Hi everyone,
Today I'm writing about the second giant-sized edition of Master of Kung Fu. The 1975 issue showed Shang on the cover inside a giant hourglass, fighting one foe, with a trio of swordsmen behind him ready to strike. The story was titled "Devil-Doctor's Triumph."
Chapter One: Eyes started with Shang-Chi walking down a typical 1970s New York street when he was stopped by a man who appeared to be drunk and looking for a fight. Shang had no desire for combat, and the man soon lunged woozily into the plate-glass window of the martial arts studio that the pair had been standing outside of. Inside the business, a woman assumed that Shang-Chi had tossed the drunk, whom they'd already tossed out once before, through the window.
Shang asserted that he merely stood in the street minding his own business before the woman asked him inside. He watched the students and teachers practice while the woman assured Shang-Chi that the drunk would be fine. Sure enough, he was up and walking again shortly after she asked Shang to join her for dinner at a small Italian restaurant in Manhattan.
On their way, Shang-Chi admitted that he'd been at that spot waiting for someone else. As they walked, he told the woman that his name meant the rising and advancing of a spirit. The woman said that her name was Sandy, and that her name didn't mean a thing. At the restaurant, Shang had his first experience with the delicacy known as pizza. After Sandy paid the check, the pair went for a walk in the park.
While the two sat on a park bench getting to know one another better, the man who had posed as a drunk went to report to his master, Fu Manchu, who was in the presence of his compatriots, Peko and Ducharme. The agent explained his encounter with Manchu's son and that he had gone off with a woman from the studio. He went on to say that Shang-Chi had been waiting for someone else, whom Fu Manchu presumed was Black Jack Tarr and Sir Dennis Nayland Smith. He insisted that their plans continue, since he would not allow his son to interfere with his current activities.
Meanwhile, Sandy asked Shang about his spirit before sharing a kiss. They had a few brief moments of peace and quiet before a trio of Si-Fan assassins attacked them. Shang-Chi and Sandy battled against them and the warriors who followed. When asked about her skill, Sandy's reply echoed words that Shang-Chi had said about the father he had abandoned for his own reasons.
A few minutes later, Black Jack Tarr and Sir Dennis Nayland Smith arrived on the scene in a horse-drawn carriage. Smith asked for Shang's assistance. He and Sandy went along for the ride, where Smith informed them of a scientist in China who was working on a secret project that was on Fu Manchu's radar. Smith wanted Shang-Chi to fly to China to serve as the scientist's bodyguard. He quietly agreed, after saying goodbye to Sandy.
Chapter 2, entitled "Air," began on the plane that would take Shang to Peking. Smith and Tarr would arrive separately. Smith wished Shang-Chi good luck before he entered the plane. A few moments later, after Shang was in his seat, he was accosted by a flight attendant who slipped a garrote around his neck. He quickly hurled the attendant over his body and onto the ground. Shang-Chi went on to fight several more opponents who had been posing as passengers.
Things were quiet in the passenger section as Shang made his way to the cockpit. There, he found more enemies. After defeating them, he freed the pilots who had been tied up and gagged and kept in a nearby bathroom. The pilots were thankful for his help, and one of them told him where he'd be meeting his liaison agent. Shang accepted a gift that profaned the act of giving before they arrived at their destination.
Chapter 3, titled "Deceit," started as Shang-Chi walked through the streets of his old hometown. With each step, he could tell that more and more of his father's men were gathering around him, preparing to attack. Shang finally reached the point where he was surrounded. He calmly stood with the nunchuks that he had been gifted and took on the warriors.
The battle was impressive but brief. Shang-Chi defeated each and every one of Fu Manchu's men that had been dispatched to destroy him. He walked along in silence, thinking about Sandy for a time as he made his way onward. The whisper of a cloaked figure eventually caught his attention and he followed them to a waiting truck.
Shang-Chi entered the vehicle, with the stranger whose voice was all too familiar. It was Sandy, who embraced him warmly. She then told Shang that the scientist he'd been sent to protect was her father. As they drove on, Sandy revealed that she'd been working for Smith, and her reasons for providing him with a little more persuasion to believe her and agree to the mission.
They soon reached her father's domicile in Peking. Professor Chen greeted them both and sent his daughter to fetch refreshment while he informed Shang-Chi about his researched. He whispered something to Shang while tea was being prepared.
The next morning, Shang-Chi sat outside as the car containing Sandy and Professor Chen's assistant departed. He was content watching a pair of insects attack one another. What he didn't know was that the assistant was an agent for his father.
Shang watched the smaller beetle take on the larger mantis before realizing he'd been distracted. He then ran back to the house, where he found that Professor Chen had taken a sword and ceremoniously committed suicide. He was struck from behind by one of Fu Manchu's men. When Shang-Chi awoke, he found himself in front of his father. Manchu knew from Chen's assistant that the late professor had whispered a secret to him. He demanded that Shang tell him what the late professor had shared with him.
Chapter 4, called "Dementia," started with Shang refusing to cooperate. A section of the floor opened beneath him, and he fell into a giant hourglass. Shang-Chi continued to slip further down the hourglass toward the deadly spikes at the bottom. Acid hissed at the bottom of the trap, but Shang managed to jump as the last sands slipped down and leap away, into a giant maze. There even more dangers awaited him.
Shang-Chi was not afraid. He said nothing to his father as he ventured through the maze successfully. Not even a false Sandy could deter him from breaking free. Facing his father once more, Shang admitted that Professor Chen had told him that there was no secret, and that he had taken his life in anguish because he feared Manchu's arrival and what would happen to him if the tyrant had learned of his failure.
Fu Manchu then asked his son what the purpose of the professor's research was. Shang-Chi replied that it had been synthetic nourishment, and that the professor had been working diligently to feed the starving people on the planet. Manchu was outraged by this, and how he had expended resources on someone who had died following a noble cause.
Shang-Chi remarked that he only spoke the truth. He then asked what happened to Sandy. Manchu told him that she had perished in the maze. Moments later, Tarr and Smith arrived and engaged in a gunfight with more of Fu Manchu's guards. Shang-Chi soon joined them in combat.
Manchu had escaped yet again, but the three friends triumphed. Shang initially thought that the maze was a hallucination after having his mind being controlled by his father. Smith admitted that the maze was real, and that they'd found Sandy lying dead outside the maze. He had warned her of the possibility of this sort of thing before she became one of his agents.
Shang was sorrowful, but he understood. His comrades warned him not to be blame himself. The trio left quickly before the Communist Red Guard would arrive. The last two stories in this issue were Yellow Claw reprints.
I really enjoyed this four-part story from Moench and Gulacy. We got to see more of Shang's emotions surfeace and learn a bit more about his father's motives. I thought that the page that showed Shang navigating the maze and coming across the assassins who were lying in wait for him was a stroke of genius. I just wish that Sandy would have stuck around for more than just this issue. She would prove to be the first of several love interests for the main character.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, we'll return to the main series as I recap the twenty-fifth issue of Master of Kung Fu. Shang will make his way toward reuniting with Smith and Tarr and face new obstacles along the way. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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