|
Post by berkley on Oct 2, 2019 23:25:37 GMT -5
This is the issue where I think Marcos's inks start looking especially good with Gulacy's pencils.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 3, 2019 7:07:18 GMT -5
That's Larner, who's based on Brando. Sarsfield is a communications officer, who gives Tarr some gear... Ah. From your panel placement in that post, I thought you were referring to comic-Brando as Niven.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 3, 2019 7:11:23 GMT -5
This is the issue where I think Marcos's inks start looking especially good with Gulacy's pencils. Its funny--as much as 1970s Marvel was a formatted company where art was concerned (the "Marvel Style"), Gulacy was never "pulled back" to fit the general standard for their comics of the period. I've suspected it was due to his cloning Steranko, who was his own world of style when he was at Marvel years earlier, so perhaps Marvel thought Gulacy should have more artistic freedom.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 3, 2019 11:04:09 GMT -5
A good portion of Gulacy's MOKF run comes during the revolving door EIC era; so, I suspect he was getting a pass, while they were focused on both the top books and the ones they were writing. In chaos, there is opportunity, to quote Operation Petticoat.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 3, 2019 17:28:50 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #48I'd like to see an actual martial artist pll off this maneuver. He'd need to be a contortionist. Creative Team: Moench & Gulacy, Jack Abe;l & Pablo Marcos-inks, Denise Wohl-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits From Black Jack Tarr's POV. Synopsis: Tarr has been dropped at the North Pole (um, not based on the terrain; but, later...). Tarr is recording commentary and is heading for a large mountain that might contain Fu's HQ. Gulacy let's us know that it is... Fu Manchu is addressing the Reichstag and Tarr runs into Larner and Fah Lo Suee. Chi, Leiko and reston are busy scouting ice caverns and discovering dragon boats. FLS explains Fu's plans to disrupt the orbit of the moon to devastate the Earth, then rule the remains. Tarr follows after the trio and they have been spotted by the Si-Fan. Fu introduces Shaka Kharn to the assembled masses. he gets word that the prodigal son is home, with guests and prepares a reception. Tarr catches up to them and they head inside the fortress and run smack dab into Si-Fan. They split, with Leiko and reston going one direction, while Tarr and Chi go the other. Chi then sneaks off on his own, using stealth and surprise to get closer to his father. he disposes of Si-Fan, while picking up weapons, allowing him to do a Bruce Lee escrima battle with the hordes of Fu's men... He comes face to face with Shaka Karn and they square off.... Thoughts: Mostly action in this one, as Chi goes to town on S-Fan backsides. The battle echoes Bruce Lee's fight inside Mr Han's underground lab, in Enter the Dragon, right down to the escrima sticks and the poses. He even throws a Si-Fan through a glass observation window, just as Bruce does to one of Han's goons. Escrima is a Filipino martial art, using a pair of thick sticks as weapons, coupled with knife fighting techniques. The Filipinos were experts with knives and guerrillas used them and machetes effectively against foreign occupiers, including the Spanish, US Marines, and Japanese. The term Letherneck for the US Marines came from the leather collars they wore to defend against throat slashing by guerrillas. Dan Inosanto, a Filipino student of Bruce's taught him martial arts techniques from his home country, while bruce taught him his wing chun and jeet kun do philosophy and techniques. Inosanto appears in Game of Death as one of Bruce's opponents, in the climax. Inosanto also appeared in David Mamet's Redbelt, as Chiwetel Ejiofor's mentor in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (inosanto does hold a black belt in the Marchado system of Brazilian JJ, as well as American Kenpo and was certified as an instructor in multiple disciplines. In other words, he's a bad mo-fo and used to train Brandon lee, when he was young. The likenesses are especially strong here, including that 2-page spread, above. Chi is very bruce Lee here, though Fu is still generic. He will get a bit of a Christopher Le look in his POV episode. Once again, Gulacy proves an excellent fight choreographer and it is obvious that Enter the Dragon was his template (he supposedly watched the film repeatedly while doing this series). However, he is a bit ignorant on Arctic terrain. The North pole is over a mass of ice and sea, not a land mass, like the Antarctic. Not sure whose at fault here, though it's Moench's narration. he might of meant they are above the Arctic Circle, rather than at the North Pole, though Tarr's narration says he was dropped off at the pole. The Arctic Circle encompasses land masses in Russia, Scandinavia, Greenland, Iceland, Canada and the US. Greenland, Iceland, or Scandinavia would seem to be the best ideas for where Fu's fortress is hidden, since it would have to be on a land mass, to have a mountain. Otherwise, it could be hidden in an ice mass of sufficient size, though dialogue and narration suggest actual land. I suspect Moench got a bit confused about the Arctic and Antarctic, in terms of land, or just meant above the Arctic Circle. The idea of Tarr giving running commentary provides for the narration; but, it seems rather poor logic, given the stealth nature of the operation. He would be too likely to give away his position with constant talking, even at a whisper. The device is a narrative construct to clue Smith into what's going on, rather than radio reports. Smith has the POV for the next issue, which requires more knowledge of events, which means Tarr's device. The inks are split in half, with Abel doing the first half and Marcos the second, which gives him the primary action scenes. Both work well with Gulacy, though Fah Lo Suee continues to appear a bit wonky, around the head and face. Part of the problem seems to be the angle, vs how well Gulacy had sketched out her features. I think he needed more design time on her.
