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Heroes for Hire (1997) #18-19
Shang-Chi: Earth's Mightiest Martial Artist
Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, demonstrates his martial arts prowess across the Marvel Universe! There's Hellfire in Hong Kong as Shang-Chi lends his deadly hands to the X-Men's cause in battle with Sebastian Shaw and the Kingpin! Then, he and Wolverine join Iron Fist and the Heroes for Hire, tackling pirates on the high seas off Madripoor! But when Mister Negative exploits the chaos of Shadowland, Shang-Chi and Spider-Man must stop the villain's Inner Demons from adding Hell's Kitchen to his criminal empire! Plus, when Arnim Zola threatens Earth, only Shang-Chi, Steve Rogers and Black Widow stand between us and oblivion! And when the Master of Kung Fu joins the Avengers, he shows exactly why he's one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes! COLLECTING: X-MEN (1991) 62-64, HEROES FOR HIRE (1997) 18-19, SHADOWLAND: SPIDER-MAN (2010) 1, SECRET AVENGERS (2010) 18,AVENGERS (2012) 11
137 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2021
16 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
John Ostrander
2,087 books170 followersJohn Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 6, 2021
Mine came with an awesome, vintage 1970s cover of the protagonist, so it does NOT look like this. Also, this volume is less "Get to know Shang-Chi" than it is "Become acquainted with how Shang-Chi functions within the larger scope of the Marvel 616." To that end, we start with a 1997 X-Men story, go from there into a Heroes for Hire tale, and end off with a Spider-Man one-issue jaunt and into some Avengers action. His role becomes more pronounced over time, and these are all fun stories on their own, but people might be disappointed at how he is utilized and that he is not often the focus. Art & writing are uneven (it spans decades and various phases and titles) so this is really fun, but probably only for a small subset of readers.
October 28, 2021
This anthology is a collection of various stories in which Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu, has appeared in. Like most anthologies, it’s an uneven, mixed bag of quality.
X-Men #62-64 - First off is a prime example of why Marvel was so close to bankruptcy in the 1990s. Terrible writing, horrible characterization, and art style that is more about hoping to the sell off the original art pages than about effective storytelling. I’d thought I’d read this when it was first being printed, as I’m such a fan of Shang-Chi, but I don’t remember a single page of this feckless garbage. And Shang-Chi is barely involved with the story at all, his presence is really nothing more than a glorified cameo (1/5).
Heroes for Hire #18-19 - I had always loved the pairing of Iron First and Power Man. Danny and Luke had a friendship always felt genuine and so when this title first came out I was pretty happy with the concept. These two issues rap up the series and unfortunately don’t feature Luke Cage, although they did bring in another friend of Iron Fist: Shang-Chi. Oddly though, this story also features The Cat, an opponent of Shang-Chi’s from his own title and very little is brought up about their previous encounter(s). It’s a little better than the previous story in this collection, but the presence of Wolverine clearly lowers the effectiveness of the narrative and not enough time is spent on the friendship between Shang-Chi and Iron Fist (2/5).
Shadowland: Spider-Man #1 - Much better. I read the main story arc of this when it came out, but I must have not read this issue, as I don’t recall it at all. This one-shot focuses on an incident in the larger Shadowland crossover from 2010. We’ve clearly left the 1990s and the over abundance of shoulder pads, thigh pouches, ammo belts and testosterone behind (thank whatever is holy for that). Here Spider-Man and Shang-Chi team-up again to breakup a little side battle in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Nice art. Nice storytelling. Good characterization. Nothing earth-shaking here, but a solid and entertaining read (3/5).
Secret Avengers #18 - Another good story. This one teams Captain America and Agent Carter with Shang-Chi in an infiltration and information retrieval mission. Very Mission: Impossible-esque and Shang-Chi’s character is again handled well. More good art as well (3/5).
Avengers #11 - This one could have been the best. But some of the characterizations are a bit … well, weird. Both Captain Marvel and Black Widow felt nothing like they should have, instead coming across as buffed up braggarts. Shang-Chi was handled nicely, but it would have been nice if he was in it more. And I love the relationship between Sam and Roberto. Nice art here as well (3/5).
If I average out the ratings for each story and weight them the length of each story within the collection: I get an aggregate rating of 2.5. I’ll be generous as the last three stories left a good taste in my mouth and I do love the character of Shang-Chi, so I’ll give the overall collection a rating of 3.
