Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Karate Kid and Iron Fist



There were a bunch of characters created to reflect the big Kung-Fu craze of the 70's and these were two of my favorites.  Iron Fist had a great look and crossed the superhero and martial arts genres well.  Karate Kid stood out amongst his more alien and powerful LSH allies and even was spun off into his own solo series.  Sure, it didn't last long, but graduating from team member to solo star was a rare move in those days and he beat a lot of higher profile characters to the punch with that achievement.
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15 comments:

  1. Uncle TwitchyMay 16, 2012 at 1:57 PM

    I have that issue of Karate Kid. Fun stuff as always, Ross. I think we're starting to enter new territory for me.

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  2. Carl CafarelliMay 16, 2012 at 2:31 PM

    To be fair, Karate Kid pre-dated the 1970s kung fu craze by several years. But his solo title was indeed a response to the craze.

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  3. AnonymousMay 16, 2012 at 2:47 PM

    love the advert plug for the Superman Movie.....tho it SHOULD read MAN OF STEEL!!!! Can't wait for summer ;o)

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  4. Cathy and DaveMay 16, 2012 at 5:23 PM

    Dave sez,

    Awesome cover!
    It was really cool to see Bendis use Iron Fist - along with Power Man in New Avengers. He was even profiled in the first issue of the animated series' tie-in book!

    I was a Legion fan in the mid to late '70's and then again of the Legionnaires. That was a pretty cool team.

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  5. Rick L. PhillipsMay 17, 2012 at 3:38 AM

    Any chance of teaming up Karate Kid with the movie version or with Charlton Comics' Judo Master or Marvel's Shang Chi?

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  6. Michael JonesMay 17, 2012 at 5:22 AM

    I agree with Rick but put in a request of Richard Dragon as well.

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  7. AnonymousMay 17, 2012 at 6:00 AM

    i said this once the superteams were announced that all kung fu characters should all meet just like all robot/cyborg like ones how bout an all western theme j hex meets 2 gun kid or lone ranger or kid colt

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  8. SuperForceMay 17, 2012 at 6:47 AM

    Haha! You could have turned that "You could be in the Superman movie" blurb into "You could be in the Karate Kid movie" --

    Or maybe save it for a Ralph Macchio Karate Kid vs Legion Karate Kid vs Comic Book Writer Ralph Macchio cover... ;-)

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  9. RossMay 17, 2012 at 8:14 AM

    Definitely some interesting Western character team ups coming... more Kung Fu action as well...

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  10. Bob GreenwadeMay 17, 2012 at 10:02 AM

    I'm with Rick's (and others') idea for putting the DC Karate Kid with either of the two movie characters to bear that name, if a comic image can be found for them.

    As for movie blurbs: you might, in the future, just pick a DC heavy-hitter who hasn't had a movie, but who you think should, and stick that on there. Who knows, but that might create some buzz?

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  11. RossMay 17, 2012 at 10:58 AM

    Well I did have a contest to be in the Batman/Tigra movie on that cover...

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  12. LizardMay 17, 2012 at 1:41 PM

    This isn't really appropos to this cover (which is wonderful, BTW, the fact you've got the two figures so directly connecting, and so smoothly, is amazing work!), but just an idea I had... have you considered doing crossovers between Amalgam characters, and the characters they're amalgamated from? For example, Superman, Captain America, and Super-Soldier? (Or a two-parter, with Captain America meets Super Soldier in one, and Superman meets Super Soldier in the other.)

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  13. RossMay 17, 2012 at 1:46 PM

    I'm not opposed to it, but the Amalgam characters only appeared once or twice so there aren't many images to work from.

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  14. The Trionic TrioMay 17, 2012 at 2:02 PM

    there are a few Legionaires there that I'm not sure I recognize. I know Superboy, Lightning Lad, Cosmic Lad and obviously Karate Kid, but who are those two others? anyone care to take a shot?

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  15. RossMay 17, 2012 at 2:09 PM

    That's Phantom Girl and Princess Projectra.

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