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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2020 17:04:52 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #98Why does a bald guy wear a headband? Sweat?Okay, I'll grant you that; but, still... Keep the sun off his scalp?Well, not like this, but, yeah, maybe.... Warrior symbol?Alright, alright; forget I asked! Creative Team: Same pack of reprobates....er, comic people Synopsis: After Mandy's school for the blind has been approved, they quickly gain applicants (amazing, since she has no experience). Melissa has laid down braille tiles on the floor (wouldn't the walls be a better spot? or is that after they have been knocked to the floor to avoid a ninja attack?). Chi is sent to collect a student, Christine Markham, while the bald guy arrives from Hong Kong, with nothing to declare, except fortune cookies aren't really Chinese food. He looks up Leiko's name in the book and heads to her place to wait for Chi. Meanwhile, Doug thinks the distance from London to Scotland isn't very far, by car. I don't know; 400+ miles isn't exactly a short trip, in my book. Even at an average speed of 70 mph, that's still around 6 hours driving. How long is Doug's commute? Oh, and the bald dude gets his martial arts gear from Danskin and his name, Shadow-Slasher from a tendency to urinate in alleys. Well, the Brits should get that one, anyway. Chi stops at Leiko's to get some clothes and a knife embeds in the door with a note, challenging him to a fight (what is this, high school?) So, being a highly skilled fighter, Chi just pushes the blind kid inside the apartment, without checking that it's safe, first, and leaves her to go fight someone, just because they sent him a challenge. Actually, that sounds like your average kung fu film plot; so, okay. Chi goes over to the park and gets hit by a blur of lavender. Chi responds with the Von Erich Iron Claw.... The fight turns mobile and Chi gets the kid out of the apartment and they head across Hyde Park, where the girl says they are re-enacting the Battle of Hastings; but, Mike Zeck says it is the American Revolution (which prompts Doug to say, via the girl, that someone's history is atrocious). Shadow-Slasher attacks Chi again and everyone thinks it is part of the celebration, if a bit weird. A cannon blast nearby robs Chi of his hearing and he asks a police constable (What's all this then?) to look after Christine. Dixon of Dock Green thinks Chi is balmy and should come down to the station, to help with their inquiries and Chi scoops up the girl and takes her into further danger. The girl can ear Shadow-Slasher and she guides Chi, though how he can hear her and not S-S is a mystery. Chi intercepts his attack and drives him back, then finally gets Christine out of there, dropping her off with Reston. He then goes back to the fight. He runs into S-S, dodges shuriken and nunchucks (a stupid weapon, which is more likely to hit the user than the opponent). Chi hits him with an elbow, takes the chucks and goes all Game of Death on his violet @$$. S-S won't stay down, so Chi introduces him to his athlete's foot... S-S isn't out and disappears down a manhole. Chi collects Clive and Christine (and a certain secret agent father appears in shadows, to avoid lawsuits) and then they take the short journey to Scotland. When they arrive, out pops S-S to attack (despite being cramped in the boot for nearly 6 hours) and he attacks with a tire iron. Chi disarms him and whacks him a good one with it and the fight ends. Thoughts: Bald martial arts assassins who dress like ballet dancers are not likely to catch on, in the villain pantheon. The guy was starting to look like Wile E Coyote, by the end. Mandy Greville's new school just got approved and already has 4 applicants; why? How could she have even advertised it? How did she get accredited, with no background in the field? How much time has passed since she was rescued from the cult? Why purple? Doug is running on fumes. Someone slip him a new idea, stat!
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2020 17:11:31 GMT -5
Seriously...is this a threatening look for an assassin? Especially in a lighter purple?
