Rip Jagger's Dojo
Beware The Creeper the title says and it's no small warning. The Creeper was one of Steve Ditko's remarkable and memorable additions to the DC universe when along with other Charlton talents such as Dick Giordano, Pat Boyette, Sergius O'Shaugnessy, Steve Skeates, and Jim Aparo landed on those halcyon "House of Krypton" shores. The cover above is my favorite image of the Creeper, his posture all…
Judomaster is a character near and dear to my heart (as you can tell from my nom de electron "Rip Jagger"). Let's begin at the beginning. There is no Judomaster #1. That would be far too simple a start for a Charlton hero. To find the debut of Judomaster you must look at a couple of books. Charlton's Special War Series was a quarterly comic which featured sundry war stories. After three fairly…
Above is a delicious pin-up shot of Sarge Steel by co-creator Dick Giordano, from the 1974 CPL Gang's Charlton Portfolio which also sported a wraparound Don Newton cover. Just wanted to share this nugget before we dive into our main course today. Thunderbolt #57 is dated May 1967. The Sensational Sentinels appear again in a story titled "If This Be Triumph!". The story is plotted by D.C.Glanzman…
Secret Agent (formerly Sarge Steel) Vol.2 #9 is dated October 1966. The cover is by Dick Giordano and is a variation of the splash page by Montes & Bache with Sarge in a more active role. The credits list Pat Masulli again as creator, Joe Gill as storyteller, with pencils by Bill Montes, inks by Ernie Bache, and letters by Jon D'Agostino. Part I of File #109 "The Warmaker" begins with that splash…
Sarge Steel #8 is dated March-April 1966. Pat Masull [sic] is listed as the creator, and clearly this is Pat Masulli's name misspelled which is stunning given he's the Executive Editor of Charlton at this time. Joe Gill is again scripting and Jon D'Agostino supplies the letters. Bill Montes and Ernie Bache return for the art chores. The cover for this issue is by Rocke Mastroserio. File #108 "Case…
Sarge Steel #7 is dated January 1966. Once again Pat Masulli's creator credit is shown. The script is by reliable Joe Gill with lettering again by Jon D'Agostino. The big news here is that Dick Giordano returns for an issue on the artwork. The cover by Giordano is a version of the splash page with the figures of the two masterminds of P.O.W. included. Part I of File #107 "The Day They Killed Sarge…
Sarge Steel #6 is dated November 1965. It features a cover Bill Montes and Rocke Mastroserio. This is the first issue of Sarge Steel to have the sub-title "Special Agent". The issue is written by Joe Gill and the art is again by the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache. Case #106 "Case of the King's Assassin" begins with an round of introductions to key characters. Specifically mentioned are King…
A comic for a our times, ripped from the headlines of the day. The Hawk and The Dove was a curious piece by Charlton alumni Steve Skeates and Steve Ditko, a tale of two brothers caught in a struggle which was at that time both private and public. The United States warred with itself about the war, the Vietnam War (we just called it "the War" back then) about the validity of it and even more about…
Judo Joe! What a simple but evocative name! This series is striking (no pun intended) for a number of reasons. First is the early publishing date, 1953, long before I'd imagine most folks had any understanding of martial arts, at least in a popular way. Another is the way the concept of Judo is combined with a totally cornbread-fed All-American blonde stereotype. No Asians need apply, though as…
Sarge Steel #5 is dated September 1965. No writer is credited on the splash page but no doubt it's Joe Gill. The art this time is by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache taking the reigns from Dick Giordano. Giordano does supply the cover for this issue though. The splash page shows Sarge in a headlock held by a giant Asian warrior with Ivan Chung holding a sword and ordering a beautiful woman to shoot…
Sarge Steel #4 is dated July 1965. Created by Pat Masulli and scripted by Joe Gill, this issue features artwork by Dick Giordano with Jon D'Agostino on the lettering. The cover is another choice one by Giordano. The story "Case of the Kiss of the Cat" begins with a splash featuring Sarge facing off against a beautiful black-haired woman and her black panther. The story begins in a night club where…
Sarge Steel #3 is dated April-May 1967. Created by Pat Masulli with script by Joe Gill, Illustrations by Dick Giordano and Letters by Jon D'Agostino, the issue features a cover by Giordano. The title still has the "Private Detective" label attached. Case #103 "The Heritage of Hate" begins with a splash page featuring Sarge fencing with a man wearing a swastika on his fencing mask with the Smiling…
