Hi everyone,
Today, I'll be discussing the fourth giant-sized issue of Master of Kung Fu. Marvel cancelled their giant-size line of quarterly comic books shortly thereafter, although they briefly revived some of them for one-shots for the 50th anniversary of the concept. The cover of this tome showed Shang-Chi squaring off against a warrior known as Tiger Claw. This two-part tale began on the first page with the selection entitled "Why a Tiger Claw?"
The action began on a busy New York City street, where a rather ambitious taxicab driver was trying to satisfy his customers' wishes. We soon learned that the cab driver's passengers were robbers wearing monster masks, and that the driver was named Rufus T. Hackstabber (who was depicted as an obvious homage to legendary comedian Groucho Marx). The cabbie's fast driving eventually catapulted the vehicle into the front window of a bank that his passengers had intended to rob.
Rufus was stymied, but did as he was told, even if that meant handing over his taxicab's receipts. Before long, the local authorities were on the scene. One of the robbers shot a policeman before Shang-Chi intervened. He made short work of the two criminals, but unfortunately, during the melee, several police officers somehow mistakenly assumed that Shang was involved in the heist. Hackstabber drove his cab between the officers and Shang-Chi while the robbers took off in another car.
Hackstabber and Shang followed the car until they reached a dead end. Rufus wanted the $7.80 that the robbers took from him, which was all the money that he had in the world. Shang-Chi offered to help and kicked an opening in the truck that had been in front of them in the alley. Inside, they found the getaway car that they had just been chasing. Once inside the truck, Rufus soon fell into a trap door that was placed right above an open city sewer grate. The pair moved on further into the sewer system to find the crooks.
Meanwhile, at Fu Manchu's headquarters, one of his subordinates informed his master that his associate, known as Tiger Claw, had not been located yet. Manchu feared that he might have fallen in with his daughter Fah Lo Suee's soldiers, and ordered that a group of Si-Fan warriors be sent to find Tiger Claw. When asked by Ducharme what the leader had in mind for Claw, Manchu replied that he was a traitor and that traitors to his cause die in slow pain.
Before long, Shang and Rufus had caught up with the robbers. They went up the stairs through another open sewer grate, only to find themselves in the path of an oncoming subway train! Shang pulled his friend to safety, but the criminals boarded the train, followed shortly by our heroes. Back at Smith's domicile, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith was on the phone with the commissioner about the bank robberies. He was certain that Manchu wasn't involved in them, but promised to do what he could to help. Doctor Petrie offered his assistance, but Smith thought that his friend was probably still too weak from his last encounter with Fu Manchu (which was chronicled in the third giant-sized issue of Master of Kung Fu). Black Jack Tarr then entered the room and was about to depart with Smith.
At the third stop, the robbers left the train. So did Shang and Hackstabber. Shang-Chi quickly overpowered the hoodlums and learned that they were employed by a man known as Tiger Claw. Upon hearing that name, Shang was reminded of a time in his youth.
That memory started part 2 of the story, which was called "The Way of the Tiger: A Movement in Blood." It began as Tiger Claw stood before Fu Manchu in his Honan, China retreat, as young Shang looked on. The warrior soon proved why he had applied to the rare rank of lodge master by defeating and killing three of Manchu's toughest warriors. He explained that his claws were dipped in a venomous poison.
Shang Chi then ordered the crooks to tell them more about the man who had hired them as they made their way back to the truck. When they arrived, Hackstabber found that his cab was being towed. While he was preoccupied with trying to prevent that, Tarr and Smith reached the scene. After a few hasty explanations were made, and the authorities were satisfied, Rufus took off in his taxi to where his money was located.
Shang, Smith, and Tarr soon followed. As they did so, news of the robberies engineered by Tiger Claw had made its way to Manchu. He told his lackey to meet him there and provide him with the death that he felt traitors deserved.
The trail to the stolen money led to a lumber yard. Shang, Tarr, Smith, and Hackstabber found several of Tiger Claw's men in the main building. After a brief tussle, one of the henchmen admitted that they'd received their share for the job, and that Claw was supposed to pick up the remainder at Rockefeller Center. There, another battle ensued, this time involving Shang, Tarr, Tiger Claw, and a cadre of Manchu's Si-Fan warriors.
Eventually, Tiger Claw and Shang-Chi faced off against each other. Claw declared himself a free agent, having sided with neither Fu Manchu nor his daughter Fah Lo Suee. The battle was an even match, but Shang emerged the victor once more.
Hackstabber thought he'd finally get his $7.80 back, but that was not to be. Smith insisted that the stolen money be held as evidence. After wrapping things up, Shang-Chi asked Smith for a small loan. He got into Rufus' cab and paid him $7.80 as his fare, the exact amount that his new friend had stolen from him earlier in the evening.
Tiger Claw was a formidable foe, and I can see why Moench and penciler Keith Pollard included him. I also enjoyed the comedic antics of Rufus Hackstabber (who called Shang Chang-Shee at times). He would return in the monthly magazine, no doubt because fans demanded it.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the twenty-ninth issue of the monthly Master of Kung Fu comic book series. Fu Manchu and Fah Lo Suee did not appear in that issue, but Paul Gulacy returned to combine with Moench in crafting another great story, one that introduced a pair of new villains, including one that became popular enough to be featured in the Shang-Chi MCU movie. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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