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Post by profh0011 on Jul 26, 2019 8:10:46 GMT -5
"Hate that second person narration, always have, always will."
We can put this at the feet of Roy Thomas. Over the decades, I've found him to be quite possibly the single MOST irritating writer of dialogue in all of comics history.
"It's amazing how thoroughly Rudy Nebres overpowers anyone he inks."
This was my first exposure to his work. As strange as his inks are (delicate and flowery), his pencils and layouts turned out to be EVEN MORE distinct, unusual, and at times, difficult to put up with. I know he has lots of fans, and I also know he's a nice guy... but this is a case where personal taste has just always prevented me from digging his stuff. (Danny Bulanadi, later on, always seemed to be channelling Nebres' inking style-- I often referred to him as "Nebres-lite".)
My guess is Tony Isabella wrote this story as a direct follow-up to the 8-part IRON FIST origin sequence in MARVEL PREMIERE, since he did the last 3 chapters of that. But the cancellation of the intended B&W magazine is probably why Isabella & McLaughlin disappeared off IF and, frankly, lesser lights carried on.
My favorite IF artists remain Larry Hama & Frank McLaughlin. There's one more McLaughlin IF story coming up, when they have him cross paths with Sons Of The Tiger.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2019 20:58:48 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #28Shang-Chi vs Shadow-Stalker, in an arcade.... MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Ron Wilson, Ed Hannigan & Aubrey Bradford-pencils (uh-oh), Sal Trapani-inks (double uh-oh), Artie Simel-letters, Phil Rache-colors, Len Wein-edits ((That's it, I'm outta here! ) Synopsis: Shang-Chi is checking out a penny arcade, in Times Square, when Tarr and reston pull up and tell him that Nayland Smith has been kidnapped, probably by Fu Manchu...... If the arcade looks familiar, it's because it is the same one where HYDRA tried to ambush Steve Rogers, in Jim Steranko's 3 issue masterpiece. They had found a bamboo blowgun; but, Chi pulls it apart and discovers a note, which is from Fah Lo Suee. She reminds him of a tree where they talked, in his youth and we get a flashback, as she seeks to undermine her father's hold on her half-brother. Chi knows they must go to Honan, to Fu's fortress, to find Fah Lo Suee and Nayland Smith. The trio flies there, with false visas, then Chi disappears and heads for home. he sneaks in and fights some guards, then has a talk with Sis... He turns down his sister and she calls for him to face his killer, Shadow-Stalker. But what's this, Shadow-Stalker has switched sides; he's turned face! Together, they defeat FLS' forces, in a Pier 6-er, with many a crimson mask. Finally, Shadow-Stalker calls for them to unite the Si-Fan under their combined leadership and take power from Fah Lo Suee and Fu Manchu. Like a true babyface, Chi turns him down and Stalker leaves the ring, to go for greener pastures, possibly in Mid-South or World Class Wrestling. He'd fit right in, with Gary Hart as manager. Stalker tells Chi where to find Nayland Smith and Chi frees him...... just before Reston and Tarr show up. Chi also shows that he has the ruby eyes of the golden beetle and smashes them (somehow, without a diamond, which is more capable than bare hands). They head home, to prepare for Saturday night in Greensboro, at the Colosseum (tickets on sale at the box office), then Sunday in Charlotte, where Chi, reston and Tarr will face the Andersons and ric Flair, in a six-man tag-team match. Thoughts: Kind of anti-climactic end to the Fah Lo Suee storyline, though with a nod to Steranko and a bit of a swerve, with Shadow-Stalker. The art is all over the place, with some good panels and some bad. Thankfully, this is the end of the meandering of the series. From this point forward, it gains laser sharp focus, as Moench and Gulacy turn it into something legendary, and it all begins next issue. Shadow-Stalker really needed an artist who could choreograph some really gonzo action.
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 26, 2019 21:32:39 GMT -5
Having Gulacy on the GIANT-SIZE issues was nice, but turned the monthly into a round-robin of chaos. The next (and final) GIANT is all Keith Pollard, and may be the point where he really began to grow as an artist. And that allowed Gulacy to do the monthly more consistently, though STILL with fill-ins by others here and there. But, definitely, I see MOKF as being everything before #29 and then #29-50, as 2 distinct "eras".
