Karate Kid – Comics Archeology

It’s a tradition at this point that every Legion era gets its own “Legion Awards”. I excluded the Karate Kid from the awards of the Superboy era, so it gets its own separate ceremony.

Historical significance: -5/10
Negative scores in this category are reserved for stories with horrible messages or damaging characterization. While the former isn’t really a factor here, the second DEFINITELY applies as it completely destroys any possibility of respecting Karate Kid. I’ve said it before but I believe this series must be the reason why Keith Giffen hates the guy.

Legion significance: 0/10
Even a Legion completionist is better off skipping this entire series,

Silver Age-ness: 7/10
While it DOES include some of the most Silver Age moments of all time (it received two separate ∞/10 scores), the rest is pretty standard for the worst part of 70s DC.

Does it stand the test of time? -10/10
Negative scores are only used when a story absolutely breaks the established canon or characterization. While no single issue gets a negative score, the entire series ranks this low.
That being said, this series can honestly be a lot of fun… if you read it ironically.

And now, ladies and gentlemen: the Karate Awards!
You might notice something a little different from the Legion awards.

WORST HERO

Winner: Karate Kid
He’s constantly whining. He keeps a high opinion of himself without accomplishing much of anything. He’s utterly clueless the whole time, and not in a charming way. And for the greatest fighter in the DC Universe, he gets some of the worst action scenes ever.

Runner-up: Princess Projectra
Honestly the entire Legion isn’t exactly stellar. But she learns that her father basically blackmailed her fiancée to win her hand in marriage and as far as we know she doesn’t even give him a stern lecture. Plus she lets him go back to the 20th century even though he really doesn’t have a reason to go back there.

Third place: Kamandi
He makes one cameo at the last panel of Karate Kid #15 and doesn’t really do anything in Kamandi #58. No wonder his book was cancelled one issue later.

WORST VILLAIN

Winner: Master Hand from Karate Kid #4
This wasn’t a hard choice: all of the villains in this series suck, but only one is also a racist caricature.

Runner-up: Gyro-Master from Karate Kid #7
His origin story is “Fallen into a vat of super-plastic inside a particle accelerator used to make toys”, but JUST LOOK AT HIM!!!

Third place: the Lord of Time from Karate Kid #13
He’s SUPPOSED to be the big bad of the series, but he doesn’t do anything significant (or that makes sense, really) and also feels completely random.

WORST SUPPORTING CHARACTER

Winner: Commissioner Banner
Not only he’s a walking cliché, he’s also an unfunny comic relief that insults your intelligence as a reader in every single scene he appears.

Runner-up: Mrs. Geichman
The landlady, a.k.a. “how can we take all the Aunt May traits people can’t stand and remove every nuance that make her interesting?”

Third place: Iris Jacobs
They tried to push her as a romantic interest, and it didn’t work. They tried to push her in a love triangle, and it didn’t work. They tried to push her as a tragic villain, and it didn’t work. Are you sensing a theme here?

WORST ISSUE

Man, what a tough choice! The first 11 issues by Michelinie are objectively worse comics, but they’re hilarious in a “so bad it’s good” way. The rest are much better in terms of quality, but they tend to be dreadfully boring. Overall, all Karate Kid issues are dreadful in different ways!

Winner: Karate Kid #15
The crossover that nobody asked for: Karate Kid and Kamandi… ‘s supporting cast, because Kamandi himself cameos in the very last panel.

Runner-up: Karate Kid #3
The worst of the “so bad it’s good” batch. It’s the least unintentionally funny, with the worst used villain… The Revenger had SOME potential in his backstory, but it’s completely ignored.