Judomaster - The Smiling Skull!

Judomaster #92 is dated December 1966. Frank McLaughlin's name is the sole name listed and I assume he again is responsible for both story and art. 

"Judomaster meets The Smiling Skull" begins right where the last issue ended with the plane carrying Rip Jagger landing in Europe so that he can combat the spy ring he began investigating in the previous issue. Also still aboard that plane is the young Japanese-American boy who learned that Rip Jagger was Judomaster and who helped him in his battle with The Cat. Rip leaves the nameless boy with the MPs at the airbase but he slips away. Rip and his European contact follow a known spy but they are spotted and the spy runs away before being intercepted by the young boy who has followed Rip yet again. The spy captures the kid and uses him to escape. Intelligence reports allow Rip to discover the likely location of the spy ring as well as its leader a man named Rudolf Wolk, more infamously known as "The Smiling Skull". (Note: This villain first appeared in Sarge Steel #3 some years before.) Rip dons his Judomaster gear and is air dropped into the base where he is immediately intercepted by The Smiling Skull and his men. 

The Skull has heard of Judomaster's skills and wants a hand-to-hand duel with him promising him the safety of the boy and himself if Judomater prevails, but with the edge that bright searchlights will be used to diminish Judomaster's eyesight. The two struggle in the glare of bright searhlights, which continue to burn and in fact increase in number and intensity throughout the fight. Ultimately Judomaster knocks out The Skull, but he himself collapses in exhaustion. He is about to be shot by the Skull's men regardless of their bargain when bombs begin to explode around them all. He finds the young boy who he now calls "Tiger" but before they can leave Judomaster reveals that he has gone blind. With this revelation, the story ends. 

The next feature is three pages and is titled "Judomaster's Sport of Judo". In this piece by McLaughlin Judomaster gives detailed instructions in the use of two moves, one called "Kubi-Nage" a head lock throw, and the other called "Tsurikomi-Goshi a lifting hip throw. 

The back up is the second half of the Sarge Steel adventure by Joe Gill and Dick Giordano called File 110 "Case of the Double Agent". The story begins with Sarge and the spy Irena Dubaya on a military base where Dubaya is getting photos of the secure installation with a belt-buckle camera. Sarge is still pretending to be a double agent offering his services to the foreign spy ring. He tries though to turn Dubaya over to the Security chief of the base a Colonel Trask, but it turns out Trask is also a spy and having revealed his true colors Steel is forced to fight Trask saved from a bullet by his steel hand deflecting it. He knocks out Trask, but Dubaya gives him a judo flip and gets him at gunpoint. Then Trask and Dubaya take Steel aboard a jet and overpower the pilots and steal it with the intent of dumping the bodies along with Steel's out the bomb doors. Steel frustrates Trask's attempts to seal him inside a bomb casing using his steel mitt and uses its single-shot .38 gun to do him in. He then uses the hands sleeping gas to overcome Dubaya and take over the plane landing it safely and handing the spies over to the authorities. 

"Flips and Counters with Judomaster" offers up four letters, most complimentary of the comic to date, though a few are not happy with Judomaster's ponytail. There is mention made of the 25-cent comic Fantastic Giants. Of note is that one of the letters is from famous fan Bill Schelly.

 

And that wraps another issue of Judomaster. A few things are apparent at this point in the series. One that the stories will continue from issue to issue with a clear sense of continuity between tales. Also that the continuity will be more strongly enhanced between comic book series as the villain here The Smiling Skull is from another comic to begin with, Sarge Steel #3. This is clearly an attempt by Dick Giordano to build a line-up that feeds across titles and essentially develop a Charlton universe. There will be other examples of these attempts at continuity, some quite cleverly done. 

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

More Judomaster to come. 

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Judomaster - Man Without A Country!

Judomaster #91 is dated October 1966. The story and art are by Frank McLaughlin. The issue picks up immediately after the events of the previous issue. 

