Hello again,
Welcome to my 100th comic recap article! Today's topic is the third giant-sized issue of Marvel's Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed the titular character fighting off a trio of warriors that had emerged from a shattered storefront window in front of him. The first chapter of the four-part epic was titled "Fires of Rebirth."
The tale began with Shang-Chi thinking about his father Fu Manchu's words as he stood in front of the display window of a toy and novelty shop. He had noticed a man wearing glasses and a suit standing behind him, who soon identified himself as a member of the British Secret Service. His credentials were enough to convince Shang to follow him and enter a waiting automobile.
The Bureau of Foreign Affairs agent went to the driver's seat. In the back compartment, Shang soon found himself closed off and encased in a trap set by his father. Fortunately, Shang-Chi was able to break through the top of the car before the gas that had started seeping in could do any harm. He bounced on top of the now-moving auto. The driver tried swerving several times to dislodge his opponent, but Shang eventually made his way to the front passenger window, which he smashed before fighting his father's man. Shang leapt away before the car crashed after jumping a curb.
The driver survived. Shang checked the body and found an amulet, which was a symbol of the East Indian sect of assassins known as the Phanisgar. He pocketed the item and jumped over the British police officers who had arrived on the scene of the accident. Shang was cognizant of the fact that he was still wanted in Britain for the murder of Doctor Petrie (which happened in Shang's debut in Special Marvel Edition #15), so he wasn't about to dally for too long.
Shang-Chi soon made his way to Sir Dennis Nayland Smith's base of operations in Central Park West in New York City. He was greeted by Smith's butler, who informed him that his master was currently away on business, but that Shang was welcome to stay in his absence. Shang-Chi chose a spot to sit down and examined the amulet. He knew that it was a symbol of the Phanisgars that originated in Tibet, and that they practiced assassination, unlike the Bodicharma before them, who preferred only to fight in self-defense.
Shang's train of thought was then interrupted by the butler, who announced the presence of a Clive Reston, who had just arrived from London. Reston greeted Shang, and the dragon amulet quickly caught his eye. He demanded to take a closer look at it, right before a trio of Phanisgar warriors broke into the room. The pair of new acquaintances took on the challengers, each in their own way. Before long, the duo emerged victorious.
Shang-Chi appreciated Reston's help, but he was a bit wary of his new ally, even after he provided him with a handwritten note from Smith vouching for him. Shang knew that handwriting could be copied. When asked where Smith was, Reston replied that he was with Black Jack Tarr in London, where chapter 2 of this story began.
The second part kicked off with Reston and Shang flying to London. Shang-Chi was concerned once more that the British authorities would apprehend him for the murder of Doctor Petrie, but Reston offered a fake passport and trenchcoat to allow Shang to get through customs without incident. Upon arrival, Shang and Reston joined Tarr and Smith at the British Museum of Natural History. The quartet convened in a room that had been ransacked hours earlier. Smith observed that each incident was similar in that property was destroyed, but nothing was stolen. When Shang-Chi asked Smith how he knew that these acts were the work of Phanisgars, he replied that three museum guards had been strangled, and that each victim had one of the same amulets around their necks that Shang had found earlier in the story.
Convinced that there was nothing more they could do there, the quartet headed further into the museum, intending to return to Scotland Yard. As they walked through the halls containing dinosaur exhibits, Reston and Smith argued about the reasons for the Phanisgar attacks. Smith asserted that leaving the amulets behind on their victims was fanatical behavior, while Reston postulated that the incidents were devised as a distraction from Manchu's plots. Smith replied that Fu Manchu probably didn't care if they knew what he was after or not and was determined to fulfill his objectives. He added that all they could do was to follow each Phanisgar clue to its end. Reston disagreed once more, suggesting that they put their efforts toward a concentrated search for Shang's father.
Smith remarked that he'd spent years trying to track down and apprehend the elusive tyrant. Reston advised that new methods be used, before Tarr reminded him that he served under Smith, instead of over him, and that it would probably be best if he'd followed orders. Minutes later, at the prehistoric man exhibit, Shang-Chi talked to Smith about the Phanisagar appearances in both New York and London. He asked Smith why he felt that his father was in London. Smith replied that a London policeman had recovered a piece of paper that said "I am alive." It was signed, Petrie. Shang was stunned to hear this, knowing that Doctor Petrie was the man that Fu Manchu had ordered him to kill (on his first mission, shown in Special Marvel Edition #15).
Moments after Smith said that was impossible, the duo was distracted by the sounds of glass being shattered from inside one of the exhibits. A large warrior lunged for them. Shang stepped in to protect his friend and was quickly joined by Tarr and Reston as more attackers arrived. Brute force, martial arts skills, and firepower were keys to victory that day. Smith figured that the assault was for Manchu's amusement, but Reston wasn't quite so convinced.
