Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1974-06-01 00:10:10 |
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Master of Kung Fu #19
Issue(s): Master of Kung Fu #19
Cover Date: Aug 74
Title: "Retreat"
Credits:
Steve Englehart - Writer
Paul Gulacy - Penciler
Al Milgrom - Inker
Review/plot:
Poisoned and pursued through the swamp by a pair of Fu Manchu's minions, Shang-Chi encounters the Man-Thing. He initially fights it, but finds it futile, and winds up getting stuck inside the Man-Thing's body!
He's rescued by a man living in the swamp named Lu Sun.
It's all played entirely seriously, but it's hilarious visually.
It's unclear exactly why Lu Sun is in the swamp. Lu Sun is as interested in making sure the Man-Thing is unhurt as he is in helping Shang-Chi, but he helps Shang-Chi recover from the poison. Shang-Chi shares his recent revelations about his father with Lu Sun...
...but Lu Sun's advice seems cryptic and unhelpful (to me, anyway). Then the assassins arrive...
Lu Sun is injured in the battle. However, the Man-Thing wanders back and they burn at his touch.
The story isn't bad, but not up to the levels this book will be taken to by Doug Moench. Awesome art by Paul Gulacy, though.
Quality Rating: C+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Man-Thing #8-9, but the appearance is totally context free. It's been "twelve hours" since the end of last issue.
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
| Previous: Man-Thing #7-8 | Up: Main 1974 / Box 8 / EiC: Roy Thomas | Next: Giant-Size Spider-Man #1 |
Comments
After Gulacy's art was completed on this issue, Marvel had a moustache drawn onto Lu Sun, as he was seen as looking too much like David Carradine.
The "un-moustached" version appeared in a UK reprint around the same time.
There was a very evident Steranko influence on Gulacy's work. You see it particularly in the third example of the artwork above. Of course, Steranko's influence was understandably widespread.
Interesting about the mustache on Lu Sun, because I had been thinking that he looked like David Carradine myself!
My understanding is that Marvel had the rights to BOTH Fu Manchu AND the "Kung Fu" TV show (which of course starred Carradine) and this series was the result of a weird melding of the two.
So adding the moustache may have been unnecessary - they could have probably used Caradine's likeness if they wanted.
According to Steve Engelhart, in the introduction to the MOFU Omnibus, Kung Fu was his and Jim Starlin's inspiration for doing the book, but only that. He indicates that they started the book before the show really took off in popularity. It was editor Roy Thomas who mandated the Fu Manchu connection (of course).
A comic book based on the Kung Fu TV series with David Carradine would have sold like hotcakes in 1974. Pretty sure it would have outsold Shang-Chi's comics by orders of magnitude. Would have almost certainly have outsold Logan's Run too. Kung Fu Mania in this time period wasn't as big as Batmania was in the 1960s, but it was huge.
Yet Marvel wasn't known for doing TV adaptations, or at least I can't think of any. That was more a Gold Key thing in the 60s as I recall, and Gold Key never did them very well. It seems strange that Marvel would pay for the rights to the Kung Fu TV series and then not use them, but I don't know.
