Special Marvel Edition #15

"Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu!"
writer: Steve Englehart
pencils: Jim Starlin
inks: Al Milgrom
letters: Tom Orzechowski
colors: Steve Englehart (interesting dual role)
editor: Roy Thomas
featuring characters created by Saxm Rohmer

grade: B-


So what is this all about?

If this is a series designed to draw in old fan of Fu Manchu, it seems ready to deliver. Having read only the first Sax Rohmer novel (and seen the Boris Karloff film), I can't really weigh in on how accurate the details are, but this story certainly goes far to explore Fu Manchu's past history, as well as reintroduce two of his chief antagonists before killing one of them. I almost wonder if this wouldn't have alienated new readers who didn't already know the Fu Manchu property, and, since Fu Manchu is not mentioned at all on the cover, it seems like this issue could have been a major misfire, failing to attract Fu Manchu fans and alienating most everyone else.

If the series was designed to attract fans of Kung Fu (which was certainly on the rise at the time), then I don't think this first issue was very succesful there either. While Starlin's art is gorgeous in places, his fight scenes lack kinetics and originality. Someone reading this comic for the fighting wouldn't be likely to walk away impressed, though they might enjoy the overall flavor of a martial artist out for a very personal kind of justice.

Characterization wise, there isn't much here beyond the cliche. Fu Manchu has a son who, on the one hand, has been trained to be a perfect martial arts assassin (I guess, when you have a way of staying young forever, you don't concern yourself much with passing on the family secret empire), and on the other has been encouraged to seek knowledge much as Manchu has spent his own life doing. Thus, we have a warrior steeped in Taoist philosophy (and I don't know enough about Taoism to comment on how accurately Shang Chi is grasping it) whose knowledge and beliefs were inevitably going to clash with his training to kill for his father. How would a brilliant mastermind like Fu Manchu NOT see this coming? Really, the dialogue and thought processes lack complexity and deliver exactly what you'd expect with these kinds of ingredients. Nothing brilliant about it.

Still, I wonder if this was the first major pop culture work to have one's father as his arch nemesis. I think I brought this up on CBR a long while back, but I can't remember if we came up with an earlier seminal work. So far as I can tell, this 1973 creation may well have been an influence upon the big reveal in 1981's the Empire Strikes Back. Certainly, it did the "my father, my enemy" thing first (and, likely better by the time Moench comes aboard).

Okay, so beyond making references to the Fu Manchu novels that were likely to alienate the lay comic reader, all that's important to know about Fu Manchu in this issue is that he's a genius, incredibly knowledgeable and well studied, has an elixer of immortality, and runs a secret empire bent on dominating the world so that he can make it into a better one. This leaves me wondering -- did Ras Al Ghul rip off Fu Manchu, or is this a unique take on the character that is ripping off Ras Al Ghul? Either way, it's clear from their resemblance that Marvel didn't really need the Fu Manchu license in order to write this series.


Important Details:

- Shang Chi is 19 years old, has spent his life training at Fu Manchu's Honan retreat, and has just decided to rebel against his father, Fu Manchu, upon killing Dr. Petrie and being confronted by Sir Denis Nayland Smith.

- No specifics are given about Shang Chi's training and abilities beyond the facts that he is super fast, has spent 19 years training, and that his "intellect rivals the best of the outside world"

- Shang Chi is a half-breed; his mother (though unnamed) is American.

- First appearance of Tak (who, apparently, appeared in at least one Rohmer novel). No indication whether or not Tak will return as a major character.

- Fu Manchu has rebuilt the Si-Fan secret society

- Fu Manchu's main headquarters is hidden within an innocent looking office building in Manhattan.

- Shang Chi means "The rising and advancing of a spirit," but, in Chinese culture, wouldn't Shang Chi read as "Shang" being his family name and "Chi" being his first name? In fact, in this issue, Fu Manchu refers to the "Manchu" dynasty, but wouldn't "Fu" be his family name?


plot synopsis in one sentence:

Shang Chi's first mission for his father, Fu Manchu, is to kill the ailing Dr. Petrie and, upon doing so, he is confronted by Sir Denis Nayland Smith, who convinces him he's on the wrong side, so Shang Chi visits his mother (who confirms that Fu Manchu is evil -- why didn't she tell him this fifteen years sooner??) and then confronts Fu Manchu for one last discussion before they part as sworn enemies.