Chapter 3, titled Crucible of Defeat, began outside a London curio shop, where a bobby was admiring some of their wares displayed in the shop window, just before a trio of Phanisgars overtook him and entered the store. They were soon alerted to the fact that they were not alone. Shang-Chi had been waiting for them. They drew their weapons before beginning the battle, which Shang won convincingly. Afterward, Shang went outside and found a wallet belonging to the slain police officer. He opened it to a picture of a beautiful woman and two young children. Shang gently placed the wallet in one of the officer's hands before going to have a conversation with one of his attackers.
The final chapter was named Test of Loyalty. It began at Scotland Yard, where Tarr, Smith, Shang, and Reston were waiting for a doctor who had administered a dose of truth serum to the Phanisgar that Shang-Chi had captured. Smith went to question their captive, and learned that the soldier worked for Fu Manchu, who was seeking vengeance for the theft of life, and that Manchu's next target was Buckingham Palace. Reston assumed that was a trick, but Smith wasn't deterred. He asked for clearance for the four of them to go to Buckingham Palace.
Meanwhile, in Manchu's stronghold, the towering Si-Fan warrior known as Shadow Stalker reported to his leader. Manchu said that he placed his greatest trust in him and ordered him to his next task of stalking his enemies after reminding him about the penalty for failure. Hours later, Smith finally had the necessary clearances, and the quartet was driving toward their destination when one of the car's tires was deflated by a dart fired from nearby.
Shang exited the car to find the person who had fired the dart. In his absence, Tarr left the vehicle to inspect the damage and was struck from behind by the Shadow Stalker's flying kick. He overpowered Reston and Smith and carried away Smith's unconscious form in his outstretched arms. Shang-Chi soon realized that the alley was empty, and he returned to his companions just to see Tarr on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. Reston filled him in on what had happened.
Inside Buckingham Palace, Reston and Shang stood inside a chamber containing the queen's personal collection of Oriental art. Two guards stood outside the room until one of them noticed something in a corner. They went to investigate and were overpowered by a pair of Phanisgar soldiers. The soldiers then entered the chamber and attacked Shang-Chi and Reston. One of the Phanisgar escaped through a secret passage. Shang was right behind him, after using a brief neck pinch to ensure that Reston would not accompany him.
Shang-Chi soon found himself in a corridor with multiple entrances. He moved a stone panel and proceeded down a winding staircase. At the bottom, he found his father standing next to Doctor Petrie, who had been trussed up on the wall behind them. Manchu admitted that the person he'd sent his son to kill was nothing more than an automaton of his own creation. He'd kept the real Doctor Petrie to experiment on, revile, and exact revenge on while he sought a valuable item that had been taken from him.
This did nothing to change Shang's anger toward his father. He reminded Manchu that he'd taught him to kill, and stated that he would use that knowledge against him until his father led him into an adjoining room where Smith had been chained to a table. He'd captured his opponent to learn the whereabouts of the item that Petrie had not provided him with yet. Manchu was confident that the threat of the two Phanisgars next to Smith would be enough for his son to drop his ideas of retaliation against him.
Shang-Chi reluctantly agreed, and soon found himself in a small arena, where he and the Shadow Stalker had been chained to a post. The Shadow Stalker was strong, but proved to be ineffectual against Manchu's son. Manchu declared that his son's victory only assured his death and the demise of Smith. A hidden panel then opened in the small arena, letting a bevy of vipers slither forth, while Manchu ordered his men to kill Smith.
The killing stroke was averted by Reston's arrival. Manchu escaped through another hidden panel beneath his throne while the now freed Smith helped Shang escape from the poisonous reptiles. Afterward, Smith and Petrie were reunited after many long, agonizing months. Petrie revealed that Manchu had been after a statue of a small elephant that contained a vial of elixir vitae, the concoction that Shang's father had used to extend his life.
Smith remembered the trinket, having taken it years ago in a raid when he also acquired a list of all the Si-Fan lodge masters in China. Petrie presumed that Manchu wanted the statue when his own supply of the elixir began to dissipate. Smith remembered that he still had the statue at his residence in New York and vowed to destroy it so that no one would have the elixir. Shang-Chi expressed his relief that Petrie was alive and his sadness for knowing that he was still guilty of his murder, in his mind. The issue closed with a pair of Yellow Claw reprint stories. I won't cover those stories because they are reprints and aren't relevant to the main characters or storylines.
This was one of the first Master of Kung Fu issues that I bought years ago. I was hooked by Paul Gulacy and Doug Moench's storytelling right away. I loved the conflict between father and son in many of these early issues. This was a well-crafted tale that finally resolved the mystery of why Shang had been ordered to kill Doctor Petrie back in his first mission. Petrie, like Reston, would go on to be an important supporting character for some time.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the twenty-seventh issue of Master of Kung Fu. Big John Buscema joins Moench to show Shang back in New York, facing off against his father and learning what happened after their last encounter in the monthly magazine. We'll also see a revamped Council of Seven, who were first introduced in the initial Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu issue. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment