Judomaster!

With the current trend of comic book superhero flicks (Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, with more to follow I'm sure) here's a character I'd like to see on the silver screen. Judomaster was put out by Charlton and DC Comics and had a brief run in the late 60s. I actually had a copy of this issue you see to the left that cost a cool twelve cents in June, 1967.

Judomaster's real life alter ego is Hadley "Rip" Jagger, a World War II US Army sergeant who learns judo from a Pacific island chieftain named Sensei. When Rip gets his judo down, Sensei rewards him with a colorful action suit so he can return to combat and win the war. Hardly molded in the image of Clark Kent, Sgt. Jagger is not your mild mannered type as he was previously schooled in boxing, hand-to-hand combat, weaponry and a myriad of martial arts. Sumo wrestlers, acrobats and ninjas were no match for the cross training Judomaster.

I did have the #95 issue -- I have no idea what it would be worth now or if it's even considered collectible. It disappeared about the same time my prized Hot Wheels collection vanished. Later, a female version of Judomaster made an appearance in comic books. Definitely more my speed. Looks like she's more of a ground fighter than her predecessor. Hey, if they do a movie they already have a sequel.

The Modern Bully

Has anyone noticed the new War on Bullying? Bullying has been getting a lot of press and has become quite the catch phrase. Bullying or peer intimidation pervades many aspects of our daily existence: in the workplace, schools, and now especially, the internet. Facebook and other social networking services have been linked to a number of suicides committed by distraught teenagers being harassed online. Perceived psychological abuse has its way of being just as damaging as the physical kind. Of course bullies shaking down smaller and weaker kids for their lunch money still happens and the new anti-bullying legislation being proposed probably won't have much of an effect in public schools where "zero-tolerance" is already in force. I can't blame the school system for trying. It has been suggested that the Columbine High School massacre was carried out by a pair of chronic victims of classroom bullying that went unchecked.

The psychological profile of the modern bully has been updated to include characteristics of entitlement and narcissism from the classic version that depicts the bully as a self-loathing coward who may have been (or is) the victim of abuse, especially at home.

Children enrolled in martial arts are taught the virtues of respect and self-reliance in addition to self-defense. One wonders how many youngsters who start off as shy and awkward (perfect bully fodder) really manage to break out of their shell to lose their victim mentality. How many kids can honestly say that - thanks to karate or whatever - they now can ward off the neighborhood punk with panache? To say nothing of the internet and the effects of cyberbullying.