X-Men #62-64 - First off is a prime example of why Marvel was so close to bankruptcy in the 1990s. Terrible writing, horrible characterization, and art style that is more about hoping to the sell off the original art pages than about effective storytelling. I’d thought I’d read this when it was first being printed, as I’m such a fan of Shang-Chi, but I don’t remember a single page of this feckless garbage. And Shang-Chi is barely involved with the story at all, his presence is really nothing more than a glorified cameo (1/5).
Heroes for Hire #18-19 - I had always loved the pairing of Iron First and Power Man. Danny and Luke had a friendship always felt genuine and so when this title first came out I was pretty happy with the concept. These two issues rap up the series and unfortunately don’t feature Luke Cage, although they did bring in another friend of Iron Fist: Shang-Chi. Oddly though, this story also features The Cat, an opponent of Shang-Chi’s from his own title and very little is brought up about their previous encounter(s). It’s a little better than the previous story in this collection, but the presence of Wolverine clearly lowers the effectiveness of the narrative and not enough time is spent on the friendship between Shang-Chi and Iron Fist (2/5).
Shadowland: Spider-Man #1 - Much better. I read the main story arc of this when it came out, but I must have not read this issue, as I don’t recall it at all. This one-shot focuses on an incident in the larger Shadowland crossover from 2010. We’ve clearly left the 1990s and the over abundance of shoulder pads, thigh pouches, ammo belts and testosterone behind (thank whatever is holy for that). Here Spider-Man and Shang-Chi team-up again to breakup a little side battle in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Nice art. Nice storytelling. Good characterization. Nothing earth-shaking here, but a solid and entertaining read (3/5).
Secret Avengers #18 - Another good story. This one teams Captain America and Agent Carter with Shang-Chi in an infiltration and information retrieval mission. Very Mission: Impossible-esque and Shang-Chi’s character is again handled well. More good art as well (3/5).
Avengers #11 - This one could have been the best. But some of the characterizations are a bit … well, weird. Both Captain Marvel and Black Widow felt nothing like they should have, instead coming across as buffed up braggarts. Shang-Chi was handled nicely, but it would have been nice if he was in it more. And I love the relationship between Sam and Roberto. Nice art here as well (3/5).
If I average out the ratings for each story and weight them the length of each story within the collection: I get an aggregate rating of 2.5. I’ll be generous as the last three stories left a good taste in my mouth and I do love the character of Shang-Chi, so I’ll give the overall collection a rating of 3.
September 28, 2021
Money grab, ahoy!
Throw some stories together from the early 90s to 2010 and have your title character, at best, make a cameo appearance.
Also, I know artists sometimes base their character art on real figures..celebrities or not. Why does every other depiction of Shang-Chi have him look like Bruce Lee?
Ugh.
Throw some stories together from the early 90s to 2010 and have your title character, at best, make a cameo appearance.
Also, I know artists sometimes base their character art on real figures..celebrities or not. Why does every other depiction of Shang-Chi have him look like Bruce Lee?
Ugh.
September 9, 2021
I was slightly disappointed in this collection. The volume contains X-Men: Games of Deceit & Death, a 2-part Heroes for Hire story, an issue of Spider-Man set during a big cross-over event, an issue of Secret Avengers from 2010, and an issue of Avengers from 2012. The problem here is two fold:
1. The stories have NOTHING to do with each other and have no continuity/connection to each other.
2. Shang-Chi is a guest character who BARELY gets any screen time.
My guess is, with Legend of the Ten Rings coming out, Marvel needed a cash-grab, and this was all they could find without diving into the likely politically incorrect older issues.... I dont know. I was hoping we would have the issue with his first appearance in it. THAT was what I was wanting. Or at least stories where he is front-and-center, not popping up every four-seven pages to throw a kick.
1. The stories have NOTHING to do with each other and have no continuity/connection to each other.
2. Shang-Chi is a guest character who BARELY gets any screen time.
My guess is, with Legend of the Ten Rings coming out, Marvel needed a cash-grab, and this was all they could find without diving into the likely politically incorrect older issues.... I dont know. I was hoping we would have the issue with his first appearance in it. THAT was what I was wanting. Or at least stories where he is front-and-center, not popping up every four-seven pages to throw a kick.
