Master Of Kung Fu

[Perry Holley]

In the last year or so, my wife had picked up some back issues of the old Master Of Kung Fu series. She had read the recent mini-series that I had picked up, and she has also read some of the Fu Manchu novels, so this was right up her alley. As my local comic book shop is having a sale on back issues (with some pretty deep discounts, some as much as 90% off), one of my Valentine's Day gifts to her is a stack of MOKF issues I just picked up. I managed to find #19, 25, 27, 50, 52-53, 55, 59, 73, 76, 78, 81, 84, 91-101, 104-113, 117-124, and Giant-Sized #1.

All for about $13. :D

[scratchie]

... Valentine's Day gifts to her is a stack of MOKF issues ...Can I just say, you picked a good one! Happy Valentine's Day.

[The Wayner]

Darned good series, indeed. The final issue remains one of my all-time faves. Really pulls on the heartstrings when Shang-Chi makes his decision...

[Super Villains INC>]

nice deal. I always loved the series, and managed to pick up almost the whole run in a frenzied year or so as a teenager. The series was pretty consistent, and usually good. One of Marvels better 70 series, and underrated, I think. Love the Rogues gallery...

[Marc Spector]

In the last year or so, my wife had picked up some back issues of the old Master Of Kung Fu series. She had read the recent mini-series that I had picked up, and she has also read some of the Fu Manchu novels, so this was right up her alley. As my local comic book shop is having a sale on back issues (with some pretty deep discounts, some as much as 90% off), one of my Valentine's Day gifts to her is a stack of MOKF issues I just picked up. I managed to find #19, 25, 27, 50, 52-53, 55, 59, 73, 76, 78, 81, 84, 91-101, 104-113, 117-124, and Giant-Sized #1.

All for about $13. :D


Yes! I just picked up MoKF #78-101, for 50 cents each. :D

[Stephane Garrelie]

Great Series. Doug Moench is one of my all time favorite writers.

[Graham Vingoe]

The final issue remains one of my all-time faves. Really pulls on the heartstrings when Shang-Chi makes his decision...

Echoing everyone else, MOKF is one of my favourite series of all time, and one of the very few that I have deliberately kept Every issue through thick and thin. As to the series ending, I have the complete opposite view of the last issue. I absolutely hate it. By the time of his death Gene Day was THE MOKF artist in my eyes, and the art in the last 4 issues following Gene's last one is so... ugly that I can bearly read them yet alone compare them to Moench/Day. If you read the end of Dweller by the Dark Stream, the last issue by that team, it is much more appropriate an ending to the series.
Going back to Perry's original post, its always struck me that the Chi/Wu relationship was so well written that it is a perfect series to pass on to a woman who is interested in comics. Good buy, sir!

[The Wayner]

The final issue remains one of my all-time faves. Really pulls on the heartstrings when Shang-Chi makes his decision...

As to the series ending, I have the complete opposite view of the last issue. I absolutely hate it. By the time of his death Gene Day was THE MOKF artist in my eyes, and the art in the last 4 issues following Gene's last one is so... ugly that I can bearly read them yet alone compare them to Moench/Day. If you read the end of Dweller by the Dark Stream, the last issue by that team, it is much more appropriate an ending to the series.

I'll agree with you about the artwork, completely.

On the flipside, I haven't read many issues of this series for quite a spell. What is the ending of "Dweller by the Dark Stream"? I'd be very interested to know. :)

[Greg Hatcher]

Great minds, or something. Tracking down MOKF is how I am amusing myself lately on eBay. I did a column about this over at Comics Should Be Good a couple of weeks ago; be sure to mention the Wold Newton (http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Fumanchu.htm) connection to Dawn, if she is interested in that. Win Eckert has a wonderful new essay, "Who Will Rule The World When I'm Gone?" in the new book Myths For The Modern Age in which Shang-Chi and the devil doctor figure prominently.

[Roquefort Raider]

I'll agree with you about the artwork, completely.

