Hi everyone,
Today I'm going to discuss the thirty-fifth issue of Marvel Comics' The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed Shang attacking Mordillo, as his men rushed to assist him. Leiko Wu was still encased in an hourglass, as shown in the previous issue. The story was named "Death-Hand and the Sun of Mordillo." The issue had a cover date of December 1975.
The tale began with Mordillo using a metal glove to blast bursts of flame at Shang-Chi and Clive Reston, who were locked in the seats in front of the stage. Mordillo and Leiko Wu, who had been imprisoned in a large hourglass whose sand had almost entirely reached the bottom by now, were on the stage. Mordillo had captured Wu to force her to reveal what she knew about Project Ultra Violet.
Reston admitted that she knew nothing about it because she'd been hypnotized not to consciously be aware of her knowledge regarding that matter. He added that Mordillo had killed agent Putnam (as revealed in issue #33), who was the only one who knew how to unlock that information. Mordillo refused to believe this, thinking that it was merely a fabrication by one who was a former love interest of Leiko's.
Mordillo tapped a button on his metal glove, launching a compression dart at his rival. Before he could use the gauntlet again, it was struck by an energy bolt, fired by a metal man (who looked similar to the enemy from issue #33). The robot continued firing at Mordillo, which allowed Shang-Chi to find a way to break the metal pole that kept him and Reston in place in their seats. He then used that piece of metal to shatter the hourglass, freeing Wu.
Shortly before that, the robot was felled by another concussive bolt from Mordillo's glove. The villain left the room swiftly, heading toward a clock and the solar chute. Meanwhile, the robot was revealed to be Black Jack Tarr. He had commandeered one of Mordillo's metal man and used it as a disguise to get closer to their foe, who by then had enlisted Brynocki's assistance once more.
Reston opted to go off to find the villain by himself. While Tarr, Shang, and Wu waited, Tarr informed his companions that a rescue craft was anchored to the island. Unfortunately, Reston's quest was in vain. He soon returned to his comrades, who were ready to plan their next move. Wu informed them about Mordillo's solar chute and how he thought that the information that she'd been hypnotized to remember would be the key to operating the machine properly so that it could cut holes through Earth's ozone layers, allowing Mordillo to focus UV radiation on designated ground targets. She suggested destroying the apparatus, or at the very least, preventing Mordillo from being able to use the solar chute.
While the heroes were planning, Mordillo was traveling to the castle, where Pavane and her black panther waited. He informed her that Shang-Chi and Leiko had been freed. Pavane was ready to defeat the female, who arrived at the island blindfolded, and might not know the exact location of the geodesic dome where the solar chute was held. He thought that it might be better to move the machine, just in case Leiko and her friends discovered its location.
Brynocki operated a tram that took him and Mordillo to the dome. Along the way, Mordillo instructed several of his warriors to join forces with Pavane, who would provide them with additional instructions. Outside the castle, Tarr, Shang, Wu, and Reston were trying to figure out where the chute was. Wu said that she'd been blindfolded and only knew that she had been put in an underground railcar. Minutes later, the geodesic dome halves retracted. Reston and company knew that had to be where Mordillo and his weapon were.
Shang-Chi volunteered to go after Mordillo, while his friends would head toward the rescue craft. Shang soon encountered Mordillo, who still launched the craft to fulfill his mission. Shang leapt after it, and caught a panel just as the chute took off. He tried to convince his opponent to cease his actions, even as Mordillo announced his plans to kill him.
Tarr, Reston, and Wu soon found themselves face to face with Pavane and her companions. Battles began both there and on the solar chute, as Shang blocked Mordillo's attacks. A few beams struck portions of the island, reducing the natural growth to ash. After witnessing the initial blast, Reston and the rest of the ground crew sought cover in one of the tunnels hollowed out in a nearby mountain.
Mordillo was soon defeated by Shang in personal combat, but he wouldn't go down easily. He eventually slid off the contraption, and his body was incinerated by another burst of radiation. Brynocki ran toward him as his body fell to the ground.
Shang couldn't turn the machine off, but was at least able to send it into the sea, where it could cause no further damage. On the rescue craft, he was consoled by Leiko. The two embraced, not knowing that Reston was watching. Back on the island, Brynocki was carefully cradling the skeleton of his master, Mordillo, vowing that he wouldn't leave him. As Shang-Chi's narration noted on the last panel, love is strange.
This was indeed the end of Mordillo, at least in his mortal form, but we would see Brynocki and Mordillo's island return both in this comic and other Marvel titles. Regular readers of this blog know that both of them appeared in an issue of ROM: Spaceknight. Mordillo was an interesting character. I just wish that his demise wasn't so premature. He could have been a regular thorn in the side of Shang-Chi and his friends. All in all, another excellent issue by Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy, Dan Adkins, and company.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll recap the thirty-sixth issue of Master of Kung Fu. Shang-Chi will embark on solo action embellished by Keith Pollard. He will face off against familiar-looking foes and take on a half-dozen new mysteries. I'll explain more about that in that blog post. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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