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Posted: |
Oct 11, 2010 - 5:24 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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The "War-Yore" storyline (#54-58) comes to an end and soon I hope the Jim Craig-John Tartaglione art team. It's not so much Craig's pencils as it is Tartaglione's thick and goopy inks. They make everything look heavy and sludgy.
The story itself wasn't bad. I liked the follow up on Chi and the team seemingly abandoning Sir Denis and MI-6 after the Fu Manchu epic; Chi, Reston, and Black Jack breaking into MI-6 headquarters, and given today's security lapses it doesn't seem as improbable as I thought. The War-Yore character, who dressed up and fought in the styles of history's most famous warriors, was okay but more of an excuse to bring a super-villain type into MoKF. His kidnapping of Leiko Wu was half baked and the conspiracy behind it--a rogue element of MI-6--not followed up on, though with Moench's expertise at handling long story threads, I'm sure it leads to Fah Lo Suee.
Issue #61 was artist Jim Craig's best, as Shang Chi's fight with the assassin named Skull Crusher was well rendered. I like Skullcrusher's ball and chain weaponry which seems to have a life of its own. This is the kind of over-the-top villain that kept the bigwigs happy at Marvel though I'd stop short at calling them "super villains." I liked Leiko Wu's solemn subplot, with her reflecting on her relationships with Reston and Chi. Plus she's listening to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album again; Doug Moench must've been obsessin' over that album then.
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Posted: |
Oct 15, 2010 - 8:23 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Here's a rundown of the "South China Seas Epic":
#62: Had a cool boat pursuit, with Black Jack Tarr going undercover in Kogar's crew as a deckhand "Black Jack Blue", the surname also used by Clive Reston in the Carlton Velcro saga (#29-31).
#63: Could've been a memorable one if Shang Chi's battle with Pavane, Skullcrusher, and Kogar had been drawn by a different artist. Hugely disappointing!
#64: Another fill-in issue, not even written by Moench. Iconic Gulacy cover, though.
#65: Another sludgy fight. Pavane acts all badass, but Shang Chi dispatches her as easily as he did in the Gulacy-drawn Velcro story:
#66: Shang Chi's fight with Kogar isn't as good as I thought it would be. Kogar has potential, but beyond his mechanical-hand-attachment weaponry, he's not "bad" enough! I did like the travelling via riverboats, which was well rendered artwise, but our agents sure found his hideout easily!
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Posted: |
Oct 18, 2010 - 6:41 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Master of Kung Fu #71
Finished the China Seas saga. I like Moench's dedication of the tale to Milton Caniff, artist-writer of another China-related adventure epic, Terry and the Pirates.
#67-68: First Mike Zeck-as-regular-artist issue! The finale has Shang Chi and Shen Kuei aka The Cat doing battle, with Chi being "selected" to fight in Kogar's place. Neither Chi nor The Cat want to fight one another and when they turn on Kogar's forces, it's a breakthrough in their history together. However, I didn't like The Cat's abusiveness towards Skullcrusher, as it diminshes the latter's own potential; I know it's to make The Cat more impressive, but that fact was established in #38-39!
#69: The coda to the China Seas epic has Shang Chi venturing into a monestary--shades of Bruce Lee's Game of Death--to exact vengeance on Skullcrusher, who attacked Juliette--the Marlene Dietrich-esque cabaret singer from #38-39. It turns out that Juliette has taken up with Skullcrusher and so Shang Chi is once again heartbroken.
#70: A fill in of sorts, with Shang Chi and Black Jack entering a deadly, gadget-laden mansion. Horrible Pat Broderick art.
#71: The famous "day with Shang and Leiko" as the two reconcile and spend the issue eating pizza, listening to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours album again, going to martial arts practice--there's mention of the "passing fad" martial arts craze of four years before--and some heavy lovin'!
#72: Zeck makes his artistic presence known, as he gets to render Shockwave, whom Shang Chi fought way back in issue #42. I like how Reston hangs on to the electricity-engulfed villain despite the torturous electricity coarsing through him as Melissa Greville--Sir Denis' secretary--runs to Leiko's apartment for help. As for Sir Denis, he's resigned from MI-6 because of the sinister cabal that has taken over. Looks like the founding of "Freelance Restorations" is right around the corner. The issue ends on a cliffhanger, as Brynocki, Mordillo's loyal servant, finds Black Jack at the agent's room at the Savoy.
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After having read some other comics in addition to MoKF, most notably Denny O'Neil's Daredevil vs. Bullseye-in-Japan storyline (Daredevil #196-200), I can appreciate Doug Moench's writing for its superior quality. Other comics are largely single-story plots, even if it's a multi-part story, whereas Moench gives the reader the impression that there's always something else going on. He excels at the sweep of a story and there's always action, rather than mere movement. I love Denny O'Neil's work, always have, but in this instance, it pales in comparison to Moench's.
