A
superhero published by
DC Comics. Judomaster first
appeared in
Special War Series #4 in 1965.
Hadley Jagger grew up in a poor neighborhood and used his
wits and muscle to survive. He turned to petty crimes
as a way out of his seemingly dead end life, until the
day he came to the attention of a former heavyweight
boxer. The boxer began to train Jagger, who was known
to his friends as "Rip," and to teach him to box.
When the United States was plunged into World War II,
Jagger enlisted and was sent to the Pacific theater.
Jagger's company was sent to a small Pacific island, but
soon came into conflict with a larger Japanese force.
Jagger was knocked senseless and hidden by the local
villagers. When he awoke, he found that the Japanese had
killed all of his company and that he was the lone survivor.
Jagger was brought to the leader of the village, a man
known only as Sensei. Sensei felt he owed Jagger a
debt, as Jagger had saved Sensei's granddaughter from
death earlier. Sensei trained Jagger in many ancient
forms of martial arts and Jagger excelled at his training.
Finally, Jagger was given a colorful costume and
was given a way back to the nearest U.S. base. Jagger
used his new found abilities to fight the enemy, taking
the code name Judomaster.
Judomaster's adventures brought him in contact with the
members of the All-Star Squadron, which he soon joined.
He also began to train a young Japanese boy named Tiger to
be his sidekick. Tiger soon adopted his own costume
and fought along with the Judomaster.