On the flipside, I haven't read many issues of this series for quite a spell. What is the ending of "Dweller by the Dark Stream"? I'd be very interested to know. :)


If I'm not mistaken, it's the one in which Shang-Chi helps an old bagpipe-playing scotsman against crooks. It's a nicely poetic piece of work, with truly great artwork by Gene Day.

I'm not sure it had the appropriate "end of the series" feel to it, but as it was Gene's final issue I could have lived with MoKF ending there. The rest of the series clashed a bit with Moench's run, and the subsequent mini-series-serials-specials went from merely average to pretty bad.

[The Wayner]

I've got to agree with you that everything after the original series ended was pretty bad. It was just never the same...

However, I'll have to revisit this series and read the whole thing. This has me interested on finding the definitive ending, and see if I still think the last issue was the perfect closure.

Always cool when you're prompted to rediscover something old...

Thanks! :)

[berk]

If I'm not mistaken, it's the one in which Shang-Chi helps an old bagpipe-playing scotsman against crooks. It's a nicely poetic piece of work, with truly great artwork by Gene Day.

I'm not sure it had the appropriate "end of the series" feel to it, but as it was Gene's final issue I could have lived with MoKF ending there. The rest of the series clashed a bit with Moench's run, and the subsequent mini-series-serials-specials went from merely average to pretty bad.I stopped reading after Day's last issue, even though I'd stuck with the series through all the other artists becasue of the characters and Moench's writing. Not sure why I reacted differently that time, just instinctively didn't want to carry on ... and IIRC the art looked pretty bad in the next couple issues. And was there a fill-in writer as well or something for a couple stories?

[Roquefort Raider]

I stopped reading after Day's last issue, even though I'd stuck with the series through all the other artists becasue of the characters and Moench's writing. Not sure why I reacted differently that time, just instinctively didn't want to carry on ... and IIRC the art looked pretty bad in the next couple issues. And was there a fill-in writer as well or something for a couple stories?

As I recall, there were two inventory issue, with one in which Vince Colleta just murdered what might have been pretty good pencils by David Mazzuchelli. The other had art by... I can't recall, but it was at least inked by Ernie Chan. Then there was a trio of issues by the gifted Alan Zelenetz and drawn by William Johnson and Mike Mignola. They weren't bad per se, but felt like the very early issues of MoKF. Since Chi was all about the rise and advancing of the spirit, to see him devolved to an early incarnation was a bit jarring.

Then again, that might have been Zelenetz's intention: a return to the begining to mark the end of the series. In these issues, Zelenetz had Shang try to atone for killing his father, Fu Manchu. He endured a symbolic "death" for his sin, followed by the unavoidable rebirth. At the end of the final issue, Chi decided to turn his back on the western world and on its "games of death and deceit", and to adopt the life of a simple fisherman in China. I must say that despite not being in tune with the latter part of Moench's run, it was a pretty zen ending.

[berk]

oh, so Day's last issue was the final one for Moench as well? No wonder I dropped it, then.

[drnocturne2]

I think Marvel should pay for the rights to Sax Rohmer's work, so they can reprint the series in Essential format.
They've reprinted a lot of good stuff from the 70's lately, but its incomplete without the Master of Kung Fu.

[howyadoin]

I think Marvel should pay for the rights to Sax Rohmer's work, so they can reprint the series in Essential format.
They've reprinted a lot of good stuff from the 70's lately, but its incomplete without the Master of Kung Fu.I'd at least like to see the arc leading up to #50 collected in one trade. Gulacy and Moench did some of their finest work there.

[berk]

I'd at least like to see the arc leading up to #50 collected in one trade. Gulacy and Moench did some of their finest work there.The art suffered from inconsistency for a long stretch after Gulacy left. Kim Craig and Mike Zeck did some very nice work, but also a lot of what appeared to be hasty or rushed jobs. When Gene Day started inking Zeck was when the series really started to come back to life, I thought. And when Day began doing the pencils himself, it enjoyed a renaissance as amazing in its own unique was as the Gulacy era. Unfortunately, I found that Moench's writing began to tail off a little just as the art was becoming interesting again. It was still solid, with the occasional stand-out story, but not quite as riveting as the early years. One of the problems for me was that Moench began to fall back on the unimaginative technique of building up his main character, Shang, by weakening all the others. Characters' like Leiko Wu and Reston, for example, who were sao strong and independent in the old days, declined to the status of mere sidekicks, there to make Shang look good, getting captured so he could rescue them and so on. Even Fu Manchu himself was les and less impressive in each succeeding story, until in his final appearance he was literally crawling at Shang's feet. But it was still a great series, and I missed it terribly when Day died.

