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Robert Greenberger

by Robert Greenberger

Marvel Comics and its predecessor incarnations was always staying atop whatever was a hot trend, tending to flood the market until saturation was reached and then moving on. With the rise of martial arts films and the arrival of Kung-Fu on ABC in the early 1970s, it was time for marvel to capitalize. They tried to acquire the rights to the David Carradine-starring series but failed considering that Warner Bros. television had their own comic company to deal with: DC Comics.

Instead, Editor Roy Thomas, already scouring pulps for revival, came across Sax Rohmer’s Dr. Fu Manchu. Arthur Henry Ward, writing as Rohmer, created the Asian menace in 1911 and America’s fascination with the “mysterious Orient” led to Fu Manchu’s becoming the theme for the “yellow peril” that created a sense of concern ideal through world war II. Later, Atlas’ Yellow Claw from Al Feldstein and Joe Maneely, continued that template.

Chasing Fu Manchu across pulps, radio, comic strips, comic books, and motion picture serials, were Denis Nayland Smith and Dr. Petrie, British subjects and modeled after Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The pulps stories were repackaged as paperbacks on and off through the decades, including the 1960s, keeping Fu Manchu before the general public.

Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 1

For a pittance, marvel secured rights to the characters from Rohmer’s widow. The project was given to Steve Englehart who saw the chance to write a companion series to his sensational doctor Strange. As he writes on his website, “Jim Starlin and I loved the television show Kung Fu and wanted to play with its Eastern philosophy. nobody else at marvel believed in it, but we got a slot in a previously-reprint title called special marvel Edition, and we co-created Shang Chi. I meditated for a long time on the I Ching to create his name, which indicates “The Rising and advancing of a Spirit.”

Who better to fight the international menace that was Fu Manchu than his son? enter Shang-Chi and a marvel legend was born. Those early, gestational issues are now being collected in Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Omnibus, including special marvel Edition #15-16, Master of Kung Fu (1974) #17-37, Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu #1-4, Giant-Size Spider-Man #2 and material from Iron man Annual #4.

At first, the kid was dutiful and obedient, trained by Fu Manchu to be his agent. However, when he is sent to England to assassinate Dr. Petrie, he encounters Sir Smith who opens his eyes to the deadly reality. The battle lines are swiftly drawn propelling the series into a global confrontation. first up is Shang’s childhood pal M’Nai, now the black-clad Midnight, sent after him.

Master of Kung Fu #17. Cover by Ernie Chan & John Romita

The series verified so successful, the title was changed with issue #17 to The Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu and upped from bimonthly to monthly. Englehart and Starlin couldn’t maintain the boosted frequency so both reluctantly withdrew. but first, the pair, accompanied by inker Al Milgrom, gave us the bigoted British operative Black Jack Tarr, who would go on to become one of the best loved characters in the series.

The series struggled to maintain a consistent creative team so after one issue co-written by Gerry Conway and Doug Moench, the prolific Moench took on the series. A variety of artists drew the stories including newcomer Paul Gulacy, but also Ron Wilson, Alan Weiss, Walt Simonson, John Buscema, Frank Springer, and the team of Keith Pollard and Sal Trapani that produced nearly as lots of pages as Gulacy, once he was given the series by Editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman.

Master of Kung Fu #33. Cover by Gil Kane & Joe Sinnott

Gulacy, a martial arts fan, meshed well with Moench who leaned a lot more towards espionage and international intrigue. While the visuals were kinetic and detailed, Moench’s works were heavily flavored not by Rohmer’s pulps but Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. “We creatively played off one another,” Gulacy told Back Issue!

Moench concurred, saying, “The only arguments we ever had were about the direction of stories. There were never any problems working together. In fact, this was one of the easiest working relationships I have ever had. The chemistry was perfect. Our sensibilities on storytelling and what comics must be as a form meshed perfectly.”

Along the way, the supporting cast grew such as the arrival of Fah Lo Suee, Fu Manchu’s daughter in issue #26 and Clive Reston in #31, whose dialogue leads you to believe Holmes is his grandfather and Bond his father; and in #33, Leiko Wu debuts, setting up Shang’s first romance.

Giatn-Size Master of Kung Fu #2. Cover by Al Milgrom

The series was successful enough that when marvel briefly introduced quarterly extra-sized titles, we were treated to four issues of Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu. Moench and Gulacy supplied a lot of of these stories and in issue #3, it was revealed Dr. Petrie survived Shang-Chi’s first mission. When the line was canceled, the already-produced story for issue 5, by Moench, Pollard, and Trapani, was split into issues 36-37.

Moench acknowledged Shang-Chi operated in the marvel universe but preferred to avoid guest stars. However, demand was terrific enough that he appeared with the webslinger in Giant-Size Spider-Man #2, with art by Spidey regular Ross Andru and Shang’s co-parent Al Milgrom.

Midnight verified an appealing enough character that he popped up here and there and his brief battle with Iron man from Iron man annual #4 is here, courtesy of Roger Stern, Jaff Aclin, and Don Newton.

These early adventures show a different aspect to marvel of the mid-1970s, where the creators had their freest hand to explore stories, concepts, and characters that a lot of interested them. Shang-Chi may have been inspired by a fad, but the series rose beyond those limits and endured.

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Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol 1

Classic covers from the Grand Comics Database.