So as not to break up Gulacy's momentum any more than it was, my own reading list has DEADLY HANDS #11 (Mike Vosburg's last episode) followed by MOKF #28, then GIANT #4, then DEADLY HANDS #12-18 (an unbroken 6-part serial)... then #29-up.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2019 22:00:30 GMT -5
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #!!Neal Adams is back to bring us Billy Jack! Creative Teams: Shang-Chi- Moench, Vosburg and Abel; SOT- Mantlo, Perez and DeZuniga; Don McGregor-edits Synopsis: Letters page has one from Ralph Macchio (future editor) Shang-Chi- Chis is at Berkeley, where he burns his draft card, blows up to ROTC building and stages a sit-in at the administration building. then he goes to the cafeteria for a lunch of tater tots and cereal. The campus radical is stirring things up on the Quad and a faculty member tells everyone to disperse. The radical attacks him, Chi defends him, and preaches against violence. A woman named Linda (of course) says hi to Chi and asks if he will help calm things. The school has called the governor about the radical and he has sent the National Guard. She fears a repeat of Kent State. Chi tries to talk sense into the radical and calm the national Guard. this being 1974, with a Leftie Marvel writer, you can guess the rest. Crowd incited to riot, soldiers over-react, Chi tries to stop it, saves radical from a bullet, gets winged himself, and 3 are dead. Chi wakes up in hospital, to the faces of Tarr and Nayland Smith. They inform him of Linda's death. Cue Neil Young. "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We're finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio." Scott Edelman and Don Mcgregor write separate pieces about Billy Jack, and the new sequel, Trial of Billy Jack. For the uninitiated, Billy jack is a series of films, starring Tom Laughlin, as a half-breed, ex-Special Forces soldier, who lives on a reservation, in the Southwest. On the reservation land is the Freedom School, a progressive commune of hippie types, young kids, runaways, liberals, Native Americans, and other targets of Fox News. They are routinely harassed by the redneck a-holes of the nearby town,particularly Mr Posner. They do things like dump bags of flour on young Native American boys and smear ice cream on little girls. The students and faculty preach and live non-violence, especially Jean, the head of the school. Usually, Billy Jack comes and saves their pecenik asses and kicks the crap out of the rednecks. The series began with born Losers, which was a biker film, with Laughlin as Billy Jack, who helps a young woman escape the bikers. It even has Jane Russell and her 18 Hour Bra. The film was a modest drive-In circuit hit. Laughlin produced the subsequent series, along with wife Delores Taylor, mixing messages of non-violence and peaceful protest, expanding horizons, youth culture, and other Age of Aquarius ideas, along with more ass-whooping than you will find, outside of Hong Kong. the martial arts action was choreographed by Korean hapkido master Bong Soo Han (who appears in trial of Billy Jack. Billy Jack sees Posner harassing the school, especially his son, bernard, who also rapes jean. Billy finds out and tracks him down, killing him. Trial finds BJ defending the school and a Kent State situation emerges. a 4th film (counting Born Losers), Billy Jack Goes to Washington, proved to be a flop, ending the series. This scene, from Billy Jack (the second movie, but the one that set the tone for the rest) perfectly illustrates the dichotomy of the series... Sons of the Tiger-The boys are still fighting in the Cosmic Galleria, with lots of bodies flying and a robed dude pulling off a hood to reveal a bearded dude, who talks of ancient history, of primordial man, war, rebirth, yadda-yadda. He then says the SOT have passed a test and it is time for rebirth of the Silent ones and a bunch of corpses come out of chambers. The SOT unite amulets, get help from a cosmic army of tiger-headed warriors and Mortal Kombat rejects and Lin-Sun kills a god, leaving only dust. So, Mantlo retcons away the original story and ends with cosmic weirdness, to move on to something else. Thoughts: Doug Moench's Kent State metaphor is pretty ham-fisted; but, at least he shows that both sides are not innocent of bloodshed and violence. Not overly fond of the senior non-com being shown to be a bit of a robot (and made to look a lot like Sgt Rock); but, a young soldier does try to halt things, so the Guardsmen aren't all depicted as stormtroopers. It's all rather cliched, though Kent State wasn't that long before this. Sons of the Tiger is fairly meaningless and all kinds of cosmic hoodoo, but from someone with less talent than Jim Starlin. Mantlo had some fine comic; this isn't one of them. perez continues to improve; but, it's still amateur hour, in many