The Judomaster story this time is titled "Man Without A Country!" and begns with the "Crimson Crusher" (one of two nicknames used for Judomaster in the series, the other being "Scarlet Smasher") diving onto a junk in the harbor and finding it operated by beautiful woman, an agent sent to pick him up by General Hawkins following his escape from the Japanese. Her name is Sylvia Coates and she says she is the daughter of a missionary who was killed by the Japanese and so she works to thwart them. She takes Judomaster back to the island where he was trained and he is reunited with Suzi and his mentor Bushiri. They indicate they know that his role as a "traitor" is a ruse. Next we see Rip Jagger in General "Hawk" Hawkins office getting his orders for his next mission. That mission takes him to Wyoming to infiltrate a Japanese internment camp in which a security leak has been discovered to exist. Rip poses as a guard at the camp and quickly follows a young Japanese-American boy and finds "The Cat" a notorious Kendo master and a many of mystery who has his face hidden at all times. Rip discovers that secrets are being transported out of the camp by use of hollow chopsticks. The next day Rip finds The Cat all decked out in his Kendo rip, battling two opponents but using tricks to defeat them. Despite this the young boy clearly idolizes the The Cat. 

The Cat takes issue with Rip's criticism and strikes him and Rip challenges him to a battle that The Cat says must be to the death. The agree to meet early the next morning. Rip brushes up on his Kendo technique then puts on his Judomaster costume, all the while being watched by the young boy. He heads off to his duel with The Cat and the begin a battle that lasts through the morning. Finally the younster throws a rock that strikes Judomaster giving The Cat the advantage. The boy did it help his hero The Cat save face, but The Cat's merciless desire to kill his weakened foe makes the boy see the flaws in his hero and he helps Judomaster after Judomaster fends off The Cat's first attack. The battle continues for a few moments but The Cat falls from a cliff. His fate is somewhat unresolved, but I guess we are to assume he died. The boy admits his mistake and wants to go with Judomaster, but is denied. Later General Hawkins gives Rip Jagger new orders to break up an international spy ring and he flies off to complete his mission. But he discovers that the young boy has stowed away on the plane. 

The second feature in this issue is the debut of Sarge Steel or really the continuation of that feature sliding from his own book into the back of Judomaster. There are no credits, but the feature is certainly drawn by Dick Giordano and GCD says Joe Gill did the script. Titled the "Case of the Double Agent" this is File 110. It begins with Sarge Steel shooting an astronaut as he approaches his rocket. It turns out the victim was a foreign agent posing as an astronaut and he poisons himself before he can be questioned. Sarge knows that the spy was sent by Irena Dubaya, a dangerous foreign agent who just happens to have a bug on Steel and plans to take her revenge. She poses as a replacement secretary for Sarge in his Private Investigator office but he recognizes her and then decides to pretend to become a double agent offering to sell his services to the highest bidder. She eventually offers him a job as a double-spy but not before he has beat up a few of her thugs with his steel fist. She takes a photo of his first payoff and Sarge realizes he is playing a most dangerous game as the first part of the story ends. 

"Flips and Counters with Judomaster" closes out the issue and it offers up three letters from fans. All are flattering, some more that others, but many ask about the design of Judomaster and its obvious connection to the Japanese Empire. The editors indicate they feel enough time has passed but they were nervous about the choice. Also included on this page is a biographical sketch of Frank McLaughlin who is called the "Creator-Writer-Artist" of Judomaster. A photo of McLaughlin is also shown. 

For the completist let it be known that "Judomaster's Self-Defense" is a three-page feature narrated by Judomaster in the pages of Thunderbolt #52. It is written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin and focuses on "Ouchigari" an inside leg reap and "Tomoenage" a stomach throw. 

You can feel that the series is getting itself together a bit in this issue. The characterizations are strong, and the action is pretty dandy. There is a great full-page splash of the fight between Judomaster and The Cat. Overall, you can really tell that editor Dick Giordano is wanting to give his Action-Hero books a distinctive if somewhat Marvelesque feel in their tone. 

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

 More Judomaster to come. 

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Judomaster - Traitor!

The saga of Sgt. Rip Jagger, The Judomaster continues in Judomaster #90 of the run. The issue is dated August 1966 and the book is issued bimonthly from Charlton. And for the record a subscription for the entire year would be 70 cents. I miss the good old days. There are no credits for this issue, but clearly Frank McLaughlin is at the helm on art and almost certainly on the scripting as well. 