[Roquefort Raider]

The art suffered from inconsistency for a long stretch after Gulacy left. Kim Craig and Mike Zeck did some very nice work, but also a lot of what appeared to be hasty or rushed jobs. When Gene Day started inking Zeck was when the series really started to come back to life, I thought. And when Day began doing the pencils himself, it enjoyed a renaissance as amazing in its own unique was as the Gulacy era. Unfortunately, I found that Moench's writing began to tail off a little just as the art was becoming interesting again. It was still solid, with the occasional stand-out story, but not quite as riveting as the early years. One of the problems for me was that Moench began to fall back on the unimaginative technique of building up his main character, Shang, by weakening all the others. Characters' like Leiko Wu and Reston, for example, who were sao strong and independent in the old days, declined to the status of mere sidekicks, there to make Shang look good, getting captured so he could rescue them and so on. Even Fu Manchu himself was les and less impressive in each succeeding story, until in his final appearance he was literally crawling at Shang's feet. But it was still a great series, and I missed it terribly when Day died.


That is a very accurate description of the series. Moench also started referencing his older work more and more, which kind of cheapened the earlier stories (something which happened to Roy Thomas when he came back to Conan in the early 90s).

Who really needed a second or a third "fight without mercy" with Shen Kuei? What was the interest in bringing in Razor-Fist's twin brothers? Did we really need a return to Murilo's island? And as you point out, the supporting cast lost its spice over time. Leiko Wu went from an intriguing femme fatale to a standard comic-book girlfriend; Clive Reston from a jealous James Bond type to something of a washout; and Fah Lo Suee from an ambiguous evil overlord wannabe to a bureaucrat. (In all honesty, I must admit that a few good characters were also created, like "Super-midnight" Carter).

The best issues of the latter part of the run were, in my opinion, the self-contained stories ("a fantasy of the autumn moon" in #114 or "dweller by the dark stream" in #120, for example).

Despite a few drawbacks, I still view this series as being superior to many, many others and definitely worth of being reprinted.

[Simon Garth]

The final issue remains one of my all-time faves. Really pulls on the heartstrings when Shang-Chi makes his decision...

Echoing everyone else, MOKF is one of my favourite series of all time, and one of the very few that I have deliberately kept Every issue through thick and thin. As to the series ending, I have the complete opposite view of the last issue. I absolutely hate it. By the time of his death Gene Day was THE MOKF artist in my eyes, and the art in the last 4 issues following Gene's last one is so... ugly that I can bearly read them yet alone compare them to Moench/Day. If you read the end of Dweller by the Dark Stream, the last issue by that team, it is much more appropriate an ending to the series.
Going back to Perry's original post, its always struck me that the Chi/Wu relationship was so well written that it is a perfect series to pass on to a woman who is interested in comics. Good buy, sir!

I'm with you - I loathed the last issue - it read to me like it belonged to some completely different series and had been tagged onto this one by mistake.

[Marc Spector]

I think Marvel should pay for the rights to Sax Rohmer's work, so they can reprint the series in Essential format.
They've reprinted a lot of good stuff from the 70's lately, but its incomplete without the Master of Kung Fu.

Absolutely! Essential Master of Kung Fu...I'm there!

What is the deal with the rights? Marvel can't reprint it?

[Simon Garth]

As I understand it, Marvel don't have the rights to use Fu Manchu any more (though if the US didn't keep extending the copyright provision, Rohmer's work would be pretty close to out of copyright by now), which blows a fairly large hole in most of the MoKF backstory, and almost all of the first 20 or 30 issues.