panels. I hope they have a destination in mind, as this series is tiresome. the characters have no personality and the plots are wafer thin. Something more concrete is needed. The Billy Jack stuff is interesting and Don McGregor is quick to point out that mcLaughlin is making a lot of money from these films. The films were marketed as action films, which allowed them to sneak in messages of Native American civil rights, progressive schooling, liberal causes, nonviolent protest, etc, while then playing up every violent exploitation film trope. These were a weird mix of idealism and cynicism. Laughlin became rich; but, never really did much after the 1977 failure of Billy Jack Goes to Washington. As for the films themselves, Billy Jack is probably the best and Laughlin is usually fairly good, throughout. Delores Taylor wona Golden Globe, which shows what a joke they are, as she sounds like she is in a high school play, and not a good one. Most of the actors are either amateurs or real people, not seasoned pros. Trial has some great moments; but is very spotty. A fight at a dance, between Billy Jack & Bong Soo Han and some rednecks is a centerpiece and the ending has a Kent State moment, with a hopeful final message,, with lyrics from Lennon & McCartney.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 26, 2019 22:05:51 GMT -5
The other great scene, from Billy Jack, facing Posner's men, in the town square...
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 27, 2019 10:58:45 GMT -5
My favorite of the films is "THE BORN LOSERS", which, from what I've read, was the biggest money-maker AIP ever distributed. I liked Elizabeth James as the rich girl who falls for Billy. She was supposed to come back in the sequel, but somehow didn't. Jeff Cooper, who played "Gangrene", was later seen in the lead role of "CIRCLE OF IRON", a film written by Bruce Lee around 1968 or 69. Cooper's role, had it been produced when written, was intended for James Coburn. David Carridine played the 4 roles meant for Lee.
Howard Hesseman has a small part in "BILLY JACK". While I can appreciate what the story was trying to do, it's not really something I can watch too many times, and the ambitious-seeming "TRIAL..." struck me more than anything as an overlong, over-produced remake of "BILLY JACK" with nearly the exact same plot elements, only carried to a more tragic ending.
Bong Soo Han later played the villainous "Dr. Klahn" in the "FISTFUL OF YEN" segment of "KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE".
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 27, 2019 19:11:44 GMT -5
Giant Size Master of Kung Fu #4Gee, Wolverine's healing factor isn't compensating for male-pattern baldness. What? Oh, Tiger Claw; gotcha! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Kieth Pollard-pencils, Sal Trapani-inks, Ray Holloway-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Len Wein-edits Yellow Claw by Jack Kirby, Roz Kirby inks, from yellow Claw #2 Synopsis: Chi is back in New York, where he witnesses the craziest cab driver, ever, who looks kinda familiar... His fare orders him to turn left, crashing right into a bank lobby. the goons get out and rob the bank (they are wearing monster masks), while the cabbie has a running commentary, until they rob him. then Shang-Chi shows up and kicks butt. The cops finally turn up and mistake Chi for a robber and the cabbie comes tot he rescue and whisks him away. Chi and the cabbie chase the escaping robbers and they disappear down an alley. the cabbie stops and spots a truck and tells Chi to kick in the door of the trailer. Chi starts to argue; but, gets confused by double talk and does it to shut the guy up, revealing the getaway car. the cabbie discovers that it over an open manhole, where the crooks escaped. Chi and the cabbie follow, into the sewers. he cabbie finally introduces himself: Rufus T Hackstabber (not Firely?) rufus keeps yacking, while Chi's temples pound (and where can you buy a temple, by the pound? Well, maybe Shirley Temple, when her dogs locked up....) Meanwhile, Fu has the Si-Fan searching for someone named Tiger Claw, because he wants him dead for being a traitor. Chi and rufus catch up with the robbers and chase them onto a subway train, before Chi catches up and kicks up the joint, while rufus hopes to get his $7.80 fare. Turns out, the money was still in the car and the robbers were hired by Tiger Claw. The cops have caught up with the truck and so have Smith and Tarr. Chi marches the crooks back and the cops take them. the money and the third man are gone. Chi gives us a flashback to see what a badass Tiger Claw is. The third robber is at a party, Rufus goes to it, Chi and Smith follow. rufus is caught, Chi rescues him, then they go for Tiger Claw, who is picking up the loot. Fu has a report on Tiger Claw. Chi faces TC in a fight, The