KARATE KID #3 (1976)
by David Michelinie & Ric Estrada
cover by Mike Grell
“Karate Kid vs The Revenger” sounds like a shlocky B-movie, which is not exactly wrong for this series.
If you were wondering how Karate Kid would be able to afford living in the 20th century with no money, turns out he got a donation for REVERSING AN EARTHQUAKE WITH A KICK.
The Revenger crashes through the window. He has the power to make his own name with a sound effect.
Typically, superheroes tend to be way more effective in their own titles when compared to what they do in a team.
Karate Kid is the opposite, in that he’s awesome with the Legion but in his own book he tends to suck.
But it turns out that The Revenger didn’t want to steal anything from the bank, just to murder the bank’s president. WHICH HE DOES.
You know, if it wasn’t for the murder I would say this is a sitcom because I can almost hear the laugh track here.
Surprisingly we learn the origin of The Revenger straight away: he was your typical super-scientist creating an indestructible metal for peaceful purposes.
So of course:
But enough about villains, why don’t we check on the private life of Karate Kid?
Ah yes, that’s because his private life scenes suck.
Fortunately for us he hears over the radio that someone who looks like The Revenger has attacked a jewelry store, and he’s able to track him with ridiculous ease.
But first he’ll have to fight some random people he runs into.
And I do mean random!
I swear Karate Kid spends more panels fighting these nobodies than the actual villain of the story.
Remember when I said that Karate Kid tends to suck in his own series?
Okay to be fair, he DOES prevent The Revenger from reaching his third victim.
This leads to another unimpressive fight, where The Revenger is less interested in Karate Kid than… and I’m not joking… saving the lives of his pet pigeons.
Please take a moment to consider that The Revenger has the same number of heroic deeds of Karate Kid this issue.
Goodbye, The Revenger. You will be missed by anybody who remembers you… which I’m not even sure includes the pigeons.
Historical significance: 0/10
The first and last appearance of The Revenger. For a reason.
Silver Age-ness: 1/10
What a letdown from last issue, right?
Does it stand the test of time? 0/10
Why is this a Karate Kid story? With the reference in The Revenger’s origin about him creating a metal that could last centuries but was instead wasted for war, I was really hoping Karate Kid would tell him that the metal WILL be used for peace in the future… but no, it was just a throwaway origin story for a throwaway villain. Talk about lame!!!