Hello everyone,
Today's focus is the eighty-fourth issue of The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed Shang and Black Jack Tarr surrounded by alligators behind them and spear-wielding opponents in front of them. The story was called "Warriors of the Golden Dawn Part 2: The Bull and the Dragon." The issue had a cover date of January 1980.
The tale started with Tarr and Shang-Chi situated in a jungle lookout. Tarr was just doubting that any of Fu Manchu's leopard cultists were near, when a trio of those warriors leaped down at them. The heroes quickly defeated their opponents, who ran off deeper into the jungle. Tarr and Shang opted against pursuing them, since their foes obviously knew the jungle better than they did. The brief attack did prove that Lyman Leeks' interrogation methods were effective.
Leeks had interrogated another leopard cultist back in the UK, before Shang-Chi and Tarr embarked on their mission. He'd fired his pistol near the captive's head, which apparently was enough to frighten him into disclosing some important information. Tarr and Shang-Chi drove on in their Jeep, hoping to capture another cultist and force him to tell them where their comrade, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, was.
Meanwhile, at Manchu's South American compound, the evil tyrant was frustrated. He confided in his daughter, Fah Lo Suee, that he was concerned that Smith had not yet been delivered to him by Doctor Petrie's wife, Karamenah. Smith was the most important part of his mind control scheme. Suee promised her father that she would obtain Smith if Karamenah failed. She then gave Manchu the information packet that Leeks had compiled.
Most of the names on the list were people whom Manchu's men had already kidnapped. Suee swore that her younger half-brother, Shang, had not been privy to. She then asked her father if Shang-Chi would be granted life or death. Fu Manchu replied that it wasn't the time to discuss such matters and that his first convoy was heading to the airstrip.
We then saw a truck carrying several prisoners in the back. As the vehicle hit a bump in the road, we could notice a transmitter affixed to one person's head. Three trucks carrying mind-controlled prisoners drove on past Shang and Tarr, who were watching from a close distance.
Before the mission began, the group was still at Clive Reston's residence when Leeks turned on the radio. A news broadcast said that several brilliantly colored unidentified flying objects were observed in the night skies over parts of South America the previous evening. The group was listening to the report as Clive's housekeeper, Miss Haversham, delivered a telegram to her employer.
The telegram invited Reston to Casablanca, Morocco. Just moments earlier, the news broadcast on the radio stated that very city had also witnessed several of the spectacular unexplained lights in the evening sky. The group decided to split up. Tarr and Shang-Chi would go to South America, while Wu and Reston would check out the lead in Morocco. Melissa Greville would stay behind with Haversham and Leeks.
Meanwhile, in Manchu's grotto, the evil leader and his daughter watched the light phenomena emerge from underneath the water. Manchu explained that he was using them as diversions, to create chaos and confusion for effect. He was disappointed that one of them had not brought Smith to him yet.
In Morocco, Karmenah ordered her leopard cult soldiers to wait for her outside. Now she could talk with Smith privately. She explained that she was the one who had sent the telegram to Reston, and went on to describe Manchu's plan, a plot that he'd first concocted back in 1933.
Direct mind control was the linchpin. She then removed her wig to reveal a pair of small antennae on her head that had been used to control her, until someone recently disrupted the electronic feed control to free her. She was not ready to reveal to Smith who had assisted her. It was something that she might never admit to anyone else.
A while later, Manchu and Suee watched Zaran continue to spar with one of the Thuggee warriors. Their amusement was interrupted by the arrival of the three leopard cultists that Shang-Chi and Tarr had defeated earlier. Speaking of our heroes, they continued to follow the convoy, which had finally stopped for the night. Tarr wanted to sneak down in an attempt to get one of the captives to speak with them.
Unfortunately, the brainwashed, caged prisoners were in no condition to confess anything. Shang and Tarr's arrival was noticed by one of the guards, who swiftly called out to alert his companions. Another fight ensued while former lovers Wu and Reston prepared to embark on their mission together.
Tarr and Shang fought bravely, but they were soon outnumbered. They also noticed several large alligators began to approach them from behind. On the shore stood even more leopard cultists.
This issue ended on the cliffhanger that the cover had foreshadowed. It also set up some interesting possibilities for both teams that were sent out in the field to take on the potential threats. More questions were still left unanswered, of course, but this storyline continued to chug along at a good, even pace.
Well, that's it for this article. Next time, I'll recap the eighty-fifth issue of Master of Kung Fu. We'll find out what happened to Tarr and Shang-Chi after they were surrounded by formidable foes. We'll also learn if Leiko reached their destination and were able to save their former employer, Smith. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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