Si-Fan show up and they team up to beat them, before going back to fighting each other. Chi wins and TC is apprehended, then Rufus badgers Smith and Chi takes a ride with rufus, then pays him the lost $7.80 fare, Yellow Claw- Claw tries to control an ancient god, Temujai, and then escape Jimmy Woo on an ocean liner, in the Mystery of Cabin 361. Thoughts: The Tiger Claw plot doesn't work that well and Rufus T Hackstabber is Doug homaging Groucho Marx, with so-so success. Quite frankly, the ony comic person to really capture his voice and personality was Dave Sim, with Lord Julius. Rufus is a decent attempt and it is amusing to see Chi irritated by him. trying to tack that onto a serious plot, with Fu Manchu and bank robberies just doesn't work. Should have just gone for pure comedy. Yellow Claw stories are light; but, it's Kirby. Length doesn't allow for too much development. That's the end of the Giant Size issues. from here on out it is the regular series and DHOKF, plus a Treasury Edition, reprinting old stories. This features stories from deadly Hands, with new color. Included are the Shang-Chi stories from DHOKF #1-2, the Sons of the Tiger story from issue 1 (with giordano art) and the material from the DHOKF Special.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 27, 2019 20:16:38 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #29Now we go to school! Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Paul Gulacy-art, Tom Orzechowski-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Len Wein-edits Now, the cover we should have had.... Gulacy's splash pages were way better than the actual covers, bringing to mind the Bond movie posters, from Robert McGinnis and others. Synopsis: Shang-Chi arrives at Nayland Smith's Central Park townhouse. Smith asks his help in stopping a drug lord, one Carlton Velcro... Clive Reston is going to his Gulf of Lions estate, on the French Mediterranean coast, as mr Blue, code name of a heroin buyer. his job is to destroy the entire load. Smith asks Chi to help him escape velcro's fortress. Chi s reluctant, since this is not a law enforcement raid, but a covert mission, outside the law. Smith shows him the effects of heroin on addicts... Tarr and Chi will go in by sea, to get reston out, after he sets pryotechnic charges to destroy the raw opium, being processed into heroin. They overfly Velcro's estate... Reston, as Mr Blue, arrives at the estate and meets Velcro. He is then introduced to his enforcer, Razor Fist, who gives a demonstration of his talent. Later, Chi and Tarr hit the water for a scuba insertion onto Velcro's estate, while reston takes out guards and heads for the opium. Alarms go off and Velcro's men are waiting for tarr and Chi, though Tarr has a concussion bomb for them. Reston sets the charges. Tar and Chi cross the estate, to a land bridge into the compound. Chi faces two men and takes them out... Reston is caught by Velcro's guards, and Chi comes face to navel to Razor Fist. Thoughts: Hooo boy; is this great stuff or what? Gulacy has been transformed and the Steranko touches come alive, as Moench delivers a James Bond thriller, starring Bruce Lee (with Sean Connery in a supporting role). Gulacy has altered Chi's look to more of bruce Lee, with deeper expressions. Moench has added a new villain, carlton Velcro, a sophisticated dandy, who is the French Connection, bringing raw opium from Asia, through Turkey, to his estate, to be refined into heroin, then transported to Latin America, to then be smuggled into the US. The real French Connection was a long running operation by the Corsican Gang, bringing heroin from Turkey to Marseilles, then into the US. They had collaborated with the French gestapo, during the occupation, stealing assets which financed the operation. They were protected after the war by the CIA and french intelligence, to fight the communists from gaining control of Marseilles' shipping operations, via union strikes or other means. The operation was busted in the 1960s and early 70s, inspiring William friedkin's the French Connection, in 1971. Moench uses the French Connection to set up a Bond villain, giving him the requisite henchman, and one the films couldn't easily duplicate, with razor Fist, who has blades grafted to both arms. Meanwhile, he looks like he uses the same tailor as Killraven (circa Neal Adams' beginning), with a wrestling singlet and thigh boots. moench and Gulacy gives us a taste, then has Chi run into him, at the end, after easily disposing of Velcro's mercs. This has all of the pacing and trappings of the classic Connery-era Bond films, which were, sadly, over, yet played constantly on ABC tv. By this point, Roger Moore had starred in two Bond films, Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and george Lazenby had his single outing in On her Majesty's Secret Service (after which, Connery