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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 26, 2019 18:33:54 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #52)More bad attack angles; but, we can't have regular Gulacy covers. Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Kieth Pollard-art, Irv Watanabe & John Costanza-letters, Archie Goodwin-edits. Colorist is unnamed, with credits reading "Colorist:__________" Since we were promised War-Yore this issue, but he won't appear for another 2, my guess is deadline doom led to this and the issue was lettered without a colorist being assigned, then went to the printers without it ever being filled in. Synopsis: Buckle up, because Rufus T Hackstabber is back! Chi is recalling past adventures under Smith, after quitting his service. So, retcon. he runs into Rufus, jumping out of a window and landing in his arms. Some goons follow and Chi defends Rufus, applying some punch-fu that has little basis in real martial arts. They leave in a cab and rufus explains he is there to visit his second cousin (twice removed) Quigley J Warmflash. They crash into the Blue Parrot nightclub, where Quigley (not so down under) works and smash into goons that were threatening him. Quig looks kinda familiar... Ah, Yesssss, quite familiar, my boy. I suspect he also would rather be dead than in Philadelphia. Quig has a sideline as a fence and the goons were after a piece of purloined merch. Daughter Dinah is back from having sol it. She id a belly dancer, by the way, my little chickadee.... Chi goes to the 1,001 Nights Curio Shop, where the loot was sold and runs into Si-Fan and Tiger Claw (GSMOKF #4). Fights ensue, then Rufus and the others crash through, in the cab and Quig spots the elephant statue they seek, which proves hollow, without the elixir vitae (found in GSMOKF). Rufus makes a bd pun and a @metoo moment and the silliness ends. Thoughts: Mildly amusing, with the return of Moench's Groucho stand-in, joined by a WC Fields wannabe. Not as good as it should be. Dave Sim had a better ear for Groucho an Fields doesn't turn out much better. Kind of surprised he did't use Chico, instead of Fields. Mibor fill-in fluff. #53 is a reprint of MOKF #20. No idea if they were this far behind, with Gulacy's departure or what?
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 2, 2019 18:59:35 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #54Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Jim Craig-pencils, John Tartaglione, Joe Rosen-letters, Phil Rache-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits Synopsis: Jim Craig tries a Gulacy splash page..... (Leiko looks very caucasian) Leiko and Chi have set up housekeeping and she goes to market, while Chi samples Western music. Tarr calls reston to hang out and Reston is attacked by Robin Hood! Locksley takes off when facing firearms and Reston chases, then gives up and goes to Tarr's. Chi and Leiko go out, after Chi sings the praises of Fleetwood Mac's "Over My Head." They go for a walk and get attacked by Atilla the Hun. Leiko gets knocked out. Meanwhile, some MI-6 people brief us about this yahoo, who is an agent named Eric Slaughter (aka War-Yore), who is a military history buff and has multiple personality disorder and thinks he is various figures from history. Chi chases of Atilla, but finds leiko missing. He storms of to find Tarr and Reston. Thoughts: Okay opener for a multi-part story, though War-Yore is a bit too goofy. Jim Craig is fin, until a few action scenes that get wonky. Leiko gets taken out too easily, which goes against her having been a top agent. Not exactly epic; but not boring.
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Post by kirby101 on Nov 3, 2019 9:19:33 GMT -5
For me, the book was just treading water after Gulacy's brilliant run ended. Until the Zeck run kicked into gear.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 4, 2019 6:50:32 GMT -5
For me, the book was just treading water after Gulacy's brilliant run ended. Until the Zeck run kicked into gear. It even took a while for Zeck’s run to do so. Luckily, unlike several other series with a great start, MoKF eventually did become excellent again instead of forever trying to recapture its former glory. I didn’t enjoy the mag again until issue 71, but from there it became better and better all the way to the end of Moench and Day’s run. It just needed to find itself again after it was clear that the Gulacy era was over.
