SHANG-CHI, MASTER OF KUNG FU: THIRD LOOK

Back in 2021 I reviewed the first 12 1970s stories featuring Marvel’s martial arts hero Shang-Chi HERE. Then in 2024 I reviewed several stories which teamed up Shang-Chi and another 70s Marvel kung fu hero – Iron Fist, HERE.

For newbies to this IP, in 1973 Marvel licensed the use of Sax Rohmer’s Fu Manchu plus other characters from the Fu Manchu tales. Rather than just churn out a Fu Manchu comic book series “the House of Ideas” instead combined it with the Kung Fu craze of the time and created Shang Chi, the son of Fu Manchu.

Shang Chi, as a surrogate Bruce Lee, and Sir Denis Nayland-Smith, as a surrogate Braithwaite from Enter: The Dragon, were the core of the new series. Shang Chi started out as an operative of his evil father Fu Manchu but realized the error of his ways and threw in with Sir Denis and his team to battle his father’s malevolent schemes.

Many of Sax Rohmer’s other characters showed up in the series, including Fah Lo Suee, the daughter of Fu Manchu. The series expanded from just Fu Manchu storylines. Writer Doug Moench and artist Paul Gulacy churned out some of the best stories in this title, with Gulacy often drawing Shang-Chi to resemble the late Bruce Lee.

Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu had its own inimitable style and was largely one of the most innovative comic books of the 1970s and early 1980s. “Largely” is the key word.

Idiotically, Marvel depicted Shang-Chi forever barefoot and forever wearing a goofy outfit like he was advertising a local martial arts academy. It mars the MOKF series as surely as the artwork for Ebony drags down 1940s and 1950s Spirit stories. So, when possible I will sprinkle in pics of 1970s martial arts movie star James Ryan who genuinely looked like Shang-Chi but wearing regular clothing. 

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #29 (Jun 1975)

Title: The Crystal Connection

Villains: Velcro and Razor-Fist

Synopsis: Sir Denis Nayland Smith has Shang-Chi join him and other team members in a mission against international heroin dealer Carlton Velcro. The other team members are series regular Black Jack Tarr, former Royal Marine Commando, and semiregular Clive Reston, a walking meta reference.

NOTE: Clive Reston is a capable espionage agent whose schtick was that offhand references he makes establish something that is never specifically spelled out – his father must be James Bond and his grand-uncle must be Sherlock Holmes. It was kind of clever at first but eventually grew tiresome.

Our heroes take a seaplane to Velcro’s mansion in a grotto near France’s Gulf of Lions. Reston poses as a buyer of a large amount of heroin who then burns all of his purchase and an enormous amount of the drug dealer’s additional inventory of smack.

All this was a distraction to allow Shang-Chi and Black Jack Tarr to infiltrate the mansion. Reston ends up captured and Shang-Chi comes face to face with Velcro’s bodyguard Razor-Fist in their VERY FIRST encounter.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #30 (Jul 1975)

Title: A Gulf of Lions

Villains: Razor-Fist and Carlton Velcro

Synopsis: Shang-Chi and Razor-Fist have a long, drawn-out and excellently illustrated kung-fu fight while Black Jack Tarr tries to save Clive Reston. The pair fight their way past several of Velcro’s soldiers only to wind up surrounded by the bad guys.

Shang-Chi defeats Razor-Fist at long last and proceeds to run a bluff to trick Velcro into letting Tarr and Reston leave with him. Instead, they get dropped down into the villain’s pit of panthers and mountain lions.   

Our heroes emerge with their skins intact but Velcro’s pursuing soldiers prompt them to keep on the run. Down in the lowest level of the villain’s mansion Shang-Chi, Black Jack and Clive discover that Velcro has used his drug proceeds to stock up on nuclear weapons.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #31 (Aug 1975)

Title: Snowbuster

Villains: Pavane, Razor-Fist and Velcro

Synopsis: Our three heroes are stunned that what they thought was a mere narcotics kingpin is also a dealer in nuclear weapons. The trio know that Sir Denis is still waiting for them offshore on a ship ready to bombard Velcro’s grotto with conventional explosives if Shang-Chi, Black Jack and Clive are not back by a certain time.       

The agents hurriedly try to get out of the mansion and the grotto before they are destroyed. After battles with additional guards, Shang-Chi, feeling immense respect for Razor-Fist over the incredible fight he put up against him, goes back to try to get the unconscious man out alive.

With Razor-Fist having been defeated, Velcro unleashes his most personal bodyguard – his lady-love Pavane – against Shang-Chi. Pavane is blonde, skilled at unarmed combat and wields a whip in battle. She also uses one of Velcro’s panthers on a leash. NOTE: This is Pavane’s FIRST APPEARANCE.

Shang-Chi defeats Pavane, then again faces Razor-Fist. Velcro’s trigger-happy soldiers shoot at Shang-Chi, but Razor-Fist is killed by the Friendly Fire.

Shang carries the unconscious Pavane to safety as the explosions destroy Velcro’s lair. The villain escapes, but his drugs and weapons empire is gone.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #33 (Oct 1975)

Title: Messenger of Madness

Villain: Mordillo

Synopsis: Shang-Chi meets Leiko Wu, an Asian female agent for Sir Denis. This is her FIRST APPEARANCE and she will soon be Shang’s love interest. Clive Reston comes under attack by certain models of androids that Black Jack Tarr, Leiko and Reston recognize as those used by Mordillo, a never-seen assassin and terrorist from before Shang-Chi came along.