was enticed back, with a truckload of money, to play Bond in Diamonds Are Forever). Moore had demonstrated a lighter touch in these films, largely transferring his persona, from the Saint tv series (which had a two-part episode, spoofing the Bond films, in the Fiction-Makers, which was released theatrically, as a movie). His first two outings were a bit more serious, though filled with stunts (the boat jump and the corkscrew car jump, respectively) and jokes, plus emphasis on gadgets. Connery would deliver the one liners, but was deadly serious in his delivery (until Diamonds Are Forever, which got rather jokey, which Connery hated). This is Connery Bond. Meanwhile, Gulacy also adds actual kung fu techniques, with plenty of actual Bruce Lee movements, from his films and martial arts books (he had released several volumes of Jun Fan Gung Fu, as well as The Tao of Jeet Kun Do). Gulacy also upgraded the weaponry to more realistic-looking, though not actual depictions of existing weapons, until he gives Reston the Walter LP-53, the air pistol used for publicity photos of Connery. Gulacy modified the look of it, but used it for several MI-6 operatives. Steranko had created something similar for Nick Fury's needle gun, which Steve Epting later used for SHIELD and Bucky. This is where Master of Kung Fu became a classic, with touches of Steranko, James Bond, Bruce Lee and plenty of storytelling techniques from Steranko and eisner, filtered through Gulacy's pencil. Faces became more refined and models were used, which became a sort of spot the cameo. Action was choreographed on the page, lighting was moody, characters were more expressive, plots were deeper. moench had found his muse, as had Gulacy. They became a team that was compared to Lee and Kirby and O'Neil and Adams. Not sure who Gulacy's model is, for velcro. No actor immediately comes to mind.
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 27, 2019 21:22:38 GMT -5
Another reading order suggestion... MOKF ANNUAL #1 and MOKF #52 (a sequel to GIANT #4) apparently should both take place before MOKF #38, as MOKF #38-51 do not have any break in the storyline. (#41 is a flashback story, but the framing sequence follows directly from #40.)
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 27, 2019 21:37:01 GMT -5
I recall back then somehow being more interest in IRON FIST when it started than MASTER OF KUNG FU. I did pick up the odd issue of MOKF, but it wsn't until my best friend Jim loaned me ALL of his "kung fu" comics (from Marvel, DC and elsewhere) and I sat in the basement one summer afternoon (much cooler down there) and spent several hours in a reading marathon that I really was able to catch up with MOKF and truly become a fan. Jim was missing certain issues here and there, and crazy enough, did NOT have the first part of this 3-parter. So I came in with "A GULF OF LIONS"-- Gulacy inked by DAN ADKINS... and it seems to me my head EXPLODED. I cannot recall ever before that, simply STARING at comic-book pages... for long, long minutes at a time-- unable to turn the page and continue reading on several occasions-- as I did here. Gulacy-Adkins just BLEW MY MIND.
When I was a senior in high school, these comics had a HUGE influence on my visual storytelling in the home-made mini-comics I did at the time.
I realize the 2 issues Paul inked himself are even more intense... but due to the CHEAP toilet-paper-like stuff the books were printed on (where sometimes it felt like you could see both sides of a page at the same time), I've always felt his inks were TOO powerful, or maybe too dark, for what they were printed on. Adkins' lines were CLEANER... and DAMN, those pages just GLEAMED. I'm of the opinion that this entire period of MOKF was FAR better than any of the Bond movies then being made. Maybe if George Lazenby hadn't been STUPID enough to take the horrible advice of his agent and NOT QUIT after one magnificent movie (my favorte of the entire film series), the whole of 70s " 007" films might have been completely different. The JAMES BOND 007 newspaper strip, which was doing all-new original stories at this time, was also better than the movies. (I didn't get to read those, though, until the early 2000s.) I don't think I ever quite figured out who "Velcro" or "Pavane" were modeled on... but I did finally-- and quite recently-- figure out who I think "Leiko" was based on. Crazy enough... I didn't get my hands on the BULK of Jim Steranko's comics output until a few years AFTER these MOKF issues came out. Graduating from high school, getting my first job, and going to my first few comics conventions, with dealers selling back-issues, allowed me to pick up a PILE of old stuff-- CHEAP!! You could really see the influence-- especially in the 3 CAPTAIN AMERICA issues, which I tend to think was his finest work as a writer, as well as artist.