Sarge Steel #2 is dated February 1966. Pat Masulli is credited as creator, Joe Gill as scripter and the art is by Dick Giordano. The is a particularly good one by Giordano. File #102 "Case of the Man Who Blackmailed the World" begins with a symbolic splash page with Sarge shooting it out with Lisa Monelli a beautiful and rich vamp of no small reputation. The story itself starts with Bessie,…
One thing I discovered some years ago to my dismay while I was gathering materials for some posts on Judomaster was that my Sarge Steel collection was incomplete. The series runs for eight issues as Sarge Steel then becomes Secret Agent for two more issues. I thought I had them all, but it's been years since I looked closely, and I found to my horror that I did not have a copy of Secret Agent #9…
Get Smart was a spoof which had much fun at the expense of the super-spy fad of the 1960's which had been kicked off by the James Bond movies and television shows such as The Man from UNCLE and The Avengers. Agent 86 was Maxwell Smart, a clumsy secret agent portrayed by Don Adams. The show was a product of the minds of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. As was their wont, Dell Comics attempted to adapt…
Here is a delightful drawing of Judomaster and Tiger (along with the Smiling Skull and Blue Beetle as well) by Frank McLaughlin, the creator of the "Scarlet Smasher". He produced this gem for the Charlton Neo folks. It was printed in The Charlton Arrow #2. The image combines elements of two of McLauglin's finest covers for Judomaster, as well a dandy cover image from Steve Ditko. Here is a gem of…
The success of the Peacemaker TV show did yield some positive results for me in the toy department. I'm not a big collector of dolls, but I never thought I'd see an action figure for Peacemaker. The Peacemaker figure came as part of trio which also featured the purely DC hero Vigilante and the Charlton version of Judomaster. The Charlton Comics "Action Heroes" were purchased by DC as a present of…
Part of me finds it very difficult to believe that Peacemaker has become a high profile and successful TV show. Following directly on the continuity of the second The Suicide Squad movie, Christopher Smith finds himself part of ARGUS and is sent on a mission to uncover an alien invasion by insect-like critters dubbed "Butterflies". He is assisted in this endeavor by a widely divergent team…
For sure The Peacemaker made his breakout from relative obscurity in the second The Suicide Squad movie helmed by James Gunn. Given that he had to compete for screen time with Harley Quinn, it's remarkable how memorable John Cena's turn as Christopher Smith was. Doubtless Cena's relative fame helped elevate the character some, but his role in the movie is controversial from my perspective. He's…
Peacemaker only ever got one mini-series in the 80's and that was a four-issue extended story which pitted him against a "Yellow Peril" villain named Tzin who commanded an army of super soldiers. In this series by Paul Kupperberg and artists Tod Smith and Pablo Marcos Christopher Smith is given a more solid footing as an anti-hero, and not just a psycho. We are treated to some elaborate text items…
I'm very happy to see DC putting out reprints of the Charlton Comics material they inherited when they absorbed most of the Action Heroes way back in the 1980's. They've reprinted most all of the relevant Steve Ditko material, but other artists have been largely ignored. A prime example is the great Pat Boyette, who co-creation with Joe Gill, the Peacemaker finally finds a modern audience. The…
I haven't the strength to revisit the whole meandering odyssey of the THUNDER Agents after their Tower days were done. The saga of their ownership is a confusing and at times quite dark tale. A chap named John Carbonaro got the rights from Tower to publish the T-Agents (although some say that those rights never existed and remained with Wally Wood and afterwards his estate -- it's murky).…
The Peacemaker #6 was never published. The Action-Hero line folded, its architect Dick Giordano move on over to DC, and Charlton returned to its focus on genre comics like ghosts, romance, and war. But the Peacemaker story for issue #6 was written by Joe Gill and fully illustrated by Pat Boyette with Dick Giordano credited as editor. And those completed pages have been floating around the internet…
The Peacemaker #5 is dated November, 1967. The editor is Dick Giordano and the writer of both the lead feature and the back up is Joe Gill. The illustration on the lead and on the cover is by Pay Boyette. Part I of "The Fire World" by Gill and Boyette begins with Christopher Smith explaining his latest invention to his secretary Nora O'Rourke. He's developed a heat-proof material which can be…
The Peacemaker #4 is dated September, 1967. The editor is Dick Giordano, the scripter for both features is Joe Gill. The artist on the lead and the also the cover is Pat Boyette. The first part of the lead Peacemaker story begins with an introduction to Nora O'Rourke, an American citizen but born in County Cork Ireland. She shows up at Christopher Smith's chateau dubbed "The Peace Palace" to apply…