactly the best team strip in comics.  I remember the thrill of seeing #1 of Secret Life of Private Strong in a local newsagent's window and not having cash to buy it. That haunted me for a long time till I finally bought it - for a lot more than cover price - at a London mart many years later.  Still have it and #2 and they are wonderful comics.
I always wondered about Grit, and now I know.  Ta!

[narfstar]

Maybe there is a reason this group gets along so well. Richard and I could have been identical twins. I am not great at favorite series picking but obscure SA category is my favorites. I have to mention two other parts of my favorites being Fatman and MF Enterprises Captain Marvel. TEN years old is a magical time. Batman on TV and all these wonderful characters popping up outside of Marvel and DC. For a ten year old these corny characters were so unique and great. B-Man amazed me going from bad guy to good guy. I even loved Fruitman

[mr_goldenage]

To Paw & Narf...I think we're pretty much in the same age group. I forgot about Cap. Marvy from MF (I like to call him that because he's so 1960's!), and I have a complete set of that series. My SA ends with the demise of Atlas...by then girls and guitars were more interesting to me by that point. Although I would return to comics in late 1977, but the books were not as appealing to me as the SA was. By that point in '77 my interest turned to GA books as with the advent of retail comic book stores they were accessible by then, plus the advent of Comic Con in San Diego...by 1985 I had nearly 300 GA books but was forced to sell them due to my divorce. A sad day and time with me as scanners didn't really exist as an affordable option. What I did was start to draw all my favorite characters so I had some reminder of what I had lost. But I would return to GA book buying by early 1992, and my collection grew again. By 1997 I had acquired over 150 books and then I started Good Guys and Gals of the Golden Age with my website partner Darren Wiltshire and he had a scanner so off to Canada went the books for scanning of super hero types which we used to sell on CD format. That lasted until 2005 as I had to give up doing that. But the SA books always were still on my mind.

I remember buying the SA Harvey reprint of the Fighting American and the MF Captain Marvel books again to replace all those fun off beat books again. What fun that was to have a complete set of the Thunder Agents again. Due in no small part to Comic Book stores that did not put a premium price on those long ago SA books we all love so dearly. And as most of you might know I got into Non-English and foreign books as well that continues to this day. Not to forget the books of the 1980's and '90's I turned to the small press books of that time. The Silverwolf/Greater Mercury books, and all the B&W small press of similar types. Anyways end of rant. Take care guys.

Richard Boucher AkA Mr_Goldenage.

[narfstar]

Other than the foreign comics you and I are still identical twins.