The first story is titled "Judomaster...Traitor!!" and begins with another symbolic splash showing Judomaster on the radio in the presence of Tokyo Rose imploring his American comrades to surrender to the Japanese. Then we are told of a Japanese missile capable of destroying any large city in the U.S. The story begins properly in the Pacific on the island where Judomaster first got his start as Rip Jagger is walking through the jungle looking for his guerilla comrades. He's attacked but it's Bushiri, his mentor who takes him to Sensei and the waiting arms of his apparent romantic interest Suzi. Then things get down to business as Sensei informs Rip that they have developed intel that will allow him to get to the missle and destroy both it and the plans for it. Bushiri takes Judomaster and some other island guerillas to the local Japanese airstrip where they overcome the guards and Judomaster steals a Zero which he uses to strafe the enemy then fly the missle location. Meanwhile a message is sent to General Hawkins who now confirms that he's aware of Rip Jagger's dual identity as Judomaster and also of a secret scheme to get information out of Japan, but a plan he hopes not to use. Judomaster uses the Zero in a Kamikaze run to blow up the missle while he parachutes out at the last moment. 

In Part II titled "Tokyo Express" Judomaster steals a motorcycle, defeating some Japanese troops to boot, then motors off to the Japanese command post which he crashes. Using speed and surprise he catapults himself from the motorbike and crashes through a window into a meeting of Japanese generals where he finds the missle plans and burns them. His escape goes rather smoothly as he exits the buiding, locates his bike and heads off. But a bullet wrecks him and he has to fight off many soldiers until he is at long last knocked out and taken to the base commander who has a particularly beefy fellow beging beating the restrained Judomaster. There is this secret plan Hawkins had alluded to earlier but to make it work Judomaster must take a pretty severe beating which he does before he at last taken to another location on the base. There he is taken into a radio room where he meets Tokyo Rose herself and he pretends to turn traitor and implore the American forces to surrender. This is it turns out a coded message to Hawkins who knows then that the missle and the plans have both been destroyed and a counter attack can commence. Judomaster then breaks free from his captors and escapes. But his message has been heard by thousands of troops and they now believe that Judomaster has become both a coward and a traitor. That plot thread is left to develop in the next issue as this story comes to an end. 

There are three additional features in this issue. The first is the initial instalment of "Flips and Counters with Judomaster" the proposed letters column. In this first one there is a message from Editor Dick Giordano asking for letters to fill up the column in future issues. He also hints of exciting new features to appear in upcoming issues. 

This is followed by a two-page comics feature by Pete Morisi (uncredited but certainly him) titled "The Roof of the World - Where Thunderbolt Was Born" which gives information about the Charlton hero Peter Cannon - The Thunderbolt and about how he gained his powers from intense training in the Himalayas among the monks there and from intense study of the Scriptures of Lamaism. There is the suggestion that any human can achieve these abilities with work and focus. 

The text feature in this issue is really strange and it's titled "Melifera Asamsonii on the Warpath" and talks about how the world by ultimately be destroyed by insects, specifically Africanized bees. The term "killer bee" is not used but this is the same species. Also there's talk of super ants and of potential use of both bees and ants as weapons in war. 

You can tell that the intention with Judomaster is to develop a hero with some aspects of the Marvel magic, essentially heroes with problems. Making Judomaster appear to be a traitor would appear in this issue to be a background story that will develop over time in the series. That will remain to be seen. There was less emphasis on the pure martial arts aspect of the series this time and more just plain rollicking action. 

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

 More Judomaster to come. 

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Judomaster - The Mountain Storm!

The second issue of Judomaster is numbered #89. That's because this issue, dated May-June 1966 is a continuation of another series Gunmaster which was actually a continuation of yet another series Six-Gun Heroes. If it's Charlton, you can be sure it's confusing. So, the ballistics are turned in for bare knuckles. 

The lead Judomaster story is in two parts. Part I is titled "Prisoner of War". Both story and art are attributed to Frank McLaughlin. After a symbolic splash with Judomaster battling a giant sumo wrestler in a prison camp, we leap to page two and story begins with Sgt. Rip Jagger being called into the office of General Hawkins. Hawkins asks Jagger to volunteer to go behind enemy lines and infiltrate a Japanese prison camp to rescue Captain Brian Miller who has unrevealed "valuable information". Of course Jagger volunteers and soon meets up with a Ranger unit who take him nearly to his destination where he allows himself to be captured and taken across the moat into the camp. There he meets the Commander of the camp, who turns out to be a Ninjutsu. Jagger meets up with other prisoners and discovers that Miller has malaria and hasn't been able to reveal any intelligence. He begins to plan the escape after he learns about Mountain Storm. Mountain Storm is a silent giant sumo who uses the prisoners as fodder in his fights to entertain the Japanese troops. Jagger arranges the escape and plans to settle the score with Mountain Storm. 

