Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Weapon of the Soul

Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection #1

by Steve Englehart, Doug Moench, Jim Starlin (Illustrator)

Collects Special Marvel Edition (1971) #15-16; Master of Kung Fu (1974) 17-28; Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu (1974) 1-4; Giant-Size Spider-Man (1974) 2 and material from Iron Man Annual (1970) #4.

One of the most groundbreaking Marvel comics of all time! The seriesthat captured the kung fu craze starts here! Born to be the world's most fearsome fighter, Shang-Chi's life takes an unexpected turn when hediscovers the truth about his father, the villainous Fu Manchu. Sobegins the epic story of the Master of Kung Fu! In his quest to end thereign of his malevolent patriarch, Shang-Chi pits his deadly hands andunstoppable spirit against incredible foes like Midnight, Tiger-Claw...and even the Amazing Spider-Man! He's joined by Sir Denis Nayland Smith and "Black" Jack Tarr of the British secret service, who will stop atnothing to end the devil doctor's reign.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics

474 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

See also John Harkness.

Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.

He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).

After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.

And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.

In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marvel, especially in the ‘70’s, was always quick to jump on whatever trends happened to be hip with the kids at the time:

Vampires (okay, vampires are cyclical in popularity) – Dracula

Evel Knievel – the demonic cyclist, Ghost Rider

Popular Radio DJ Wolfman Jack – Werewolf by Night

Pet Rocks – The Thing/Marvel Two in One

The TV show Kung Fu and Bruce Lee movies – Iron Fist and Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu

For me, Shang Chi has never been a prominent Marvel character; the only knowledge I had of him was basically when he was part of Misty Knight’s Heroes for Hire. Kung Fu master, sure; is Colleen Wing in this book?

Marvel was fortunate at the time to own the comic book rights to Sax Rohmer’s Dr. Fu Manchu, so they used him and supporting characters as a back door into the martial arts craze.



The skinny: Fu Manchu has a son, Shang Chi. Shang Chi has no idea that Fu Manchu is evil and is bent on world conquest. He gets sent on a mission to kill, but at this point learns that daddy is in fact the worst and makes it his mission to stop Pop’s nefarious schemes at all costs.



This is the basic premise of this collection and, if you jettison the obvious logic-tripping comic book conventions, for the most part, it works.

Although created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, Doug Moench does most of the writing with the art shared by a number of people, but it was usually done with Paul Gulacy.

This is Starlin, who pushed the boundaries on the artwork a little more than the others:



For the most part, the stories don’t intersect with regular Marvel continuity at the time. The only Marvel characters that are featured are Spider-Man…



…in a typical story where the two protagonists are set up as faux enemies (by Fu Manchu, natch) to beat the crap out of each other.

Shang Chi also encounter Man-Thing in a Florida swamp.



Yechh!

So, Shang Chi, and British pals, globe trot, confront Fu Manchu’s endless army of Si-Fan assasins…



…sharks…



… and assorted henchmen and evil doers.



Things get complicated towards the end of the volume when Shang’s creepy, yet smokin’ hot sister, Fah Lo Suee, vies for the crown of Evil and world domination with Fu Manchu.



Bottom Line : Shang Chi will probably never be more than a second stringer (we’ll see after the movie comes out in 2021), but this collection, the initial volume of Marvel’s Epic Collection series, is an excellent place to start.

Caveat: Shang does a lot of philosophical and Kung Fu narrative thinking…



…which slows the pacing down a tad (heh). Yeah, you just caught that dude off guard and pounded him to jelly. I can see that…

Because he was cloistered in evil dad’s lair, there’s also some fish out of water stuff.



Yet, it holds up pretty well for a 70’s book.

The Groucho Marx-esque character in the last issue included here, was a welcome change of pace.

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm thoroughly enjoying my nostalgia trip thru Marvels yesteryear! While objectively this is not as good as "Tomb of Dracula", it's at least as good as "monster of Frankenstein" or "Werewolf by Night".

