Shang-Chi: A Contest Of Truth

Here's Shang-Chi taking on a suspiciously Bruce Lee-looking bully, and teaching a young kid a life lesson, by showing us all that violence is not the way, and pontificating endlessly about same. This could easily've been an episode of Kung Fu back in the day, yet Shang somehow isn't as smug or pleased with himself as David Carradine, maybe because he's actually still a kid himself, and is therefore not always completely sure about everything. I actually always preferred his appearances in Deadly Hands to his regular series, great as it undoubtedly was. The one-off stories seemed to work better for some reason, even if Shang never seemed to actually live anywhere, wandering the streets of New York barefoot as he did.
By the way, that magnificent cover painting? Doesn't happen anywhere inside the book. You'd think Shang-Chi versus Bruce Lee would've been the obvious choice, and sold more, wouldn't you?

Shang-Chi, Master Of Kung Fu: Smoke, Beads And Blood

Last week, the news was 'dropped' ( as the young people say ) that there's going to be a Shang-Chi movie. Man, we really are living in the Golden Age, aren't we?
To celebrate, here's one of my favourites from the Doug Moench / Mike Zeck run of the series.
This is actually the perfect entry point, this issue, being a done-in-one that allows Shang to indulge in his usual inner lamenting about how unfair and arbitrary modern life in the western world is, and also to kick arse in no uncertain terms.
Both of which you have every right to expect when you pick up a copy of Master Of Kung Fu.
Hey, remember when Droopy used to take all that crap from the bad guy, until he reached his breaking point with an aside to the viewer: 'You know what? That makes me mad...'
Shang-Chi. The Droopy of Marvel Comics. Just sayin'.

Shang-Chi On Campus

From Deadly Hands Of Kung Fu #11, here's Shang-Chi getting involved in a student riot, with obvious reference to the Kent State shootings of a few years before. It's all a bit shrill, particularly with the main protagonist's habit of shouting every line of dialogue ( said character looking a little bit like writer Doug Moench looked back then ). Plus, I always struggled with Shang's endlessly poetic navel-gazing narration, but I still really like this piece. It's completely of it's time, and still works.