Hello again,
Today I'll be writing about the twenty-fourth issue of Marvel's The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover depicted Shang dodging a kick from a masked opponent, as soldiers behind them take sides in a conflict. The story was named "Massacre along the Amazon!" The issue had a cover date of January 1975.
On the first page, we see Shang-Chi standing on a long tree branch, looking down at several of his father's Si-Fan warriors making their way through a thick South American jungle. Shang waited until the last man had passed underneath him before dropping down from his perch. A swift kick knocked the man unconscious, enabling Shang-Chi to don his clothing and take his place in disguise at the tail end of the party.
Meanwhile, Shang-Chi's father, Fu Manchu, ordered his helicopter to maintain their altitude so that he could watch Wilhelm Bucher's soldiers. The Nazis on the ground recognized the copter did not belong to their leader, but vowed to set their trap in the name of their sacred Fourth Reich. The helicopter soon left. Manchu was not impressed by Bucher's ploy to ensnare him with his army and went off to meet with his own soldiers.
Back on Bucher's steamboat, Smith and Tarr were noticing Shang's handiwork (after defeating the crewmen last issue). They found Shang's headband floating in the water, but Tarr wasn't ready to presume their colleague's demise just yet. Shang's initial attack had cut the boat's engines, and the pair were now working to get them started again. Smith wanted to reach Bucher's encampment before Fu Manchu did. He feared that if the evil leader got his hands on the documents that Bucher had held onto since the 1940s that the entire world could pay the price. Tarr initially doubted that Manchu had the resources to build the types of weapons contained in those documents, but looking out at the men lying on the deck convinced him that Manchu probably had the means and capabilities at hand.
Several minutes later, Bucher's boat arrived at his base. The leader was now irate at his men after learning that Manchu's helicopter had just been by. He ordered them to get into position and prepare for their inevitable meeting. He swore that he would not be betrayed by Oriental forces again (like he was after a Japanese ally left him for dead in a bunker struck by Allied forces in World War II, as explained in the previous issue).
The Si-Fan patrol had now reached their destination and were waiting for Manchu's helicopter to land. Their leader approached his master and asked for his orders. Manchu announced that they had seen where Bucher's encampment was, and that they would prepare their counter-trap, as previously talked about.
It wasn't very long before Manchu and his men were outside Bucher's base. The simple snap of a twig by one of Manchu's soldiers alerted Bucher to their presence. He commanded his soldiers to get to their positions and fire as soon as they saw their opponents emerge from the jungle. Bucher would issue additional orders from inside the building.
Manchu stood still, stating that his auxiliary crew would go to the other side of the base and wait for his signal. The rest of his men would begin their attack, which they did. The ensuing gunfire was enough distraction for Shang-Chi to slip away and cast off his disguise. One of the Si-Fan warriors recognized him after his mask was discarded and charged him. Shang quickly attacked him after relieving the soldier of his gun.
On the other side of the encampment, Manchu's men finally received their signal, in the form of a flare shot into the air. They soon had Bucher's soldiers trapped in a deadly crossfire. Meanwhile, Shang-Chi was still busy battling his foe, but was the victor after just a few more minutes.
Inside the building, Bucher and his aides soon realized that it was too quiet and that their forces outside had been defeated. The former Gestapo commander then ordered his troops to fire through the windows. The shots caught many of the combatants off guard, including Manchu himself.
Shang struck one final blow at his opponent, who had recovered before venturing toward the conflict. He slowly made his way to Bucher's building. Shang-Chi peered inside one of the windows, and what he saw inside stunned him.
The battle between Nazi soldiers and Si-Fan warriors raged on inside and outside the building. Both sides refused to quit until all of their enemies were beaten. Shang had been appalled by the piles of bodies inside the bunker that continued to accumulate rapidly. The brutality and savagery, even as combatants resorted to hand-to-hand fighting after their bullets had run out, showed immense hatred by each side against the other.
Bucher continued to fight on and was pleased to see that a pair of his soldiers now had Fu Manchu captive. Back on the steamboat, Smith and Tarr had the engines up and running again, but they worried that they might not arrive at the scene on time. Manchu was soon tied to a tree and faced Bucher, who was readying a bazooka to fire at his foe.
Shang observed as Bucher expressed his desire for revenge. Even though it was a Japanese man and not a Chinese man like Manchu, who had left him for dead in the bunker during the Second World War, he felt that killing Fu Manchu would satisfy his plan. Shang-Chi then jumped out and struck Bucher with his feet square in the chest, deflecting the weapon's aim. The projectile struck the building, revealing a hidden missile silo inside.
Shang-Chi was then surrounded by a quartet of Bucher's soldiers. Thankfully, Smith and Tarr had arrived to help their friend, and their shots took the four men down. Shang then turned and was struck by a knife tossed by Bucher, minutes before he ran to his missile, which didn't fire, because Shang-Chi had deactivated it. The Nazi loyalist refused to believe that and climbed the missile, only to fall to his death.
By the time Shang had rejoined Tarr and Smith, he had removed the knife from his shoulder, and Manchu had escaped once more. Shang-Chi admitted that it was his own actions that helped to free his father, and that he probably wasn't thankful that Shang had saved his life. His comrades told Shang-Chi not to feel bad about his father's escape, since they accomplished the more important goal of keeping the dangerous warhead out of Manchu's hands.
This issue's penciling was a tag-team effort by Alan Milgrom, Jim Starlin, Alan Weiss, and Walt Simonson. Inker Sal Trapani kept the artwork by all four of them consistent throughout the story. The one thing I noticed was that writer Doug Moench seemed to ignore the fact that Shang-Chi had been shot by a bullet fired from Bucher's pistol at the end of the last issue. Either that, or Shang has miraculous powers of recuperation. That was my only gripe about what was otherwise another stellar issue.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the second giant-sized issue of Master of Kung Fu. Penciler Paul Gulacy returns to craft an all-new four-part story with Moench. Shang-Chi, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, Black Jack Tarr, and Fu Manchu will all be there, along with a new possible love interest for Shang. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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