Hi everyone,
Welcome to my 400th blog post! Today, I'll be writing about the twentieth issue of Marvel's The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover depicted Shang squaring off against a quintet of foes, including an armored samurai leaping at him from the left. The title of the first story, written by long-time Marvel print and TV scripter Gerry Conway, was "Weapon of the Soul." The issue had a cover date of September 1974, and the comic had now moved from being printed monthly instead of bimonthly, where it would remain for the rest of the series' run.
The first tale began with Shang-Chi walking along the shore of a Florida beach when he was attacked by a pair of men wearing scuba gear. Shang noticed the clumsiness of his rivals. Two of them were defeated easily. He waited for the one that remained, who appeared to be a bit more intelligent and skilled at combat than his colleagues. The man lamented the fact that this job was supposed to be easy and seemed angered by its difficulty.
After another pair of blows, the assassin lay flat on his back. Shang asked his opponent who ordered the attack, thinking it was probably his father, Fu Manchu. The man said that he'd never heard of Manchu, and that he had been sent by a man named Marston, who worked out of Miami and had a floating casino at the marina. Shang-Chi used his knowledge of key pressure points in the body to ease a bit of his foe's pain. He then left his combatants for the authorities to deal with.
At the Miami Beach marina, Marston's associate Buford informed him of his employees' failure to kill Shang-Chi. He admitted that complicated things a bit, and that he'd probably have to summon Korain after three of his top assassins were defeated so swiftly. Buford went off to find Korain, leaving Marston alone with his girlfriend, Diana. The leader rebuffed his lover's attempts to soothe him and struck out at her in anger. He reinforced the point that he only worked for himself before she left him to concentrate on just that.
Meanwhile, Bufford Jones, another key employee of Marston's, was boating toward a small island in the Florida Keys. There, he found the samurai known as Korain. The swordsman gave a brief sample of his work before being handed a picture of his next target: Shang-Chi.
The second story was called "Poison of the Soul," and was written by Doug Moench, who would eventually go on to become the series' primary writer for most of its run. It began in the harbor where Marston's boat was docked. We soon see Shang-Chi shimmying up the anchor chain and making his way onboard. He then ran into a trio of Demmy Marston's guards, who proved to be even less effective than the men dressed in scuba gear who had attacked Shang earlier.
Shang-Chi entered an open doorway and found people partaking in different games of chance. Among the crowd were Marston and Diana. Shang made his way to Marston and asked him why he wished him dead. Marston called for his guards, whom Shang-Chi had already defeated, before pulling a pistol from his suit coat pocket and firing it at Shang. Shang-Chi evaded the gunfire just before Korain used his sword to break through a locked door.
Korain used his swords and other nearby implements to attack his young foe, who deftly evaded them. In the middle of the battle, Korain suddenly started feeling weak. He realized that he needed more of the elixir vitae, which Fu Manchu used to keep himself young. Korain pulled out a small bottle of the potion from his tunic and swallowed it quickly. Now feeling refreshed, he renewed his attack, only to make a short leap onto a pool table, ending his life prematurely. As he fell, the sword that had been in one of his hands flew forward and impaled Diana. Marston cried out for his love, admitting that he knew Fu Manchu wanted his son dead, thinking that the cruel ruler would reward him handsomely if he accomplished that task. Shang walked away from a grieving Marston and the two dead bodies lying next to him.
This issue was a transition, as previous scripter Steve Engelhart moved on to other projects. I liked the tag-team effort by Conway and Moench, and it was good to see new opponents for Shang-Chi. I would never condone violence against women, but I understand the period when this was written and the societal norms that existed then. The two writers combined to weave a tale that showed us more about the main character's motivation. I wondered what had happened to Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, Blackjack Tarr, and company, but I would have to wait for future issues to see them again. By the way, this issue would also be reprinted later on as the creative team ran into the dreaded deadline doom that happened from time to time during the 1970s.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the twenty-first issue of Marvel's Master of Kung Fu color comic book. Revenge is on the mind of Marston and his crew. We'll see what happens to them and our hero, and just what Shang's father thought about Marston's actions. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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