Part II is titled "The Mountain Storm" and sees the prisoners continue to plot their escape by building makeshift devices. But the Commander gets wind of the attempt and calls everyone out on the field. Some prisoners slip off to begin the escape using inflatable bladders used by ninjas to walk on water. Meanwhile Rip Jagger becomes Judomaster and confronts the Commander and the Mountain Storm. The next several pages are taken up with precise martial arts action sequences with Judomaster ultimately getting the better of the Montain Storm while the escape continues. But the Mountain Storm has one card left to play, as his name is apparently also the name of a particularly powerful judo throw, but when attempts it Judomaster is ready and swings the giant onto his knee for a painful backbreaker. Judomaster then leads the remaining prisoners in an attack on the Japanese overtaking a machine gun tower and mowing down some of the enemy. He then overtakes the Commander and defeats him. The battle over Judomaster disappears and Rip Jagger returns to lead the former prisoners to safety. General Hawkins congratulates Jagger on a job well done and mentions Judomaster's role, and it is unclear how much he knows about Jagger's dual identity. The last scene shifts abruptly to the island where Judomaster was trained and a conversaiton between Bushiri and Sensei about how sad Suzikawa (Sensei's daughter) is that Jagger is gone.

 

The second story is titled "Self Defense" and is really a tutorial featuring Judomaster and he gives step by step instructions on breaking choke holds and doing leg sweeps and a hip toss that looks much the "Mountain Storm" move from the first story. Both story and art are again attributed to Frank McLaughlin. 

The text story in this issue is titled "The Finger of Fate" and offers up speculation about a moviemaker seeing the perfect performer in a dream and then taking steps to find that specific individual. That is compared to a Chinese Emperor from ancient times who also followed up on a dream to locate and put into place the ideal man to lead as prime minister. 

This is a solid issue, giving Judomaster plenty to do and also taking a few moments in the action-packed story to do a tiny bit of characterization with the potential love interest. The relationship between Hawkins and Jagger is also one that seems at this point ripe with potential. Mountain Storm will show up again in the series, and despite not having a single line of dialogue proved to be a most memorable opponent for Judomaster. 

To read the complete comic book go to this link. 

More Judomaster to come.

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Judomaster - Special War Series!

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 typical issues the final installment, issue #4 bearing a November 1965 date is quite a bit different. On that cover is a vivid red and yellow figure and around is arrayed four images of that same figure displaying various martial arts skills. He is dubbed "America's Newest and Greatest Action-Hero!". 

The story begins in Part I titled "Introducing Rip Jagger...Judomaster". The script is by the ubiquitous Joe Gill, Charlton's workhorse writer, but the artwork and concept are from the skilled hand of Frank McLaughlin. The story begins in June 1943 on a small island in the Pacific where a bunch of U.S. soldiers are fighting a "horde" of Japanese soldiers led by Major Yoku. We meet Sgt. Rip Jagger and PFC Al Cole as they stand watch. A figure appears in the night and Cole fires despite Jagger's warning. They hear sounds and Jagger goes out to check the victim and lift the body to his shoulder, but as attempts to return he comes under sniper attack by the Japanese who swarm the position. Suddenly when all seems lost a bunch of mysterious warriors appear from the jungle with swords and dispatch the Japanese. Jagger is stunned and finds himself under attack and despite his considerable fighting ability is knocked out. He awakes in a cave among a group of fighting men led by Bushiri who takes Jagger to his leader the Sensei an ancient master warrior. He discovers that the "body" he rescued was in fact the still-living daughter of the Sensei and he is among a group of dedicated island natives who want to drive away the Japanese. He learns his comrades from the U.S. are dead and so he throws in with the islanders. As Major Yoku continues to spread his tyranny Rip Jagger undergoes training under the guidance of Bushiri. 

In Part II titled "The Dojo!" Rip Jagger continues his training and learns much about the discipline of Judo including its emphasis on Renshindo (physical development), Shouibhuo (combat technique) and Shushinho (mental development). He proves a worthy and talented student, and even surprises Bushiri with his skill and speed. Eventually Jagger joins the islanders in an attack on the Japanese and is most effective, so much so that Sensei tells him that he has become a symbol for the islanders and so must wear a special costume to fully realize that role. 