And, having read all the Sax Rohmer novels, this title makes excellent use of Fu Manchu as a villian/ catalyst/ plot device for the series.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know where to begin. So ... let's start at the beginning... Fu Manchu. This villainous mastermind was originally a blatant racist stereotype. A character concept that capitalized on the American xenophobic terror of the "yellow menace" that stretched all the way back into the 1800s. He was a remarkably effective villain, who appeared from 1913 to 1959 in novels by the original author, Sax Rohmer (a pseudonym for Arthur Henry Ward ). The character continued to appear in fiction after the author's death, and appeared in dozens of film and radio adaptations and spin-offs. But it is his appearance as the father of Shang-Chi in the pages of Marvel's Master of Kung Fu that I recall him best.
In one of the villain’s numerous long-term and nefarious plots, he sires a son and raises him to be the perfect assassin and a genuine master of the martial arts. The one thing Fu Manchu didn't anticipate was that his son, Shang-Chi, would discover his father's true purposes and motivations. When Shang-Chi realized that his father was in fact a monster in the guise of a human being, he turned on his sire and waged an ongoing campaign to defeat his father at every turn for over ten years (1973 to 1983). While not every issue is a masterpiece, there are many that are among the best stuff Marvel put out during those years. But the consistency is the real claim to fame. The title blended several genres, paying homage to the pulp roots of Fu Manchu and showcase some really spectacular artwork from some legendary pencilers and inkers.
The character of Shang-Chi (whose name means the rising and advancing of the spirit) was created by Steve Englehart (who also co-created, among other characters, Star-Lord) and Jim Starlin (who created Thanos and re-imaged Captain Marvel and Warlock) but it was under the authorship of Doug Moench that the character really came into his own.
These early appearances showcase the early days of the character and the pages are filled with nostalgia from my perspective. But setting that aside, there is still much to enjoy for new readers. The beginnings of the character's struggle to oppose his father, his growing sense of disillusionment with the world, and struggle to find a place in the chaos of a reality that was not controlled by the manipulative mentality of his father's evil genius is all here. And there's just a hint of the direction in which Moench would quickly begin to take the character.
And if you have read this volume and are not sure about continuing? You should. The best is yet to come. All I can say is that the stuff collected in volume two is even better.

[Arian M · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 year old Arian would've loved this...

[Alex Sarll]

An influential seventies Marvel series, soon-ish to be a major motion picture, whenever those become a thing again. You can see why it was a hit, catching the era's martial arts craze while also doubling as a sort of street-level rework of the Silver Surfer – the noble but alienated protagonist, struggling to come to terms with his time in service to an evil master, musing on the peculiarities of the modern world. His meditations invariably interrupted and counterpointed by the crazy kinetic action into which some chance encounter or new mission pitches him. It's very case-of-the-week, much like the TV shows of the time; even when he faces his nemesis, there's generally a lot of glowering, some speeches, and then any excuse not to reach a decisive result. So clearly, this would need a lot of reworking to serve as the basis of a modern film, even before you consider the elephant in the room. Namely, this is a book which, while commendably determined to call out racism, also has Fu Manchu as its villain. I've always had a fascination for artworks that get themselves in that much of a tangle right from the premise; I think my first was Melmoth The Wanderer, the novel in which a clergyman attempted to show that nobody would ever be in a position bad enough to be worth giving up their soul, by having a character who had already sacrificed his soul try to pass on the bargain. See what I mean? So here: any character who's deliberately racist (which admittedly doesn't include terms that were considered OK in the seventies, but less so now) is guaranteed both to be a bad lot, and to get their arse handed to them. This even extends to one issue where the heroes make a temporary alliance with someone who seems a bit on the racist side, and before long has literally pulled off his face to reveal he's a literal Nazi. Which...what that lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in lack of subtlety.

And yet, set against that, Fu Manchu. Yes, he's Shang-Chi's father. Yes, Shang-Chi's mother describes him rhapsodically, and not in a way we're intended to think ridiculous: "Picture him! Tall, feline, with a brow like Shakespeare and a face like Satan, and long, magnetic eyes of the true cat-green!" Yes, there's an effort made to disentangle him from identification with China as a whole; modern China has no truck with this monster, we're told, which makes a lot of sense given the comic started in 1974, with the Cultural Revolution still underway, and say what you like about the Cultural Revolution (I certainly do) but it probably wasn't going to have much truck with a mystical mandarin. But he's still the embodiment of the whole Yellow Peril way of thinking, something which runs right down to the colouring, a topic on which there's a whole essay to be written by someone who isn't me – in brief, he's very much an orientalist caricature; most of his minions are coloured much the same as the white characters; and Shang-Chi himself, despite being the one who's established early on as being "half-American" (in itself a way of putting it that opens a whole can of worms) is somewhere between the two. It's a bloody awkward read, in short.

