Good morning everyone,
Today's topic is the one hundred and nineteenth issue of Marvel's monthly comic The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover featured a picture of Shang, accompanied by images of Black Jack Tarr, Leiko Wu, a skeleton seated in a chair, and an unidentified person depicted on his torso. The tale was titled "Brynocki's Marauders." The issue had a cover date of December 1982.
The story began on Mordillo's island, where his robot lackey Brynocki was asking his long-dead ruler, whose skeleton rested on a throne, for guidance. He needed to know what to do next, but was apparently unaware that his master wasn't about to provide him with any information anytime soon. Brynocki decided to remove the skull so that he could show his boss what had happened recently.
Meanwhile, at Stormhaven Castle in Scotland, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith was resting in bed, still recovering from the events of last issue. Shang-Chi visited him, noting that he'd finally come to terms with the world, himself, and the connection of both. It was obvious that Smith had finally earned Shang's respect and trust.
Back on Mordillo's isle, Brynocki was showing his master's skull the broken machines and soldiers that Shang-Chi and his friends had caused during their two previous visits. He also showed him the solar chute that now sat near the shore. He sat pondering why Shang-Chi had come to wreak havoc, and deduced that it was due to love and Leiko.
Speaking of Wu, she was occupied in a training session at Stormhaven at the moment at Stormhaven. She eventually caught Shang's attention, after he'd been observing how similar the love that Clive Reston and Dark Angel shared was to their own affections for one another. Leiko then asked him for a kiss.
Brynocki returned his master's skull to its rightful place and begged him for a sign. He placed his leader's left hand down on a control panel on its chair, and an image in the viewing screen across from them displayed a headshot of Wu. Brynocki assumed that she would be their next target and summoned a new ship and a half-dozen ultra men robots. He then ordered the robot soldiers to provide them with a display of their destructive capabilities. The exhibition was apparently impressive enough to send Brynocki and his new soldiers on a course toward their target.
Reston and Angel were about to head to London so that Angel could catch up on some work at MI-6, and asked Shang-Chi and Leiko to tag along with them. They agreed and piled into the car together. After arriving, Reston and Angel headed to her office, while Leiko and Shang went to the exercise facilities to play some tennis.
As Shang-Chi entered the locker room, he heard a strange noise. He was surprised to see his old foe Brynocki waiting for him. The diminutive disciple of Mordillo then introduced Shang to his ultra men. While better than his previous efforts, Brynocki's newest inventions still weren't enough to defeat Leiko or Shang-Chi. After the battle, the couple ran to find their friends.
At the same time, while Angel was working at her desk, she asked Reston to retrieve some files for her. He went to the door and noticed that the guard had been incapacitated. A squadron of ultra men was headed their way. However, the robot warriors had no defense against small arms fire.
Wu and Shang had made their way to the building's war room when they were attacked by more ultra men. In the middle of that conflict, Reston and Angel arrived to provide backup. Together, the quartet overcame the second wave of Brynocki's minions.
While Clive and Angel were recovering from the scuffle, Shang-Chi and Leiko ran outside and discovered Brynocki's ship. They made their way inside and kicked the small menace off the craft before overpowering his ultra men guards. They then took the vessel in for a crash landing in the water.
Leiko and Shang swam to safety and rejoined their comrades. The now-headless Brynocki guided his body toward his skull and wandered off in despair. Shang surmised that in some ways the sentient robot's relationship with Mordillo was somewhat akin to that of a real father and son. Brynocki had lost, but wasn't about to give up just yet.
This was the last appearance of Mordillo and Brynocki in this title before its cancellation. They did show up in other magazines, most notably in ROM: Spaceknight, as ROM and Starshine visited the island shortly thereafter. I liked the idea of an intelligent robot, and it's often hard to catch up with all of his rapid costume changes. Guest artists Mark Silvestri and Kevin Dzubin did a good job of capturing his essence, but I wasn't fond of their depictions of the other regular characters in this issue.
That's all for today. Tomorrow, I'll discuss the one hundred and twentieth issue of Master of Kung Fu. Gene Day returns for his final Shang-Chi story. An old friend recruits Shang to assist him on a case and help solve a mystery. Until then, have a great day and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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