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Post by kirby101 on Jul 27, 2019 22:16:14 GMT -5
cody, I agree with your assessment that #29 is where MOKF became a classic. Gulacy inking Gulacy was a quantum leap.
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Post by profh0011 on Jul 28, 2019 17:22:42 GMT -5
Here's a few samples of the guy who I suspect was an additional influence on Gulacy around this time (as he moved away a bit from the more obvious "Steranko' look)... ALBERTO GIOLITTI. Whatta ya think? (I once confused his stuff with Paul's.)
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 28, 2019 17:44:02 GMT -5
“His name is Velcro... Carlton Velcro”.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 28, 2019 20:25:26 GMT -5
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #12Oh, god; Roger Moore! Nice rendition, by Neal Adams! Creative Teams: Shang-Chi-Doug Moench and Rudy Nebres; SOT-Mantlo & Perez, with the Tribe inking. Archie Goodwin-edits. Synopsis: Nice inside cover piece by Gray Morrow, of Roger Moore, as Bond. Letters page has a letter from Clayton Moore; but, I don't think this is the Lone Ranger. Archie has an editorial, outlining changes to the magazine. They have commissioned 6-part serials (starting here with Shang-Chi) which will allow more complex storytelling, without upsetting the color books. SOT is starting the first of 3 stories, each devoted to one of the Sons. There is an Iron Fist serial, down the road. Shang-Chi- Chi is in New York's Chinatown, taking in a magic show, when the magician's assistant is kidnapped (via trap door) in mid illusion. Chi leaps to the rescue... The Lords of Death have kidnapped her, and will sell her to a brothel, until the Three storms show up and take her to Lo Pan, because she has green eyes............. Wait, that was Big Trouble in Little China. So, these goons have grabbed her, because she knows which Port Authority Bus Terminal locker has the Golden Dragon. Chi opens up his Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu to the chapter on beating the snot out of white slavers/kidnappers and saves the girl, Shareen. Her brother, Cho Lee is most appreciative. he sends her to move the statue (a dragon, fashioned in gold, with a ruby heart), with Chi as bodyguard. it is a family heirloom and quite valuable, though it is the only wealth they possess. Some dude, called Shadow-Thief (the Hawkman villain?) wants it. They are spotted by more goons, who follow. Cue some Wacketa-wacketa guitar and some thumping bass, because I sense a 70s car chase! The goons crash into a wall and Chi and Shareen get to port Authority and the locker, then are found by Shadow-Thief and it is Shaolin vs Ninja! Much chopping and socking occurs, as well as sword slashing and the statue gets knocked to the ground and shatters. It's a fake! Shadow-Thief is unmasked as Cho Lee! He says he made love to his sister! (ewwwww) She's not really his sister! She gets knocked over a railing and is hanging for dear life. Chi saves her and Cho Lee leaves. Chi starts to walk away, in disgust and Shareen explains she knew Cho Lee would kill her and she needed Chi to help make him think the statue was at Port Authority, to keep him away from the real one. Shareen is actually a spy for the People's Republic of China, seeking to return the statue to China. She convinces cHi is is due to cultural significance, not ideology that she wants to return it and he agrees to help. They head for the hotel, where she has hid it and run into Kwai, the assistant to Cho Lee, at the theater, who has guns and goons (great name for a band!) He's after the same thing! Dunh-dunh-duh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don McGregor writes an essay/film review of the latest Bond film, The Man With the Golden Gun and pretty much savages it. I quite like it, more than Live and Let Die and much more than Moonraker or View to a Kill. The film was shot and set in and around Thailand, with Christopher Lee as the super-assassin Scaramanga. Sequences include a meeting at a muy thai arena and fights at a martial arts school. Moore was totally out of his depth in the school sequences and it shows. The stuntwork could have been shot more convincingly. McGregor finds much fault with the jokey tone. it was bad; but nowhere near as bad as it got from Moonraker onward. For the most part, I thought the film had a pretty exciting plot, exotic locales, amazing stunts (the corkscrew car jump), a great villain and theme song. Much of the plot ended up being swiped for Moench & Gulacy's