Hi everyone,
Today's focus is the one hundred and twenty-fifth issue of The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. The cover showed Shang walking away from his robe that lay on the ground and heading toward a city. The story for this final issue was called "Atonement." The issue had a cover date of June 1983.
The tale began in the meditation chamber of the Honan, China compound, where Shang-Chi had been raised. As he stared at an image of his late father, Shang confessed that he did not honor or obey his father, but he also knew how evil Fu Manchu had been. His father was anything but honorable.
After a while, he left the chamber to find solace in the courtyard outside. He thought about their opposite natures, as well as the emperor Fu Hi, who had observed a turtle's shell and found the lines of yin and yang, light and darkness, and sky and earth, and found reality in them.
Shang-Chi thought about this after picking up a common turtle that had been in the pool before him. He set the animal down back where he'd found him, only to be attacked moments later by a larger-than-life turtle. The battle moved back inside, where a lit brazier's flames extinguished the threat. During the fracas, Shang bumped a pedestal and found his father's ceremonial cup resting atop it. He took the cup before leaving his family home.
Before long, Shang-Chi came across what he assumed to be a battle. He engaged with the combatants briefly before realizing that they were merely actors rehearsing their parts for a traveling show. Shang was invited to join them, and he accepted.
Back at Stormhaven Castle in Scotland, Leiko Wu continued to miss her love. Sir Dennis Nayland Smith and Black Jack Tarr tried to reassure her that he would be back sooner rather than later. However, that didn't help to heal her heart.
Later that evening, the actors began a performance in Tsipang, a village in northern China. Shang observed the actors and was quite unnerved when one of them accused another of being a false and accursed son. That accusation hit a bit too close for him personally.
Shang ran, and later caught a train bound for the southern province of Kwang Tung. After reaching his destination, Shang-Chi traveled via bicycle until he met some villagers who were in need of assistance. He offered to help and even showed some of them a few of his martial arts moves.
He was offered lodging before a storm was due to arrive. During Shang's slumber, he was visited by an apparition that claimed to be the avenger and disciple of his celestial father. Shang-Chi was shown visions of people from his past and present, including Midnight and Leiko, as well as the moment that he'd disposed of what remained of his father's elixir vitae, leaving the tyrant begging for the final drops of the serum that had extended his life far beyond that of mere mortals.
Shang appeared to engage in a swordfight with the avenger outside in the middle of a rainstorm. Just when it seemed that all might be lost, a large wave of water washed over the two combatants. Shang-Chi was the only one who remained.
He went back inside and brought his father's cup with him. He scooped some water outside into the cup and drank from it deeply, thinking that he would be renewed. Shang-Chi then went to rest as the storm slowly began to dissipate.
The sun returned the next morning, and Shang was on his way to join his new comrades on board a fishing boat. He appeared quite ready to leave his old life behind, and as the craft sailed on, we saw the head of Shang-Chi's last opponent floating lifelessly behind. It seemed like Shang had finally found atonement after all.
Master of Kung Fu was one of several titles that Marvel cancelled at the time, along with Ghost Rider, Spider-Woman, and Marvel Two-In-One (which was replaced by The Thing, a new monthly series featuring Ben Grimm). Without Moench or Day, it was quite likely that this series would soon be cancelled.
This isn't the last-ever issue of Master of Kung Fu. Shang-Chi and several of his supporting characters would return. Fu Manchu and other characters created by Sax Rohmer would not, since Marvel didn't renew the license for them.
Tomorrow, I'll recap the one hundred twenty-sixth issue of Master of Kung Fu. This was a one-off issue that was published by Marvel in 2018. From there, I'll cover Shang's return that was chronicled in the first eight issues of Marvel Comics Presents. After that, I'll write about the 1990 Master of Kung Fu one-shot and the What If? issue that revolved around Shang-Chi and Fu Manchu. Those will be my last articles about this character for now, as I want to focus on other series. There's a great story where Spider-Man meets Shang-Chi and several of his friends in the second Spider-Man giant-sized comic that you can read if you want to.
Until tomorrow, have a great day and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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