In Part III titled "Judomaster Is Born" Rip Jagger puts on his distinctive red and yellow costume for the first time and carrying only a bamboo stick heads off into battle against Major Yoku, attacking his very headquarters. He then puts out a warning to Yoku that he will destroy three targets in succession. He attacks and destroys the Japanese oil depot, then the naval ammunition depot. During these two attacks he proves resistant to electrical shock. For the last target Judomaster has called in an American airstrike on the Japanese barracks and defies bullets to at last defeat Yoku. It seems his costume offers the skilled warrior near-superhuman protection against both bullets and electrical shock. With Yoku defeated, Judomaster stands tall waiting the next challenge. 

There two other features in this comic. One is title "Sport of Judo" and is both written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin and in this three-page feature he describes judo, aikido, and karate with special emphasis on the mental requirement of all three. The other feature is a text piece titled "Fight for Freedom" and tells the secret story of a heroic pilot named John Howard Mellon who went behind the Iron Curtain and rescued a defecting scientist. And that is Judomaster's debut. It's a really exciting and action-filled issue. McLaughlin is a skilled martial artist himself and his moves are drawn with precision and accuracy.

Also available in November 1965 from Charlton was Sarge Steel #6. It's of note to Judomaster fans because Judomaster makes a cameo appearance (a talking head) in the back-up feature title "What Is Karate?" written and drawn by McLaughlin. It's a classic bit of cross promotion as the three-page feature offers up details about the martial art as if Judomaster were telling it to you. He only appears on the first page though there is a mention that his debut is on sale at that very moment. 

To read this complete comic book go to this link. 

More Judomaster to come. 

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Hands Of Steel!

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 an image from 1987. Frank McLaughlin's Judomaster seems contented in this scene alongside Dick Giordano's Sarge Steel. The duo is a small part of a panorama of DC superstars from many original sources as can be seen in the fantastic poster below.

I'm lucky to have a reprint of this mighty image in The DC Vault: A Museum-A-Book which came a few years back. There's a true who's who of industry giants (both fictional and real) in this delightful image.

This month is all about Judomaster and Sarge Steel, two characters who are closely linked in the heyday of the Charlton Action-Heroes. 

But don't worry Ditko fans, as he will be getting some attention as well, as we take a look at his brief but impactful tenure at DC in the late 60's. 

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Action-Hero Figures!

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 sorts for then editor Dick Giordano who had overseen their creation (for the most part) while at Charlton. 

(Note that neither Nightshade nor Judomaster are mentioned by name on this poster.)

DC was in the midst of the infamous "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and while dusting and ordering the DCU, they decided to add in Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Nightshade, Peacemaker, Thunderbolt (for a time until they realized Pete Morisi actually owned the rights), and Judomaster. Well, Judomaster was the hardest to fit since his adventures had taken place in WWII alongside his partner Tiger. Possibly it's the costume, which is the Japanese Rising Sun, but for whatever reason Rip Jagger didn't get much play. 

(Nhut Le as Judomaster)

Then Peacemaker got a TV show and who should show up but Judomaster. He is named Rip Jagger but is not as far as I know a WWII veteran and that makes sense since the Peacemaker is a far cry from Pat Boyette's original as well. The "Judomaster" in the TV show was small in stature and wore green. Curious character and interesting enough save for the tag. 

This is the classic Judomaster as McLaughlin envisioned him. I'm not aware that this likeness has been done as a toy before. I had to snap the trio up and they rest now on my wall safely ensconced in their original packaging. (Of course.) Why they made this change (likely lack of communication) but the Dojo approves. Though the irony that it happens in a line dubbed "Super Powers" since the classic Judomaster famously has none. More on Judomaster next month. 

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The Summer Of The Action-Heroes!

We looked at Steve Ditko's Captain Atom a few months ago. Now it's finally time to check out the rest of Charlton's "Action-Heroes" including Ditko's greatest creation for this era -- the "New" Blue Beetle. The Action-Heroes were a concoction of editor Dick Giordano, a longtime artist at Charlton who assumed the duties in the late 60's replacing Pat Masulli. Many of the heroes actually started their runs during Masulli's tenure, but it was Giordano who pulled them together and gave them focus as a line. Superheroes were hot, and Charlton had bitten hard with the introduction of Sarge Steel, The Fightin' Five, Blue Beetle, Son of Vulcan, and a revival of Captain Atom. They added to this roster Thunderbolt and Judomaster and Peacemaker. The group reached its apogee when Ditko revised Blue Beetle into a form more fitting to Giordano's vision of low-powered heroes, and finally the addition of The Question. 