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Post by brutalis on Nov 4, 2019 7:22:00 GMT -5
For me, the book was just treading water after Gulacy's brilliant run ended. Until the Zeck run kicked into gear. I disagree here. I think it was more that after such a strong collaboration with Gulacy, Moench was left as the "sole" vision for MOKF while Craig was mostly learning on the run and hoping to grow into the comic. It requires some time working together for a writer and artist to "click" as a cohesive team and finding their connection. Craig was likely told he needs to mimic Gulacy and bring his A game to the table immediately with little to no guidance other than that, while Moench is crafting deep, complicated stories filled with variously odd and entertaining characterization. MOKF is action, suspense, intrigue, spy, thriller, mystery, heroics all in one boiling pot of stew. I don't think ANY unknown artist is going to spontaneously become an instant hit or star in such a comic book. It is a testament to the series that it recovered from Gulacy's leaving and continued to grow and advance it's rising spirit and managed to find still more to say while becoming an even stronger comic book under the Moench and Zeck and Day artistic hands.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Nov 4, 2019 18:10:22 GMT -5
For me, the book was just treading water after Gulacy's brilliant run ended. Until the Zeck run kicked into gear. I disagree here. I think it was more that after such a strong collaboration with Gulacy, Moench was left as the "sole" vision for MOKF while Craig was mostly learning on the run and hoping to grow into the comic. It requires some time working together for a writer and artist to "click" as a cohesive team and finding their connection. Craig was likely told he needs to mimic Gulacy and bring his A game to the table immediately with little to no guidance other than that, while Moench is crafting deep, complicated stories filled with variously odd and entertaining characterization. MOKF is action, suspense, intrigue, spy, thriller, mystery, heroics all in one boiling pot of stew. I don't think ANY unknown artist is going to spontaneously become an instant hit or star in such a comic book. It is a testament to the series that it recovered from Gulacy's leaving and continued to grow and advance it's rising spirit and managed to find still more to say while becoming an even stronger comic book under the Moench and Zeck and Day artistic hands. For my part, I don’t see Craig as the reason for the downturn of interest in the book after Gulacy left; I actually thought he was a pretty good artist (if one can’t have Gulacy). It’s the stories themselves that I thought were lackluster, because after the oft-interrupted War-Yore arc, they kept revisiting old ground. Return to Hong Kong, with Cat and Juliette. Return to Mordillo’s island. Return to Tarr’s terror house. The Rising Spirit was not advancing very much in those days, and the reprints and fill-ins weren’t helping much. It really took the start of the next Fu Manchu saga (which, granted, was also something we had seen before, but this time with a different tone harking back to Rohmer’s work more than to the Gulacy years) that I felt the book had found its new path.
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Post by berkley on Nov 4, 2019 19:24:39 GMT -5
Yeah, I think it was more a matter of inconsistency: first Craig had trouble with the pace and needed fill-ins, then what I think could have been a very good story with Kogar and the pirates (uh, to coin a phrase) was plagued with an ever-changing round of inkers and Zeck hadn't yet found his way on the book. Also, yes, I think it was too early to bring back Juliette and Cat, especially since the artwork wasn't up to snuff.
I agree with RR that #71 marks a return to the highest quality but disagree that the #51 - #70 span was actively bad: way under par for this series, yes, but still enjoyable and far better than 90% of the comics out there.
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Post by brianf on Nov 4, 2019 20:14:15 GMT -5
While I liked a few Craig issues here & there - #51 & #61 spring to mind - over all I am not a fan of the Craig era. War-Yore was hit and miss, and the Kogar / China Seas saga was just too sloppy. When Zeck came in full time after his handful of fill-ins it was a breath of fresh air.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2019 16:02:23 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #55Gulacy demonstrating why he should have done the covers, though it is ironic that he is doing the cover of a fill-in issue, since he required fill-ins to produce the series. Creative Team: Doug Moench-co-plot & script, Mike Zeck-pencils, Jim Mooney-inks, John Costanza-letters, Phil Rache-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits & co-plot Zeck's first work on the series, before he would become the regular penciller. Synopsis: Chis is staying with Tarr, at the Savoy (Hellooooo, duckie!). Tarr is off to breakfast with Sir Dennis and Chi is going to read A Clockwork Orange, in the bathtub. A couple of knife-wielding goons infiltrate the suite and make a noise, alerting Chi, who whoops their butts, then asks them what a droog is? They were sent by Han Sung, an old friend of Chi's, who thinks he is still with Fu and the Si-Fan. He seeks to stop Chi from killing him, because he has stolen the Elixir Vitae. Chi flashes back to their youth, when Han Sung showed him Fu Manchu drinking the potion that extends his life. Chi interrogates the goons and learns that Han Sung is searching for his daughter and that the goons were to meet in Limehouse, to get the rest of their pay. After fruitlessly searching for Han Sung, Chi goes to the rendezvous. He goes into a pub and gets tired of waiting, then starts asking for Han Sung. this leads to a brief skirmish, then Chi gets word about where the daughter is. he goes out the back and finds Han Sung, who is greatly aged. He was used for experiments, by Fu, in preparation for reviving Shaka Karn. He has stolen the Elixir Vitae and will regain his youth. Chi tries to stop him, as it is poisonous, as Fu slowly built up an immunity to its toxicity. He is too late and Han Sung dies. Thoughts: Not a bad little tale; on par with the Deadly hand stories. However, the interruption of the War-Yore storyline is maddening and this is a poor substitute for the bigger adventure. Zeck is still a rookie and I'm not convinced that Mooney was the best inker for him, at this stage. There are glimpses of the Zeck to come; but, he's not ready, yet. Time might have been a factor, as this is a fill-in and the Archie co-plot suggests it was rather last minute. I do have to wonder what Chi would have made of Anthony Burgess, though. I suspect he would better understand Burgess' intent, compared to those who are overly enamored of the Kubrick film and Malcolm McDowell's Alex.
