Retro Comic Recap: Master of Kung Fu #22

 Hi everyone,

Today I'll recap the twenty-second issue of Marvel's The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed Shang fighting off a roomful of opponents. The story was called "Fortune of Death!" The issue had a cover date of November 1974.

The tale began with Shang-Chi waiting to be seated at a Chinese restaurant in New York City. A waiter showed him to his seat, and Shang made his selection. After the meal, Shang-Chi opened a fortune cookie to find a strip of paper inside that warned him that someone close to him sought his death. No sooner had he read the fortune when an assassin struck at Shang's table with his sword.

Shang fought the swordsman in the restaurant, as other fellow patrons fled in terror as the battle continued. Even though his foe was impressive, Shang-Chi finally defeated him. Shortly after that skirmish, four more green-garbed opponents entered. One of the new combatants was Shang's waiter. The waiter admitted that his colleagues preferred that Shang-Chi's meal be poisoned, while he opted for a more personal execution. 

The quartet proved to be no match for Shang. He easily defeated all four of them. The conflict ended after Shang-Chi pushed the waiter onto a serving cart and sent the cart rolling toward a large glass window, through which the waiter fell, landing in the front seat of a car parked on the street outside. Shang-Chi realized that the men who had been sent to kill him were Si-Fan warriors dispatched by his father, the evil Fu Manchu. He observed how the eyes of his father had followed him during his sojourn in the restaurant, and that his hands were substituted for those of the hired killers. 

After turning a corner on a rainy day, Shang-Chi came across a car. Sir Dennis Nayland Smith and Black Jack Tarr emerged from the vehicle. Smith lamented that they had arrived too late to assist Shang and asked for his help in infiltrating Manchu's headquarters. Shang-Chi advised against that action, but his comrades chose to press on toward pursuing that goal anyway. 

Shang chose to follow his friends and soon discovered that his father had indeed captured them. Shang-Chi made his way further inside his father's New York base and soon arrived at a hangar, where Manchu was loading Smith and Tarr into a strange-looking plane. He snuck onboard, noticing the cases of nitroglycerine that were loaded in the cargo bay he had just entered. 

Once they arrived at their destination, Fu Manchu ordered his men to take his captives into a nearby cavern along with their explosives. Shang followed and soon saw his friends tied up amidst the explosives. Shang-Chi leapt into action, knocking out several of Manchu's guards. Shang-Chi was able to free Smith and Tarr, but unfortunately, the nitroglycerine had been jostled during the battle. 

Shang took the vial of unstable explosives and hurled it out of the cavern opening, where it exploded seconds later. Fu Manchu and his men had long since left the scene by then. Shang and his companions then left the cavern and were amazed to find out that the cavern was between the statues of Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, part of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. It was then that Tarr understood what Manchu meant by obtaining a symbolic victory. 

This issue was another Moench/Gulacy masterpiece! I was impressed with the artwork and the story's pacing. I enjoyed how Shang worked with Smith and Tarr to defeat his father's men in the end. I loved the conflicts during this series' early run that pitted father against son, who were polar opposites of each other. 

Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the twenty-third issue of Master of Kung Fu. Shang, Smith, and Tarr will take a boat ride where they encounter more foes serving in the name of Fu Manchu. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.