April 2, 2023
Essentially a collection of Shang-Chi’s appearances in other Marvel titles. If you’re looking for Shang Chi centric stories check out Gene Luen Yang’s run and the Master of Kung Fu collection, among others. Most of Shang Chi’s involvement here are as a supporting character at best, with Secret Avengers & Heroes For Hire as the most fun, with its James Bond and pulp adventure homages respectively. The Shadowland Spiderman appearance is the most focused as it just revolves 3 characters - Spiderman, Shang Chi and Mister Negative. I was confused with what was going on with Secret Avengers storywise but art was as easy to follow, which I can’t say the same with his X-Men appearance which its confusing layout (still clinging to the 90s aesthetic) and Shang Chi’s minimal involvement. All in all, a worthwhile read if you are a fan of the Master of Kung Fu.
September 26, 2021
Um olhar para um personagem criado expressamente para aproveitar a vaga de popularidade dos filmes de kung fu nos anos 70. Shang Chi nunca foi dos personagens mais de primeira linha da Marvel, enbora tenha chegado a ter título próprio. Este volume colige histórias mais recentes, em que o mestre do Kung-Fu integra aventuras de outros personagens, como os X-Men ou os Heroes for Hire. Shang Chi é sempre representado como discreto, algo soturno, e imbatível, sem poderes mas com domínio perfeito das artes marciais.
September 20, 2022
An eclectic collection of stories that fail to familiarize a casual comic fan with the title character. I picked this up expecting to learn something about Shang-chi and was disappointed to walk away knowing nothing more than he has some daddy issues.
Two stars because I'm a big fan of the x-men and iron fist who seem to be more of a focus of this collection than Shang-chi himself.
This felt more like a collection of stories where Shang-chi was a secondary or supporting character and not the main focus.
Two stars because I'm a big fan of the x-men and iron fist who seem to be more of a focus of this collection than Shang-chi himself.
This felt more like a collection of stories where Shang-chi was a secondary or supporting character and not the main focus.
September 16, 2021
This is a collection of Shang-Chi stories that are the latest of the Shang-Chi line. This is NOT one that has older stories from the Mysterious Hands of Kung Fu from the 70s.
September 22, 2021
After reading Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection Vol. 1: Weapon of the Soul I wanted to dive into some more recent Shang Chi stories. This one bounces around through several different series. It's a lot of fun, but doesn't really grab you. I love the character of Shang Chi, but he hardly feels like the main character in any of these. Still, not a bad romp with the character.
October 16, 2021
Honestly some good Shang-Chi stories…but cover and concept makes one think origin or first appearance and all of these stories are 1997 and later.
November 20, 2021
Pretty good X-men and Avengers stories featuring Shang Chi since the completion of the original Master of Kung Fu series in the 80s
January 30, 2022
Good intro to who Shang-Chi is and how he relates to some of the others in the Marvel universe
June 2, 2023
It was okay, but not really focused on Shang-Chi.
July 11, 2023
I somehow got to page 69 of this, left it 'on the shelf' for half a year, looked in again and then just gave up. "Not my Shang-Chi!"
August 11, 2021
80s comic, just what I expected
January 8, 2022
What a bizarre mishmash of a compilation here of Shang-Chi appearances in five different comics over a twenty-year period from X-Men in 1997 to Avengers in 2012. Frankly, none of it’s very good, but I guess I like the Scott Lobdell X-Men three-issue storyline the best of the crappy bunch. The sequence of the stories is randomly goofy and Shang-Chi’s appearance changes radically from artist to artist over the years. One of them seems to have confused Shang-Chi with Bruce Lee, but that’s hardly the weirdest thing going on here with this collection. No, the weirdest thing is how Shang-Chi is really only a tangential figure in most of these stories. If you magically removed him from the five storylines, they’d pretty much be the same without him. The one exception is the Spider-Man: Shadowland comic, and ironically enough that’s the worst of the bunch!
January 17, 2022
6/10:
A fairly solid collection of issues featuring Shang-Chi. My biggest issue with this is that there are so many different eras featured and the focus is less on Shang-Chi personally and more focused on his connection to Earth-616.
A fairly solid collection of issues featuring Shang-Chi. My biggest issue with this is that there are so many different eras featured and the focus is less on Shang-Chi personally and more focused on his connection to Earth-616.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews