Good afternoon,
Today I'll be writing about the eighty-sixth issue of Master of Kung Fu. The cover was a brilliantly drawn picture of Shang by Mike Zeck. The story was called "Warriors of the Golden Dawn Part 4: The Phoenix and the Dragon." The issue had a cover date of March 1980.
Shang stood before his biological father, Fu Manchu, and declared that his father made him an alien. He was raised in a lost time and was sent out to a vastly different world. He likened himself to a dragon who'd been reborn in an era that was long past the one he entered the world in.
When Manchu asked why his former son had bothered him with such facts, Shang-Chi replied that he still needed guidance. He also sought answers that his father could not provide for him, since he'd embarked upon a path that was the opposite of the one that Shang's teachers had set him upon.
Shang continued to speak while Manchu stayed silent. As he did so, he thought about the times that he'd sought guidance and a father figure from others, but only found games of deceit, death, and betrayal. Manchu then remarked that Shang-Chi had a father, but lost him due to his betrayal.
Manchu went on to say that he was looking for the golden dream, something he had been searching for since the last time he and his biological son met. He informed Shang about the electrodes he'd implanted in the brains of different agents from all the countries on Earth. He planned to use orbital satellites to transmit commands to his brainwashed servants, so that they could cause chaos and confusion, and make it easier for him to dominate the world.
Shang-Chi looked away, obviously disgusted by his father's obsessions with violence and conquest. He thought that it might have been better to have remained with his friend Black Jack Tarr, who at that moment found himself under attack by some of Manchu's mind-controlled drones. His one hope was to shoot at the control console, which he did. Its destruction caused his attackers to go into convulsions, not knowing what to do without the electronic feed's programming.
Tarr ran into the next room, which was occupied by Shang's half-sister, Fah Lo Suee, and a pair of cheetahs. Suee tried to seduce Tarr with a potion that was capable of conjuring powerful visions. She told him that his long-lost friend, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, was in Morocco with Karamenah, Doctor Petrie's wife, who'd been missing for years and presumed dead. Tarr then ran from the chamber to find Shang-Chi.
Shang denounced his father, who resisted his pleading to change his ways. Just then, Tarr burst into the room and opened fire. We then learned that the image of Fu Manchu was nothing more than a hologram, and he'd never been in the room at all. As the holographic image continued to laugh, a wall behind it started to open, revealing a hollow mountain in the distance and an unidentified flying object flying from the opening at the top.
The apparition bid adieu and disappeared, right before a column of Manchu's finest warriors entered the room. Tarr and Shang-Chi fought their way toward the mountain. They found the entrance and went down a lift before coming across an underground grotto. Glowing lights underneath the water caught their attention, and the duo swam down inside a hidden pyramid. Inside were more of Manchu's soldiers.
This time, instead of fighting, Shang and Tarr grabbed a hold of one of the glowing apparitions, which led them up through the mountain's opening. The duo slid down the mountainside and took out the two leopard cultists who were in front of a now-empty truck. Zaran and Suee watched the action with interest, but did not interfere.
Tarr drove on, telling Shang that they needed to contact Reston and Wu. Shang-Chi thought back to his love for Leiko, not knowing that she was now in the arms of her former flame, Reston. The two had noticed a pair of leopard cultists enter through the window above them when Reston's friend Richard entered the room with a shotgun and blew away the intruders.
The commotion had attracted Smith's attention, and he entered the room to find out what had just happened. Reston explained the situation to Richard, while Tarr and Shang came up on another convoy. Three trucks were being emptied, and their passengers were piling into a jet airplane. Tarr figured that Lima, Peru would be the next closest airport.
As Smith informed his friends that Karemenah had told him Manchu's next target was New York, Shang-Chi and Tarr were boarding the plane, posing as brainwashed subjects. They hoped that way that they could learn more about Manchu's plans.
I have to say that the trio of writer Doug Moench, penciler Mike Zeck, and inker Gene Day was a winning combination. They really meshed very well on this book. The stories had believable elements of fiction, and storylines like this made readers want to know what happened next with each issue that was published. I just wish that more comic book readers had caught on to this title back in the day. I was a bit surprised to see that Zaran was back in favor and took a passive role in this issue.
Well, that's all for this article. Next time, I'll recap the eighty-seventh issue of Master of Kung Fu. The action continues as the heroes reunite and share what they've learned with each other. Zaran will enter the fray, and we'll see where certain personal relationships stand. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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