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 13, 2019 17:01:59 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #56-58Creative Teams: Doug Moench-writer, Jim Craig-pencils, John Tartaglione-inks, Gaspar Saladino (56), Denise Wohl (56, 57), Irv Watanabe (56), John Costanza (58) ,Joe Rosen (58)-letters, Phil Rache (56-57), George Roussos (58)-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits. Synopsis:-#56-Jim Craig tries to do a Gulacy splash page, with less successful results... I see Leiko's role in these things hasn't improved, much. Chi, reston and Tarr debate whether War-Yore is one man or a group using the gimmick. Either way, they have a big organization behind them. Leiko is held by War-Yore, who thinks he is St George, then his personalities start sifting and Leiko tries to soothe him into releasing her, when a new ninja personality kicks in... War-Yore slips into the Savoy and attacks the dudes, while they are aguining. Chi kicks his but and they unmask him. He is tied to a chair, but, escapes as they debate. Chi says he is the same man he fought, while he wore the garb of Atilla. War-Yore returns to the castle, becomes the Red Baron and flies off to find the World War I Fling Ace and his Sopwith Camel. Snoopy is elsewhere, so he attacks Tarr and the rest, in their car. Leiko is discovered by War-Yore's handlers, who call in a report. Meanwhile, Sir Dennis is trying to establish contact with Tarr and Reston. #57-War-Yore attacks the guys with a Fokker DR-1 Triplane, somehow, on the streets of London. Chi climbs a lamppost and leaps onto the plane and War-Yore fires an energy weapon at him. Chi knocks his arm so that the beam hits the plane's wing and it crashes. War-Yore disappears. The boys go on with their plan to infiltrate MI-6 and find a hidden chamber, designed by either Ken Adam or Jim Steranko... They are interrupted by a security guard, who is shot from behind by a suppressed pistol. Chi takes the fight to his killers. Chi takes them out and Tarr recognizes them as MI-6 agents. They take the keys of one of the downed agents to make their escape. meanwhile, leiko and War-Yore continue their amateur theater production of The Collector. he goes to unlock her cell and Leiko kicks him in the face and runs... The guys find the files about War-Yore and confirm he is an MI-6 asset. The files note an estate in Surrey and they speed there. Leiko is on the run from the MI-6 goons, when War-Yore returns, as St George and the boys show up. The goons fire on them and they hit the moat, allowing Chi to pop up behind War-Yore and kick his assets... War-Yore's lance is an energy weapon and Chi has to avoid it, when they are interrupted by an MI-6 goon, with Leiko as a shield and a helicopter with their masters arriving, including Sir Dennis. #58-Sir Dennis enters the castle and finds Chi and War-Yore in a stand off with the goon holding Leiko. He seems genuinely shocked. Smith orders that Leiko be released and the goons to stand down and is told, at gunpoint, that their orders come from higher up... Reston and Tarr attack from the wings and Leiko is wounded. War-Yore scoops her up and runs off. Chie follows. Tarr rescues Sir Dennis who thinks it must be a rogue group. They call for the cavalry (hopefully, the SAS). Chi smashes the spikes in an iron maiden and hides. War-Yore comes in with Leiko and changes into a hybrid costume of his various eprsonalities, as Leiko pities him... Chi fires a stealth spike at WY, distracting him, then pops out of his hiding place and starts whooping on him. The SAS (or whoever) show up and mop up and Reston goes to help Chi. Leiko yells at Chi for attacking just when she was reaching Slaughter and Chi is not listening in his anger. They fight and Chi has the upper hand when Reston barges in and shoots WY dead, at point blank range. Leiko tells the both of them off and storms off. Sir Dennis denies all knowledge and Tarr asks how he can continue to e part of a group that could conceive something like War-Yore. Thoughts: the whole War-Yore story ends up rather interesting and reads like a transposed Avengers (Steed & Mrs Peel) plot. It seems this is to set up the idea that MI-6 is rotten, at the core, leading to Sir Dennis joining the rest as freelance adventurers, rather than agents of a murky organization. Craig's art is on the cartoony side, throughout, while he also tries to keep it like Gulacy. The cartooniness undercuts the emotion; but, he handles the action well. Likenesses are all over the place, as he is still a rookie. With some more seasoning, he will be fine. The cartoony style does lend itself to the Avengers fantasy aspect and if this had been a bit more light-hearted in style, would have fit like a glove. The series of issues would be fine, had they not followed immediately on the heels of the Fu Manchu epic and Gulacy's work. It's hard to stand on its own merits. As it is, the motivation of the MI-6 faction is a bit murky. The war room displayed doomsday scenarios, so we are kind of left with a Three Days of the Condor idea, where wargames are uncovered by the wrong people and are silenced by those involved. This is played too loosely to do the paranoid idea justice.