Retro Comic Revisited: Marvel Comics Presents #5

Happy Friday, all,

'This morning's topic is the Master of Kung Fu story from the fifth issue of Marvel Comics Presents. The story was called "Crossing Lines V: Lures." The issue had a cover date of late October 1988.

The tale began just outside of a Tokyo warehouse, where members of the Yakuza gang had arrived for a scheduled arms transaction. Unfortunately for them, they were interrupted by Shang-Chi's arrival. After taking out the gang members, Shang walked toward the warehouse behind him.

Inside was a man with a gun and a briefcase. He was easily disarmed by Shang-Chi. After being tossed into a nearby crate, it was discovered that the contents of the warehouse were drugs, not guns. His attacker had sold the weapons to buy illegal drugs, which could then be sold to purchase more munitions. He was then knocked out by Shang's partner, Shen Kuei.

While Shang-Chi and Kuei were figuring out their next move, Leiko Wu was sitting alone, tied to a chair in the arms dealer known as Argus' training compound. He had some terse words to say to his silent captive before moving on to get an update from a scientist known as Mannheim, who was working on a potent new biological weapon. The formula was intended to be an airborne virus that would strike its victims' bloodstream via their skin pores.

Meanwhile, several opposing factions were preparing to move in on Argus' compound. We didn't really know the identities of these masked men, but from this story, we could see they were on Argus's island. The evil weapons dealer was busy making sure that his scientist's formula would be ready in time for the upcoming NATO conference in Rome. 

This was the fastest-paced chapter of this story thus far. I wasn't surprised by the arms dealer and drug-running angles, since they were common themes of a lot of works of spy fiction at the time. I wondered why Leiko was suddenly silent in this issue, and where Tarr and Reston were. 

Some of my questions posed above will be answered in the next chapter of this saga, which was included in the sixth issue of Marvel Comics Presents. We'll see just what Shang, Kuei, Tarr, and Reston do next to unravel the mystery and save their friend. Please feel free to enjoy the rest of the stories in this issue until then. Have a great day, and don't forget to be kind to one another.