Not unlike Tower's THUNDER Agents (which will be getting a glimpse this summer - more below), the "Action-Heroes" was an attempt to make the stories more immediate and close-to-home, response to the wild and wacky Silver Age DC material and the increasingly cosmic Marvel epics which were dominating the comic racks. This was an attempt to carve out a niche, and it was a successful one, at least critically. Eventually the line failed to find sufficient sales, but Giordano had been noticed by DC, and they scooped him up and added him to their editorial line-up as well as the artistic one. Along with him they took on talents Steve Ditko, Pat Boyette, Frank McLaughlin, Steve Skeates, Denny O'Neil, and Jim Aparo. More on this later. 

Years later DC would scoop up the actual "Action-Heroes" themselves and make them a part of the larger DCU. So that's the plan. I want to look at the characters who inspired this blog to begin with, yet again.

And as an added bonus, the THUNDER Agents will be on hand on Saturdays through June and July. The Tower Comics and the Charlton Comics of this time were among the most creative and ultimately successful of the cavalcade of wannabe heroes who arrived in the wake of Marvel's success and the earth-shaking TV hit Batman.  

So prepare for the "Summer of the Action-Heroes"! 

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Deadly Nightshade Day!

Jim Aparo was born on this date in 1932. Aparo first made his mark at Charlton Comics on features such as The Phantom and Nightshade, the focus for today. Later he shifted over to DC Comics where he took up residence on The Brave and the Bold and other Batman-related titles. Aparo supplied his own lettering, giving his work a distinct look like no other. 

The Darling of Darkness, the Deadly Nightshade is the only female member of the Charlton Action Heroes line-up. She never had her own self-titled comic book like Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Judomaster, Thunderbolt or even Peacemaker, but she was in many ways a central figure in making various disparate elements of the Charlton Universe cohere. I'll explain in a moment.

Nightshade debuted in Captain Atom #82 plotted and written by her co-creators Dave Kaler and Steve Ditko,and of course drawn by Ditko with inks by Rocke Mastroserio.

She is a government agent, soon revealed to be the beautiful Eve Eden, the daughter of a United States Senator and a part of the Washington, DC jet set community which serves as a convenient cover for her espionage work for the U.S. government.

She is partnered with Captain Atom as they try to stop the super-spy The Ghost. Captain Atom is of course Captain Adam and since Nightshade is Eve Eden we get "Adam and Eve" no less as our light and dark partners in crimefighting.

Some issues later in Captain Atom #85 in another story by Kaler, Ditko and Mastroserio, she is again teamed up with the good Captain, this time with a slight costume alteration that allowed her beautiful hair to flow freely as they duo battle the super-villainous team of Punch and Jewelee.

Formerly Nightshade had been merely an adept hand-to-hand fighter but in this appearance it is shown that she has the uncanny ability to transform into a shadow.

The battle against The Ghost continues into Captain Atom #86 and again Cap and Nightshade take on the elusive criminal.

Nightshade gets a focus as she uses some new tools, specifically Ebony Bombs to battle the slippery spy. 

And that's that until Captain Atom #87 when after the departure of Steve Ditko's Blue Beetle, Nightshade takes up residence as the back-up feature. Written by her creator Dave Kaler, the series enjoys the considerable artistic talent of the great Jim Aparo, who brings a whole new level of grace and power to Nightshade's adventures.

In the opening two-part adventure which continues into Captain Atom #88, she battles The Image, a foreign agent who can use mirrors to travel instantly from place to place.

His ability seems to have some connection to the very origin of Nightshade and her own weird talent for becoming a shadow. But the origin will have to wait.

We finally get the answer in her final Charlton appearance in Captain Atom #89, the final issue of the run.

We learn that Eve and her brother were the hybrid progeny of their human father and an otherworldly mother from another dimension, a dimension of shades and shadows.

We further learn that Eve has gotten her training from a familiar face, Tiger from the pages of Judomaster. This series set in the then modern day was some decades after World War II, so Tiger is an adult now, but this bit of connection does a great deal to suggest that the sometimes disparate storylines of the Action Heroes all take place in a single universe.

Of course, that universe, named Earth-4 when it makes its official DC appearance during the Crisis on Infinite Earths is clearly a world in which the heroes all mingle, but when little Charlton tried to do it, it was a whisper of what that superhero universe might have become had they found more marketplace success.

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