Good morning,
Today's topic is the sixty-third issue of Marvel's The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover, drawn by comic book legends Gil Kane and Terry Austin, showed the titular character facing an unknown opponent, with his old enemies, Skullcrusher and Pavane, flanking him on either side. The story was called "Hiding Cats." The issue had a cover date of April 1978.
The tale picked up from the previous issue, when Shang had just found Juliette on a boat leaving Hong Kong harbor. Juliette (last seen in issue #39) admitted to Shang-Chi that she and Shen Kuei no longer had what they once shared. She stated that she thought her former lover was working for the Red Chinese. She wasn't sure just what he was doing, but was confident that it was nothing good.
She explained that was why she posed as a smuggler. Jade took the last shipment that arrived at the Jade Peacock and was told by someone she thought she could trust to leave a designated crate behind. She had no idea of the crate's explosive contents or that it would be used to hurt anyone. Shang then asked her why the crate had exploded. Juliette replied that part of the answer to that question could be found in the hijacked crates that were now aboard her boat, but that wasn't all.
Shang-Chi detected a change in his former ally. She confessed that Shen Kuei had taken a new lover before announcing that they could take the packages to her safe house downriver. Shang was advised not to fret over the crewmen he'd defeated. Juliette remarked that nothing could change their deaths and that more lives would be at risk if they didn't reach the safe house before dusk.
At Kuei's headquarters, the man also known as the Cat was berating his employee, the Skullcrusher, for his recent failures. His first mistake was going to London to try and kill Shang-Chi. Skullcrusher's second mistake, according to Kue,i was failing to slay Shang, who Kuei thought had killed his brother. He demanded that Shang-Chi be killed as a result of his brother's death.
Kuei remembered his first encounter with the "Britisher" and realized that he himself could not kill him. He decided to give Skullcrusher another chance at completing the job. Kuei added that he would send a companion and instructed Skullcrusher to wait for her.
At the Hong Kong airport, Clive Reston and Melissa Greville were gathering their luggage from the baggage claim area. Reston hailed a cab that would take them to their hotel before going to investigate the Jade Peacock. Meanwhile, Melissa's employer, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, was discussing her disappearance with Doctor Petrie. The two men expressed concern about the recent rise in smuggling by Communist China.
Smith went on to say that MI-5 had developed a list of rather unsavory characters and that Black Jack Tarr had gone to Hong Kong undercover to check things out. The two men were pondering his fate, as we saw Tarr in disguise approach a couple of rough-looking blokes and asked them if they knew a man named Kogar. Tarr said that he had some experience in imports before being ushered into the boat below him. He was then blindfolded and knocked unconscious before the trio embarked on their voyage.
Back in London, Leiko realized there wasn't anything left in the city for her anymore. She exited her apartment after telling the Siamese cat that her friend Linda would stop by daily to look in on it. At the same time, Kuei was talking with a new female companion, one who he'd hoped might help him forget Juliette.
Before long, Juliette's boat arrived at her safe house. She instructed her crew members to go to the camp and tell its inhabitants to meet her at the house as soon as possible. When asked by Shang-Chi who the camp residents were, she merely replied that they were friends like him.
Tarr was later awoken by water splashing on his face. He looked up and found himself inside a cave that hid a miniature city. What he didn't know then was that Kogar and his associate were not far away. Tarr took the initiative to knock out his associates and commandeered his boat. He soon arrived at a dock where the tall warrior known as Kogar and his diminutive by comparison colleague Sklar were waiting for their new employee.
Juliette and Shang finally reached her safe house. She moored the boat and opened her residence while Shang started out to unload the ship's cargo. However, when he went to the storehouse door, he found his enemy, Skullcrusher, standing in front of him.
By the time Greville and Reston arrived at the Jade Peacock, they found the club had been locked and boarded up. They assumed that Shang-Chi might have been involved in this. They were just beginning to investigate when a quartet of officers informed them that they were under arrest by the Hong Kong police.
Back at Juliette's safe house, the brawl between Skullcrusher and Shang began. During the conflict, Shang-Chi noticed Juliette above him. He ran to catch her before she fell. Fortunately, his friend landed on top of a pile of sacks that had been stacked up. Shang-Chi then saw the reason why Juliette had fallen, namely, his rival, Pavane, and her faithful jaguar.
This was another fun, suspense-filled issue. Doug Moench and Jim Craig had readers on the edge of their seats after every page had been turned. I wasn't a big fan of Skullcrusher, finding his ball and chain weapon similar to those that were used by Marvel super villains, the Absorbing Man and Thunderball from the Wrecking Crew, but I was happy to see the return of Pavane. The love triangles were rather interesting, too.
Well, that's all for now. Next up is the sixty-fourth issue of Master of Kung Fu. This issue doesn't continue this storyline, but it is a new tale drawn by Mike Zeck with a cover illustrated by Paul Gulacy. In this issue, another person from Shang-Chi's past returns to influence the present. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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