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 5, 2019 18:16:26 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #59-60Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Mike Zeck-pencils, John Tartaglione-inks, Irv Watanabe-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Archie Goodwin-edits Synopsis: Shang Chi is in Africa, which is covered in snow and ice and animals are dying. he finds hidden pyramid structures, with advanced technology inside and a gateway which brings forth razorfist. He then wakes up on the London street after narrowly missing being hit by a car, seemingly suffering from a delusion. However, he soon fights Razorfist again, then runs into Pavane and Mordillo's robot, at Leiko's place... Razorfist and pavane turn out to be robots and Mordillo's robot is just a shell, with Clive Reston inside. Both were injected with a drub. We then learn they are pieces in a game of cosmic chess, between Dr Doom and the Prime Mover, as seen in the Steranko SHIELD stories, at the end of the Yellow Claw saga. Chi and reston trace things to DR Doom and head for Latveria to confront him. They face more old enemies and restin is killed. The enemies are robots and Chi finally meets up with Doom, who tells him he killed the real Shadow-Stalker. Chi goes mental and attacks Doom, knocking him into a computer that sorts out and causes his robots to crash, revealing that Shadow-Stalker was a robot. Clive Reston is revealed as a robot and attacks Chi and the tumble out a castle window; but, Chi has learned not to trust what he sees and rescues Clive and wakes up in a hospital bed. Clive was real, they were never in Latveria and Doom was a Doombot, operating from a replica castle in Twickenham. At the end, we see the real chess game between Doom and the Prime Mover. Thoughts: Not a particularly good pair of issues, with a sort of greatest hits of the villains of the Moench & Gulacy era, mixed with Steranko's Prime Mover and Dr Doom. It's all pretty weak. Mike Zeck is still a rookie and his art shows it, with some wonky images... Zeck will have improved greatly by the time he returns as full time penciller.
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Post by berkley on Dec 6, 2019 10:58:02 GMT -5
I think Zeck's art looks quite good there, and Tartaglione's inks are a good fit too. But yes, he would get even better, especially after teaming up with Gene Day. Nice design on the Prime Mover, was that Zeck or was it an already existing character, I wonder?
edit: never mind, I see that codystarbuck already mentioned that it was from Steranko's Nick Fury.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 6, 2019 11:21:55 GMT -5
Rookie Zeck shows the promise of his future endeavors. You can usually tell immediately in rookies artistry if the artist will one day be someone to watch for. Starlin, Kaluta, Wrightson, Chaykin, Gulacy, Perez, Byrne, Zeck, Pollard, Wilson and other newbies in the 70's all carried that essential "something special" which would attract the discerning eye in their earliest works so you would want to follow or track down wherever their next assignment(s) took them. My teenage eye learned quickly to spot them on covers or interiors in order to snag whatever comic carried their work. What an incredible time was the 70's for following some amazing artists as they learned and grew their skill set!!!
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Post by kirby101 on Dec 6, 2019 14:33:42 GMT -5
Here is the Steranko original from Strange Tales
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 6, 2019 20:58:19 GMT -5
I hated that ending the the Yellow Claw story! SHIELD is boarding the Yellow Claw's aerial fortress, via jey packs and grappling hooks, from the Helicarrier, Fury chases down YC, travels through some gateway, gets all kinds of psychedelic, then YC is a robot and Doom and Prime Mover are playing chess. WTF was Steranko smoking? Makes the ending of Philip Wylie's Gladiator look like it was telegraphed.
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