Mordillo wants the plans for British Intelligence’s Project: Ultra-Violet – a weapon that could poke temporary holes in the Ozone Layer, thus frying alive everyone under the hole. Mordillo’s human agents blow up Tower Bridge despite Shang-Chi trying to stop them.

Meanwhile, Mordillo has abducted Leiko, who has the plans for Project: Ultra-Violet implanted in her subconscious for safe-keeping.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #34 (Nov 1975)

Title: Cyclone at the Center of a Madman’s Crown

Villain: Mordillo

Synopsis: Leiko meets Mordillo face to face and realizes he is former Smith agent and her former lover Simon Bretnor. He was also a brilliant scientist but was losing his mind so Leiko broke up with him. Bretnor seemed to get killed but secretly became the enigmatic international villain Mordillo.

Shang-Chi and Clive Reston pilot an aircraft to Mordillo’s Crown, his private island in the East China Sea. Mordillo was basically the X-Men villain Arcade years before Arcade came along. Mordillo was crazy, rich, and his island stronghold was set up like Arcade’s later lair Murderworld.

Shang and Clive fight their way around the island, facing androids of all kinds, human-sized toy trains and much, much more. Mordillo’s android aide Brynocki is like something Arcade would use, too. It kills at Mordillo’s command and obeys all his other orders, too. Brynocki looks like the old Bob’s Big Boy mascot but wears a series of odd hats, adding to the weird Mordillo/ Arcade vibe.

Eventually, Shang and Clive reach the castle at the center of Mordillo’s Crown. There they face the villain, who reveals that since he does not know the post-hypnotic command to make Leiko reveal the Project: Ultra-Violet plans he will instead just kill her unless Shang or Clive tell him what the post-hypnotic command is.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #35 (Dec 1975)

Title: Death-Hand

Villain: Mordillo

Synopsis: The Mexican standoff among Shang-Chi, Mordillo, Leiko Wu and Clive Reston goes on for a little while, then is interrupted by Black Jack Tarr, who disobeyed Sir Denis’ orders to stay behind.

Chaos breaks out as Shang frees Leiko and she joins Clive and Black Jack in fighting Mordillo’s absurd but deadly androids and death-traps. Mordillo flees to his hovering Solar Chute, but Shang leaps aboard before the villain can take off.

The pair fight it out while Mordillo has the Solar Chute rise to a sufficient altitude to start shooting its solar cannon down at Leiko, Black Jack and Clive. Shang renews their fight and the solar cannon continues firing at random targets, thus destroying many of Mordillo’s own androids by accident.

Leiko and the others flee the zone and Mordillo, losing to Shang by this point, tries to escape but gets killed by one of the solar rays from the cannon. Shang-Chi leaps free of the Solar Chute before it crash-lands. With Mordillo’s menace ended, Shang and Leiko embrace like crazy even though they’ve barely known each other for a few days.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #38 (Mar 1976)

Title: Cat

Villain: Shen Kuei

Synopsis: Sir Denis sends Shang-Chi to PRE-1997 HONG KONG to exfiltrate a female agent who has compiled a great deal of intelligence about Communist China’s covert activities in Hong Kong. The agent is Juliette, a blonde woman who has been singing in a Hong Kong nightclub owned by Shen Kuei, known as the Cat.

NOTE: Shen Kuei becomes one of Shang-Chi’s greatest villains. He can fight him as an equal at martial arts.

Shen is a crimelord in Hong Kong and plays Western Intelligence agencies against Communist Chinese agencies to his own advantage. Juliette plans to give Shang-Chi the documents of her gathered intelligence but says she has fallen in love with Shen Kuei and will stay in Hong Kong to be with him and will stop being a spy for Sir Denis.

Shen Kuei arrives and wants to kill Juliette for betraying him. He and Shang face off, but before their fight can start, third-party Hong Kong gangsters break in and try to kill both Shang and Shen. They wipe out all of the attackers, then face each other again to fight it out.

MASTER OF KUNG FU Vol 1 #39 (Apr 1976)

Title: Fight Without Pity

Villain: Shen Kuei

Synopsis: Shang-Chi and the Cat fight it out for a time, when suddenly some of his subordinate gangsters show up to help him. Shang and Juliette seize the moment to escape.

Shen Kuei tells his men this is a personal affair and for them to stay out of it. He then pursues our hero and Juliette into the Hong Kong night. Juliette takes Shang to a boat where she has the documents for him.

When they get back to shore, Shen Kuei is there waiting for them. Juliette tries again to explain to the Cat what is really going on but he refuses to believe her.

Shang-Chi and Shen Kuei have an all-out fight now along the dock, unarmed at first and then with weapons. Eventually, Juliette tries to get them to stop fighting. When they don’t, she stabs herself in the chest.

Shen Kuei realizes he still loves Juliette after all and rushes to her side. He gets her to medical care, telling Shang-Chi he is free to kill him while he sees to Juliette. Shang declines, of course, and flies back to England, setting up future clashes between him and Cat.