It's been a while since we've had a random MCP, and here's one I would've been reading new off the rack: from 1988, Marvel Comics Presents #5, cover by John Buscema and Klaus Janson. 

Five issues in, this was five chapters into three serials, with only the last Daredevil feature a stand-alone. If I recall, this was Logan's second solo story, after his first limited. Having gotten his mutant clock cleaned by crimelord Roche and his thugs--namely vampiric Sapphire Styx and Razorfist--Logan spends this chapter recovering, rescued by Jessan Hoan. Who reveals, she knew he was Wolverine. The claws might've tipped her off. (Written by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Klaus Janson.)

I've read all of this Man-Thing story, but coming in now I'm at a loss: looks like yet another conspiracy around the Sallis version of the Super-Soldier Serum, a Satanist babe seemingly in control of Man-Thing, and an Ollie North-type testifying in front of Congress; that he may have acted 'unconventionally' but he did so for America, darn it. It's pretty obvious Gerber finds him more full of it than the Satanists. (Written by Steve Gerber, art by Tom Sutton.)

Likewise, the only thing I remember about this Shang-Chi serial, is that I think Leiko is taken hostage for most of it, and she loses a hand? I hadn't read much Master of Kung Fu when this came out, so Shang seemed strangely passive; like he's usually waiting for something to happen. Grindberg was doing a nice Neal Adams-feel there, though. (Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Tom Grindberg, inks by Dave Cockrum.)

Finally, the Daredevil short finds our hero trying to save a kid from a stalker. There's a little twist, but not much; but for eight pages, sure. (Written by Terry Kavanagh, pencils by Dwayne Turner, inks by Michael Gustovich.)

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I've seen some of those Fu Manchu movies; Shang didn't punish him enough.

We saw the double-sized last issue some time back, but today we have another double-sized issue that almost feels like more of an ending. From 1982, Master of Kung Fu #118, "Flesh of My Flesh" Written by Doug Moench, art by Gene Day.

It's an all-out action banger, as with Sir Denis Nayland Smith kidnapped and hidden somewhere in London; Shang-Chi parachutes into his father Fu Manchu's fortress in Honan, China. He accompanied by his comrades Black Jack Tarr and Clive Reston, and while Shang is glad they're with him, he also knows they will only be able to go so far with him. Despite having a solid army and later, a giant mantis! Fu was not at the top of his game: he had been kept alive for centuries with his "elixir vitae" serum of immortality, but he needed boosters every so often, which had to come from the blood of his children. Right now, that appeared to be Shang, his sister Fah Lo Suee (which I kept reading as "Fallacy"?) and a clone of Shang: Fu had him cloned years ago, and actually raised the clone in the same castle as Shang, who for years would maybe catch a glimpse of him every once in a while but not understand it. Fu says he had always suspected Shang could be "corrupted" by weak western ways, so he kept the clone in-house and always near him, and their relationship seems much stronger for it, although while Bizarro Shang has a facial scar and wears a black gi, I don't recall if he had a name? Although Fu probably had other kids, maybe just not handy: I think Moench would pull out another for Shang's Marvel Max mini with Paul Gulacy, which also looks coooooooool.

After smashing up the blood previously stolen from him, Shang kills the Death Dealer--maybe that one?--in a one page fight; then frees Fah Lo Suee and confronts his old teacher, who is still loyal to Fu since he wants a return to the old glories. Fah Lo Suee shoots him, then Fu's assistant Ducharme, then tries to kill Fu, who escapes underwater. While Sir Denis escapes in London, so Leiko Wu and Dark Angel (not that one! can save him; Shang runs a gauntlet of vipers and fights his way out of being eaten by that giant mantis, before facing his clone-brother. Meanwhile, Black Jack and Reston have planted bombs all over the place, but then the detonator is triggered in a fight, starting the 30 minute countdown early.

Shang defeats his brother, throwing him to his death: Fu mourns him with a screamed "MY SONNNNN!" before he starts trying to drink the blood before it all leaks out of the corpse. Black Jack and Reston try to warn Shang to get out, but he refuses, telling them their mission was to rescue Fah Lo Suee, and he had to do this. Pouring the elixir into the dirt, he watches the great Fu Manchu trying to lick it off the ground. After the explosions, and the collapse of the castle, they find Shang, not just fine, but "(alive)...for the first time, Reston." They're worried they never found out where Sir Denis was being held, but Shang already knows, his real father is fine, and he tells him so on the last page. 

