I bought the comic version Marvel Legends of
Shang-Chi--yeesh, back in 2020 again! Like the week before COVID! But I saw a picture
on BlueSky the other day with the aftermarket red robes, that looked great; a vast improvement. I don't think I'm a big enough fan to spring for one, but...it's tempting. Anyway, let's flip through a cheap old one: from 1979,
Master of Kung Fu #74, "Brynocki Triumphant" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Mike Zeck, inks and letters by Bruce Patterson.
This was the penultimate issue of the "Mordillo's Island" storyline, as Shang, series regulars Leiko Wu and Black Jack Tarr, and former MI6 agent and electricity enthusiast
Shockwave (not
that one! Or
that one!) are forced to band together and attempt to escape said island. Mordillo was dead as hell, but his little robot
Brynocki was still commanding an army of robot thugs and remarkably loyal to his dead boss. With the end goal of killing Leiko, he was briefly partnered with Shockwave, but turned against him when Shockwave started acting crazy after a crash: he wasn't particularly stable, and a concussion probably didn't help.
Shang disarms Shockwave's suit, so he wouldn't be electrocuted when they jump off a cliff into the ocean; but the four are then faced with the Monstrobot! Which I remember from an
old blog, that I'm glad is still there.
That little weirdo Brynocki probably wasn't expected to return here, and oddly enough, he'd return a couple more times! He's in
Rom #47, although he'd be overshadowed by the new Dire Wraith design.
5 comments:
Wow, those aftermarket robes REALLY do make the figure look better! I wonder when Hasbro will “be inspired” enough to release an official version for sale.
Could just be me, but why does the name Black Jack Tarr sound like a slang term for drugs, specifically heroin? Hmmm.
Don’t know much about this Byrnocki, but he seems way too annoying to keep around. Probably why he hasn’t been used much in awhile.
I feel like they reused this bit for a Moon Knight/Shang-Chi special in the 90’s. Brynocki was behind that one too as I recall. I know I have it somewhere (or at least I used to).
Sod, I know the issue; but all I remember is MK increasingly frustrated with Shang's implacable zen tomfoolery. Oh, and the faux-covers by like Gene Colan and Ty Templeton!
Yeah, the bonus material for that one was definitely good. I feel like that’s where Marvel stood out, was the pinups and backup stories they put in their specials and annuals. I don’t recall them doing it much if at all lately, but it was pretty common from the 60’s to the 90’s.
You’ve definitely got a point there about the back-up features being so integral to Marvel Comics for as long as it was. I know personal mileage may vary depending on who you are, but certain back up stories mattered more than most & sometimes helped expand on the main story or better flesh out certain characters motivations.
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