Not a fantastic first issue, but the premise is full of potential. All that's needed is deeper characterization (of course, the very definition of "Shang Chi" suggests the character will amass depth as time goes on) and better martial arts action. Sounds up Moench and Gulacy's alley. Gulacy is only three issues away, but we've got a while to wait before Moench comes aboard.

Special Marvel Edition #16

"Midnight Brings Dark Death!"
writer: Steve Englehart
artist: Jim Starlin
co-artist: Al Milgrom
letters: Tom Orzechowski
colors: Linda Lessmann
editor: Roy Thomas

grade: A-

So it would seem that this story has teeth. Whereas the first issue seemed focused primarily on laying out exposition (as well as providing some obligatory action) this issue gives far more attention to character development, as well as to some more elaborate action sequences. Of course, the characterization bit is what speaks most to me. So, if Englehart's basic premise really is to depict the rising of a soul (as Shang-Chi's name apparently translates to mean), then the relatively simplistic character we met in the first issue has already begun his ascent here. We have him sleeping homeless in Central Park, portraying the bad-ass martial arts pacifist who is reluctantly forced to teach a lesson to ignorant aggressors (it's become so cliche by now that I forget how alien it was to anyone in 1973 who didn't grow up on Kurasawa films and the Samurai Trilogy). More importantly, we have him confront his closest friend in the world and handle the inevitable face-off in a way alien to us. He is pragmatic and wise rather than sympathetic and emotional.

In fact, Shang-Chi has proven himself to be unique repeatedly throughout this issue. He answers to a morality that is alien to us, and though that morality is based upon assumptions about Chinese culture and Taoist teachings that aren't correct ("sentiment is a tenet of Western philosophy" -- or is this simply what Fu Manchu has taught Shang-Chi to believe?), it's positively fascinating to sympathize with a character who has no qualms decking a police officer nor turning off his emotion and fighting his best friend to the death. Shang-Chi is no anti-hero; he follows an intriguing moral code, but it isn't ours, and therein lies the fascination.

Meanwhile, Fu Manchu is similarly well characterized. His fascination with a maimed baby because it cries in hatred instead of terror was simply -- cool. I don't know if this was original content or was lifted from a Sax Rohmer story, but even if it was lifted, Englehart has taken that moment and ran with it, building an entire character out of that one twisted moment. Indeed, M'nai/Midnight is everything you could expect from a foil, and Shang-Chi's inner struggle in confronting him is fascinating, especially as we see him slowly arrive at the logical conclusion that he needs to make peace with murdering his life-long friend.

My favorite lines of the issue come from this moment:

"Scenes march in my brain, unbidden.

In one, M'Nai stands over my lifeless body. It is an unhappy thought.

In another, I stand over M'Na's lifeless body. It is a terrible thought.

And in between are the half-breed boy and the black boy, warming each other with friendship.

But I must no longer think of boys. I must think of men."

Starlins' accompanying art is simply brilliant, both in its visual arrangement of the internal debate and in its revelation that the two boys are "warming each other with friendship" by bleeding to death on one another.


But perhaps the strongest aspect of the issue is what remains unsaid and unrecognized within Shang-Chi. He keeps claiming to make peace with fighting M'Nai to the death, telling himself in their first confrontation that M'Nai is the only one struggling with his emotions and, thus, making himself a weaker opponent, and later convincing himself that he's ready to kill M'Nai, and yet we're never really sure how the battle is going to turn out -- will he defeat M'Nai but allow him to live? Will this end in typical Marvel style with the two one-time enemies parting as friends?

But, in the end, it's neither of these outcomes, nor is it Shang-Chi hardening his heart and doing what's he's claimed to be able to do all along. Instead, it's blind, stupid luck, causing M'Nai to go out in what almost HAD to be the prototype for Gwen Stacey's death (which would see print only four months later). It's a tragic, pathetic, and underscored ending as Shang Chi simply walks away, entirely unsure how to react to the moment while M'Nai's limp body and snapped neck hang and twirl lifelessly in contrast.


Somehow, in spite of all this, I'm still not emotionally caught up in the series, but I respect it immensely and am impressed by how far it has come in the space of only two issues.



plot synopsis in one sentence: Shang-Chi is now living homeless in Central Park, we learn about M'Nai, his life-long friend, rescued by Fu Manchu after the doctor wiped out his African tribe because, as a baby, he possessed hatred instead of terror, see Shang-Chi and M'Nai face off against each other while wrestling with their consciences, and finally see M'Nai slip and inadvertently hang himself by falling off a crane and having his cape caught by the hook, thereby causing his neck to snap from the speed of descent.