These ungainly attempts aren't the only ways in which it feels like a transitional book. A lot of the time, the mood seems intended as gritty urban realism, for a given value of the words, but every so often someone – creative or editorial, I don't know – remembers that this is a Marvel comic. The fairly oblique crossover with Man-Thing, another creation of a company looking for new approaches in the seventies, makes sense; the much more straightforward one with Spider-Man, on the other hand, feels a lot like a sop to requests from readers. The antagonists are all specific to this book, but they oscillate between the more pulp mood of Fu Manchu and his legions of assassins, and then occasionally more standard supervillain types such as Midnight, Tiger-Claw, and Shadow-Stalker – probably the book's most cringeworthy character, not just for having the most outrageous colouring, but also for his incredibly daft gimmick of having two ball-and-chains attached to his topknot. Still, however impractical the idea, that is at least within the space of martial arts – unlike the last issue in this collection, which teams Shang-Chi up with Groucho Marx. This is after his normal supporting cast has already been expanded by the introduction of a character who is very strongly implied to be the descendant both of James Bond and Sherlock Holmes, but who then doesn't get a great deal to do because the book doesn't quite have room for him, having already set up the support network of Fu Manchu's long-term adversary Sir Denis Nayland Smith, and his aide Black Jack Tarr. Who, despite being a seventies superhero comics character called Black Jack Tarr, is not the blaxploitation stereotype one might expect, instead resembling a porno Windsor Davies.

I did enjoy the way the credits would often bill the writer, artist and inker as, for instance, Breath, Movement, Form; the first is always Doug Moench, the others vary. For the most part, the action scenes combine Kirby oomph with Ditko angles, which I'm sure is wonderful if you were a Marvel fan of the era because you probably liked those artists a lot more than I do. Still, occasionally, most often on an intro page or a hallucination, the art will manage a composition worthy of Eisner. Similarly, in between the cliches, the pretension and the stereotypes, the writing at its best conveyes a sense of disgust at violence, the waste of it all, and yet also its inevitability if evil is not to go unopposed, which helps lay the groundwork for what comics would go on to do in the eighties and beyond. It's certainly not a series I could recommend without many caveats, but I can respect it for its faltering attempts to to do something new. Now I just hope it's not too long before we get to see the film, and how a creative team with East Asian ancestry will reshape this material.