They could rewrite him as the Yellow Claw, I suppose, which is an in-house Fu Manchu-alike, or some other character, but it would lose a lot of the resonance of the earlier issues, and the whole "but he's a fictional character... isn't he?" stuff.

[Roquefort Raider]

They could rewrite him as the Yellow Claw, I suppose, which is an in-house Fu Manchu-alike, or some other character, but it would lose a lot of the resonance of the earlier issues, and the whole "but he's a fictional character... isn't he?" stuff.

They would also have to rename Nayland Smith, Dr Petrie, Karamaneh, Fah Lo Suee... not unfeasible, but the whole thing would lose a large part of its charm.

Perhaps Marvel can get a low-cost limited license from whoever has the rights at the moment, if only to promote Fu's "brand awareness" as it were.

I'm not convinced there would be a lot of profit in the endeavour, alas.

[berk]

That is a very accurate description of the series. Moench also started referencing his older work more and more, which kind of cheapened the earlier stories (something which happened to Roy Thomas when he came back to Conan in the early 90s).

Who really needed a second or a third "fight without mercy" with Shen Kuei? What was the interest in bringing in Razor-Fist's twin brothers? Did we really need a return to Murilo's island? And as you point out, the supporting cast lost its spice over time. Leiko Wu went from an intriguing femme fatale to a standard comic-book girlfriend; Clive Reston from a jealous James Bond type to something of a washout; and Fah Lo Suee from an ambiguous evil overlord wannabe to a bureaucrat. (In all honesty, I must admit that a few good characters were also created, like "Super-midnight" Carter). Yes, Carter was a good chracter - I was trying to remember his name to add him to the black comics characters thread, but maybe someone has already done it. I agree completely with your remarks on Leiko Wu. In the beginning she was an excellent counter-weight to the rest of the (all-male) protagonists. Shang could have used that balance later in the series.

The best issues of the latter part of the run were, in my opinion, the self-contained stories ("a fantasy of the autumn moon" in #114 or "dweller by the dark stream" in #120, for example). Agree again. The quality of these two stories just stands out so clearly I'm not surprised we'd both independently pick them as high points of the later series. In hindsight, I wonder if this wasn't a sign that the espionage angle had played itself out and that the series might have been better off taking a new direction, perhaps focusing on Shang's personal spiritual journey a little more - which, come to think of it, would be taking it right back to its roots, to Englehart's and Starlin's original conception.

[matt levin]

Just want to add my love for MOKF. Liked it from its outset through the Mike Zeck issues. thought the end-issue was weak; and that the 'follow-up' stuff was very weak, almost 'trade-mark savers' only. But by god that Moench/Day Moench/Zeck stuff was....IS fabulous comics reading! Nice find!
Matt

[Starkicker]

I also wanted to share some MOKF love here. Awesome series, probably MOKF and Tomb of Dracula are my favourite Marvel projects from the 70's. Every issue that I've read was very high quality. Pick up about 40 issues (between about 75-125) of MOKF on ebay a few years ago for a few dollars and it was a great buy.

This needs the Essesstials format, Gulacy, Day, Craig, Zeck, it would look just as good in Black and White.

[Roquefort Raider]

I also wanted to share some MOKF love here. Awesome series, probably MOKF and Tomb of Dracula are my favourite Marvel projects from the 70's. Every issue that I've read was very high quality. Pick up about 40 issues (between about 75-125) of MOKF on ebay a few years ago for a few dollars and it was a great buy.

This needs the Essesstials format, Gulacy, Day, Craig, Zeck, it would look just as good in Black and White.


Actually, I've read MoKF in both color and B&W (I started with B&W translated material) and Paul Gulacy's sharply contrasted shading looks MUCH better in black and white than covered in the garish yellows and pinks of the 70s. If a comic ever deserved the Essentials treatment, it's that one!

[drnocturne2]

I don't know who currently holds comic book rights to Sax Rohmer's work, if anyone. I know DC didn't when they publish the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, because he was referred to as the Devil Doctor.
If Marvel would pay for the rights, they could give us the Essential MOKF; potentially several volumes, they cranked out 4 vols. of TOD in a relatively short time due to high demand. They could also kick start the Shang Chi character, along with all the Rohmer characters.