This was a more than fitting end to the Marvel saga of Fu Manchu, so of course if you go to his Marvel Wiki entry it continues for pages after that. Also, Marvel calls him "Zheng Zu" now and doesn't keep the license, although at least some of his novels have got to be public domain by now. There were five Fu Manchu movies--with Christopher Lee as Fu!--and the last, the Castle of Fu Manchu was a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 episode that nearly broke Joel and the bots! So much stock footage...

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"The End" Week: Heroes for Hire #19!

I'm pretty sure sometimes you guys can tell, when I blog some random issue mid-year, that the last issue will turn up later. Like today! From 1999, Heroes for Hire #19, "Sold Out!" Written by John Ostrander, pencils by Pasqual Ferry, inks by Jaime Mendoza and Pasqual Ferry.

Like the earlier issue we mentioned, this starts conversationally, with Ostrander seemingly telling the reader since this was the last issue, maybe not everyone makes it out...? Nah! This was the conclusion of an adventure in Madripoor, which of course includes a Wolverine guest-spot; as the team faces the pirate Lionsmane, who was really a mutant Chinese general. He was planning on overthrowing the current Chinese government in the future, but currently didn't care if Madripoor was blamed for his acts. He also had gotten Shen Kuei, the Cat, to change sides: that might have been planned from the start, or maybe because this issue had Shang-Chi Ostrander didn't need the Cat anymore? Who can say?

Wolverine sees the Heroes as "flamin' amateurs," as he brings Madripoor's working-class thugs to defend it; but he does need Iron Fist's help with Lionsmane, since he had some degree of invulnerability and Wolvie's bone claws couldn't penetrate. But, while victorious, the Heroes get bad news back home, as Namor had told Jim (Human Torch) Hammond that he had sold Oracle, Inc. Namor had wanted to do more environmental-protection work with the company, but the Heroes for Hire weren't necessarily conducive to that; and he no longer wanted to funnel Atlantean wealth to a surface company, so he sold out to Stark-Fujikawa. ("Stark-Fujikawa" was maybe a throwaway line in Spider-Man 2099, but they tried to make it happen for a while! And I'd almost suspect Tony bought the company, to get his long-standing assistant Mrs. Arbogast back!) A corporate man tells the team changes were needed, like firing ex-cons Luke Cage and Scott Lang, as to not project the wrong image. Everyone quits immediately, which might have been the intention; although She-Hulk threatens legal action if their severance packages were messed with. The team goes their separate ways; no hard feelings.

Hammond also has a cat on his shoulder when he quits, and I had to check: this was long before he adopted Speedball's cat Niels; dude just likes cats! He also maybe didn't have his powers this series, but still tended to look like he was going to burst into flames at any moment. Read more!

It's not really a random MCP issue if it's the next MCP issue, is it.

I mentioned picking this one up the last time we flipped through an MCP, and figured we'd get to it in 2027. So, we're ahead of schedule, anyway! From 1994, Marvel Comics Presents #157, cover by Colin MacNeil.

I also thought the front cover had the bar code? Maybe not, judging from the text on the letters column on the inside cover, since a letter is continued on the other side; so maybe the Fury side is the front? "Jury of Your Peers" is an eight-pager, with Fury infiltrating a HYDRA base, to rescue agents captured by the sadistic "Number 16." With the Helicarrier bombing the base, it looks like Fury is trapped in the bad guy's dungeon...all according to plan? (Written by Mariano Nicieza, pencils by Kris Renkewitz, inks by Brad Vancata.)

The Namorita Kymaera serial continues with "Mother May I." Dehydrated and weakened, Kymaera has at least figured out she's on a sub, so hasn't given up yet; despite being grabbed by a guy in a powered armor with really weird tentacles. Seriously, like two launching from the nipple area and one from the gut; it's weird placement. (Story and pencils by Ed Lazellari, inks by Joe Rosas.) The Vengeance serial "Altered Spirits" also continues, as Michael Badilino wakes up in a homeless shelter, which comes as a relief: maybe all that stuff about being Bizarro-Ghost Rider was just a dream? Yeah, no such luck; and he realizes he's going to have to take his power back from Phantome, who's on a rampage, and memorably melts a guy's face off his skull, for holding her up in traffic. I feel like they were trying to work the formula to maybe add a female Ghost Rider-type, but she wouldn't stick. Also, Badilino helps restrain a homeless guy screaming "I am Kirok!" Hey, who among us... (Written by Chris Cooper, breakdowns by Reggie Jones, finishes by Fred Harper.)

