Good afternoon everyone,
Today's topic is the one hundred and eighteenth issue of The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover of this double-sized epic showed SHang, Black Jack Tarr, and Clive Reston ready to do battle, with the image of Shang-Chi's father, Fu Manchu, and a fiery phoenix in the background. The story was called "Flesh of My Flesh." The issue had a cover date of November 1982.
The tale began with Reston, Tarr, and Shang parachuting down toward Manchu's Honan, China retreat. The trio was following up on a note sent to Shang-Chi from his father (as shown in the last issue). Meanwhile, in the Limehouse portion of London, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith was being held captive by a pair of Manchu's Si-Fan warriors. The soldiers were growing restless, and Smith's words did nothing to assuage them.
Shang and his comrades were heading toward the compound when they came across several Phanisgar, Dacoit, Knights Templar, leopard cultists, and Hashishin assassins riding horseback. They blocked the heroes' path, and a battle began while the nearby forest burned.
Inside the complex, Manchu was busy extracting blood from his daughter, Fah Lo Suee. The tyrant needed blood from his offspring to counteract his natural immunity to the elixir vitae that had extended his life for decades. Manchu got what he wanted and then left his daughter shackled with steel manacles to the table in the room.
The conflict continued to rage outside. Eventually, Shang-Chi made his way inside his childhood home. He evaded a spiked floor trap and ventured further inside until he came across a laboratory that contained multiple beakers filled with his stolen blood (taken last issue). At the same time, his father was preparing Shang-Chi's lookalike for his upcoming responsibilities.
Back in London, Dark Angel and Leiko Wu continued their search for Smith. At the same time, while Shang was exploring, he came across a familiar-looking robe right before he was attacked from behind by Death Dealer. His foe had planned to purloin more of Shang-Chi's blood for his master, but wound up being burned by the open flames from a nearby brazier that Shang used as a weapon in self-defense.
Shang-Chi then made his way to the room where his sister had been imprisoned. He freed her, and the siblings continued on in search of their nefarious father. They encountered Cho-Lin, Shang's former instructor, who struck at him before being shot and killed by Suee. The duo then found his father's bathhouse. Ducharme had just handed her master a vial of serum that was destroyed by one of Suee's bullets.
While the tyrant swam under the waters to safety, Smith decided to take matters into his own hands. He was able to break the window and fall down to the street below. The crash severed his bonds, and he escaped on foot, knowing that he may have shattered his ankle during his landing.
Manchu had depleted the precious blood he needed and was now instructing his new protege to slay his biological offspring to acquire more. By then, Shang-Chi had arrived at a chamber that was filled with candles. The room that was previously used for reflection and meditation was suddenly invaded by a giant praying mantis. Shang defeated the creature by heaving a giant statue down upon its body before departing.
Tarr and Reston had finally entered the complex and were beginning to set explosives around the building. They were then besieged by more soldiers. One of them knocked the detonator from Reston's hand and sent it tumbling into a grate. The duo knew they had to hurry, since they had only thirty minutes before the explosives detonated.
While Smith slowly made his way along the rainy London streets, Shang-Chi finally encountered his doppelganger. Their fight continued across several rooms, culminating with the clone plunging toward his demise as he hit the hard floor of the chamber Manchu was occupying. The despot was desperate for blood. Shang-Chi took the remaining vials of blood and poured them on the floor, which his father lunged for like a hungry dog.
Tarr and Reston led Suee to safety mere moments before the bombs went off. Back in London, Smith's captors had finally caught up with him. However, Smith was soon guarded by Angel and Wu, who took care of their opponents with a few well-placed bullets. They then helped the former MI-6 director.
Shang had taken a few moments to meditate before leaving his family home for the last time. He rejoined his colleagues, who informed him that Smith had been found and was safe. A while later, the group reconvened at Stormhaven Castle in Scotland, which had reverted to ownership by the bank with Manchu's presumed demise. Cheers went up for Smith, whom Shang-Chi called the father that he'd never had.
This was an explosive end to Fu Manchu and his evil machinations. He was a character licensed by Sax Rohmer, and Marvel chose not to renew the license, so this was the last appearance of the character in any Marvel comic book. He proved to be a formidable foe. I liked him better than the Yellow Claw, a villain from the 1940s that was resurrected decades later after Marvel resumed their superhero comic titles.
That's all I have for today. Tomorrow, I'll recap the one hundred and nineteenth issue of Master of Kung Fu. A familiar face reappears for a lighter-hearted conflict, one that longtime readers of this series had eagerly anticipated. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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