Mordillo storyline, which I will be getting to in the near future. I agree that On Her Majesty's Secret Service was a much better film (one of the best Bond films, for my money and the best novel); but, this was a step up from Diamonds Are Forever and that had Connery (overweight and in a bad toupee). They've been writing the obituary for the Bond films since the dawn of the 70s and they are still here (though i haven't much enjoyed them since Goldeneye) SOT- April 1st, in NYC, Times Square. A woman runs past Abe Grown and is gunned down,... Abe is about to go all Hell Up in Harlem on the gunmen, when gets the drop on him with a gun. he backs off and the man takes off running, only to be gunned down by the guy in the bowler hat. The dying woman gives hima folder and then the cops finally show up. They are all racist and call the man in the bowler "boy" and get a revolver shoved in their mouth. Suddenly, they are much more polite. Bowler takes Abe off for some food and introduces himself as Nathaniel Alexander Byrd, aka Blackbyrd, a PI, who was supposed to protect the woman. Time for some Isaac hayes, I think.... (Hmmmm....sounded different in the film.) The woman was a whistleblower about unsafe conditions at nuclear plants, owned by Caxon Oil. She was exposed and dying. She was on the run, but they finally got her. Blackbyrd tells abe about a pierside warehouse, where Caxon is meeting some revolutionaries to plan their uprising, in exchange for smuggled plutonium. They turn up 9Abe in his circus outfit) and bust up the joint and a woman appears to be the real boos. She takes off in a speedboat and Abe jumps in after her, and ends up at gunpoint. She is about to shoot when the harbor patrol blinds her with a spotlight. She falls overboard uin reaction and ends up run down. Abe and Blackbyrd talk after, about how the government will take down Caxon and Blackbyrd expresses cynicism. Abe says the people took things back from the corrupt ones and went get fooled again. Yeah, right.................... Thoughts: RIP Archie, we miss you. Goodwin has really brought change to this magazine. Both features are vastly improved. Shang-Chi features a bit of mystery, some of it swiped from the Maltese Falcon and some from Scooby Doo ("I would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for that meddling kung fu master!") The plot does kind of bring to mind big Trouble in Little China, with the opening abduction; but, not much else. It's a good, solid story and Rudy nebres' art is a refreshing change. Vosburg was okay and grew into a much better artist; but, nebres is so far ahead of him. he also knows how to work in black & white reproduction. It just looks fantastic. Cho Lee, as Shadow-Thief, claims to be immortal and Chi doesn't discount it, knowing the elixir vitae and his father. I suspect we will see more of Cho Lee. Sons of the Tiger swipes from a bunch of exploitation films, including Shaft. Abe is a bit more Richard roundtree than Jim Kelly. Perez is greatly improved, either due to the Tribe, or he is stepping up his game. Mantlo is much better, though he mistakenly calls nuclear power plants fusion reactors (they are fission reactors) and he also seems to think that if word got out about oil companies owning trouble nuclear plants, the public would be up in arms. Most oil companies were publicly traded and all nuclear plants were regulated by the NRC, with ownership a matter of public record. It wouldn't take much digging to uncover these facts; like read a prospectus. If you want to be topical, do a bit of research. Abe is still a cypher, but, Blackbyrd makes for an interesting character. far more interesting than Abe. Once again, other than Master Kee training the SOT, we know little about them and they don't really have much personality, beyond ethnicity, profession, and appearance. lot of work needed here; but, at least the story was more coherent and exciting. Definite step in the right direction. McGregor's ragging on the Bond films for turning jokey is an old cry. As Greg Hatcher has said, there are two stories when it comes to james Bond: the series has lost its way and is dying and the series has returned to its roots. Roger Moore wasn't Sean Connery; but, he wasn't horrible, either (well, not at this stage). he was playing the Saint, in bond's world. He couldn't do deadly; he just didn't look the part. Connery looked like he could kill half the average crowd and romance their spouses, then get in a round of golf. moore looks like he will mess up his manicure, hence the reliance on gadgets. It worked. Like I said, MWTGG has a pretty good plot and villain and stands up better than many of Moore's films, and plenty of films that followed his run, if you ask me. I'm still in the Connery Camp; but, i enjoyed Moore. If you accept that he is not a cold blooded killer, they are pretty fun. Dalton never really got a chance and had lackluster villains and Brosnan's films had too many cooks stirring the pot (and mediocre villains). Craig hasn't wowed me much, after Casino. Too many 9/11 metaphors and too damn serious. Even Connery had fun when he was killing people. Lazenby got a bad rap and still essayed one of the best films. That's my two cents, anyway.