Judomaster is the name of several

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

. An unidentified incarnation of Judomaster appears in the

DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that ...

television series ''

Peacemaker Peacemaker or The Peacemaker (in various forms) may refer to: Individuals and groups * UN Peacemaker, a project of the UN to support international peacemakers and mediators * Peace makers, a list of contemporary individuals and organizations inv ...

'', played by Nhut Le.

Fictional character biography

Hadley Jagger

Judomaster's

secret identity A secret identity is a person's alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1903, the concept was widespread in pulp heroes and is particularly prevalent ...

was Hadley "Rip" Jagger, a sergeant in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. He rescued the daughter of a Pacific island chief and in return was taught the martial art of

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

. He had a kid sidekick named Tiger. In the

Nightshade The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines, lianas, epiphytes, shrubs, and trees, and includes a number of agricultural crops, medicinal plants, spices, weeds, and orna ...

backup series in ''

Captain Atom Captain Atom is a superhero appearing in American comic books, first in the 1960s by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. Captain Atom has existed in three basic incarnations. Publication history Captain Atom was crea ...

'', 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 Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

superhero characters, the rights to Judomaster were sold to DC Comics. In post-

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

continuity, Judomaster was said to be a member of the

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its se ...

, DC's team of superheroes during World War II, although he has never appeared in an actual published story as a member of the team. His kid sidekick, Tiger, would later become the villain Avatar in the '' L.A.W.''

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

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 Nanda Parbat ( hi, नन्दा पर्बत, nandā parbat, the mountain of delight) is a fictional city in the DC Comics universe. It first appeared in ''Strange Adventures'' #216 (February 1969), created by Neal Adams. History Nanda Pa ...

. As time passes in a different manner there, Judomaster has retained a younger form. Since the miniseries, 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 during the "

Infinite Crisis "Infinite Crisis" is a 2005–2006 comic book storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous, seven-issue comic book limited series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Phil Jimenez, George Pérez, Ivan Reis, and Jerry Ordway, a ...

" storyline during which the supervillain

Bane Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gu ...

broke his back.

Unnamed

Andreas Havoc, an enemy of

Thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...

, challenged Thunderbolt to battle, feeling that his rightful position as "Vajra" had been stolen by him. The

Blue Beetle Blue Beetle is the name of three fictional superheroes who appear in a number of American comic books published by a variety of companies since 1939. The most recent of the companies to own rights to Blue Beetle is DC Comics, which bought the ri ...

, and

assisted Thunderbolt in battling Havoc in a

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

battle while the new Judomaster helped rescue the heroes in the physical world. He later appeared as attending a memorial service for the citizens of Star City.

Thomas Jagger

Thomas "Tommy" Jagger is the son of Hadley Jagger, from whom he inherited the name Judomaster. Jagger is also one of

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

's top field agents, within which he is known as the White Knight, and is an openly gay man. Jagger is conflicted when Checkmate becomes involved in the elections of

Santa Prisca Santa Prisca is a titular church of Rome, on the Aventine Hill, for Cardinal-priests. It is recorded as the ''Titulus Priscae'' in the acts of the 499 synod. Church It is devoted to Saint Prisca, a 1st-century martyr, whose relics are containe ...

at the request of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. Bane, his father's killer, is suspected of ballot stuffing, intimidation, and falsifying election results. Jagger volunteers for the mission and is turned down by White King/Mr. Terrific. Josephine Tautin, the Black Queen's Knight, is picked, but a medical emergency prevents her from going. Reluctantly, Mr. Terrific agrees to Jagger's deployment, along with

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

. The mission is complicated by Fire when she acts on orders secretly given to her by

Amanda Waller Amanda Blake Waller (née White), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in ''Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len Wein, and ...

that results in Bane's direct intervention with Jagger. He resists the desire to avenge his father for honor, but does manage to beat Bane in a fight. The two agents make it to their exfiltration point and return to Checkmate headquarters where Jagger informs the Royals of Fire's sabotage. Jagger also spent time as an undercover Kobra devotee.

Sonia Sato

A female Judomaster, Sonia Sato, was recruited by

Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...

to break into a Mexican prison. In keeping with the theme of the Birds of Prey group, this Judomaster, unlike the others, is female. Sonia's

metahuman In DC Comics' DC Universe, a metahuman is a human with superpowers. The term is roughly synonymous with both ''mutant'' and ''mutate'' in the Marvel Universe and '' posthuman'' in the Wildstorm and Ultimate Marvel Universes. In DC Comics, the term ...

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

Justice Society of America The Justice Society of America (JSA, or Justice Society (JS)) is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team was conceived by editor Sheldon Mayer and writer Gardner Fox during the Golden Age of Comic ...

, she stops

Yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...

assassins led by Tiger. In her earlier ''Birds of Prey'' appearance, Sonia Sato is shown having an above-average mastery of English, allowing her to communicate effortlessly. During her Justice Society of America tenure, she's shown as unable to speak English, learning only with great difficulties to master a stilted, somewhat impaired command on the language. She is shown in a relationship with

Damage Damage is any change in a thing, often a physical object, that degrades it away from its initial state. It can broadly be defined as "changes introduced into a system that adversely affect its current or future performance".Farrar, C.R., Sohn, H., ...