Finally, the Shang-Chi serial also continues; as Shang discovers the "Midnight Slasher" that kidnapped his girl Leiko, was an old foe, Lazarus. It must suck in the MCU to meet and/or fight somebody named "Lazarus" because it all but guarantees they're going to come back after their "death," doesn't it? (Written by Karl Bollers, pencils by Cary Nord, inks by Bambos Georgio.)

Man, I wish I could find my Vengeance Marvel Legend figure: he's one of the very few from the Toy Biz days to not have gotten a re-do since! Read more!

I'm just saying, other companies can still produce black & white magazines; we haven't lost the technology.

By Crom's black beard...! I was going to say, I've complained before, when Marvel had the Conan license, and re-launched Savage Sword of Conan not as a black-and-white magazine, but a traditional comic; which was malfeasance bordering on sacrilege. Then I remembered, didn't I buy all those from a show recently? And if so, where the hell did I put them...I got all distracted, but my point was, I should be mad at this issue, for not coming in the classic Bizarre Adventures format, too: from 2019, Bizarre Adventures #1.

Oddly enough, this would be the first #1 issue for the title: it had been Marvel Preview up until 1981, although it had two "Bizarre Adventures" issues before the title change. This issue features four stories from characters who did, or certainly could have, been featured in the magazine days; starting with a Bloodstone story, with the classic monster-hunter. (Elsa's dad to you newbies!) "The Star-Spawned Sorcerer" Written by Jed Mackay, art by Chris Mooneyham.

Next, Shang-Chi in "The Lesson," which features kung-fu action, again in the vein of the magazine days. Shang faces an old master, but is he the unstoppable weapon he could be...? (Written by Sebastian Girner, art by Francesco Manna, color art by Andy Troy.) Then, Dracula, who of course had his own black & white mag, in "Eveline O'Reilly." Drac revisits an old foe, whom he had conflicting feelings for; but time has long since marched on. (Written by Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad, art by Becky Cloonan, color art by Lee Loughridge.)

There were three variant covers for this book, but I have the Black Goliath one by Aaron Conley, who also draws the three-page closer with the giant hero in 70's style. It's silly, although his "ew, no, I'm a normal human" crack is a bit rough. ("How Does He Do It?" Written by Jon Adams, art by Aaron Conley, color art by John Rauch.)

For a buck, this was pretty good! Although I wish I had a big stack of black & white next to me now.

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Shang-Chi, robot fighter!

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.  

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I think I always start with the back cover.

The front cover has the bar code, right? Ah, let's just do this: from 1994, Marvel Comics Presents #158, opening with the ClanDestine preview "Scare Tactics" Written and penciled by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer. Fighting an array of robots, youngsters Rory and Pandora are gung-ho, until they're crushed! The Hulk-ish Walter is furious with Woody Allen-lookalike Newton; since this was supposed to be a Danger Room-style training session to scare the kids out of superheroing, but they survive and thrive...which makes the rest of the family concerned they would be discovered. This issue might've been discovered by scalpers, after the ClanDestine's somewhat baffling appearance on Disney's Ms. Marvel show, but I wrote the rest of this post before that!

Next, Kymaera...you know, Kymaera? OK, Namorita, from when she was blue! She wasn't thrilled about it either, and was trying to get to geneticist Matrix to maybe get changed back. I'm not sure how exactly that was going to happen, or how she was going to convince Matrix to do that, since the cape-wearing drama queen scuttles her sub and abandons her crew to get away. Kymaera saves the crew and turns them over to the Coast Guard, but laments she may never be what she was...Of course she'd get changed back at some point there. ("Reversal of Fortune, part 4 of 4" Story and art by Ed Lazellari, inks by Joe Rosas.)

Under the other cover, we find yet another middle chapter of a Vengeance serial--good grief, I'll see how one ends someday. Michael Badilino has fallen prey to the old "give up my powers, oh wait, now they're being misused and I have to take them back" plot. Phantome is now rampaging through the city as a knockoff of Vengeance, which makes her a knockoff of a knockoff of Ghost Rider; while her old thug Gargantua tries to get Michael to save his boss and change her back. After she melts a homeless guy's face (!) and tries the same on Michael, he realizes he still has her powers; Phantome just manifested her own somehow. With multiple deaths (including Gargantua, apparently) she realizes she'd lost it, but with her and Vengeance surrounded by fuel cannisters on a burning pier, it may be too little, too late! ("Altered Spirits, part 3 of 4, Fire and Blood" Written by Chris Cooper, pencils by Reggie Jones, inks by Fred Harper.)