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Master of Kung Fu comics as a kid, but I don't think I started reading them until late 70's early 80's, which in my opinion, they were much better in that era.
Even so, it was enjoyable in a nostalgic way- the modern action and martial arts genre was just starting to take hold and also a bit shocking how what racial stereotyping was accepted as the norm back then. Some may gripe about how PC everything is now-a-days, but don't forget there is a reason for it.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa, what a difference 40 some years makes. I loved this comic as a teenager in the 1970s. Rereading this collection, I still get the sense of fun and adventure this comic gave me back in the day, but this one really hasn’t aged well. The depiction of Fu Manchu as a “yellow menace” is cringe worthy, and the book is overly wordy in that typical 70s style. Corny, dated, and more than a bit racist by today’s standards it is an very enjoyable if taken in the context of a less enlightened era.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why does Shang-Chi has this weird dark golden skin tone. That sumo guy called him a half-breed and if his dad is Fu Manchu... what other half is he? Because Fu Manchu is pale as fuck here but Shang Chi has this weird dark golden skin tone, which btw. none of his four opponents have either, even the two specifically stated as Japanese. And Shang-Chi didn't have it on the cover either but he has it within the pages. And hearing that Shang was trained by Senseis is a bit odd, but then again, his father does employ Japanese so perhaps he did have some to train his son.
And according to this, Fu Manchu has a superior intellect, is a polyglot, has countless warriors, female spies and can control spiders, rats, reptiles and other vermin and he had the oil of life to prolong and preserve his vitality, he apparently grew younger since then, ageless. Hm, that does sound like some sort of dark taoist magic. Taoists are said to grow younger in the Zibuyu and these other powers are not weirder either.
Shang-Chi's mother describes his father as tall, feline, brow like shakespeare, face like satan, and long magnetic eyes of the true cat-green. Funny, the feline imagery and green eyes is reminiscent to me of panther skull in water margin etc. as well as ghost seeing people having green eyes from Zibuyu.
Shang-Chi fighting off a gorilla with martial arts was an achievement. However, this gorilla is not only taller than a gorilla, according to the caption it is an experiment with higher brain power, is light brown and has claws. That looks like the Yeren, that Yang featured in his Shang-Chi comics that came out decades later.
When Fu-Manchu refers to his and his son as members of the manchu dynasty, does that refer to family only, or supposed to imply that both are descended of the Qing dynasty or are Manchus? Granted, the latter would at least explain what Yang would write decades later. And he is even against the CCP and Nayland Smith. And he claims to do it all for China... the difference to Yang's version is that he is stated to be mad. And according to the end of the first issue in this collection, "Shang-Chi" is supposed to mean "the rising and advancing of a spirit."
And how is Fu Manchu supposed to be a mandarin if he is clearly not a bureaucrat scholar? And apparently Shang-Chi´s only childhood friend was a black kid from a primitive village that was attacked by the british to foil Manchu's plan. Hm... why didn't they keep that? Oh right, among modern marvel Yang can't have his Asian superhero be actually friend with a black guy.Too bad, because having your only childhood friend be your enemy and he gets killed after you had to fight him, is a good story.
And apparently Shang-Chi is Chinese-American after all. And if Marvel later retconned his background that much, how come anyone even asks questions regarding Fu Manchu anymore? I mean seriously, how are Fu Manchu and Zheng Zu the same except in very broad strokes.
In the following story, there was the nice idea to not have Sir Denis just believe Shang-Chi, but how did Shang know that Denis would be able to stand despite his ruined legs? And considered that it is all the whites who say the racist slurs you really have to wonder. And can Shang-Chi drive his metabolize down via meditation? Because that seems whta happened there. But either way, the comic had the interesting concept that because his father filled his head with so many lies, Shang-Chi is now suspicious of everything because he doesn't know the world. What wasn´t so good in case of writing was how selective his father´s drug seemed to have worked on him. Fighting his father´s assassins (in sometimes really weird poses) was no big deal, but only when it is convenient to meet Man-Thing does it take effect. And speaking of Man-Thing, what happens to Jekin and Dakar, is not simply burning at Man-Thing´s touch, itis being engulfed by a giant flamethrower!
The samurai that he fights in the following story looked cool with his mansion on a private island, but him simply dropping dead because he used Fu manchu's elixir too often for his heart to endure, seems like a cheap cop-out And shouldn't his master then be dead soon too? And come on, did they really have Shang-Chi walk into marine land and interact with the dolphin just to kill the dolphin by a sniper? That they have stupid things like this and at the same time the concept that the only reason Shang-Chi is still alive is that his father decides when he will die and apparently can find him any time and any place.
Sadly, at this point in this collection, it was starting to get boring with the constant kung fu fights. And doesn't Shang-Chi ever eat or sleep these days? These stories are literally back to back, no wonder that they look like one big kung fu movie. He just attacked his father's stronghold to get revenge for a murder plot by said father and now he goes to a museum because of some newspaper he found. Or did his father plant it there? After the boring museum fight where Fu Manchu stole the statue in the end and not the three robbers, we get a short history lesson on Shaolin temple boxing. No wonder that they had to bring in Spiderman to mix things up. Granted, it worked, this time Shang-Chi gets framed for robbery and destruction to get Spidey to fight him, probably a ploy to kill Shang. Nice writing and better than the constant kung fu action from before. However, Shang-Chi letting his strength flow into his arms and wrists to rip the stones out from the wall that the web glued him to doesn't sound so much like maertial arts but rather the Qi manipulating kung fu that I read about in Legends of the Eagler warriors.
Ironically, I heard about one of the stories in this collection before. Someone claimed the "the fortune cookie: says death" issue as problematic somehow. And reading this, I don´t get why, at all. Shang-Chi visits an American Chinese restaurant and it is strange to him nd he things the cookies are after meal biscuits (they actually have a warning for him). So something that was clearly meant to be against racism, stereotyping and cultural inauthenticity is today decried as racist and nothing else. Typical, almost as if context should matter.
In addition, I had first hoped that these assassins would have tried to kill him because he is Fu Manchu's son, but sadly it was just his father's assassins again. Which was really becoming boring to be honest. And here I noticed something about the way he looks: I was never sure before, but this close-up makes it clear: Shang Chi has blue eyes. Well his father's are green, and maybe his mother's were blue. Btw. where is she in all of this? The first issue suggest that she lives in NYC as well, or at the very least that Shang could see her easily. So where is she? She never makes an appearance again.
And when the stories switches to Peking... wow, how could they mess up the architecture and clothing of 1970s Peking this badly? Yet, writing the story on a panel that is literally a maze is quite an interesting way to portray the craziness of the situation, I can barely follow what is going on. And that Shang-Chi goes to South America, and it involves his dad and Nazis... so not surprised. Just like I wasn´t surprised that the most outspokenly racist person in all the comics so far, a pink-skinned, potentiall blue-eyed, yellow haired man who looks like he is straight from the Stürmer, turned out to be a Nazi.
After that detor, it was back to the old kung fu movie style again, one attempt on Shang-Chi's life after the other. It got boring to be honest.
There was one potentially good concept later on of Fu Manchu vs his equally evil daughter. That could have been a good story, but it was quite boring and very forgettable. His daughter didn't even establish herself as the threat she was made out to be.

