Good afternoon,
Today's topic is the fifty-ninth issue of Marvel Comics' monthly The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu title. The cover showed Shang trying to evade a seemingly demonic apparition as his colleagues Black Jack Tarr and Sir Dennis Nayland Smith looked on in horror. The story was called "The Phoenix Gambit Part I: The Temples of Time." The issue had a cover date of December 1977.
Shang-Chi appeared to be lost inside a dream. He found himself in the African veldt, where it was cold and snowing. He came across a black woman who was watching over elephants, giraffes, and lions who had succumbed to the cold weather. After Shang approached and asked her what was happening, she pointed to a set of nearby pyramids that appeared to be man-made.
The young warrior walked toward the pyramids and soon found a portal in the floor. As he descended the staircase, he saw several men working feverishly at complicated machines. One of them explained that they were rebuilding the gateway. The gateway was a circular platform around which several others kneeled and prayed. A switch was pulled, and Shang-Chi's old enemy, Razorfist, miraculously appeared before his eyes.
Shang was incredulous, knowing that his former foe had expired in battle (in issue #31). Nonetheless, he was the one whom the others around him had been praying for to return. Razorfist promised Shang-Chi to give him the sweet blessing of death before lunging at him. Just then, everything went black.
When Shang-Chi came to, he found Leiko Wu and a British policeman standing before him. He'd apparently walked in front of a taxi cab on a busy street before passing out. As a doctor came from the middle of the crowd to assess the situation, Shang thought that the doctor was Razorfist, and instinctively moved to protect Wu before striking at his attacker. He defeated his opponent, who looked just like his long-dead rival.
Afterward, Wu took Shang to her home. She advised him to rest on her couch. Minutes later, Shang-Chi saw London covered in ice and snow. It was indeed a puzzlement for himself, as well as for his comrades Tarr and Smith. Smith said that Earth seemed to be tilted sideways, and the planet's glaciers were moving away from the North and South Poles.
Shang-Chi lashed out at Smith, declaring that he was responsible for this mess. Smith tried to reassure his friend while he made plans for an expedition to the North Pole. Shortly after their arrival, Smith, Tarr, and Shang came across another mysterious pyramid. They explored its interior, and Tarr located an anti-gravity chamber that took the three of them down to yet another portal.
This time, the portal opened to bring forth a flaming apparition that called itself Amar-Tu. Its very presence had a calming effect on our heroes, who were filled with love before they drew nearer to it. However, their embrace with the spirit soon turned deadly.
Shang-Chi woke up again. It was just another dream. He got up to look for Leiko, only to find Pavane waiting for him. She tossed her whip at him, and a swift kick revealed that she was nothing more than a robot. Just then, Wu returned from her shopping trip. She informed Shang that the person he'd thought was Razorfist was identified as a robot, much like the one he'd just battled.
Moments later, a window shattered from gunfire, as another familiar face entered the fray. This time, it was the infamous robot with gun turrets where a human's eye sockets would be. Shang-Chi startled his attacker by throwing a bedsheet over him, before knocking him to the ground with a powerful kick.
Shang-Chi and Leiko started to reason their way through possible reasons for the attacks. They quickly ruled out the since-deceased Carlton Velcro and Mordillo, but found that their friend Clive Reston was a common link. The "robot" then lifted its mask to reveal that it was actually Reston himself.
Clive confessed that he'd been drugged earlier that day and was forced to drug Shang on the street corner. He remembered that the person who had drugged him was from the small Eastern European nation of Latveria. Meanwhile, that nation's monarch, Doctor Doom, was engaged in a game of chess with the Prime Mover, with Shang and his friends and foes as the players on their chessboard.
The few glimpses we had earlier in the story of the match between these powerful individuals gave a few clues as to the people behind the machinations in this issue. Doctor Doom is undoubtedly Marvel's most popular villain, and I was happy to see him featured in this comic book. I was also impressed by Mike Zeck's artwork, particularly the second page, whose panels were done in an outline of the African continent.
Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow, I'll recap the sixtieth issue of Master of Kung Fu. That issue wraps up this two-part story. We'll see more people from Shang-Chi's past, and learn which powerful player wins the match. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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