KARATE KID #13 (1978)
by Bob Rozakis & Juan Ortiz
cover by Rich Buckler
We are now in a new era, where Karate Kid will go up against a brand new threat… the exact same villain of the previous run.
Last time, Karate Kid ran into a Superboy that didn’t recognize him and immediately picked up a fight. Now that the Legion is here and they don’t recognize him either, he fights them too.
The fact that the Legionnaires are wearing their old costumes should’ve been a hint that even an idiot could pick up.
So Karate Kid is, of course, completely oblivious.
It takes Saturn Girl’s telepathy to convince him that the reason why they don’t recognize him is because they all come from a previous period. How hard was it to figure out!?
I might excuse this in a franchise where time travel is uncommon, but come on, a Legionnaire THAT clueless about time travel!?
We then catch up with Major Disaster, who turns out to have been working with another lame villain: the obscure JLA enemy called the Lord Of Time.
The fact that he’s involved makes Major Disaster inexplicably having a base in prehistoric times in the absolutely bonkers issue 11 is at least an attempt to clear up the mess that Michelinie made.
His plan? Unleashing all the Roland Emmerich movies at once!
The team splits up to deal with all the disasters, leaving Karate Kid to interact with Saturn Girl.
The fact that the Legionnaires come from a different era is the most interesting part of this entire storyline, which of course means it’s never going to be addressed past this one panel.
What’s the point of giving Karate Kid his own title if you then bring the Legion and have them star in every action scene!?
These are technically the Legionnaires from the Hamilton era, which naturally means they are absolutely ridiculous.
Let’s check with the Iris subplot. Remember that she went to S.T.A.R. Labs to look for a job? Turns out that job was being a guinea pig.
The experiment involves injecting her with an “hydrocarbon serum” to combat pollution.
Sounds legit.
Also: being injected with strange chemicals is supposedly more attractive than being a superhero alien princess with magic powers.
We interrupt this lame story to bring you KARATE KID KICKING PEOPLE IN THE FACE!!!
Aaaand that’s it. That’s basically the entire fight.
The Lord Of Time teleports himself and Major Disaster to safety, while Karate Kid is sent back to the present (I completely forgot that we were technically in the past since this is Superboy’s Smallville).
And SOMEHOW he immediately recognizes Iris despite her being… well…
I feel you, buddy.
Historical significance: 0/10
Since Karate Kid is sent to the present without much fanfare, we never explore if the Legionnaire remember meeting him here. I can see Saturn Girl erasing the memories from her teammates, but that means that SHE knew Karate Kid would later join the team.
With this series being mercifully ignored by future writers, this is never brought up again.
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
Chameleon Boy turns into a giant fan to blow off a tornado! Colossal Boy plugs a volcano with his hand!
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Technically superior to any story of the Michelinie run… but that makes it super-boring. Karate Kid is at least competent, but he comes off as dense when he needs everything to be explained. Bringing up the Lord Of Time gives SOME credence to earlier issues, but I get the feeling that Rozakis thought “Which time travel villain can I use to retcon the earlier stupidity?”. Unfortunately, he picked a very forgettable villain who comes out of nowhere and doesn’t have much to do.