Lastly, the conclusion of a Shang-Chi three-parter, "The Gauntlet" Written by Karl Bollers, pencils by Cary Nord, inks by Bambos Gorgio. Shang manages to rescue Leiko, but is then drugged by Lazarus, then has a flashback to his childhood and another ordeal at the hands of Fu Manchu nope, he's just referred to as "my father" here, multiple times! Shang's dad tries to force him to kill and fails, but that doesn't save the victim. Shang comes back to end the gauntlet with the "silent shout," which doesn't seem to be one he uses often? Ever?

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Got the Death Dealer and Xialing from Amazon yesterday! And lucky I'm not a mint-on-card kind of guy, since Xialing's package was squozen nearly flat! Only the Mr. Hyde torso saved it.

I'm not sure Hyde's head is quite right, but okay. Also, got the Jurassic Park John Raymond Arnold the other day too: I took the above picture on the fly, and I might have been going for an Avengers initiative joke there somewhere and didn't make it there.

Next up is probably M.O.D.O.K. and She-Hulk, although they'll arrive a couple days apart, for some reason. And I did get a Fwoosh ninja that was marked down a bit, and he wasn't bad! My only complaint is the wrist pegs are like the Mezco One:12 figures, a little small. We'll probably see him later. Read more!

I didn't get Mr. Hyde built yesterday, but I did go through a box from the last comic book show I went to, and found a book I had been wanting to blog forever! We did actually blog one panel from it back in 2007, since I've had the trade forever, but didn't have one to cram into the scanner. From 1980, Captain America #251, "The Mercenary and the Madman!" Written by Roger Stern, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Joe Rubinstein.

While Cap indulges in a bit of flashback, Mr. Hyde is broken out of prison, by Batroc the Leaper! Well, by Batroc's staff. He is, how you say, très busy, non? Still, he has a lot of overhead costs, what with staff, equipment, his floating barge/secret headquarters, prostitutes; so he's going to need the five million Hyde promised him. Too bad Hyde doesn't have it! While Batroc gets steamed, he can't kick the crap out of him, and Hyde has some scheme cooking to come up with the cash. The next day, Steve Rogers wraps up an all-nighter, and new love interest Bernie Rosenthal makes him some breakfast and grills him for info.

Hyde and Batroc hijack a Roxxon tanker, which could easily explode and destroy most of New York, and Hyde tries to extort a billion dollar ransom from the company. They also demand Cap as a hostage (well, one of them does...) but Cap has a trap laid for them, gassing most of Batroc's men, then is able to slug him into it. Then, it should be a piece of cake to take down Hyde; Cap had done it before--

And Hyde straight-up no-sales that one! You don't see Cap drop the ball like that very often, but Hyde had leveled up since he fought Cap, and beats the stuffing out of him. The issue ends with a dire cliffhanger, with Cap chained to the bow of the tanker, as Hyde is going to ram it into the city! Stern and Byrne's run was a short one, but a great one. Read more!

Although that new Wonder Woman movie is going to be on streaming around Christmas, I don't think Marvel/Disney has scheduled anything for home release. Have they? I could've sworn there was a Black Widow date, but may have imagined that. Anyway, getting ready for Shang-Chi's movie I picked up some cheap but hopefully key issues, starting with this one: from 1981, Master of Kung Fu #100, "Red of Fang and Claw, All Love Lost" Written by Doug Moench, art by Gene Day and Mike Zeck, inking assists by John Beatty and Bob McLeod.

If he hadn't already, Sir Denis Nayland Smith was coming up on a grim anniversary, fifty years of fighting the evil machinations of Fu Manchu: This issue opens with a flashback to 1932, told through his journals. In Cairo, he and his crew risk a trap, for him to meet his love, Fah Lo Suee--the daughter of Fu Manchu. She may have been willing to betray her father, for the "elixer vitae," the immortality serum keeping Fu going. Fu was in Egypt for one of the serum's ingredients, and to recruit new assassins: in a long-buried tomb, he claims it was built for him, but he would never need it. Smith can't bring himself to believe Fu was that old, but...He catches a lot of Fu's induction spiel, which promises immortality after a nice mindwipe and "elimination of the psycho-sexual factor," but doesn't grasp what all he's getting at. Captured after a shoot-out, Smith is on the verge of becoming a brainwashed assassin, when Fah Lo slaps the needle out of Fu's hand; then Smith's crew saves their boss, guns blazing. Fu escapes with his daughter, leaving Smith wondering if she would be punished, or would she stay young while he grew older and older...?

