Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Gang War

by Greg Pak, Caio Majado (Artist), Jim Campbell (Colorist)

Whose side is Shang-Chi on? When he became leader of his family's Five Weapons Society, he promised to use it for good - but friends and foes alike have been unsure of his true intentions. Now, the stakes of GANG WAR will force Shang-Chi's hand as he vows to protect Chinatown - and take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate the Five Weapon Society's biggest rivals! He'll use his world-class fighting skills as well as deceit, calculation and manipulation to navigate the battlefields - learning along the way that the Art of War is all about the shades of gray! Also featuring a trio of modern-classic tales! Shang-Chi and Spider-Man must stop the Mister Negative's Inner Demons from adding Hell's Kitchen to his criminal empire! Spider-Senseless, the wall-crawler turns to Shang-Chi to learn the Way of the Spider! And using an evil secret organization as a force for good gets a lot harder when Shang-Chi's fellow super heroes, including Spider-Man, start to see him as the bad guy!

Collecting DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU: GANG WAR #1-3, SHADOWLAND: SPIDER-MAN, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2011 (SPIDER-MAN) and SHANG-CHI (2021) #1.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels

152 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2024

About the author

Greg Pak is an award-winning Korean American comic book writer and filmmaker currently writing "Lawful" for BOOM and "Sam Wilson: Captain America" (with Evan Narcisse) for Marvel. Pak wrote the "Princess Who Saved Herself" children's book and the “Code Monkey Save World” graphic novel based on the songs of Jonathan Coulton and co-wrote (with Fred Van Lente) the acclaimed “Make Comics Like the Pros” how-to book. Pak's other work includes "Planet Hulk," "Darth Vader," "Mech Cadet Yu," "Ronin Island," "Action Comics," and "Magneto Testament."

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good fun in lower Manhattan, as far as I'm concerned.


Enjoy 'em while you can, Shang...

Shang-Chi walking the tightrope between superheroics and leading a nefarious organization by embracing the "All Warfare is Deception" maxim from Sun Tzu was pretty compelling, all in all.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

By far the best part of Gang War, followed by Rodney Barnes Luke Cage series

[Dbgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while, in fact half of the book or actually even more, to realise this is THE Shang from that Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the legend of ten rings. He only needed to wear them rings and then I realised it… Well, I’m not that much of a Marvel comics enthusiastic so I blame that.

Good story. Nothing groundbreaking but not knowing about him, made this possibly more interesting than to those people who know character well. I liked the father-son aspect of this and the art of war thing. Drama is good but Spider-Man is yet again to quip some funny lines here which I loved.

(Both characters trapped)
Some guy to Spidey: ”Last time I’m teaming up with you.”
Spidey: ”Fine by me.”

(Spidey all covered in perfume smells because of a fight in a department store)
Bad guy: ”Ugh. What’s that smell?”
Spidey: ”That, sir, is the sweet bouquet of – JUSTICE!”

Also, the art is nice. Chapter beginning art covers were amazing.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shang-Chi gets embroiled in the Gang War, for better or worse, and has to save his city and his relationship. Typical day at the office for a superhero.

The main event here is fine. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, it doesn't reset Shang-Chi's current status quo, and it lets him punch a few people. Does the job, nothing overly impressive. I can live with that if it means Shang-Chi remains in the spotlight for a bit longer now that Gene Luen Yang's run is over.

Then the trade is stuffed with some other stuff, including a Shadowland one-shot from 14 years ago and some Free Comic Book Day stuff from a little earlier than that. Nostalgic, but hardly necessary.

Completionists, like this idiot, only.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Shang Chi tie-in to 'Gang War'...

Still trying to tie up loose ends from the various miniseries and series they've tried to push on Shang Chi. This is more of the same. He's still not trusted by his father's minions. He's no longer trusted by his superhero colleagues.

Still..
How much longer does this need to go on? Hopefully, this is the end of that.
---
Bonus: Best part of this was that the rings weren't in use for most of the story

[Matt Sautman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book works best as a follow-up to Shiang-Chi’s run by Gene Luen Yang, though I find it bizarre that after the story arc for Gangland builds here, the book pivots to provide older material, including the first issue for Yang’s run. Given the negative reaction to Gang War, this book feels like it was edited without the right audience in mind. The story here is not bad, but if the reader doesn’t know about the Five Weapon’s Society, the Gang War section is less compelling.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair Gang War spin-off. It seems to struggle somewhat with the continuity and the focus on the movie MacGuffin of the Ten Rings really doesn't do the comic any favor either. I'd find Shang Chi questioning whether he's going to follow his father's way or not interesting if the comic actually gave any focus to the question (which it obviously should, as he's now in command of a criminal gang).

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Some standard ancillary story for Gang War. Shang-Chi tries to keep Chinatown safe while the ten rings are locked away from him. Nothing special.

[Thom Webb-Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first Shang Chi book, he’s pretty cool.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK book, but the main story is too short and the backup material makes it clear that we're retreading ground that keeps recurring with this character.