Steeler Sundays: Steeler Bowl VS Unholy 3 (+2)

Welcome to Steeler Bowl I, an epic battle pitting the sinister skills of the Unholy Three (+2) versus the tenacious teamwork of the Steelers. Going in, the Steelers are the underdog as the Unholy Three (+2) have experience on their side. After the coin flip it appears that the Unholy Three (+2) will lead off into the first plays of the game:

To recap, the Steelers starting lineup is Asa, Wong, Carmen, Red Wing, April, Arthur. Arthur had been benched indefinitely due to some off the field transgressions. Their coach is Steel Sterling.

The lad and lasses showed true potential and Coach Sterling felt they had a great shot at taking it all given their supreme dedication (not the mention their fashion sense which favored their mentor...please see below).

On the other side, the Unholy Three (+2) starting lineup consisted of Lynx (and her pet), Smiling Skull, Ivan Chung and Werrer Von Vess. There was a rumor that Werner retired...oh wait...Kurt WARNER. My bad). Sarge Steel was recruited to take Werner's place. Mr. Ize is their coach.

As we had suspected last week, Werner Von Wess is no longer in the starting lineup as Coach Mr. Ize pulled him in favor of our favorite Sarge, Steel!

Now the ball is in the Steelers court, so to speak, let's see how well they do after coach S. Sterling's pep talk from earlier this morning.

Looks like the spunky young Steelers brought their "A" game today. Let's turn to our sideline reporter, Rita, as she interviews Sterling's studs:

They seem cocky, and you gotta love their cliches! Simply exuding confidence, aren't they? We will return to the proceedings after these announcements from our sponsors (and boy...did they pay a pretty penny back in the day for these primo spots!):

Man...classic junk they were peddling! Since this IS a kid friendly game, there will be no "less filing taste great" commercials. Drink your Kool-Aid and like it, punk kids!

Let's turn our attention to the other sideline and see how Sarge is fairing after his injury. Will he return to the game in time to swing the momentum back in the direction of the Unholy Three (+2)?

What a stunning turn of events! No longer brainwashed, it appears Sarge has jumped to the side of the good guys and created a key deflection! He's making minced meet of his other former teammates!

With Coach Mr Ize and his team on the ropes, thanks in no small part to Sarge's debilitating tackles, the Unholy Three leave the field disgusted. Redwing's timely passes are coming in the clutch to pull his team ahead!

Key defector Sarge knew the thrill of victory as had Coach Sterling and his Steelers, while the Unholy Three (-2) knew the bitter agony of defeat. Coach Sterling will definitely seek to claim yet another world championship .

This August starts a new season of Steeler Sundays. But fear not, loyal readers, we still have the post game wrap up for you coming next week! Then we'll dissect the tools of the trade for our tremendous two teams!

Steeler Sundays: Your Starting Line-Ups

Leading up to next week's Super Bowl, let's introduce the Charlton and Mighty' starting line-ups for next Sunday's rumble, right here! Introducing the Steelers and the Unholy Trio (plus two!) with our favorite men of steel:

As you no doubt observed, both teams are multi-culturally diverse.No chita bananas in this crowd! No chita bananas in this bunch! It has been rumored that Von Hess participation will be a game time decision.

Now let's return to this weeks all-star Pro Bowl featuring your favorites pulse-pounding players from around the league. See you in seven!

Colorful Crusaders of World War II

The Shield was introduced in Pep Comics #1 in 1940, while his counterpart was introduced in 1965 yet existing fictionally in the 1940's. One was G-Man Joe Higgins, an aspiring scientist seeking to avenge the death of his father and discovering a process that gave him super-strength and an invulnerable costume. The other was G.I Rip Jagger, an aspiring ninja seeking to avenge his comrades whom he saw die and discovering a secret society of ninjas on a Pacific Island, gaining super-human skills and a special costume. While looking like walking posters for America and Japan, their costumes gained their color scheme due to a special chemical process (in the Shield's case) and the style-sense of the ninja society (in the Judomaster's case). Both picked up kids sidekicks, Dusty and Tiger.

Due to sabotage on the part of an adversary,  Shield lost his powers for the duration of the war yet continued to fight against evil agents from overseas, while Judomaster himself had to struggle to overcome a handicap of his own imposed on him by a foe, blindness. Both persisted in their heroic careers, thanks to proddings from the boys' own courage.

They faced rogues galleries which challenged their physical dexterity.  The Hun, the Strangler and the Fang plagued Shield; while the Smiling Skull, the Acrobat, and Mountain Storm. None matched the heroes in battle!

 

Each also had other assisting them. For Judomaster, it was Sensei, Bushiri, and his beloved Suzikawa. For the Shield, it was the Wizard, Steel Sterling, Hangman, Black Hood, Captain Flag, Sgt Boyle and Shield's wife Ellie.

Both of our red-haired heroes found themselves lost in time during the 40's, arriving in the 1980's to find individuals clad like them. Both obviously had different reactions given how they were reintroduced into the modern age. Each man stands as a paragon of power in comics.

Friday Fiends: A Couple of Real Boneheads

Our first Skull debuted in October 1940's Top Notch #9, a mastermind that framed police officer Kip Burland, causing Kip to become the Skull's arch-foe, Black Hood. Rudolph Wolk first appeared in April 1965's Sarge Steel #3, yet a later published case involved Wolk's first chronological appearance as the Smiling Skull vs World War II hero, Judomaster.

The golden age Skull was part mastermind, part fighting dynamo as he took the initiative during battles to knock out his opponent when his gadgetry failed to work properly. Often successfully.

Nazi Germany's Smiling Skull was also proficient in a form of martial arts combat, desiring to match his skill level against the best that America and (in a later appearance) ally Imperial Japan's finest warriors.

Suffice it to say, vanity led to Skull's doom when he  hadobtained a brain control device from the criminal genius, the Abominable Schemer (it wasn't just the schemes, the name itself was very repugnant) and then sent him o a trap. The Schemer found his way out, and left the Skull in a virtual reality from which there was not escape. Yet was this the ultimate finality for the Skull? He seemingly perished back in the 1940's, replaced by a son in Jackpot Comics #6. Either the son adopted his father's features in the 1960's, or papa Skull escaped death's thralls. And found a neat cave HQ.

For the Smiling Skull, it was his vane attempt to obtain a duplicate of his prized silver luger from Sarge Steel and ended of bringing Steel to his secret camp. This led to Skull's downfall (in his own cave!) as his dreams of reigniting his belowed Reich were thwarted and his hostages were freed.

Two Skulls, both devious tacticians framing officers of the law (the Hood and Sarge), retaining their youthful vigor and fighting prowess from two decades after their criminal careers commenced. And both were UG-LEE!