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Oct 3, 2019 23:05:33 GMT -5
If it weren't for the credits I would have guessed that Gulacy inked that 16-panel grid on page 2 himself but maybe it's the colour tints throwing me off. Everything else looks like Marcos to me, from memory and the samples here. I'd forgotten that Abel worked on it as well, must remember to see if I can spot his work next time I read this issue.
(edit:) missed codystarbuck's statement that Abel did the first half.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 4, 2019 9:42:54 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #48 In the splash page, Gulacy's "Steranko-ing" is more focused and tight. Whether or not that was the inking is the question. Now, Gulacy is really "Steranko-ing" it up here with the gradual close-ups in panel sequence, and its really nice, although his perspective in the cityscape is a bit suspect. That's such a pulp novel plot, right in line with the kind of work published in Sax Rohmer's heyday. For an earlier look at Inosanto, catch him in this clip from "The Preying Mantis", a November 1966 episode of The Green Hornet, were he doubled for actor Mako during the latter's fight with Lee's Kato: To me, that's the problem: its one thing to be influenced by something, another to almost copy+paste more than create you own work, throwing all concerns for being called out to the winds. When the reader can clearly see that influence, it can take him out of the story because he cannot forget the source that so prominent in the comic.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 4, 2019 10:57:56 GMT -5
Except in this case, that is exactly what a large segment of the audience was looking for. They wanted the same kind of action they saw in martial arts films in martial arts comics. Gulacy was about the only artist delivering that, while also give us James Bond thrills, in a static environment. Compared to every other comic out there, this series stood out for cool action, whether we recognized the source or not.
|
|
|
Post by chaykinstevens on Oct 4, 2019 14:26:58 GMT -5
If it weren't for the credits I would have guessed that Gulacy inked that 16-panel grid on page 2 himself but maybe it's the colour tints throwing me off.
GCD says most of page 2 was printed directly from Gulacy's pencils.
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 4, 2019 16:29:23 GMT -5
Except in this case, that is exactly what a large segment of the audience was looking for. They wanted the same kind of action they saw in martial arts films in martial arts comics. Gulacy was about the only artist delivering that, while also give us James Bond thrills, in a static environment. Compared to every other comic out there, this series stood out for cool action, whether we recognized the source or not. Have to remember the times! When MOKF was a comic book there was no martial arts movies on television outside of the Green Hornet to watch. Movies were few and far between and usually at your local drive-in on weekends only, and if lucky enough to been shown at an indoor theater it would likely be too far away to go very often (fact: during the 70's it was 2 drive-ins only in the poorer sections of south Phoenix with a 20 minute drive AND one indoor mid-city around a 30 minute drive away) and occasional adventure series of paperbacks. Having a comic book titled MASTER of Kung Fu, you can be damn sure we kids wanted crazy ass action scenes far beyond what "superhero" comics might indulge in. MOKF was providing us that in spades from Gulacy artwork onward to Craig, Zeck and Day! We weren't viewing martial art's movies whenever we wanted to like today with cable, internet, DVD copies to be found anywhere. We were functioning off our memories of what we had seen (usually only once and weeks to months ago) while hoping and waiting for the newest MOKF from Gulacy and Moench.
|
|
|
Post by profh0011 on Oct 4, 2019 22:45:26 GMT -5
I still vividly remember writing a fan letter in which I noted that it seemed to me that around this point, Jack Abel made the art look stunningly beautiful; but that diluted the fight scenes a bit; while Pablo Marcos seemed a bit too brutal to make the characters look as pretty, but, it made his fight scenes more hard-hitting. If only they could team up and each do the appropriate pages. And I'm pretty sure that letter got printed. Then MOKF #48 comes along. DAMN. Did somebody take MY advice? There's no way to be sure. But it sure felt to me like they had!!!
