29 users responded in this post

Subscribe to this post comment rss or trackback url
mygif

I don’t follow you.

ReplyReply
mygif
mymatedave said on February 1st, 2010 at 9:51 am

If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

Although I must say I do admire the decision to turn the word karate into a verb.

ReplyReply
mygif

I like to imagine that the other character in the first panel (sorry, I’m not up to speed on identifying Legionaires) is speaking in a tone so thick and rich with sarcasm and contempt that you could drizzle it on pancakes and Karate Kid *just doesn’t get it.* Meanwhile, Superboy is either back at Legion HQ and sipping Margaritas, or maybe even just off-panel, laughing his ass off.

ReplyReply
mygif

My intro the character (and the Legion) had him locked in a dungeon. Since he had nothing better to do he decided whittle a knife out of the stone piller using karate chops.

I still have no idea what good the knife was supposed to do since obviously his hands were harder and deadlier but damn…

That was bad ass.

The world needs more Karate Kid.

ReplyReply
mygif

That original uniform — red or orange depending on printing/lighting with brown gloves — is epic.

I’m not mocking. Any non-powered guy who can still give the likes of Superboy and Mon-El a hard time with his bare hands deserves respect.

ReplyReply
mygif

I think Superboy and Mon-El were taking a dive to make him feel better. Anything else is just stupid.

ReplyReply
mygif

“I think Superboy and Mon-El were taking a dive to make him feel better. Anything else is just stupid.”

Keith Giffen, is that you?

ReplyReply
mygif

“– I’m not mocking. Any non-powered guy who can still give the likes of Superboy and Mon-El a hard time with his bare hands deserves respect. –”

Oh please, he can chop through just about anything with his bare hands. If that’s not a superpower, I don’t know what is.

Admittedly, I’m not up on the Legion, but does Karate Kid ever try kicking anybody?

ReplyReply
mygif
LightlyFrosted said on February 1st, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Of course not. He can tear apart powerful Durmalite with his bare hands. If he tried a powerful kick, it would probably tear apart the fabric of space and time as we know it.

The fabric of space and time has not been torn.

Ergo…

ReplyReply
mygif
Lord Asteroth said on February 1st, 2010 at 2:26 pm

When all you have is a karate, everything starts looking like stacks of boards on cinder blocks.

ReplyReply
mygif

I second the decision to verbify “karate”

ReplyReply
mygif
DistantFred said on February 1st, 2010 at 3:03 pm

mymatedave: 14 year olds do have a tendency to use non-verbs as verbs.

ReplyReply
mygif

In the first panel, I imagine his “karate” being executed directly from the stance he’s already in.

I will call this stance “Miming of the Hourglass Figure”.

ReplyReply
mygif
Lister Sage said on February 1st, 2010 at 3:54 pm

I like how in the second panel the other guy’s eye beam things are looking at the door handle as if to say: “Kid, wait. There’s a perfectly good door handle right there. Let’s use it instead of noisily breaking down the door huh?”

ReplyReply
mygif

Wait. Tangerine Man has mace hands but he’s made of foam rubber? What’s Karate Kid going to do, stab off the guy’s mace hands with half a stick? Obviously, karate training doesn’t include critical thinking skills.

ReplyReply
mygif

ooh! ooh! Do Superman’s freeze breath next! Or something with Wonder Woman’s lasso!

Next up: Bouncing boy, does stuff with, well, bouncing…

Worth Noting: I AM AMUSED BY THIS POST. I love Karate Kid. There I said it.

ReplyReply
mygif

RE: Panel 3

And here i am, breaking wooden stuff over my knee like a sucker…

ReplyReply
mygif
Mary Warner said on February 1st, 2010 at 7:54 pm

I like how he always has his hand open for his karate chops. You used to see that all the time in the ’60s and ’70s. (And they’d do it by only moving their arms, sometimes with the rest of the body kept stiff.) I sometimes wonder if anyone had ever seen real karate back then.

ReplyReply
mygif

LightlyFrosted: I first read your comment as saying “He can tear apart powerful Dolemite with his bare hands.”

Which, um, I’m not sure what that says about me. Other than that I really really want to see Karate Kid vs. Dolemite now.

I’m not sure what /that/ says about me, either, come to think of it.

ReplyReply
mygif

I do remember Karate Kid stopping some seismic shock wave by stomping his foot on the ground. Is that super enough?

ReplyReply
mygif
katzedecimal said on February 2nd, 2010 at 1:49 pm

Two words: Super karate.

ReplyReply
mygif

This is the first I’ve ever heard of this character. A few panels, and I already hate him. Please tell me he died painfully. Perhaps at the hands of an insane Betty Cooper in an intercompany crossover?

ReplyReply
mygif

Died painfully at the hands of Nemesis Kid, saving the galaxy. Went out like a Legionnaire.

And then his wife snapped Nemesis Kid’s neck for revenge. It’s widely considered pretty awesome.

And then he died in Countdown, and that kinda sucked worse than anyone can imagine. So, you got your wish, and everyone suffered. I hope you;re happy.

ReplyReply
mygif

There was actually a letter to the editor back in the Silver Age saying “Why doesn’t he punch or kick someone for a change? Actual karate people don’t go around chopping 24/7.” After that they tried to vary his routine a bit.

I love the guy. He punched the Emerald Eye to pieces, stopped that Manhattan-wrecking earthquake by stomping his foot, and once actually KOed Superboy. Oh, and he judo-tossed M’onel into another solar system once, and I mean that completely literally. And that was Post-Crisis! His character concept is totally insane.

Someday there will be a crossover between him and Marvel’s Mantis, and the resulting levels of implausible karateness will cause the pages to burst into flame.

ReplyReply
mygif
Katzedecimal said on February 3rd, 2010 at 3:03 pm

@Keogh: Don’t worry, every time Keith Giffen gets his hands on Karate Kid, he kills him off. Karate Kid is to Keith Giffen as Kenny is to South Park.

ReplyReply
mygif

Yeah, he can kick. He knows savate, not to mention fencing, kendo (which is what he’s chopping the stick for), boxing, Jovian gladiatorial tridents and Gaman Tol’s krishnu gauntlets, among others.

ReplyReply
mygif

Karate Kid was my second favorite Legionnaire of all time.

Timber Wolf was number 1.

I have good taste.

ReplyReply
mygif

Even if you don’t respect the man’s skills (and really, if you don’t, phooey on you, you’ve got respect the vast reservoir of balls it takes to hang with the superfolk on skill alone. He’s like Batman, only without the crutch of all those gadgets.

ReplyReply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please Note: Comment moderation may be active so there is no need to resubmit your comments