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Post by brutalis on Jun 7, 2020 17:25:59 GMT -5
Seriously...is this a threatening look for an assassin? Especially in a lighter purple? I don't know, it really slays me! LOL
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2020 17:50:16 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #99Rufus "Super Midnight" Carter is back. Suckas beware! Creative Team: Mort Weisinger-story, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez-pencils, Vince Coletta-inks, Artie Simek-letters, Dr Martin's-colors, Vince Fago-editor. GOTCHA!!!!!!!!!!! Usual bunch. Synopsis: Someone tries to shoot a man, who escapes into the shadows. Chi meditates in the castle garden, even in the rain . he needs to heed the words of Egg Shen... A knock at the door reveals Rufus Carter, who is the wounded man from the splash page. He needs help, which is likely to put the kibosh on Freelance Restorations; so, you know they are going to do it. A munitions shipment is coming from Israel to Scotland and the Libyans want to get their hands on it. Um.....why? Scotland is part of the UK, which has its own highly experienced munitions industry; so, why buy anything from Israel? The reverse would be more likely. Anyway, back to our improbable plot... He went and warned his boss that there was an inside man, feeding info to the enemy, after a contact was killed in Jerusalem. His boss is the guy who shot him. He wants Chi's help to stop the impending sabotage. Nayland Smith and Leiko have a very wordy chat about how Chi has found himself and she is seeking herself... Smith holds up a newspaper, which makes it sound like a Jack the Ripper copycat is operating and it sounds like Leiko has a cause celebre. After further reports on the radio, she puts on her Emma Peeler and heads out... Carter and Chi sneak on board the ship and bust heads. The thing is boobytrapped and Chi turns it out to see, then dives off before the explosion... Thoughts: I'd enjoy this more if it didn't feel like Doug was just rattling off plots. The sabotage thing is rushed, though it has a cinematic ending, it needed to be developed. Leiko's subplot also seems sudden and a copycat in Whitechapel sounds like Doug saw Murder by Decree, which came out 2 years before; but, might have been on HBO or Cinemax (that's where I saw it, a couple of years later). It features Sherlock Holmes investigating the Whitechapel murders and posits a masonic conspiracy to cover up the illegitimate child of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, based on the Stephen Knight book, Jack The Ripper: The Final Solution (where Sir William Gull is the killer, which would also influence Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell). The film is a pretty good Sherlock Holmes story, though Holmes is a lot more gregarious than written. Christopher Plummer plays Holmes and James Mason is Watson. The film was directed by Bob Clark, of Porkys and A Christmas Story fame. Interesting resume he had. A similar film was 1965's A Study in Terror, with John Neville as Holmes. Frank Finlay (The Three and Four Musketeers) plays Inspector Lestrade, in both. Judy Dench has a role in A Study in Terror. The Libyan plot makes more sense if the munitions were being smuggled to the IRA, via Scotland and they are the ones doing the smuggling.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 7, 2020 19:04:50 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #100Great Zeck cover! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Gen Day & Mike Zeck-artists; John Beatty & Bob McLeod-ink assists, Jim Novak-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor Gene Day and Mike Zeck take turns with the art. Day Pencils and inks pages 1-20 and Zeck handles 21-47, with assists on pages 35, 37, 43 and 46-47 from Beatty and McLeod. Synopsis: You didn't think we would have an issue 100 without Fu Manchu, did you? In the past (1932), Nayland Smith is in Cairo, with Dr Petrie and lyman Leeks. He leaves them to make a booty call, with Fah Lo Suee... She is betraying her father's secrets to prove her love to Smith. Boy, that sounds familiar. International criminal mastermind whose daughter betrays her to his rival, the man she loves. Fah tells Smith that her father is gathering a consignment of an ingredient in the Elixir Vitae, and is bringing S-Fan and three Egyptian sarcophagi, with mummies inside. Guess who is going to hide inside them? Leeks and Petrie follow at a distance as a camel caravan takes Fah and the hidden Smith to Fu's HQ, a hidden temple (or tomb). Wonder is it has any demon heads on display? Fu claims to be as old as the temple and older, as it was built for him, when Egypt was young. he bids the Si-Fan to join him in chugging it down. He says he will turn them into great killers, using the mind of the greatest killer, after he has removed the psycho-sexual element. he then threatens them with death, as one-by-one, the sarcophagi are opened and dumped out. Smith bursts out and draws a bead on Fu. The Si-Fan attack and Smith guns them down, but is caught. Fu blames Fah, who claims ignorance, so he puts her to the test. Petrie and Leeks are speeding to the temple. Fu says he will turn Smith into a silent killer and goes to inject him, when Fah strikes the hypodermic out of his hand... Petrie and Leeks burst in, guns blazing, mowing down Si-Fan. Fu grabs Fah and drags her out, her yabbos somehow not falling out of her dress... Must use double-sided tape. Smith is freed, Leeks is slashed in the shoulder and Petrie tosses a grenade and they scat. They follow through the tunnel Fu used, but are too late, as he flies off in a Lysander aircraft... Smith and the boys return home, wondering if Fah Lo Suee will die for her betrayal. In later years, we see young Shang Chi training. he gets a philosophy lesson, then gets a visit from Fah Lo Suee. Chi overhears Fah pleading with Fu; something about a punishment. Chi's training suffers and Fah says goodbye. Ch sneaks after and finds Fu raging at her for freeing someone. She is told she will never drink with him again. Weeks later, Chi finds an old woman in the dark, sobbing... Three guesses....... The woman leaves and Chi follows and sees her beg and submit to Fu, who gives her a vial to drinkk, which she downs. Later, he sees the woman look towards him and it is Fah. She