Issue(s): Master of Kung Fu #20, Master of Kung Fu #21
Cover Date: Sep-Oct 74
Title: "Weapon of the soul / Poison of the soul" / "Season of vengeance... / Moment of death!"
Credits:
Gerry Conway & Doug Moench / Doug Moench - Writer
Paul Gulacy / Al Milgrom - Penciler
Al Milgrom / Ron Wilson - Inker

Review/plot:
Gerry Conway writes the first half of issue #20; the rest is written by Doug Moench, his first time on the book.

In these issues a US crime boss, Demmy Marston, tries to have Shang-Chi killed to impress Fu Manchu. First he hires some local mercenaries, and although one of them turns out to be better than expected...

...Shang-Chi is able to defeat them all. So them the boss goes out of network and hires the Korain...

...a former associate of Fu Manchu's who, we'll learn, is taking Fu Manchu's life elixir.

During his battle with Shang-Chi, the elixir runs out, and he winds up having a heart attack. Marston's girlfriend also gets killed.

Marston's goons track Shang-Chi to an aquatic park, and kill a dolphin while gunning for Shang-Chi.

Shang-Chi loses his cool at that point, pretty much for the first time since he was introduced, and it's not explicitly said that this is the reason he gets captured but that's how i'm interpreting it.

Marston takes Shang-Chi to one of the Florida Keys to execute him, but then Fu Manchu and his Si Fan assassins show up and murder all the mob guys. See, only Fu Manchu gets to kill Shang-Chi, and only at a time and place of his choosing. So he leaves Shang-Chi tied to a tree.

I'm not so sure about that ending, but it's another cool story. With these issues, Master of Kung Fu is a monthly book. It's been a short jump from Special Marvel Edition to a dedicated bi-monthly series to going monthly, and i'd like to credit that to the creative teams but the overall kung fu mania sweeping the world at this point was probably at least as much of a factor.

I've always stuck with the idea that the bean-enthusiast Hulk is a vegetarian (despite, i have to admit, evidence to the contrary, but hey it's the Hulk and he's kinda dumb and doesn't always know what he's doing), but if i really want a veggie super-hero role model, Shang-Chi is the clearer choice. While fighting a shark (!) at the aqua park...

...he says that "As I have learned to eat the berry and the sprout... so too must this creature learn that one's life need not depend on another's death."

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A