Well, he had to fight dinosaurs eventually.
Judomaster #98
FINAL ISSUE though at this point I wouldn’t be surprised to find out another title took over the numbering like this one did
Charlton Comics Group (December, 1967)
“The Isle Of Dragons”
WRITER/ARTIST: Frank McLaughlin
Sarge Steel: File 115 “Case Of The Key West Caper”
I didn’t see credits in the comic.
Rip’s team heads to an island that time forgot. And yet the natives are totally aware of Judomaster’s reputation. (Wait, did he ever clear his name?) The Japanese are using a combination of tranquilizers and the power of the “Japanese Sandman” to control the dinosaurs, and capture Suzi and Tiger. Judomaster frees his friends and defeats the Japanese Sandman, blowing up the city while Tiger switches the tranquillizers for normal guns.
What they got right: Fighting dinosaurs is a rite of passage for superheroes, and Judomaster does well with his. They didn’t do anything silly like have him beat a T-Rex with judo or something. Tiger shows how clever he is when he interferes with the enemy’s method of controlling dinosaurs.
What they got wrong: I can deal with the characters calling Japanese “nips” because that was the slur used at the time for their wartime enemy, but seeing the narration do it in a 1967 comic was weird.
In Sarge’s story, Bess is kidnapped and Sarge given a note where his secretary is being held. It’s the couple behind POW out for revenge, but Sarge and Bess make short work of them. Did they know this was the last issue? It’s a one-part story, but with two villains that aren’t exactly memorable. By the way, does anyone know Bess’ last name? Did she even have one?
What I think overall: There’s an odd panel layout at times in both stories that it goes from the top panel on the left to the double-length panel on the right, and then the bottom panel on the left, which is terrible story flow. Overall the stories were decent but even with dinosaurs the series kind of ends on a meh note.
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