leaves. Now, in Whitechapel, a woman walks the streets and a man in a top hat waits in the dark... The woman is Leiko, the man is the new Ripper and he follows. However, a constable comes along and scares him off. Leiko fakes an excuse to turn around and goes hunting after him. She catches up with him as he is about to attack another woman. She seems to scare him away and attends to the woman, when he attacks. She launches a kick to the gut, which staggers him back, but he slashes her badly. Leiko grabs him to stop him reaching the victim. Meanwhile, Nayland Smith fills in Chi and he is POed. He speeds after Leiko in a helicopter. The constable comes along and the Ripper runs, he gives chase. Leiko collapses and the woman calls the bobby back. Smith radios Chi that Leiko is in hospital. They visit Leiko and she describes the killer. Melissa Greville demands to be the decoy. They allow it, with Chi and Reston stalking. Si-Fan turn up and attack Chi. He beats them off and runs after Melissa. She is safe with Clive but the Ripper ran off. Reston directs him and he tracks him to his lair, where they battle. he is Phillip, Fah Lo Suee's lover, from her visit, when she betrayed her father. It was he who she released. he was to take Smith's place as the experiment to make the perfect killer. Fah turns up and destroys his medical bag, filled with Elixir Vitae. Thus ends Fu's legacy. She has her own Elixir and wants to save Phillip, deprogram him. Chi objects that he is too dangerous and Philliop attacks Fah and she shoots him, in self defense. He is now free. Thoughts: Yeah, I'm betting Doug say Murder By decree or something similar and wanted to do a Ripper story, tying it to the Fu of Sax Rohmer and of Shang Chi, with the dual time periods. Day really adds a ton of atmosphere in his section, capturing both the era and the tone of the old Fu Manchu pulp novels. Zeck does the more modern martial arts stuff. Zeck is great with action, but Day is a much more accomplished and creative artist; more along the lines of Gulacy. This is the first time we really see what he can do with this feature and it proves to be a tryout, as he will take over the art, completely, in the near future. Many felt he returned it to the glory days, before his untimely death. Not that Zeck is bad; far from it. His pencils have made the book exciting and modern; but, Day just adds that little something special, beyond inking. Also, though Zeck draws beautiful women, Day adds a whole different level of sex appeal. His Fah Lo Suee is smoldering, while Zeck's is just shapely and beautiful.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Jun 8, 2020 11:31:46 GMT -5
Not that Zeck is bad; far from it. His pencils have made the book exciting and modern; but, Day just adds that little something special, beyond inking. Also, though Zeck draws beautiful women, Day adds a whole different level of sex appeal. His Fah Lo Suee is smoldering, while Zeck's is just shapely and beautiful. I never managed to get into Mike Zeck. I think he's an excellent technical artists, but something about the style doesn't appeal to me for some random reason. I rarely bothered with MoKF until Gene Day returned.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 8, 2020 20:59:24 GMT -5
I like Zeck on some things; but, he is definitely more of n action artist (though he cut his teeth on horror stuff, at Charlton). He can do quiet moments; but his faces have always felt a bit weird, to me, especially his Captain America run.
On MOKF, I thought he handled the action scenes well and far better than some of the non-Gulacy artists. I don't think he necessarily got the best stories to illustrate, though. Moench went through some fallow periods, after Gulcay left, then after the China Seas Saga, and what we see in these recent issues. When Day takes over the penciling, Moench seems revitalized, though most of it is looking back, rather than ahead.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 17, 2020 17:10:46 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #101Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer/plot, Mike Zeck-pencils, Gene Day-inks, Janice Chiang-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor. Not sure what's up with the credits. Moench is listed as writer/plot. If he's the writer, doesn't that presume he plotted the story? No one else has a plot credit, so it isn't like it was presented as Moench, co-plotting with someone else. He is gone next issue, for the first time since he started on the book, and Peter Gillis is the writer. I know he had fights with Shooter; but, he remained on the book for a while yet. Synopsis: Chi is checking on Leiko, in the hospital, after her stabbing. They talk about her motivation and Chi is feeling a bit vulnerable when he leaves and he notices a couple of people in scrubs, who seem out of place. he moves on and then reacts to his instinct and finds the two trying to smother someone... He delivers a prescription of whoop ass and drives them away. The victim turns out to be the old man in the bar that set up Chi, in issue #76, at Malay Jack's bar, on a wharf. He relates his past in the opium trade and how it has changed and how the modern purveyors are gangsters who destroy lives (you didn't exactly enhance them either, old man). He was going to atone for his past by helping stop the criminals, when he was attacked. He has been targeted by the Yakuza, but doesn't have Robert Mitchum or Takakura Ken there to help him. He asks for Chi's help. The answer is a bit of a surprise... The old man fingers the tubes on his machines, in despair. Chi broods, then heads for the wharves. He spies on the Yakuza, led by a big bald guy, with Crying Freeman tattoos. When Chi has heard enough, it is Shaolin vs Ninja time! Chi fights the killers, one bunch at a time, chasing after those dispatched to kill the old man. It comes down to Chi vs the last assassin, in the hospital. Leiko hears the fight and hgoes to protect the old man, only to find him pulling out the tubes. Chi wins, but the man dies. Leiko hides the fact that he pulled the plug from Chi. Thoughts: Nice character stuff, ton of action. This was Mike Zeck's swan song and he goes out with a bang. Next, the first new writer in ages and Gene Day takes over pencils. ps Robert Mitchum and Takakura Ken starred in the 1975 drama The Yakuza...