[drnocturne2]

For info on Fu Manchu, including comic book references:

http://www.njedge.net/~knapp/FuFrames.htm

[howyadoin]

They could also kick start the Shang Chi character,He just appeared in a new miniseries within the last few years. First issue was great, but it went downhill pretty rapidly after that.

[MichikoS]

I don't know who currently holds comic book rights to Sax Rohmer's work, if anyone. I know DC didn't when they publish the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, because he was referred to as the Devil Doctor.
If Marvel would pay for the rights, they could give us the Essential MOKF; potentially several volumes, they cranked out 4 vols. of TOD in a relatively short time due to high demand. They could also kick start the Shang Chi character, along with all the Rohmer characters.

I explored the fine Fu-site mentioned earlier by drnocturne2, and found this definitive statement re: copyright

So don't fu with the Fu until about 2030...unless you pay for the privilege, of course.


Fu Manchu, the Rights
15 November 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many people have inquired about the rights to Sax Rohmer's work and the Fu Manchu character in particular. While many of the earlier books have passed into the public domain, the character of Fu Manchu has not. The Society of Authors in Britain specifically list Rohmer's estate on their web site. The Authors League of America does not have a web site, but they are the literary representatives of the Rohmer estate in AMerica. All inquiries regarding the rights to Fu Manchu or any of Sax Rohmer's work should be directed to these organizations.

The Society of Authors
84 Drayton Gardens
London SW10 9SB
Tel: 44 (0) 20 7373 6642
Fax: 44 (0) 20 7373 5768
Email: info@societyofauthors.org

Authors League of America
234 West 44th Street
New York, NY 10036

Michi

[nonhosonno]

Essential Master of Kung Fu


I just got wood! Marvel needs to address this ASAP. I need this alongside my Tomb Of Dracula Essentials! Day & Gulacy art republished in b&w...let's have it!

[Arilou]

Funniest thing about Shang-Chi:

For some reason, in swedish, he was known as "The Master of Karate".
Despite the fact that everything in the actual issues referred to him as using Kung-Fu.

[david r]

What issues did Doug Moench write?

[Calamas]

Shang-Chi was created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, though Starlin rarely worked on the character. Englehart also left, maybe six issues into the series, because the Powers-That-Be decided they wanted the comic to be wall-to-wall violence, reflecting the kung-fu movies that were popular at the time. Moench took over, and covertly reverted the title back to what it was intended to be. That would be around MoKF #20 or 21.

Moench left the title (and Marvel) around the #120’s. Alan Zelenetz finished the series with stories that were practically unreadable. MoKF’s cancellation was a mercy killing.

[jam]

I think Marvel should pay for the rights to Sax Rohmer's work, so they can reprint the series in Essential format.
They've reprinted a lot of good stuff from the 70's lately, but its incomplete without the Master of Kung Fu.

YES YES YES ONE THOUSAND TIMES YES!!!!

[david r]

David Gabriel of Marvel has said that they've attempted to get back the right to Master of Kung Fu. David said this at the same time they were trying to get back Godzilla.

Well, Godzilla has already come out, and still no Master of Kung Fu. I think Marvel is unable to get back the rights. So no Essential series! :(

[Win Eckert]

Great minds, or something. Tracking down MOKF is how I am amusing myself lately on eBay. I did a column about this over at Comics Should Be Good a couple of weeks ago; be sure to mention the Wold Newton (http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Fumanchu.htm) connection to Dawn, if she is interested in that. Win Eckert has a wonderful new essay, "Who Will Rule The World When I'm Gone?" in the new book Myths For The Modern Age in which Shang-Chi and the devil doctor figure prominently.

Thanks for the shout out. :)

There are also subtle references that are likely to be of interest to MOKF fans in my two short stories in Tales of the Shadowmen, Volume 1 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932983368/sr=1-1/qid=1145419932/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-5739751-7710340?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) & Volume 2 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932983600/sr=1-2/qid=1145419932/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-5739751-7710340?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) .

Best,
Win