[Christopher (Donut)]

Jim Starlin drew the first few issues (and was apparently co-creator).
Paul Gulacy took over doing his best Steranko imitation.
The last few issues in this truly EPIC collection were by fill ins, but at that point, I was skimming.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection suffers in comparison because I read volume 2 first and THAT collection is heads and shoulders above this one. In this collection we see the beginning of the collaboration Doug Moench as writer and Paul Gulacy as artist that would achieve such heights later on. It is good but not as good as what is to come. At the start we get Starlin as artist (amazing) and Englehart as writer (solid). The writers are still trying to find a format to put this character into. He is the son of Fu Manchu and in the first issue comes to realize his dad is a villain and he must oppose him. In this collection he wanders around a bit and has some fun but unfocused adventures. It is all entertaining stuff but in volume 2 when the secondary characters have been more fleshed out the series becomes a classic.

I would recommend skipping right to volume 2 but read this one if you want to see how this series and character all began.

[Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, there isn't a lot of wow in this volume for me, personally. There are some nice issues of early Paul Gulacy art that were fun, but I really bought this mostly because I enjoyed the later run of the series in my teens, which featured the fantastic artwork of Gene Day. However, I knew of the earlier runs featuring Paul Gulacy and Mike Zeck and never found the time to hunt down back issues (I was also too busy reading current ones).

Now, in the wonderful digital age, I can finally get around to reading these. With the publication of the next collection, I finally took the time to finish this one up. Again, nothing very memorable here, but those interested in the history of the character and comics in general will find a piece of history here.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with great promise as the first significant martial arts comic Marvel put out in the 70s, and obviously conceived with some care beyond its status as a grab at the popularity of the genre in pop culture at the time, but which was marred from the outset by its reliance on the Yellow Peril mythology of the Fu Manchu IP it adapts and extends, even despite introducing the "Devil Doctor"'s virtuous and conflicted son, Shang-Chi. The unintentional racism and hamfisted attempts to launder the property's more INtentional racism make much of it an awkward read. That could be forgiven to an extent as an artifact of the times if the storytelling were more interesting, but after a promising start, each issue quickly devolved into some variation of "Fu Manchu has yet another plot (where does he find the time), the white British guys are on the case, Shang-Chi handles it differently, here are a thousand more colorfully-garbed assassins to replace the thousand dispatched last time." Things start to head in a better direction within the last couple of chapters, in which a conflict between Fu Manchu and his daughter emerges; Shang-Chi has some legitimately interesting conversations with his father and sister about the nature of evil and how our values are shaped. I hope that trend continues in future issues. The collection ends with a frankly inexplicable caper that sees Shang-Chi teaming up with a cabby who seems to be a Groucho Marx stand-in, spouting incomprehensible one-liners and desperate to retrieve his stolen $7.80 in fares. It was so off-the-wall that I ended up being slightly charmed by it despite myself, but it definitely seems to be referencing some deep 1970s inside baseball that I have no cultural access to (or it's an example of what the Bullpen occasionally produced when too much weed crossed paths with too little editorial oversight one month).

