Master of Kung Fu #17The comic has been renamed Master of Kung Fu and continues the numbering of Special Marvel Edition. Why? Periodicals qualified for Second Class mailing privileges; but, a new magazine had to be newly registered, which cost more. It was a long tradition in the comic world to use the registration of a discontinued title and list it as being renamed. Charlton was the king of this, which drives collectors crazy, as you have series that start with numbers like 37, making them think there were 36 previous issues of the series.
Bit of falsehood on the cover: Black Jack Tarr is not a giant, though he is taller than Shang-Chi.
The name Jack Tar (alternately, Jack Tarr) was used as a common term for a sailor, especially in the Royal Navy and Merchant fleets. It was also adopted in the US Navy. There are several theories about the origin, with one of the more common being that sailors would wear their hair in a pony tail, smeared in tar, to prevent it from getting caught in equipment. The kerchief that sailors wore protected their uniform blouse from the tar. It has also been surmised it was related to soaking rigging in tar to preserve it from sea conditions. There are several folk songs and popular songs about Jack Tars, including Gilbert & Sullivan's "A British Tar."
The Black Jack monicker may have several sources. One possibility is pro wrestling, where Jack Lanza, aka Blackjack Lanza, and Bob Wyndham, aka Blackjack Mulligan, were a hugely popular tag team, the Blackjacks, wrestling for the WWA, in Indianapolis and the AWA, in Minnesota, as well as the WWWF, in New York. This comic is prior to their New York run, though Starlin and Milgrom are both from Detroit, MI, which was the territory of Ed Farhat, aka The Sheik, who often used talent from the WWA. Both Lanza and Mulligan were over 6 ft, with Lanza billed as 6ft 4, and Mulligan at 6ft 7. There is a bit of a resemblance to Lanza.
Lanza and Mulligan, with manager Bobby "The Brain" Heenan...
Of course, it might also refer to Gen. "Black" Jack Pershing, commander of the US Expeditionary Force in WW1 and leader of the punitive raid by the US Army, against Pancho Villa.
Or else he is a big cardplayer.
Creative Team: Steve Englehart-writer, Jim Starlin-pencils, Al Milgrom-inks, Tom Orzechowski-letters, George Roussos-colors, Roy Thomas-edits
Synopsis: We open with dual stories transpiring. In one, Shang-Chi is being followed by some seedy-looking characters....
...while in the other, a large man, named Black Jack Tarr, is practicing throwing knives at a dummy, wearing a copy of Chi's robes. It is then revealed that Tarr is addressing Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, promising to give vengeance to Smith, for the death of Dr Petrie.
Chi easily takes out his trio of opponents, while Tarr boasts of his "Murder Mansion," and Smith displays a copy of the Daily Bugle, which reports on his appearance in the US. Chi comes across the same paper and decides to seek out Smith, to explain his actions, with Petrie. He hops a ride on a truck, which speeds past Fu Manchu's hidden fortress, within an office building. Inside, Fu addresses the troops...
He has also seen the headline and plans on letting Smith deal with his son or vice versa, using his opponents to destroy one another. Chi gets off in Rye, NY, where Smith is said to be staying.
Chi has no idea where to look for Smith and tries the phone book, which is no help. he asks a man on the street, who gives him directions, then whispers to his boss, via radio, that Chi is on his way. Shang-Chi hears him and knows he is headed for a trap. he avoids the guards and slips into the house via an upstairs window, setting off internal alarms. Smith sends his men to kill Chi. He takes out 5 men. He then proceeds, narrowly avoiding several deathtraps...
He eventually finds himself in a room with 4 armored knights, who attack him. The armor protects them and Ch holds back, for fear of killing. he finds himself cornered and has no choice and kicks the head off of one, revealing a robot. he then destroys the others with no restraint.
Smith admits a growing admiration for Chi's skill, though Tarr dismisses him as "Only a Chinaman." Chi eventually comes face-to-face with Tarr. Chi tries to explain and Tarr responds with racist insults, based on his time with the Hong Kong police. Chi thinks he talks to much and it is on.
Tarr gets in some shots; but, Chi grabs a shoulder lock and tosses him off a balcony. It stuns Tarr, allowing Chi to get to Nayland Smith. He confronts the man, explains about Petrie and tells him the only thing preventing him from walking is his own mind. He goads Smith into standing...
Chi finishes proving his point that appearances aren't always what they seem and that he did not seek to murder Petrie in cold blood, with evil intent. he was duped by his father and years of conditioning. He then leaves by the window.
Thoughts: Now that was a bit more like it. We are drawn in with the depiction of Tarr training and Nayland Smith's plot to bring Chi to tarr's Murder Mansion. not only does he face a trained killer; he faces an army of men and a house of deathtraps. All of this is pure pulp, which works well for the story. However, the ending comes down to philosophy, not violence, which is definitely Englehart's motif in these stories. Chi gains admiration from Smith, while also proving a point to him, setting up their future alliance.
Tar proves a tough opponent; but, his racism blinds him. He underestimates Shang-Chi as just a Chinaman. The racism is troubling, as it was in the fu Manchu novels, however; here, it serves a point. Tarr expresses the racism of the novels, which was a product of the time and Rohmer's racism. Englehart turns it against Smith and Tarr, showing that it blinds them to the truth and to a noble person, one not much different than themselves. They are the villains and the Chinaman is the hero.
The martial arts still hasn't improved, much. Starlin supposedly studied a bit; but, it is not displayed in his art. The kicks are chosen for dramatic purposes, rather than actual kicking technique, in any martial arts style. The best techniques shown are in three separate panels. in the first, Chi hits Tarr with a downward elbow strike to the top of the head, followed by an upward knee strike to the chin. these are fairly standard karate techniques, which leads me to believe that if Starlin studied, it was judo or karate, which were the "in" martial arts of his generation, in his youth and military service. Kung Fu became popular in the wake of bruce Lee's movies, the tv series, and other Hong Kong martial arts films (such as The 5 Fingers of Death, which launched the martial arts craze). The third technique is what appears to be a judo lock and throw, which dumps Tarr over the balcony.
Tarr's style is pretty much brute strength and punching, with little technique on display. He is also seen throwing knives. He says he is retired from the Foreign Service, which usually means one of two things: a diplomat or a spy (as intelligence officers would be under diplomatic cover at an embassy). He doesn't come across as much of a diplomat. He also mentions having served in the Hong Kong police. The police forces in Shanghai and Hong Kong were noted for their skills in hand-to-hand combat, ue to the prevalence of street fighting in those cities (also the source for much of bruce Lee's fighting experience). William Fairbairn, who taught hand-to-hand combat to the Canadian Army, British Commandos and the OSS, had served with the Shanghai Police, and created the fighting style Defendu, which he taught to the military and police. With that background, Tar should be a more deadly fighter. Moench & Gulacy will rectify this showing.
The three desperate junkies who attack Chi are (from left to right, in the panel above) Jim Starlin, Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom. It is never stated they are junkies; but, Milgrom says he is "...Carryin' a monkey..." Drugs will play a prominent role in a future storyline, which will establish this series as a classic. That makes no bones about the subject.
This marks the last issue for Starlin, as a new penciller will take over, next issue. Englehart will remain as writer for a couple more stories.