As a longtime fan of the JAMES BOND books and movies, I've long felt that the 70s were one long endless low point for the series (with the notable exception of "THE SPY WHO LOVED ME", which, let's face it, really does feel like "James Bond's Greatest Hits", more of an assemblage of previous action set pieces strung together than a real plot). I mean, my God, when "ENTER THE DRAGON" came out, in its own relatively "small" way, it did "James Bond" BETTER than the Bond films of the time ("LIVE AND LET DIE", "THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN").
I forget exactly when the censorship-driven "Family Viewing Hour" started on network TV (it wound up resulting in the ONLY really decent shows to watch being on after 10 PM), but I was getting the general feeling that Marvel Comics at the time were BETTER-written than most TV adventure shows, and MOKF was at the TOP of the heap.
So when this "Fu Manchu Magnum Opus" comes along, and the last part of it winds up having to do with a battle in outer space onboard an orbiting space station... and a couple years later "MOONRAKER" does just that... except the MOKF story is at least TEN TIMES BETTER than the G** D***ed Bond movie.... whoa.
Sometimes, I really wish Gulacy hadn't taken off time from comics to study painting.
|
|
|
Post by tarkintino on Oct 5, 2019 8:46:49 GMT -5
Except in this case, that is exactly what a large segment of the audience was looking for. They wanted the same kind of action they saw in martial arts films in martial arts comics. Gulacy was about the only artist delivering that, while also give us James Bond thrills, in a static environment. Compared to every other comic out there, this series stood out for cool action, whether we recognized the source or not. Have to remember the times! When MOKF was a comic book there was no martial arts movies on television outside of the Green Hornet to watch. Movies were few and far between and usually at your local drive-in on weekends only, and if lucky enough to been shown at an indoor theater it would likely be too far away to go very often (fact: during the 70's it was 2 drive-ins only in the poorer sections of south Phoenix with a 20 minute drive AND one indoor mid-city around a 30 minute drive away) and occasional adventure series of paperbacks. Having a comic book titled MASTER of Kung Fu, you can be damn sure we kids wanted crazy ass action scenes far beyond what "superhero" comics might indulge in. MOKF was providing us that in spades from Gulacy artwork onward to Craig, Zeck and Day! We weren't viewing martial art's movies whenever we wanted to like today with cable, internet, DVD copies to be found anywhere. We were functioning off our memories of what we had seen (usually only once and weeks to months ago) while hoping and waiting for the newest MOKF from Gulacy and Moench. I grew up in Los Angeles in the 70s, and as I recall, not only were there domestic martial arts-related hallmarks such as 1971's Billy Jack, the TV series Kung Fu becoming a brief, but popular show starting in the fall of 1972, but there were a good number of martial arts movies distributed to (usually) small theatres in downtown L.A. and East L.A. at the time. In fact, there were more imports than Bruce Lee films on the screen (for a couple of obvious reasons: his tragically short life and other producers' large output). Contrary to some books or documentaries, Lee's films did not start the mass distribution of martial films in the U.S. That, and even before the effect of ETD, many a martial arts school had been long established (I trained at one), so the landscape was well saturated with real world or entertainment related to the martial arts. From your post, it seems Phoenix experienced it to a lesser degree, but in the L.A. TV markets of the 70s, The Green Hornet was not syndicated at all (with only 26 episodes, it fell far beneath the then-standard to meet typical syndication requirements), but older teens and young adults remembered the series when it was first run on ABC. For kids born after its cancellation, their only exposure to TGH was the two-part episode of Batman ( "A Piece of the Action" / "Batman's Satisfaction"). So, I guess this depends on where one was in the 70s; to me and others that I knew, we were exposed to martial arts to the degree that seeing scenes or shots from well-known movies appear in a comic (that was not an adaptation) was distracting, or took us out of the story, since seeing the films was not so rare an experience.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 16, 2019 15:20:53 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #49Ernie Chan with better body positioning than most of the normal covers. Creative Team: Moench & Gulacy, Pablo Marcos (lettered as Marcus)-inks, Denise Wohl-letter, Jan Cohen-colors, Archie-Goodwin-edits Synopsis: This one is from the POV of Sir Dennis Nayland Smith... Clive and Leiko are fighting Si-Fan at close range, running for an opening. They enter a cylindrical structure, which set off alarms. They find out why, when they see a missile and recall Tarr talking about Fu's plan to knock the moon out of orbit. Meanwhile, Tarr has moved on and runs smack into the Lord of Strange Deaths. Like a fool, Tarr doesn't shoot him outright. Fu puts the hypno-whammy on him and dumps him into a pit with giant scorpions ('cause Fu keeps that kind of thing around, for just such an emergency). Meanwhile, Chi faces off with Shaka Kharn (Shaka Kharn.....Shaka Kharn.....Shaka Kharn), and they get down to some choppin' and some sockin'.......... Clive sends Leiko on, while he is going to stow away on the rocket and sabotage it, looking to die in the process. leiko goes to find Chi to stop Clive. However, he is busy with Shaka. Fu