Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1978-02-01 00:02:10 |
| Previous: Uncanny X-Men #109 | Up: Main | Next: Rampaging Hulk #7 (Man-Thing) |
Master of Kung Fu #61
Issue(s): Master of Kung Fu #61
Cover Date: Feb 78
Title: "Glass orchid"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Jim Craig - Penciler
John Tartaglione - Inker
Review/plot:
Mostly downtime, following up on sub-plots that are relatively impenetrable to readers popping in for a random issue. The main story is Shang-Chi getting attacked by an assassin named Skull-Crusher. Skull-Crusher's MO is pretty bizarre even for MOKF standards. He wears a skimpy leather outfit that is covered with heavy metal discs, and he attacks with a pair of balls on chains.
He's been hired to prevent Shang-Chi from going to Hong Kong. Shang-Chi didn't even know he was going to Hong Kong because the MI-6 secretary has been in the hospital. Skull-Crusher flees when Reston shows up to give Shang-Chi the note.
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
| Previous: Uncanny X-Men #109 | Up: Main | Next: Rampaging Hulk #7 (Man-Thing) |
Comments
When MOKF was reprinted in England, it was retitled "SI-6 the Specialist".
Ha! Laughing at your note about the " sub-plots that are relatively impenetrable to readers popping in for a random issue." And, naturally, this was my jumping-back-in point, having not read the title since #42 befuddled my teenage brain two years before. Still didn't hook me (I didn't start collecting the series properly until I found 29-31 in a back-issue box), but not off-putting in and of itself. The Skull-Crusher fight is very cool, and even the Fleetwood Mac discussion didn't hurt the issue.
Of course, I had no idea of the romantic back-story, so that was a pain. Looking at the whole run as a piece, Leiko's decision here to go back to Clive seems artificial, just a way to keep her and Shang-Chi apart for the length of this Juliette story. And of course Clive is an idiot to turn her down, but he's so glad to have the shoe on the other foot, for once.
Jim Craig is no Gulacy, but overall the art works. He was horrible with making deadlines, so I hardly mind the shift to Mike Zeck in mid-story, but I think this is Craig's best issue.
