FAN BOY FANTASY MOVIES by Dave Goode

When I first imagined a Mighty Samson movie based on the Gold Key comic book from the Silver Age I stunt casted Clint Walker or Denny Miller as the mutant superman of a post apopaletic future. Largely because of their physical stature. But since this was a fantasy anyway I reimagined Kirk Douglas in the role. After all the paintings on the covers of the comic books have Samson resembling Douglas as he appears in the movie THE VIKINGS ( 1958 ). Peter Cushing would be perfect as the scientist Mindor. And rounding out the cast as Sharmaine , Mindor's daughter and Samson's love interest , would be 60s fan boy favorite Deanna Lund. Of course the real star of the flick would have been Ray Harryhausen's special effect mutant monsters.

Sam Katzman was the type of producer you could imagine making movies based on the stories found in " men's sweat magazines ".The man who cast Johnny Weissmuller as Jungle Jim after the former Olympic champ became too old to be a believable Tarzan would see the potentialof casting Steve Holland as a jungle adventurer. Especially after realizing he could use the covers of the sweat mags as posters. Just write in a scene to match the action of the cover illustration.You could do the same with the WW Two covers Holland posed for as a two - fisted American fighting man.

Steve Holland was also the model for Jason Striker , the martial arts hero for a series of books written by Piers Antony and Roberto Fuentes. The series came out in the 1970s when everyone was " kung fu fighting ". And at the time I thought Jason Striker , the black belt judoka and karateka would have made a good subject for a series of movies. But not starring Holland. Though the covers featuring Holland would make great posters. The person playing Striker would have been American karate and kick - boxing champ Joe Lewis.

ANOTHER STEVE HOLLAND AND EVA LYND MOVIE by Dave Goode

I was rereading my copy of IT'S A MAN'S WORLD by Adam Parfrey this past weekend. And it got me to thinking again of sweat magazine icons Steve Holland and Eva Lynd starring in low-budget action/adventure movies. Fighting Nazis and Commies (both Russian and Cuban). Or on safari in deepest , darkest Africa where Holland dressed in his Doc Savage togs would have Jungle Jim type adventures. So I got my buddy Vance Capley to photo-shop another faux movie poster starring the duo.

During the 1970s when " everybody was kung fu fighting " there was a series of books about judoka Jason Striker. The books were written by Piers Antony and Roberto Fuentes. And Steve Holland served as the model for Jason Striker on the covers of the paperbacks. It got me to wondering if Holland had any training. If he had been in the service he would have learned the basics at least.

Though Steve Holland was used as the model for Jason Stryker on the covers of the KIAI ! book series he might have been a little to old to play the character in a movie. And again we don't know if he had any judo or other martial arts training. My alternate suggestion for the actor to play the character would have been karate / kick-boxing champion Joe Lewis. There would have been no one better to portray the paperback hero in a martial arts mania era movie.

And now...OPERATION VALKYRIE

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Casting Charlton's Judo Master by Dave Goode

The more things change the more they stay the same.Fan-boys are still arguing about who would prevail in a fight...Batman or Captain America? Of course back in the Silver Age of Comics the argument made a bit more sense.Back then both DC and Marvel described their respective heroes as the "world's greatest athlete" and the "world's greatest human fighting machine". Only back then the super-soldier serum didn't give the Captain the ability to make a fifteen foot standing high jump. Or run a mile in a minute among other things. So a fight between the two seemed a bit more fare. Both Batman and the Captain were just superior physical specimens who were highly skilled in hand-to hand combat. So as a pre-teen I wondered how Charlton Comics' Judo Master would have fared against the Caped Crusader or the Living Legend of WW Two.

 

Judomaster created by Joe Gill and Frank McLaughlin

Judo Master's origin appeared in Special War Series No.4(Nov.1965) a little over a year after Captain America made his first Silver Age appearance in The Avengers No.4(March 1964). In it Steve Rogers lookalike Sgt.Rip Jagger of the U.S. Army rescues the granddaughter of a Pacific island chief known as "Sensei". The islanders are actually Japanese citizens who left their homeland to escape the nation's war-time policies.Jagger himself is rescued by native guerillas after his unit is wiped out. He is then schooled in the martial arts by the islanders and given a colorful costume to fight a guerilla war against the Japanese. Jagger who had been a collegiate boxing champion in turn,under the tutelage of the islanders, masters jiu jitsu,karate,kendo and of course judo. He eventually also gains a kid sidekick in the form of a Japanese-American named "Tiger".

Like all fan-boys I imagined my favorite comic book features turned into movies. And the casting of Rip Jagger in a Judo Master movie seemed like a no-brainer. American karate legend Joe Lewis had been an avid weight-lifter during his days as a high school wrestler. Upon graduation he joined the Marines where he first studied judo and then karate while stationed in Okinawa. After leaving the service after a stint in Viet Nam he began competing in karate tournaments. He won innumerable point karate championships and then became the U.S. Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and the World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion.He was twice voted the greatest fighter in karate history. And Bruce Lee regarded him as such. The part of Colt in Return of The Dragon was originally written for him. But after a falling out between Lee and Lewis the role went to fellow karate champion Chuck Norris.Who knows if Lewis had taken the role maybe he would have gone on to B-movie and TV stardom. And we'd be making jokes about "Joe Lewis Facts".

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