Hi everyone,
Today I'll be writing about the twenty-first issue of Marvel Comics' The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed Shang battling a pair of men wearing scuba gear and deflecting a knife back at one of his attackers. The story was titled "Season of Vengeance..." The issue had a cover date of October 1974.
On the first page, we see Shang climbing out of the water and onto a nearby dock, not far from Marston's boat in the harbor that he had just left at the end of the last issue. As he walked down the pier, his mind brought him back to the events that had just transpired earlier that evening. The focus then shifted to the interior of Marston's vessel, where the crime boss was lamenting the loss of his girlfriend by Korain's sword. His associate Dirk reminded him of their need to leave, noting that most of their gambling clients had left, but that one or two of them were bound to report the incident to the authorities.
Marston eventually realized that it was wiser to flee than to stick around and deal with the possibility of explaining his illegal casino to the police, but not after swearing revenge on Shang-Chi for Diana's death. He then descended a ladder with a pair of his employees that led to a waiting motorboat. As the trio sped off, Marston commanded one of them to put the best hitmen in Miami on Shang's tail.
Not far away, Shang-Chi had reached a park called Marine Land. It was a simple matter for him to jump the fence and explore his new surroundings. Shang soon made his way to the dolphin tank. He was impressed by the gentle creature and befriended it moments before an assailant shot at them. The bullet struck the dolphin as it was in mid-air. Shang-Chi was angered by the act of violence and turned to see a quintet of soldiers firing at him.
Shang made quick work of his attackers before another quintet of gunmen ran after him. Shang-Chi then jumped into another tank, only to find a trap waiting for him. This time, Shang-Chi fought off a shark. After the battle, he returned to the surface to breathe and was quickly knocked unconscious by one of Marston's men.
Marston's henchmen brought their opponent to the least populated island in the Florida Keys. Their boss chose that location because the likelihood that anyone would interfere with his revenge on Shang would be minimal. Marston had Shang-Chi tied to a tree, where he beat his opponent with a sturdy tree branch.
What Marston didn't know was that during his assault on the young warrior, several strangers soon arrived on the scene. They were Si-Fan warriors dispatched by Shang's father, Fu Manchu. Marston and Manchu's men soon battled each other. Marston offered to pay the Si-Fan double, but their loyalty to their master never wavered.
Fu Manchu's helicopter set down on the island a few minutes later. He was incensed by the fact that Marston planned to kill his son and let a snake slither from the arm of his robe. The snake crept up the crime lord's body and bit him under his chin. The fast-acting poison eliminated the threat almost immediately. Manchu then used a knife to free his son. He informed Shang that he slew Marston because only he would choose the moment of his son's death, and that moment would only arrive when it best amused the evil leader.
This was Doug Moench's first full issue of Master of Kung Fu, and I think he wrapped up the two-party story that he cowrote with Gerry Conway in the previous issue nicely. It would have been interesting to have Marston stick around for a while, but Moench would eventually come up with additional foes for Shang-Chi. I'm not a huge fan of Ron Wilson or Al Milgrom's artwork, but I think that they did a serviceable job of moving the story along to its conclusion.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the first Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu issue. Moench and company created five all-new stories for that publication, all of which I found to be quite interesting. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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