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 29, 2019 20:41:38 GMT -5
Master of Kung Fu #30Kitties! (Mild Language; actually pretty tame for Sylvester, he's a pretty salty kitty) Creative Team: Doug Moench-writer, Paul Gulacy-pencils, Dan Adkins-inks, Artie Simek-letters, Janice Cohen-colors, Len Wein-edits Synopsis: Gulacy's splash page... When we last left the Gulf of Lions, Chi was facing Razor Fist, Clive reston had set off explosives to destroy Carlton Velcro's supply of raw opium, and Chi and Tarr were supposed to get him out of the fortified compound. We now return, with the butt whooping already in progress....... Chi tries to reason with the bruiser, then flips past him. He grabs a candelabra (high tech lair and the guy lights it with candles...) and uses it to block Razor Fist's strikes. However, hot wax pretty much makes it untenable and Chi drops it. Razor Fist goes to slash Chi and he catches the blade between his palms, then shows why he is the Master of Kung Fu... Meanwhile, Reston has been cot and he didn't get all of the opium. he banters with Velcro, while Tarr is on a ledge, outside, trying to figure out how to rescue Reston, when guards on the ground actually do their job. Tarr is spotted and he dives through the window to avoid being shot, right into the fire, with reston. he creates enough distraction for the pair of them to bolt down a corridor and end up playing Han Solo on the Death Star... Tarr and Reston are caught and interrogated. Back at the ranch, Chi still has one blade to worry about. Razor Fist strikes and Chi ducks and RF gets the blade jammed into a statue and Chi makes the most of his indow of opportunity... He picks up the ear of the statue and moves on. Of the coast, Petrie and Nayland Smith wait in their seaplane. Smith broods about the mission, while dressed like MacArthur. Reston and Tarr are put before a trap door, that will drop them into the panther-infested moat. Just then a guard goes down after being hit by some object. It was the ear from the statue and Chi enters and faces the other guard... He threatens to drop a bomb if tarr and reston aren't released and Velcro gives in. They run from the room and Velcro goes over to a console, flicks a switch and the bridge they are crossing suddenly drops a section, and dumps them into the panther-infested moat. Reston yells for Chi to throw the bomb and he does...it was the ear. Plan B is running to a door they spotted, which isn't locked. Tarr and reston get in, while Chi plays with thelitties, then gets yanked inside. They walk through an area and step on a grate and it swivels and dumps them into a chute. They eventually come out of a rock ledge, in a cavern, where they see all of this.... Thoughts: More tremendous action as Chi gets to unfold more martial arts, Tarr and Reston do a lot of running and falling, and Razor Fist does the job to Shang-Chi. Velcro's little seaside resort has al kinds of traps, straight out of Dr No and the Avengers (tv show, like The House That Jack Built). Tons of mayhem, and a surprise related to Velcro's other business: nuclear terrorism! Greath Thunderballs of Fire! Gulacy needs help with issue and Adkins proves a perfect inker, as the mood is maintained and the look of Chi is refined, as he favors Bruce Lee even more. Tarr's hair continues to come back in (MI-6 must have had Rogaine earlier than the rest) and Reston hasn't yet taken on the look of Sean Connery. Funny enough, with all of the great character work, Gulacy struggles with the architecture of Velcro's fortress and with basic vehicles. That ;ast page looks rather flat, when you examine those elements (and the missiles). He does some Steranko touches; but, Sterank was a bit more polished. Gulacy will improve; but, he is no Ken Adam. So, we wrap up with the next chapter; what lies in store for us? How about Pavane?
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