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Posted: |
Oct 22, 2010 - 11:38 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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Master of Kung Fu issues #73-75 chronicles the "Brynocki Triumphant" three parter, with Shang Chi, Leiko Wu, and Black Jack headed to the newly-refurbished Mordillo Island, first seen in the three-part tale in MoKF #33-35. That first story is a high water mark of the series, with Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy hitting on all cylinders. Now, forty issues later, Moench and new regular artist Mike Zeck try their hand at chronicling the madness that is Mordillo Island.
#73: The first thing I noticed was how the art, inking, and coloring on Mordillo Island was cartoony, like a Scrooge McDuck comic from a 1950s Gold Key comic. However, when the narrative shifts back to London to cover Clive Reston and Sir Denis Nayland Smith's arrival at the latter's Scottish ancestral castle. This, I believe, marks the first time its seen or mentioned in the pages of MoKF. Artwise, the inks and lines normally present in a comic with intrigue and MI-6 shenanigans are once again seen; it's quite a contrast to Mordillo Island! The bizarre element makes itself known in London, though, as Melissa Greville is abducted by some men in creepy-looking mime-like costumes.
#74: Mordillo's robot creation, the diminutive and oddly likable Brynocki, has our heroes on the run in part II, as he and Shockwave pursue Shang and co. in a giant flying dragonfly aircraft! Things are totally over the top, with the previously-captured Black jack Tarr firing a house-sized laser pistol at the dragonfly, disabling it. Giant snails, talking squirrels, and all like some twisted, Disney World animatronic creations!
With Mordillo long since dead, there remains the question of who created all of the technological terror on the island--it's revealed in this issue. Shockwave is knocked out in the crash while Brynocki escapes to fetch robot thugs! Shockwave--he's Sir Denis' nephew, remember--who's ben brainwashed by MI-6 to serve as an assassin, must fight alongside Chi and co to survive the island's many deadly "toys."
#75: The senses-shattering conclusion! More over-the-top robots attacking our heroes and I'll be happy when this one concludes. It's a good story but too far away from the philosophy and spy intrigue that makes this book so wonderful. Brynocki, however, is both a sympathetic and credible character and is unique, to say the least! Still, after three issues of this stuff I'm glad to move on from Mordillo Island. Meanwhile, back in Scotland Sir Denis, Clive Reston, and Melissa Greville are held captive by a David Niven lookalile, Sars Renfield--a play on Fu Manchu author Sax Rohmer--who was a sort of "Q Branch" in MI-6 and is revealed to be the designer of the new Mordillo Island.
#76: Gene Day joins Master of Kung Fu as Mike Zeck's regular inker! There's an immediate "rising and advancing" in the art now! In seeing each panel, which is still traditionally laid out, unlike what Gulacy and then Day would bring to MoKF,
This is an interlude of sorts, with Shang Chi in a rough dockside drinking establishment asking a wise old man about the conflict in his life and his (Chi's) desire to achieve peace and harmony within himself. The old man says that the only harmony in the world is how peace and violence co-exist. The old man ends up betraying Shang Chi to some thugs working for Zaran, a character who will appear frequently in the next story arc and in many tales afterwards.
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Posted: |
Oct 24, 2010 - 3:22 PM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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#77: An action-packed issue with Shang Chi battling Zaran on a moving train. The two are struggling for the tape made by Shockwave, which implicates MI-6 in its mind control experiments. Shang and Leiko are rushing to Scotland on Black Jack's call because Smith, Reston, and Greville are being held for delivery to MI-6 for information on Fu Manchu's whereabouts. In a well-done gunfight, Black Jack destroys the two robots that kidnapped Melissa Greville. Sarsfield subdues Black Jack and awaits the arrival of "flesh and blood" interrogators to work on the captured agents.
#78: Shang Chi's rematch with Zaran in the latter's Scottish country cabin. Gene Day did not ink this, so we get the heavy pen of "guest" inker, Al Gordon, though it does suit the story's locale. Scottish stereotypes abound, however; "doona know why." Though Moench's writing saves the (lack of Gene) day...
#79: Much better! Gene Day returns on inks and we get an excellent finish to the Zaran introduction. Zaran flees to Nayland-Smith's castle and runs a knife through the gut of MI-6 gadget maker and turncoat Ward Sarsfield. It turns out that Zaran is really working for Shang Chi's sister, Fah Lo Suee. Black Jack Tarr gets the drop on Zaran with a haymaker punch that sends the weapons master flying. Before he and Shang Chi can have another battle, Zaran does a variation of the "drop-a-flash-cube-on-the-floor-and-escape" routine. This entire story is leading towards another encounter with Fu Manchu, whom we last saw in issue #50. Once again: Moench tells a great little action story, but larger implications and future conflicts are looming.
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The letters page of these issues confirm my own belief on the Jim Craig era and apparently many readers dropped MoKF after Gulacy's departure. Mike Zeck and Gene Day's arrival had gotten the readership excited again and all is well...
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Posted: |
Oct 26, 2010 - 8:30 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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The wind up to the next Fu Manchu epic begins with this three-issue arc, as MI-6 is out to kill our heroes while Sir Denis attempts to make contact with "our man in South America", Lyman Leeks, an old colleague of Nayland-Smith's and Petrie's dating back to 1933. The trio's past adventure is shown via flashbacks.