orders the Si-Fan to check the controls in the silo. Shaka and Chi are doing a bit of swordplay. Outside, Fah Lo Suee and Larner are stacking explosives to blow the top of the mountain off, while Larner continues to blame Leiko for the death of Jennie, his love. Shaka knocks Chi off the platform and he twists to avoid stalagmites and crashes through ice, landing in the scorpion pit. Tarr has a grenade and tosses it. it kills one and the other goes after the carcass. Shaka reports to Fu, while Tarr runs into a pistol barrel, which, luckily, is held by Leiko. She tells them about Clive's suicide mission and they head off to stop him. Chi sends the other two out of the mountain and enters the rocket, finding Clive. Fu and Shaka enter the rocket passenger area. Leiko and Tarr are running out, chased by Si-Fan on skis. Larner is about to blow things and thinks of Jennie and getting revenge on Leiko.... The Si-Fan cut the det cord and Larner shoots them and splices the cable, taking a few rounds and going down. he detonates the charges and drops dead. leiko and Tarr come across his still body. Thoughts: Things are really building to a blow out. Chi isn't able to take down Shaka, before a mis-step sends him out of the fight. Larner sacrifices himself to save Leiko, the woman he blamed for his lover's death. Smith gets some commentary about his aging, vs Fu's seeming eternal life. It's all very James Bond, but with more of a spiritual edge. We can feel the end coming; and, based on what has happened so far, we know it will be epic. Moench & Gulacy have really paced this well, building slowly, introducing a gimmick killer and a mission for Leiko. Chi gets pulled in to save Leiko. Larner is brought out of exile. Petrie is a programmed killer. Fah Lo Suee is battling against her father and MI-6. Fu is playing Smith, planting Ducharme as a disinformation agent. It leads them to Switzerland, to running battles, then the Arctic Circle, to infiltrate Fu's fortress. Now, we have running battles, giant scorpions, and the Lord of Strange Deaths, himself. How do you top that?
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 16, 2019 16:01:20 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #50Chi practicing his gun fu. Reston looks like Magneto, the way his hair is colored. Creative Team: Moench & Gulacy, Mike Esposito-inks, John Costanza-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits Synopsis: This is from the POV of Fu Manchu....... Fu and his rocket reach orbit around the moon and on the dark side (with Pink Floyd music playing), where it rendezvoused with a larger craft. This is where Fu plans to destroy the moon, as he refers to the craft as his doomsday weapon. Clive and reston depart the craft and go skulking. They gut a pair of isolated Si-Fan... Smith is told of Ducharme's absence and realizes she had always been a disinformation agent. We then see her by Fu's side, passing him the elixir vitae. Shaka is getting a nutrient bath (bacta fluid?) and Chi and Reston split up; Reston to sabotage the control systems, Chi to find pop. Chi reunites with dad and offers him a close shave.... Fu bedazzles his son with BS about saving the Earth from mankind and that most of the survivors will be in China. he also activates a speaker that lets Shaka hear him speak to Chi. Chi hesitates, rather like a future Skywalker, as he faces his father. Shaka goes to join the party; but, Clive beats him to it. Shaka comes in and guts Clive. Chi doubles down and strips away Shaka's helmet, revealing a dead face... Faster than you can say "There can be only one!" Chi decapitates Shaka. He then goes after Fu, wondering who turned on Queen. Fu is in the control room and Chi tries to talk him out of it. Fu speaks of lost dreams and how he is going to see this one out. Clive enters and tosses his pistol to Chi, who deoasn't hesitate and shoots his father, who collapses, activating sabotaged controls. Fu has the last laugh, as he pulls a Zoltar and activates an escape pod. Clive thinks they have won, but Chi wonders if the world is really doomed... Thoughts: Bang up conclusion, with epic Bond stuff, some surprises and some poignant stuff from Fu. Moench successfully moved Fu beyond the evil villain into something more rounded, someone who has a twisted idea of what's best for man and a will to carry out his plan. In the best of stories, the villain is the hero of his own story. That is Fu manchu, here He seeks to save the Earth from mankind, by committing mass destruction, leaving a world that can support the survivors (although who knows when the cataclysms would subside). This portrayal of Fu is similar to how Denny O'Neil portrayed his own Fu Manchu, Ra's al Ghul. ra's was created out of Fu's DNA, with Batman as his Nayland Smith. Talia is Fah Lo Suee. Many is the time Ra's looks to save the Earth from mankind. The major difference is that Fu is still a pretty racist caricature, in his presentation and the coloring they give his skin. Ra's at east is not portrayed as an ethnic stereotype. Fu Manchu was created to represent the "Yellow Peril," a racist attack on Chinese immigration, while Western powers manipulated China's political chaos for their own benefit. If this portrayal had been matched with a rea skin tone and no Mandarin costuming, it might have come across as lacking a racial element. Marvel eventually came to that conclusion with the Mandarin and got him out of his robes and into a suit. Still, this was a step forward from the novels and films (including the Christopher Lee films) and where Fu began in this series. Gulacy sharpens the likenesses, with Chi looking very Bruce Lee and Fu even has traces of Christopher Lee, in a panel or two. Next, the epilogue and the stage is set for the future.