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Post by brutalis on Jun 17, 2020 19:28:58 GMT -5
I was so happy seeing Zeck go out with a strong finish! He improved so quickly & he made MOKF his own without copying what had come before. Providing a really strong run while updating Chi & the gang into more contemporary settings, looks & style.
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Post by berkley on Jun 17, 2020 22:27:49 GMT -5
For me, none of the MoKF artists ever came up with a convincing rendition of Fah Lo Suee: i.e. one that conveyed the basic character concept of a woman so dangerously seductive she could practically hypnotise men with her beauty. Of course it would be impossible to draw a human face and figure that actually embodied that effect but I think talents such as Gulacy and Day might have come uo with a design that felt a little more in tune with the idea. Day came closest, perhaps, but he must have felt obliged to stick with that weird, stiff perm that became one of the character's visual indicators early on in the series, for some reason.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 18, 2020 13:10:45 GMT -5
No one else has a plot credit, so it isn't like it was presented as Moench, co-plotting with someone else. He is gone next issue, for the first time since he started on the book, and Peter Gillis is the writer. Moench had previously missed MOKF #64, a forgettable fill in by Scott Edelman.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 18, 2020 20:29:23 GMT -5
No one else has a plot credit, so it isn't like it was presented as Moench, co-plotting with someone else. He is gone next issue, for the first time since he started on the book, and Peter Gillis is the writer. Moench had previously missed MOKF #64, a forgettable fill in by Scott Edelman. Hence, the reason I forgot him.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 21, 2020 17:47:55 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #102Assassins in the night, exchanging daggers, slaughtering in the night, we were quite staggered, we've been spilling blood Before the knife went through... Frank Sinatra and his All-Ninja Band, ladies and gentlemen..... Creative Team: Peter Gillis-writer, Gene Day-artist, Jean Simek-letters, Bob Sharen-colors, Jim Salicrup-editor So, not Doug Moench. Will Peter Gillis be the George Lazenby of the MOKF writing set? Scott Edelman (as I was reminded) would like to know. Synopsis: Shang Chi is taking a page from Peter Mayle and is in Provence, France, for some R&R. He is the guest of a party, put on by some British ex-pat, where he meets seductive blond French women, who want to "dance" with him. he is also wearing his headband with a brown suit.... I thought we had ditched the whole pajama thing and he didn't wear a headband with his black turtleneck and white pants! What up wit dat, Gene? The woman dances for Chi and he is dazzled and it looks like one thing is leading to another and that this is some kind of fill in story that ignored Chi and Leiko's relationship. Chi meets with Dame Renee de Payraud, who wishes to hire him as a bodyguard. She owns a refinery that is targeted by an info tech giant who wants to control her business and has subjected it to sabotage. The girl, Luciane and the exec, Anton Paulve, tell Chi a different story of paranoia that has closed the plant, which may, eventually, lead to violence from disgruntled workers. They feel that if Madame feels safe, she will reopen the plant. Chi accepts, but likens Madame to a mandarin. The next morning, madame is blind, though no one entered her room. Luciane thinks it is hysterical blindness, brought on by her fear. Chi tells Luciane he is attracted to her. She respopnds with a lot of jibberish that Gillis must think sound mysterious, but makes about as much sense as the crap spouted in the second Matrix film.... Madame falls asleep and a scorpion moves in for the kill, only for Chi to react, where it then sprouts wings and flies! Chi then spots a fly on Madame's hand and realizes he failed. he is dismissed and leaves, then is attacked by a guy in a mask, rather like the Oriental Expediters assassins of the great Moench/Gulacy Fu Manchu epic. They fight and shatter priceless stained glass art... Chi forcefully inserts pedal instruments into gluteal regions and records nomenclature, then the lead assassin is revealed as Anton Paulve. He is just doing it out of jealousy and is not the one targeting Madame. The other guards turn up and fight and Anton kills one, though claims it wasn't intended. Madame has had a heart attack and the Brit is going to have the EEC force the reopening of the plant, and Chi says he will name the murderer. He goes snooping in the refinery, finds Lugash, the doctor, who induced the heart attack on Madame, but at the behest of Luciane, aka Diadem, who dresses poorly and uses a rock... Chi goes to stop her and gets whammied