#80: The Leopard cult has come to London to assassinate Lyman Leeks before Leeks can verbally pass information regarding Fu Manchu's suspected presence in South America where the criminal mastermind is plotting his next world domination scheme.
#81: Lots of shooting up of London, with a purple car driven by Black Jack getting tons of abuse but still running and nary a policeman to be found! One gets the feeling that the entire setpiece is played tongue in cheek. I'm noticing a lot more intentional humor present in MoKF. The action begins at Victoria Station, so there's lots of London "atmosphere."
#82: This issue serves as a ramp up to the next big Fu Manchu storyline. Lyman Leeks gets three pages to inform the team about Fu Manchu's massive construction of a jungle base where the primitive indians revere him as a god. The artwork is Zeck and Day, but their art since #80 reminds me of Day's inking of Carmine Infantino during the early issues of Marvel's Star Wars comic, also from this time (1979). Sir Denis has been kidnapped by the Leopard cult, though Melissa Greville, who's now romantically involved with Clive Reston, is all panicky and weak. It's supposed to show how tough the spy life is, but she just comes off as pathetic. We'll see how her character develops as the larger storyline unfolds.
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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2010 - 11:20 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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The "Warriors of the Golden Dawn" Fu Manchu epic begins! There's a lot going on in this seven part story arc, but it's all interesting.
#83: A prologue of sorts. Fu Manchu's narration from his journal as he plots his latest world-conquering scheme is the issue's focus. He's in the deepest jungles of South America, having collected nearly a dozen different cults that he's formed over the past several decades; including the Knights Templar. He's also captured dozens of key scientists and implanted electrodes to control them. How these scientists' respective organizations are reacting to this has not been revealed. A plot hole, to be sure; but then MoKF is about our heroes and their own trials and tribulations.
Shang Chi and co. appear fleetingly but enough to sit for Lyman Leeks' briefing and to launch their own plan to rescue Sir Denis after receiving a telegram from a source in Casablanca, Morocco. The fact that Shang Chi and Leiko Wu must split up for this mission provides foreshadow; Leiko and former lover Reston will head to Casablanca to find Smith, and Shang and Black Jack head to the Amazon to find Fu Manchu's base.
Meanwhile, Fah Lo Suee has returned to the Fu Manchu fold, having brought Zaran the Weapons Master with her. Fu Manchu forgives his daughter's "base treachery" and after Zaran gets his butt whipped by Maru, a big goon of Manchu's, the Celestial One allows Zaran to improve his fighting skills among his cultish hordes. An excellent issue that sets up the epic tale to follow.
#84: Sir Denis' kidnapping has turned out to be a ruse to alert him to Fu Manchu's scientist brainwashing plot. Smith's eventual shipping to South America is being delayed enough so that Reston and Leiko can rescue him. Dr. Petrie's former wife, the presumed-dead Karamenah, Shang Chi and Black Jack Tarr battle Leopard Cultists and are forced at issue's end to either take on the armed cultists or deal with the alligators (shouldn't that be crocodiles in South America?). Lyman Leeks, along with Nayland Smith and Petrie, all had adventures together battling Fu Manchu during the 1930s.
#85: Reston and Leiko meet up with Reston's dad's old adventure buddy, Richard, who just so happens to own a drinking and gambling establishment in Casablanca and who just happens to look like Bogart. It's more than implied that Reston and Leiko "do it" after a moment of fear and doubt. I felt bad for Shang Chi!
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Posted: |
Dec 31, 2010 - 6:26 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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#86: "The Phoenix and the Dragon" The Zeck-Day art team hits a new peak with this issue. Day, as inker, has found the right note in terms of integrating his own style with Zeck's and the results are great. The story continues, as Chi and Black Jack are battling Fu Manchu's hordes in South America. Black Jack gets some fun one liners a la Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series. Shang Chi's deeds serve as "straight man" to Tarr's cynical humor. Meanwhile, Reston and Leiko regret their brief tryst and try to put it behind them. They get their lives saved by a shotgun-toting Richard when some Leopard cultists sneak in their room. The Richard-is-Bogart thing is a blatant nod to the Gulacy era, as he often modelled his characters after actors. Shang and Tarr leave South America via the transport planes taking the mind controlled people to strategic installations in the U.S.
#87: "The Chrysalis and the Peacock" Everyone's in Casablanca! Shang Chi battles Zaran again, Leiko takes on Fah Lo Suee in a swordfight but it comes down to Fah Lo Suee wanting to join forces with Sir Denis' agents to take down Fu Manchu's plot, which is to destroy New York City and blame the Soviets. Sir Denis refuses, and tensions are high within the group, as Leiko admits to Shang her infidelity and Shang punches out Reston after the latter plays dumb when Shang asks Clive if anything happened with Leiko that he should know about. The end panel is tremendous, with hang Chi saying how Fu Manchu has sowed seeds of discontent within Shang's circle of friends. The personal damage done rather than the worldwide destruction Fu's promised to inflict on the Earth itself.
Hey Neotrinity, I guess this is my "Equalizer" thread. 
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) 
