Judomaster
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| Judomaster | |
|---|---|
 The current Judomaster on the cover of Justice Society of America #11. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Originally Charlton Comics, now DC Comics |
| First appearance | Special War Series #4 (November 1965) |
| Created by | Joe Gill (writer) Frank McLaughlin (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Hadley "Rip" Jagger |
| Team affiliations | United States Army L.A.W. |
| Partnerships | Tiger |
| Abilities | Martial artist specializing in Judo. |
Judomaster is the name given to three fictional superheroes published by DC Comics. The first Judomaster debuted in Special War Series #4 (November 1965) published by Charlton Comics, and was created by Joe Gill and Frank McLaughlin.
Contents |
Fictional character biography
Hadley Jagger
Judomaster's secret identity was Hadley "Rip" Jagger, a sergeant in World War II in the United States Army. He rescued the daughter of a Pacific island chief and in return was taught the martial art of judo. He had a kid sidekick named Tiger. In the Nightshade backup series in Captain Atom, an adult Tiger was Nightshade's martial arts instructor.
Judomaster's title lasted from #89 to #98, from June, 1966 to December, 1967. (It was a retitling of Gunmaster, which was itself a retitling of Six-Gun Heroes).
Along with most Charlton super hero characters, the rights to Judomaster were sold to DC Comics. In post-Crisis continuity, Judomaster was said to be a member of the All-Star Squadron, DC's team of superheroes during World War II, although he has never appeared in an actual published story as a member of said team. His kid sidekick, Tiger, would later become the villain Avatar in the L.A.W. mini-series published by DC Comics, which re-teamed the Charlton characters that had been acquired by DC. In the same series it is shown Judomaster has lived for some time in the fictional city of Nanda Parbat. As time passes in a different manner there, Judomaster has retained a younger form. Since the mini-series, Judomaster has only appeared a few times.
Sometime in his life he had a son named Thomas Jagger.
Judomaster was killed when he took part in the giant battle of Metropolis in Infinite Crisis #7, during which the supervillain Bane broke his back.
Justice League Quarterly
A different Judomaster was created by Paul Kupperberg and artist Michael Collins. In Justice League Quarterly #14 (1994), Andreas Havoc, an enemy of Peter Cannon (Thunderbolt) challenged Cannon to battle, feeling that his rightful position as "Vajra" had been stolen by Cannon. The Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), Captain Atom and Nightshade assisted Peter Cannon in battling Havoc in a psychic battle while the new Judomaster helped rescue the heroes in the physical world.
Sonia Sato
A female Judomaster, Sonia Sato, appears in Birds of Prey #100 (2007), along with Big Barda and Manhunter who are all recruited by Oracle to break into a Mexican prison. Unlike the other Judomasters, this one is a female, in keeping with the all-female Birds of Prey group.
In 2008, Sonia returned in Justice Society of America #11 the issue in which her name, origin and powers were revealed. Sonia's metahuman talent allows her to project an "aversion field" which prevents her from being hit by attacks specifically aimed at her. This does not include attacks that have no aim, such as random projectiles and explosions. With the help of the JSA, she stoped Yakuza assassins led by Tiger. Mysteriously, she has lost her command of the English language she had in Birds of Prey, though she starts to regain it. She is shown in a relationship with Damage, kissing him even after his temporarily healed face was reverted to his heavily scarred one [1].
Blackest Night
Sonia's romance with Damage is tragically cut short when he is killed by the resurrected Jean Loring during Blackest Night. Now part of Magog's All-Star JSA squadron, Sonia assists her teammates in repelling the Black Lantern invasion of Manhattan. Sonia and Damage's older brother Atom Smasher search the city for survivors, only to stumble upon Damage, now a member of the Black Lantern Corps, tearing the heart out of a police officer.[2]
Other versions
- A female version was seen in Alex Ross and Mark Waid's comic Kingdom Come, as a member of Magog's Justice Battalion, along with the rest of the Charlton 'Action Heroes'. She was apparently killed with the other members when Captain Atom was killed. This version is female like Sonia.
- In the final issue of 52, a new Multiverse is revealed, originally consisting of 52 identical realities. Among the parallel realities shown is one designated "Earth-4". As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-Crisis Earth-4, including Judomaster and the other Charlton characters. The names of the characters are not mentioned in the panel in which they appear, the Judomaster is visually similar to the Rip Jagger Judomaster.[3] Based on comments by Grant Morrison, this alternate universe is not the pre-Crisis Earth-4.[4]
Notes
- ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #22
- ^ Blackest Night: JSA #1 (December 2009)
- ^ 52 (52): 13/5 (May 2, 2007), DC Comics
- ^ Brady, Matt (2007-05-08). "The 52 Exit Interviews: Grant Morrison". Newsarama. http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=111900. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
References
- Judomaster (Rip Jagger) at the Comic Book DB
- Judomaster (1994) at the Comic Book DB
- Judomaster (Sonia Sato) at the Comic Book DB
- Judomaster & Tiger at the International Catalogue of Superheroes
- Judomaster at Don Markstein's Toonopedia