Karate Kid vs.
Wonder Man by
Jeff Johnson and
Simon Gough
I was super hyped to see that Jeff Johnson was going to be a guest at Free Comic Book Day 2019 at 3 Alarm Comics when it was announced. I have been a huge fan of Jeff's work ever since I bought a copy of Wonder Man #1 way back in 1991. And I have followed his work onto so many comics since then, with Way of the Rat being my favorite. Jeff also drew a few issues of Legion of Super-Heroes, and was the artist to draw Karate Kid after he most recently returned from the dead. Jeff has been in my top ten wish list of artists to commission ever since I started collecting these "Karate Kid vs." commissions, and I was very excited to finally arrange a commission with him. I gave Jeff two options for Val Armorr's opponent and he chose the talented actor Simon Williams! Jeff delivered a great layout here with Karate Kid coming with a strong attack while Wonder Man isn't even defending himself, trusting in his invulnerability to protect him from any attack by Val Armorr. Yeah, that's a mistake. I knew that Wonder Man would look great, and of course he does. Jeff has probably drawn Wonder Man more than any other artist at this point. And Jeff finally got to draw Karate Kid in action here! When Jeff drew him for a couple pages in Legion, Val was just standing around. Anyway, yeah I love this commission and I had a great time just chatting with Jeff while he drew it. Shortly after I scanned this one, I sent it off to Simon Gough to see if he could make it even better-looking, and he did! Simon has colored so many Karate Kid commissions for me at this point, that he could probably color Val in his sleep and it would be gorgeous. And it's always fun to have him color someone new, and Simon made Simon look perfect. Also, I really dig his choice in the background colors. Huge thanks to Jeff and Simon for their efforts on this one!
Wonder Man is one of Marvel's most powerful characters. His strength and invulnerability are in the same class as Thor's and the Hulk's. That being said, his fighting skills leave a bit to be desired. And Val has held his own against Superman and Mon-El. So what I'm saying is, Val won't get an easy win here, but I do think he'll find a way to defeat Simon.
If you like this piece, then please do go buy some comics featuring Jeff's work in physical and/or digital format.