by the rock and left to sleep it off as this mercifully ends... Thoughts: This is pretty mediocre, even as a fill-in. It reads like the other last-minute stories, with no bearing on what occurred before or after, with no real weight and none of the supporting characters. In short, it is forgettable filler to ensure a deadline is met, no matter how pointless the exercise is. Gillis' plot is overly convoluted and makes for a poor mystery. Dialogue makes little sense and isn't enigmatic or provocative; just bad. It is like the Matrix sequels, where an ounce of pretention brought a pound of manure. Thankfully, he is a Lazenby and Connery will be back, but stick around longer than the real one. Gene Day also seems rushed and the art isn't as polished as what will come. He wasn't a fast penciler and he liked to use creative layouts (which are well displayed); but, which didn't make things faster (and led to headaches with Jim Shooter and his ironbound grids). This is an exercise in how not to do a Shang Chi story, if you ask me. Gillis was a better writer on Defenders (though his era on it leaves me cold, especially when compared to Gerber and even David Anthony Kraft) and Strikeforce Morituri; so, I tend to blame editorial more for this fiasco than the people who put it together. Thankfully, we will see a return to greatness, next issue, as Doug begins a long, nostalgic look at characters who made Master of Kung Fu so influential, with Gene Day getting to show off his artistry, in place of Paul Gulacy. This will be the last great epic of the book, so hold on tight as we are about to reacquaint ourselves with greatness, before the fire is snuffed out.
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Post by String on Jun 26, 2020 17:31:26 GMT -5
I've been reading through the first Essential collection of MoKFU and I've a couple of thoughts/questions to pose.
First, Black Jack Tarr calls Shang 'Chinaman' or 'the Chinaman' from day one, page one when they first meet. Even after becoming compatriots, I tend to 'hear' something of a tone of respect in Tarr's dialogue when he still calls Shang that. However, there's also 'slant-eyes' and 'Chink'. How hard was it (or was it even hard) to get such occasional dialogue slurs across editorial/CCA?
Second, does Shang-Chi need to be the son of Fu Manchu to be a viable character? I know some of you may not have read anything relatively recent of Shang (such as his appearances/membership in Hickman's Avengers magnum opus) but I gather it was due to legal issues that Marvel couldn't use the character of Fu and thus it was during the 00's that whenever Shang did appear, reference was made only to his father being some mysterious, highly dangerous shadowy crime overlord. I must admit, Shang lost some of his edge for me with that tenuous connection.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 26, 2020 19:41:11 GMT -5
The Comics Code was more interested in the N-word or anti-semitic slurs, than Asian slurs and more obsessed with sex than violence. So, it wasn't that hard. Also, if there was a context to things, you could probably get it through. That doesn't mean there weren't other complaints. There was a fan, named Bill Wu, who wrote several thoughtful letters to the editors that were printed in the Letters Page, where he took them to task for Tarr's slurs and the use of the orange coloring (and outright yellow, for other characters) of Fu and Shang Chi, when there is no real skin tone difference between the two peoples.
Does Chi need to be attached to Fu? Not to the name, but that type of character, as it is so integral to who he is. It could have easily been shifted to the Yellow Claw, who was a cheap Fu knockoff anyway. However, in terms of reprints, you would then need to edit nearly every story and replace text, which is not cost effective for a reprint. You are having to spend new money to make significant changes, just to reprint it for what is likely to be a narrow audience. Pretty hard to justify the outlay.
Marvel had let the license from the Rohmer estate lapse and could not use the characters derived from those novels. Moench and Gulacy, in their Max Imprint mini-series, got around it by first calling Fu the Count of St Germain (a con-artist in the European courts who claimed to be an al;chemist and immortal...blah, blah, blah) and is then revealed as Chi's father, though they do not call him Fu. It worked well enough.
Personally, I never thought Shang Chi worked in the Marvel Universe anymore than the Warlord worked in the DC Universe. The characters are unique to existing in their own particular world of adventure that they don't fit well with superheroes. Same with Conan. You can still do interesting stories with them in a superhero environment; but, I never thought they were nearly as good as the mystery/adventure plots in their own books.
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