This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog presents some of the 1970s crossover stories between Marvel’s Iron Fist and Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu.
THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU SPECIAL Vol 1 #1 (June 1974)
Title: The Master Plan of Fu Manchu
Villain: Fu Manchu
NOTE: This was back when Marvel Comics had licensed the rights to do comic book stories about Sax Rohmer’s iconic villain Fu Manchu and his pursuer Sir Denis Nayland-Smith. Marvel combined their Fu Manchu stories with the 1970s Kung Fu craze by having Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu be the son of Fu Manchu. He turned against his evil father.
Years later, when Marvel no longer had the rights to use the Fu Manchu character they retconned things so that Shang-Chi’s father was really Iron Man’s archenemy the Mandarin.
Synopsis: Storywise, this tale features three separate sections as Iron Fist, the Sons of the Tiger and Shang-Chi the Master of Kung Fu go up against Fu Manchu in three separate stages of his “master plan.”
Iron Fist is the hero of the opening chapter. He is walking the late-night streets of New York City when a cry for help prompts him to investigate an alleyway he was passing. He discovers a dying Chinese representative from the U.N. He escaped when Fu Manchu had his men abduct him and five other such Chinese representatives. The man dies from the wounds he suffered in his escape after telling Danny to save the others. Continue reading
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #37 (June 22nd, 1977) 
The event is crashed by a new supervillain called the Highwayman, who rides a high-tech motorcycle which uses laser cannons and other weaponry. The villain also wears a monocle that shoots energy blasts and wields a battle chain. 
MICRONAUTS Vol 1 #29 (May 1981) 
Acroyear’s wife, Cilicia, condemns her husband for using the Worldmind against Karza, thus causing so much damage to Spartak that it is now uninhabitable. Even now, the survivors must be leaving the planet to find another home elsewhere in the Microverse/ Quantum Realm. Cilicia quits the Micronauts in disgust.
LONGSHOT Vol 1 #1 (September 1985) 
At length, Longshot escapes through a random portal and ends up on Earth. We readers learn he has lost his memory and has two hearts and only three fingers and a thumb on each hand. His first superpower (aside from his incredible agility) is revealed to be incredible “luck” and that luck prevented his pursuers’ blaster fire from actually hitting him and instead hitting everything around him. 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #28 (April 20th, 1977) 
A very eccentric old professor, Robert Willard Scott, has retired from the university and lives alone with his hawks. When those birds die, Brian Braddock uses his scientific genius to construct a large hawk-shaped remote-controlled android to keep Professor Scott company. 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the stories in which Marvel’s licensed toy I.P. the Micronauts interacted with established Marvel characters. My look at the early Micronauts stories can be found 
MICRONAUTS Vol 1 #15 (March 1980) 
Meanwhile, back in the Microverse/ Quantum Realm we join the current roster of the Micronauts – Commander Arcturus Rann, Princess Marionette, Bug, Acroyear, the roboids (Biotron and Microtron), Cilicia (Acroyear’s wife, at right) and Jasmine (Bug’s girlfriend). The escaped Psycho-Man shows up in his vessel which dwarfs their own, called the HMS Endeavor. 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #16 (January 26th, 1977) 
Reluctantly, Captain Britain uses some of his super-strength and agility to break free of the cops before they can unmask him. The other police on hand start shooting at C.B. when – out of nowhere – Captain America intervenes. He’s used to authorities in the U.S. often being wrong about superheroes so he offers to fight off the cops while Captain Britain escapes. 
CAPTAIN BRITAIN Vol 1 #1 (October 13th 1976)
Synopsis: British college student Brian Braddock was working as an assistant to Dr. Hugo Travis at the Darkmoor Energy Research Center, a scientific organization probing the supernatural energies and anomalies of the Darkmoor area. 
The Amulet of Right and the mystic Quarterstaff turned Brian into the costumed superhero called Captain Britain. Stragg and his men had not seen Braddock’s face clearly, so his real identity was safe. Using his new powers – flight, a skin-tight force field, enhanced senses and enough strength to lift a couple tons – the hero defeated Stragg’s armed thugs. 
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #166 (January 1976) 
CAPTAIN AMERICA Vol 1 #193 (January 1976) 