I (for one) am waiting with baited breath for the next installment in this series. I'm a MoKF fan from way back (Ish #19), and Shaxper brings a level of scrutiny (along with a broad, historical perspective) to the title that makes it seem as if I am reading it for the first time. How lucky I am to be a fan of good comics right now.

Master of Kung Fu #18

“Attack”
writer: Steve Englehart
pencils: Paul Gulacy
inks: Al Milgrom
colors: Petra Goldberg
editor: Roy Thomas
Featuring characters created by Sax Rohmer

grade: A


The terribly uncreative title aside, this issue does just about everything right. So much of that comes from the (at this point temporary) addition of penciler Paul Gulacy, who infuses this book with an energy far beyond anything I'd ever hoped for. The combat scenes are positively electric but, more importantly, Gulacy lends excitement and passion to the quiet moments as well, truly encapsulating the Yin and Yang energies of Shang-Chi's philosophy.

Similarly, the layout and pacing of this book suddenly become breath-taking. Pages 14 and 15 form an impressive contrast between Shang Chi and Fu Manchu, as Shang Chi discovers a lizard and tries to understand it, while, in contrast, Fu Manchu studies his trained pet monkey for news of an attack. One is new to this and seeking to learn, while the other benefits from years of experience and expects to be served. The panel arrangements here are perfect – clearly mirroring one another yet not so symmetrical as to be in the reader's face about it. Of course, there's also the single page panel devoted to the brutal hallucinations Shang Chi endures while drugged. BRILLIANT.

Additionally, while I've always considered Petra Scotese to be a pretty weak colorist, marriage seems to have inspired her. Petra Goldberg does a truly commendable job bringing Gulacy's art to life, particularly in that same visual contrast described earlier. There, the moon casts a different kind of light on the two characters – warm yellow moonlight on Shang-Chi, cold blue moonlight on Fu Manchu.

Of course, Englehart continues to intrigue us with both Shang Chi's wisdom (meditating while dealing with the unpleasantness of air travel without a seat) and his desire to explore what he does not know and seeks to understand, particularly the question of whether he is fated to ever achieve peace as the son of Fu Manchu.

One final tidbit I enjoyed in this issue was the elaboration we got on how Fu Manchu's base of operations is quietly hidden in the heart of Manhattan. It's absolutely in the style of Sax Rohmer to have the bottom levels inhabited with normal, unassuming offices and workers that one must move through to find the well hidden entrance to the read headquarters. That Shang Chi knows he is safe when amongst the normal offices (because Fu Manchu would never compromise the building's secret) makes for great mental chess.

However, isn't it then odd that Sir Denis Nayland Smith greets Shang Chi just outside the building in an adjacent alley and then begins to talk in length about his history of fighting Fu Manchu, leading to the two discussing a partnership? Aren't there assassins or anything following Shang Chi now that he's outside of those offices??


Important Details:

Shang Chi and Sir Dennis Nayland Smith arrive at a sort of alliance against Fu Manchu.


Minor Details:

Fu Manchu explains to himself in this issue that Shang Chi would have been his “right hand man,” but then why spend his entire upbringing training him to be an assassin? Fu Manchu was never a hand-to-hand combatant, was he? Does a king make his prince spend his entire upbringing training for the infantry?

Whereas the inclusion of Fu Manchu in this feature seemed arbitrary and imposed at first, Englehart is clearly having fun with it now. The mimosa laced gas, the drug that accelerates the nervous system and grants super abilities for nine minutes before killing you, and (of course) the particulars of how the HQ is disguised, all feel like classic Sax Rohmer (even though I only read the first novel).


Plot synopsis in one sentence:

Shang Chi makes a first strike against Fu Manchu's headquarters, leaving behind a note exclaiming “First move!”, Sir Nayland Smith allies with Shang Chi (though there is still great distrust), Shang Chi follows his tip that Fu Manchu is smuggling something into Florida, he gets drugged, is forced to fight a minion whose nervous system has been accelerated by one of Fu Manchu's experimental new drugs, the fighter decides to kill himself rather than endure the pain, and Shang Chi manages to ignite the mimose laced gasoline Fu Manchu was attempting to smuggle into America in order to psychoactively enslave the population.

Didn't know this. Thanks.

Of course, knowing me, you must realize I'm going to try like hell to concoct some absurd means of making it all work together