Thirty years later, a young Shang-Chi is visited by his sister, seemingly ageless and beautiful, and her lover. Eavesdropping, Shang hears his father tell Fah Lo it was time for the punishment of her betrayal from three decades back, involving a replacement of something he lost. Some months later, she visits Shang to say goodbye, asking him not to light a candle, and he notices the raspiness of her voice now. Listening unseen again, he hears Fu berate Fah Lo again, for wrecking one of his experiments and loosing it upon the world; something he implies has happened before. Fu also cuts off her serum, as she is much older when Shang sees her next, until she begs to get it back.

In the present, a serial killer again stalks the streets of Whitechapel, and Leiko offers herself as the bait to catch this new Ripper. Recounting his 1932 adventure to Shang, Smith and his crew have figured that Fu knew the original Jack the Ripper, and was using his psychosis in conditioning his assassins: removing that "psycho-sexual factor" would've given him killers that could attack men as well as women. Leiko trails the Ripper and manages to stop him from claiming a victim, but is injured, leading Shang to take up the search. Instead, Shang finds Fu Manchu's Si-Fan assassins, who want the Ripper themselves: Fu was supposedly dead at the time, which may have occurred multiple times over the series. Fighting through them, Shang faces the Ripper in his lair, and realizes he recognizes him: Fah Lo's lover, unaged, if insane. Fah Lo arrives, wanting to save him from Fu Manchu's horrible brainwashing, but can't get through to him and is forced to shoot him. She leaves tearfully, telling Shang to tell Smith she's sorry they couldn't be together, and she really hopes Shang had killed their dad. (Not quite yet! Soon!)

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OK, pretty good toy haul Friday and Saturday! Starting with the new (She-)Hulk and Shang-Chi!

Next, the Walgreens exclusive Marvel Legends Stepford Cuckoo! I don't think I realized she was out yet; so yay! Three heads and a Cerebro helmet with her. I don't know if I have any plans for her character, but it keeps my string of Walgreens figures going.

Also that haul: this mini-Megatron! Someone had posted notice of these on Twitter, but so far he's the only one I found; and even that was a stroke of luck: his package was alone, on the back corner of a shelf. Very pleased to have him; I love miniature Transformers. Still tempted to buy a full case, though. The Dollar Stores also came through with multiple DC Animated DVDs, like Justice League Action and Batman vs. Robin; and a little Toy Story 4 Forky, because my son finds "Forky Asks a Question" hysterical. I don't know!

Saturday, we hit the next town over, for Doctor Doom! Doom's two per case, but moved pretty quickly here; yet I still feel like he should be more available later. That completes the Super-Skrull, although a warning: his legs were really tough to peg in! Out of the Spider-Man Demogoblin figures, I nearly picked up White Rabbit but haven't yet; and didn't see a single Vulture.

In case all that wasn't enough: I got the most recent Crisis 100-pager, a good stack of dollar comics, a Legion flight ring, a Hot Wheels Batwing, an Iron Man novel I hadn't seen before: that's a haul that's going to be tough to beat!


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It would be hilarious if it needed more post-production special effects than the rest...

Last week Destin Daniel Cretton was picked to direct Marvel's (upcoming, eventually) Shang-Chi movie--wait, are they going with that as the title, and not Master of Kung Fu? Huh. Well, encouragingly enough, it sounds like they plan on leaning hard into the martial arts side of things--something the Iron Fist show didn't push hard enough, y'ask me. While I'm not a huge fan of the character, I still have some issues here and there, or keep grabbing them from the quarter bins. Like this one! From 1980, Master of Kung Fu #93, "Midnight Wind" Written by Doug Moench, pencils by Mike Zeck, inks by Gene Day.

In Chinatown, Shang and Leiko are enjoying a visit to a used bookstore; so the issue opens with the parable they had read. They don't have much time to dwell on it, as they are soon reunited with their old friend, Black Jack Tarr! Who needs help rescuing a girl from a cult, the Dawning Light. Shang had been around enough by that point to guess Tarr wasn't doing this out of the kindness of his heart: the girl had stolen "tradecraft," papers from the Ministry of Defense. Something was up with the Dawning Light...The magenta robes aren't particularly threatening, although I'd write that off as an artifact of comic book coloring and printing. (White robes would show images from the other side of the page, right? And black robes would be a mess.)

The girl, Mandy Greville, is rescued in fairly short order, but is profoundly ungrateful: it's not yet clear if she was brainwashed, or a "true believer." Even though Tarr had known her since she was a child, she still promises to kill him...Until looking this up in the GCD, I didn't realize this was a three-part story. I'm guessing Mandy doesn't succeed, though.

I always associate this book with a lot of captions; I wonder if that could carry into a film version? Like, Shang's narration never stops, fight scene or no...

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