Shang-Chi, Master of Kung FU - Excellent article

[MrScorpio]

http://www.panix.com/~bala/mokf/

>>Introduction

Shang Chi
This saga is the tale of Shang-Chi, whose name means "The rising and ascending of the spirit". While the character himself was created by Steve Englehart, who wrote several notable stories with him, it is with Doug Moench, his second writer, that Shang is most associated, and rightfully so. Moench was the writer who steered Shang through the vast majority of his career, and the one responsible for writing the massive story-arcs that most successfully chronicled Shang's growth, "the rising and ascending of his spirit".

This magnificent epic lasted well over a hundred issues, all of which are sadly out of print (and alas, no collections exist either). However, the story deserves another look, as one of the finest pieces of comic fiction existent.

Shang was raised as a child in Honan, the Chinese estate of his father, the immortal Fu Manchu. Skilled in all the martial arts, Shang was raised to venerate his father, who saw Shang as his right hand in the world outside Honan. However, following an early encounter with Sir Denis Nayland Smith (Fu Manchu's nemesis of old), Shang began to realize that his father was actually one of the most evil men alive, and that he could not, in all honour, continue to serve him. This is the tale of Shang's quest for his own identity, and his place in the world outside his father's home. <<

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

1. Yes, it was writer Doug Moench, but also artist Paul Gulacy...

...who made that series cook. Acknowledging Moench only tells half the story.

Gulacy caught fire very quickly because of his thinly-veiled similarity to a Marvel Comics legend, Jim Steranko. Steranko was the James Dean of Marvel...very little work other than Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., all of it KILLER, and he left his audience wanting a LOT more.

The Moench-Gulacy M.O.K.F. series was HOT in its heyday, sold out almost immediately in shops, and eventually ran its course and disappeared.

There's a good Steranko site HERE:

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/8650/

...but unfortunately it's GeoCities, which means images can't be directly linked on DU.

[MrScorpio]

3. Thanks. I'm a HUGE Steranko head

I've got a ton of his stuff.

I've got a copy Chandler: Red Tide and well as all of his S.H.I.E.L.D. comics, plus others.

Sterkanko is a comics god!

[DS1]

2. Why is Michael Jackson in a bikini?

[BikeWriter]

4. That's not MJ. She has a nose.