JOLAS ZUARES: SECRET AGENT -- and POPE-KILLER?!!

Jolas Zuares: Secret Agent first appeared in Kick Fighter Komiks #1 (published by Infinity Publishing Inc.) on February 1993.  The original series lasted up to 1995, written by Galo Ador, Jr. and illustrated throughout its run by various artists such as Mhel R. Almeda, Bong Mercado, Ronald James Amatos, Lando Inolino, Gilbert Monsanto, and Jim Jimenez.

ORIGIN

Jolas Smith Zuares was the half-Filipino son of American businessman John Miller Zuares (it's confusing enough that they have different middle names, but apparently the American side of Jolas' lineage has a Filipino-sounding surname).  After his father was gunned-down by terrorists, young Jolas vows to avenge his murder.

Jolas trains in the martial arts, becoming an expert in various fighting techniques.  He is eventually recruited by his father's friend, the Colonel, to work for the government as a secret agent.

POWERS AND ABILITIES

As a secret agent, Jolas is proficient in the use of various firearms and is an expert sharpshooter.  As a martial artist, he is trained in several forms of unarmed combat, such as Karate, Kung-Fu, and Taekwondo.  He has also mastered a special technique, the Greatest Punch, which allows him to charge-up his fist with superhuman force.  In later stories, he is given the ability to expel "hadoken"-type energy blasts from his hands.

NOTHING IS SACRED

Such is Jolas' dedication to his mission that he will not let anything get in his way, even if it means playing dirty.  He is seen on a number of occasions to bend the rules in order to uphold the law, dispensing his uncompromising (and often lethal) brand of justice.  He is commited to combating corruption wherever it may appear, be it in the halls of the government itself or, in the case below, the Vatican.

WITH ENEMIES LIKE THESE...

Jolas doesn't have that many recurring foes (not many live to fight another day), and what few arch-enemies he did have turned out to be more than they appeared.  In fact, perhaps a more correct term for them would be arch-frenemies.

SHAOLIN NINJA

A mysterious ninja assassin under the employ of corrupt Senator Celada and his criminal front, the Zodiac Corporation.  He turns out to be Jolas' friend Frank, constantly torn between his friendship to the agent and his loyalty to the syndicate.

ROY YURO

The Shaolin Ninja would later be eliminated and replaced by this guy.  In his debut appearance, Roy Yuro was described as "a Filipino-American-Russian martial arts expert with knowledge of mystical old Chinese art of combat at sumailalim sa turo ng pitong ermitanyo ng Asya ("and underwent training by the seven hermits of Asia")."  When the Kick Fighter people decided to make him a Ryu-knockoff, they settled with him being just Chinese instead.

Roy Yuro was an orphan whose father was murdered by policemen, fostering a lifelong hatred for the law.  He was adopted by one Master Tsao, the brother and bitter rival of Jolas' mentor Master Tsang, with whom he fought over a girl.  Tsao trains Roy in the martial arts, teaching him a special technique of projecting fireballs from his hands.

Utilizing his fighting skills as a criminal enforcer and assassin-for-hire, Roy sets out to get revenge on Tsang on behalf of his master.  Upon learning that Tsang had long been dead, he decides to target his student instead.

This feud would go on for several issues, until one night, while Jolas suffered depression over his inability to avenge his father, Yuro broke into his arch-foe's bedroom and offered to bury the hatchet.

Jolas and Yuro make peace and immediately become partners in crimefighting.

Now, here's my problem with this scenario.  Bear in mind that Roy Yuro was not just some guy with a grudge.  He was a ruthless hitman, who has worked with various criminal organizations all over the world, and had a strong vendetta against law-enforcers.  And now, he just walks into his arch-nemesis' room to apologize, and not only does Jolas buy it, but it's also enough for the government to clear him and give him a job?  Really?

Well, I guess Jolas must be big on forgiveness, even if the person in question had been trying to kill him for months.  In fact, he trusts Yuro so much that he's even willing to sleep in the same bed with him.
 

Sleeping with the frenemy

Not to imply that there's anything more than platonic between these two.  Although, Yuro did used to dress like a woman...


Dude looks like a lady.

Anyway, after Roy eventually leaves him for a stripper (I'm not kidding), Jolas would start teaming-up with masked cyborg vigilante Biotrog; a more lasting partnership that would develop through the course of two series: Blades and Bullets and Omni Powers.  But that's a story for another time.

COVERS

KICK FIGHTERS ASSEMBLE!

Way back in the mid-1990's, Kick Fighter Komiks was one of the most popular komiks magazines on the stands at the time.  Published by Infinity Publishing Inc., it's claim to fame was its roster of characters that were based around those from the popular Street Fighter video games. Be that as it may, the book's writers and artist still managed to exercise their creativity, giving their cast of heroes completely different backgrounds and gradually modifying their looks just enough to make them more-or-less original characters in their own right.

Another thing that made Kick Fighter unique at the time was that its characters existed in the same universe.  Although there they may been a few crossovers between Philippine comic book characters before then, they were very rare.  To my mind, there hadn't really been a serious attempt at a shared continuity among a large cast of characters from individual series until that time.

The Kick Fighters first came together in KFK's 48th issue (December 30, 1993).  With some snappy dialogue from writer Mike Tan and action-packed art by Gilbert Monsanto and Lando Inolino, this book-length adventure was billed as their "Winter Special Edition" (even though we don't really have winter here in the Philippines).

THE KICK FIGHTER KAST

BALZAUR

Alien gladiator from the planet Omicron.  Star of the serial Versus.















BIOTROG

The silver-masked bionic vigilante, star of his own self-titled series.






BLADE

From the serial Double Blade, a Special Forces commando turned mercenary.  Not to be confused with Billy the Dragon, who would later replace Blade as the magazine's resident Guile clone.

BOGA

Wisecracking high-tech hitman.  Also a character from Versus.

BRONCO

Environmentally-conscious green-skinned man-monster.  Star of the series Mysterio.

CHAN LEE

From Versus, a Shaolin monk and ally of Balzaur.
















HIRO

From Double Blade, a black ninja and Blade's former nemesis-turned reluctant partner.














HUGO

From his own self-titled series, a pro-wrestler and part-time terrorist-buster.











ISPIKIKAY

Eco-friendly teenage superheroine, star of her own self-titled series.















JOLAS ZUARES

Fil-American secret agent, star of his own series.
















KAHDDIM

Super-powered Hindu monk, from the series Kulto.














KICKERO

Bionic-eyed crime-fighting kickboxer, star of his own series.
















ULTIMAXX

From Versus, evil robot creation of the mad scientist Brain Master.  Erroneously referred to in this story as Ultramaxx.












VOLTAR

From Versus, Balzaur's electric-powered arch-foe.
















WARLORD
The villain for this issue, an insane terrorist who has declared war on peace.















 The plot involves the Warlord's scheme to  turn the entire world's population into warmongers via a mind-control device.  With some of the KF heroes (and some villains) already under the Warlord's thrall, the rest of the good guys are forced to fight their brainwashed comrades in order to save the day.

The story ends with the Warlord being driven away (he's never heard from again), and the heroes vowing to stand together against evil, gathering together for one last group shot...

Even though this was the KF characters' only full-scale crossover, the universe had been established, and the Kick Fighters went on to make frequent guest appearances in each others' series. Later, during the two KFK revamps that followed, certain sets of characters would go on to form their own teams, such as Blades and Bullets, Omni Powers and others.

KICK FIGHTER KOVERS