, kissing him even after his temporarily healed face was reverted to his heavily scarred one. Sonia's romance with Damage is ended when he is killed by the reanimated

Jean Loring Jean Loring is a character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, formerly associated with the Atom, for whom she was a supporting character and primary love interest. She first appeared in ''Showcase'' #34 (October 1961), created by writ ...

during ''

Blackest Night "Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in issues. ''Blackest Nig ...

''. Now part of Magog's All-Star Justice Society of America squadron, Sonia assists her teammates in repelling the

Black Lantern The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants (resembling intelligent zombies or jiangshi) appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fiction ...

invasion of Manhattan. Sonia and

Atom Smasher A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Large accelerators are used for fun ...

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. After the end of the ''Blackest Night'' a greatly distraught and grieving Judomaster plans to revert to her earlier plan of vengeance against Tiger, her father's killer, feeling that without Damage's love she has nothing else to anchor to a happier life. She's stopped by King Chimera, who relays her the missing half of Damage's last message to her, recorded before the Blackest Night, in which Grant shares with Sonia his wish to have corrective surgery on his face and build a simpler, happier life with her, wishing Sonia, in the event of his death, a better life. Thus King Chimera is able to convince Sonia to enact Grant's last wishes by leaving Tiger alive (albeit with a severe beating). Furthermore, Sonia decides to improve her English (reasoning that only Damage was kind enough to bear her stilted, slow grasp of language), and after giving her lover a tearful eulogy, she begins to finance several relief funds for the people Damage has unwillingly hurt in the years, attempting to give him closure, using money she "requisitioned" from Tiger before having him incarcerated. In the ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book Limited series (comics), maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 a ...

'' sequel ''

Doomsday Clock The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...

'', Judomaster appears as a member of Japan's superhero team called Big Monster Action.

Other versions

* A female version was seen in

Alex Ross Nelson Alexander Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book writer and artist known primarily for his painted interiors, covers, and design work. He first became known with the 1994 miniseries ''Marvels'', on which he collaborated wi ...

and

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Dar ...

'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

was killed. * 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 Mister Mind is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck for Fawcett Comics, he made a cameo appearance in ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #22 (March 1943) before making his full f ...

"eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on visual aspects similar to the pre-''

Earth-4 The DC Multiverse is a fictional continuity construct used in DC Comics publications. The Multiverse has undergone numerous changes and has included various universes, listed below between the original Multiverse and its successors. The original ...

, 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. Based on comments by

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...

, this alternate universe is not the pre-''Crisis'' Earth-4. * A version of Sonia Sato appears in '' Earth 2'' #9 as part of "

The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...

", a reboot of the DC Comics storyline. Alongside other parallel versions of former JSA members (namely Wesley Dodds a.k.a.

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

) that reside on Earth 2, Major Sonia Sato of the World Army appears at the home of Jay Garrick's mother in an attempt to apprehend Jay. She is seen wearing a sigil designating her as a representative of the nation of Japan.

In other media

Television

* Sonia Sato appears in the '' Stargirl'' episode "Summer School: Chapter Ten", portrayed by Kristen Lee. This version is a Blue Valley citizen who runs a coffee stand. * An unidentified Judomaster appears in ''

'', portrayed by Nhut Le. This version works as a bodyguard for

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Royland Goff and allies himself with the "Butterflies", parasitic aliens secretly led by Goff.

Film

* Rip Jagger appears in '' Batman: Soul of the Dragon'', voiced by Chris Cox. This version is a student of

O-Sensei was a Japanese martial artist and founder of the martial art of aikido. He is often referred to as "the founder" or , "Great Teacher/Old Teacher (old as opposed to ''waka (young) sensei'')". The son of a landowner from Tanabe, Ueshiba st ...

alongside

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

Richard Dragon Richard Dragon (or simply Dragon) is the alias of two fictional, comic book characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Although both incarnation differ in alignment, they're portrayed as extremely accomplished martial arti ...

Jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

, Ben Turner, and

Bruce Wayne Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

stationed in

. Secretly a member of the Kobra cult, he kills Jade to unleash

Nāga The Nagas (IAST: ''nāga''; Devanāgarī: नाग) are a divine, or semi-divine, race of half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld (Patala), and can occasionally take human or part-human form, or are so depicted in art. ...

from his mystical dimension, but is devoured by Nāga's demonic servants.

References

External links

* * *
Judomaster & Tiger
at the International Catalogue of Superheroes

at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on October 25, 2011.

{{Birds of Prey 1966 comics debuts Characters created by Joe Gill Charlton Comics superheroes Charlton Comics titles Comics characters introduced in 1965 Comics characters introduced in 2007 DC Comics female superheroes DC Comics LGBT superheroes DC Comics martial artists DC Comics metahumans DC Comics superheroes Fictional gay males Fictional judoka Fictional World War II veterans Martial arts comics