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 16, 2019 16:51:03 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #51Finally, Gulacy gets to do the cover! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Jim Craig-pencils, Pablo Marcos-inks, Denise Wohl-letters, Don Warfield-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits Paul Gulacy's contribution ends with the cover. The art team is going to fluctuate a bit. Gulacy will come back for one issue; but, he was suffering from burnout, after the deadline grind and will pull back from regular series, doing some commercial work and some other projects. Jim Craig will end up being the main artist, though Mike Zeck will do several, before he ends up as the regular penciller, with Gen Day as the inker. Day will eventually handle pencils, as well, before his untimely death. Synopsis: We open with Larner's funeral. Leiko contemplates Larner's sacrifice, for her life, when he wanted to see her dead. Smith tells Chi of a meeting, in an hour, and puzzles at Chi's reaction. he reflects back on what happened on Fu's orbital platform, after his escape pod left. We see Si-Fan break through a door and Chi and Reston fight them... They fight their way back to the rocket pod and escape, then splash down on the earth and await pick up, where they are informed of Larner's death. They have their meeting and Chi is reunited with his Siamese cat and they are informed of Petrie. They also learned that the West had their nukes pointed at China and were prepared to launch them, had Fu succeeded, which disturb's Chi, as he recalls his father's words about mankind. He tells of Smith a nd refuses to be his agent in his games, as they are interrupted by an attack... Chi goes to town, as Miss greville is hit. Reston hits one and Leiko gets a shot in... After the fight ends, Chi quits and tells Smith he is both friend and enemy, and, therefore, nothing. he walks out and Leiko follows. then reston says he is taking a levea of absence, as Smith rails. Even tarr says he needs a break... Thoughts: And, thus, does the classic era of Master of Kung Fu come to an end. Chi has had enough of Games of Deception and Death and walks away. Smith says he is turning his back on his past and Chi retorts that he is turning his face to the future. leiko see her future with Chi, the man she loves. Even tarr and Reston are tired of the death and destruction, if only for a little while. Smith is left on his own. Moench Gulacy had created a masterpiece (with some faults); but the grind wore down Gulacy and his decision to leave seems to have forced Moench to look to a new direction. perhaps that was always the plan, after this epic. Whatever the case, Chi works for MI-6 no longer. Jim Craig was a new artist, hailing from Canada. He trades art chores on and off; but, begins a tenure as the main artist. he has a long way to go, as we see with some wonky positioning in some of the fight scenes, on the space platform. he is trying to preserve the Gulacy look; but, isn't the same caliber of artist, with the same influences. He does a decent job with the likeness on Larner; but others are hit and miss, especially Reston, who at the meeting, looks like Jim Shooter (which would please him, no doubt). It's not bad; but, it is a major come down after the last several issues. This ending was likely, as Chi was always a reluctant ally to Smith. A parting had to come. Moench also wanted to move beyond Fu Manchu. The problem is, he didn't really seem to have anyone to fill the gap, which has always been the problem with MOKF. Unless he has a Fu Manchu, a Carlton Velcro or a Mordillo, he seems to spend his time fighting gimmick villains in weak kung fu film plots. get ready for some of that, as we prepare to meet War-Yore (get it?). It will take some time before Moench gets inspired and both revisits some of the past and does a tribute to Milton Caniff.
|
|