[Clay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fond memories for me as I read many of these issues when they came out.

This builds up some background on the character of Shang-Chi and his relationship to his father (Fu Manchu). While it did seem to get a bit tedious having the same basic plot (assassins try to kill Shang-Chi, stumbles into plot of Fu Manchu, defeats FM, FM escapes or lets Shang go to kill him another day), there was some variety and imagination in getting the penniless and pocketless Shang-Chi out of New York to some other locations and other antagonists.

The coloring is fairly racist. Fu Manchu and his cadre of assassins and other hangers-on are given a very pale yellow. I knew it then and still see it now, though with FM's age (or agelessness), I could see him shedding melatonin over the decades.

The heyday of the series starts in the second Epic Collection volume with fabulous art (Paul Gulacy) and multi-arc stories devoted more to international intrigue with plenty of kung fu action thrown in for exciting visuals. And still, Fu Manchu lurks in the background.

[Larry C, Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though it is hopelessly dated from a cultural sensitivity standpoint, Master Of Kung-Fu still manages to tell an engaging and effective story. The artwork by Jim Starlin and others is superb, showing an intimate understanding of the mechanics of the human body and how training, discipline and persistence can allow one to achieve superhuman feats.

The adaptation of Sax Rhomers Fu Manchu mythology is fascinating and serves the story well although the shadow of the “Yellow Peril” hangs heavy over the entirety of the story.

I cannot imagine how a reader of Asian descent would perceive this book but I can see that there would be some negative reactions to some of the stereotypes as presented.

[Marie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An introduction to Shanghai Chi and his transformation to a poet for good.

Shang Chi is the son of the ultimate villain, Fu Manchu. In this collection of the Master of Kung Fu: Weapon of the Soul, we see Shang Chi's character evolve from a son who follows every command from his father without question, to rejecting his father due to his cruelty. His character discovers the world beyond China, meets new allies who become close friends, and, of course, meets new villians. He reunites with childhood friends and a powerful older sister. He faces new situations where he must rely on the teachings of Kung Fu to direct his reactions. I especially enjoyed the Buddhist philosophical discussions that Shanghai Chi has with himself and others.

[Edward Correa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aunque normalmente me gusta respetar los clásicos y trato de leerlos en el contexto en que se crearon me costó muchísimo terminar este libro. Me parece excesivamente repetitivo y, algo que era de esperarse, lleno de racismo, asimilado del asimilado por algunos personajes como el puro y duro racismo que se puede esperar de los villanos. Lo bueno es que, al repetir una y otra vez el enfrentamiento entre Shang-Chi y Fu Manchú queda bastante claro el escenario para ver la película de Marvel Studios con un poquito de contexto en ese sentido. Sé que va a ser muy diferente por obvias razones pero al menos las relaciones quedan sembradas.

[Shaneen Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was, indeed, a collection of comics from the 70s.
A lot of dated language and attitudes around race and sex.
There's basically one plot repeated in every individual comic.
There are so many words. So many unnecessary words.
Not a bad starting place, if you're looking to get acquainted with the character of Shang-Chi and his origins before the movie comes out, but don't go in expecting MCU level character development and plot.
It did touch on a few deeper subjects occasionally, before it got right back to the same-old-same-old.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this back in the 80s. But back then I read everything Marvel. It had a lot of mystery and suspense, but no "powers". The one thing I did get out of it was the fact it was based on characters from Sax Rohmer. Shang Chi was not in the old Fu Manchu books, but his supporting cast was. If you like international mystery, and can get past the way outdated slang like "Chinaman" this is a good read for you. Though how he doesn't step on pointy rocks a lot in his slippers is a bit odd.

[Ahdom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not all Marvel classics hit the spot, but this one was a ton of fun. Obviously I wanted to bone up on some Shang Chi history since the film has dropped and I was pleasantly surprised. The Son of Fu Manchu (yes that one)! What an interesting character! I do plan on reading the other two classic volumes and move on to some newer comics for a real character study. If you want to dig in on some 70's Kung Fu action, look no further!

[Dan Seitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of this is, well, appalling. I'm not going to excuse it; there's some pretty nasty racial baggage here (right down to Asians literally being colored yellow), fifty years later, and that's reasonably a deal breaker for many people.

If you can set that aside, there's some pretty entertaining absurd pulp here, with hidden fortresses in skyscrapers, Nazis in the Amazon, mind control drugs in gasoline, and so on. Paul Gulacy's art in particular has a nice 70s trippy vibe to it.

[Mhorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Briefly, The best kung fu comic ever.

For a brief time, this was the best kung fu comic ever. Especially when Paul Gulacy drew it. His art was so fluid that every move Shang made was believable. Once he left the book it fell in quality. But those Gulacy issues - they hold up even today.

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goofy 70s kung Fu fun. It has good action, decent pacing and lots of battles. It plays out like an old school Kung Fu movie where the plot is kinda generic and thin but it leads to the action you wanted. Definitely better than many of Marvel's 70s comics. If you feeling nostalgic for martial arts action take a look at this

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early Paul Gulacy resembles Steranko art, but quickly becomes exceptional. The Moench- Gulacy team was a little cramped by its Sax Rohmer roots what with all the Fu Manchu and sister stories that lack resolution early on but grew to become a classic. There is also a couple Jim Starlin interpretations here too.

[Terrance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hearing about the upcoming film, I was curious about the character, having had very little experience with his stories / background / adventures. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Some aspects of the writing, deeply rooted in the 70s, are problematic, but Shang-Chi is an engaging hero and the art for the fight sequences is incredibly dynamic.

[Ross Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bow to the Master of Kung Fu

Collection of the first stories of the Master of Kung Fu.

I use to read some of these as a kid - it was my first introduction to Fu Manchu.
And reading it now, I didn't see how racist and stereotyping things were.

[Jason Henwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly a fun read, but the in your face racism against Asians is shocking. I’m also reading contemporaneous Black Panther and Luke Cage comics, and the racism there is much more muted. It’s interesting how Marvel decided that one kind of racism was much more acceptable than another.

[Rick Zinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection. I will say the Englehart/Starlin issues are better than the Doug Moench. It’s still fun but the earlier issues are better.

[Eddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started collecting this series around #42 and stayed till the end. Loved the Man-Thing appearance and the uncredited Cain. One of the moodiest character I ever read. Great series.

[Larry W. Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nostalgic

Kung fu, espionage, Fu Manchu all make for a enjoyably good comic.70s Marvel fans should like this book very much.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had originally read these stories when they were first published in the 1970s. I enjoyed them then but they haven't aged as well as I would have hoped. That being said they are far better than most of the pc stuff that is being spewed out now so there is that.
In the story with Man-thing another character is introduced and befriends Shang-Chi. The name is not familiar but it is drawn to look like David Carradine's character Caine from the Kung Fu television series. That was a pleasant surprise. From the moment I realized that I heard Carradine's voice every time the comic character spoke.
In another story our hero thinks to teach a shark that he doesn't have to kill to eat. An.actual.shark.
Then Shang-Chi has the opportunity to get new identical clothing for himself from dummies his father hangs in effigy and doesn't- even though he has just fought in the sewer water in one case and after mentioning that his senses (like smell) have been heightened by his training. Also makes out with a girl in said stinky clothing.
When these comic books were originally printed they came out once a month. The reader had time to do other things, read other things, absorb the world around them but when you read several years worth in one volume it is almost overwhelming... the whining, the philosophizing, the stupidity but some characters is magnified because you see it story after story in a short time. I am not sure if I am making this clear but the same thing happened to my wife and I many years ago [early 1980s] when a local TV station started playing Barnaby Jones every weekday afternoon. Now we were enjoying watching the episodes at first but soon found we were getting depressed. Every day we were watching a horrific murder [usually] committed and Jones solving the case. We both came to the realization of what was happening and quit watching the show [not that it is a bad show] and soon the depression disappeared. I think the same thing was happening here to the point I am considering not reading the next volume. At least, not for awhile.