Shang-chi: Master Of Kung-fu Omnibus Vol. 1 Hardcover – 14 June 2016

The Omnibus arrived earlier than scheduled and was exactly what I expected/hoped it to be.

As the son of Asian immigrants, growing up reading comics in the 1980s and 90s didn't give me a lot of options for Asian characters to relate to, since Shang-Chi wasn't being published at the time and manga hadn't hit the mainstream, but I was pretty excited to give this one a read, especially with a Shang-Chi film, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, currently in development.As an Asian superhero book, Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu is a groundbreaking work, being one of the few books with a visible minority lead, and without having lived in that era, it's likely that the book was pretty progressive for its time, but that's about as far as it goes. Shang-Chi is essentially a stock character (the generic Asian martial artist, mostly modeled after Bruce Lee), almost reduced to a background character in his own book. He's largely devoid of anything like a personality, just that he's noble, stoic, adept at martial arts, and rebelling against his evil father.Hands of Shang-Chi: Master of Kung-Fu is a product of its time. The book was developed largely to capitalize on pop culture trends of the time, specifically kung-fu flicks, and a lot of the content simply wouldn't fly today. Shang-Chi is referred to as a "Chinaman" throughout the compilation (mostly by his own ally, Jack Black Tarr), while the primary antagonist, Fu Manchu (licensed through the Sax Rohmer estate) is the embodiment of Yellow Peril. Plus, there was a specific editorial mandate to make Shang-Chi half white, a fact that is brought up in his first issue and never mentioned ever again.That being said, the book is legitimately entertaining and fun in its own right. Solid action and storytelling comes from creators Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin, later by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy (with a lot of fill-in artists to help make deadlines), which is both slick and stylish. However, it needs to be viewed as a product of its era, as much of it simply hasn't aged very well.

This book about the adventures of Shang Chi is as good as i remember them from my childhood. Brings back memories. The english version is better than the poorly translated comics from my youth. Great buy!

Este tomo incluye los 23 primeros numeros protagonizados por Shang-chi, más los cuatro Giant-Size de su colección. El color esta restaurado pero es el original. Incluye las portadas originales y mas todavía, las paginas de correo de los lectores. Tiene además una historia corta del hermanastro de Shang-chi, Medianoche y material promocional aparecido en otros comics que presenta distintos números de Shang-Chi.

As a reader, my first issue of 'Master of Kung Fu' was also Paul Gulacy's last as its artist. That is to say, issue 50 (cover date: March, 1977). To this day, and with the exception of one or two comics, I have none of the issues prior to 38. As MOKF aficionados will know, this was the first of the two-issue 'Cat' storyline. As a reader, I did not stay with the series much after issue fifty, because it quickly dawned upon me that no other artist could draw it as well as Paul Gulacy had. And so far as I was concerned, his absence took the stuffing out of the comic. So for me, buying volume one of the 'Master of Kung Fu Omnibus', which contains all of the material from the beginnings of the series right up to issue 37, was a relatively cheap and convenient way of picking up all of those previously missing comics in a single, hardback volume.One of the central appeals of 'Master of Kung Fu' is its interesting blend of pulp and pop culture influences. The series features characters which have been imported directly from Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novels; most notably Fu Manchu himself and his principal adversary, Sir Denis Nayland-Smith. In the comic, Nayland-Smith is connected to both Scotland Yard and M.I.6. There are also strong, Marvel-created supporting characters like Black Jack Tarr - a London accented, ex-British soldier who loyally serves as the mailed fist to Nayland-Smith's velvet glove. There is also a cinematic James Bond influence, with one of the main characters, Clive Reston, being modelled on a young Sean Connery. The locations for a number of the stories were also clearly influenced by the filmed versions of 'You Only Live Twice' and 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service'. In addition to this, you have the Kung Fu element. Shang-Chi, the 'Master of Kung Fu' himself, was originally created in response to the hit television series, 'Kung Fu'. But under Paul Gulacy's tenure as artist, the character came increasingly to resemble Bruce Lee. And certainly latterly, Lee's most famous film, 'Enter The Dragon', becomes another important point of visual reference for both the character and the locations. So, in 'Master of Kung Fu' you have Bruce Lee, James Bond, Fu Manchu and British Intelligence all beautifully blended together in the same comic book series. As Marvel subsequently lost the rights to use Fu Manchu, as well as Rohmer's other creations, this particular blend has never been repeated. I ought to add that in the comic book, Shang-Chi is the rebellious son of Fu Manchu, who works with Nayland-Smith and British Intelligence to undo his father's plans to dominate the world through his international criminal network. As you can probably tell by now, at its best 'Master of Kung Fu' is pretty high-octane material.Any comic book series on which an artist of above-average talent first develops and finally defines his style is going to be of interest, because that process of development is itself of interest. So for me, the story of 'Master of Kung Fu' is as much the story of Paul Gulacy's development as an artist as it is about anything else. With the exception of issues 38-50, which are not included in this volume, Gulacy's artistic development takes place across the course of this book. Regardless of one's reservations about how Marvel have chosen to reproduce the material it contains, to experience the course of this development remains one of the best reasons for buying the 'Master of Kung Fu' omnibus in the first place.Gulacy's commitment to improving his artwork gradually galvanizes the work of everybody else who was engaged upon producing the comic. Scriptwriter Doug Moench, for example, improves his game as Gulacy improves his own. In fact, Moench begins to write for Gulacy, and in symbiosis with him, in a way which I don't think was true for any other artist who worked on the series. The same is true of Dan Adkins, the inker who had already done excellent work on Jim Steranko's pages in the 1960s, and who, in my view, becomes Gulacy's best inker as Gulacy's work itself becomes increasingly excellent. A good part of the joy in watching this course of development lies in the fact that it has such rudimentary-looking beginnings. With the exception of Adkins, who already had a fully developed grasp of what he was doing, Gulacy and Moench were not afraid to develop in full view of the public gaze. And whether by accident or design, Marvel were not afraid to retain them, nurture them and allow them a fairly free rein as they were doing so. By the time that Gulacy left the series, with issue fifty, his style had become fully formed. And I dare say that with further adjustments and refinements along the way, it is the style which he retains to this day. My point being that he first developed and defined it on 'Master of Kung Fu.'With the exception of issues 38-50, this book contains the best of that process.Gulacy was absent from issue 41. By the time that he returned to the series, with issue 42, Dan Adkins had been replaced as inker, and the consequences of this decision told on the quality of the printed work. Sadly, in my view, Gulacy's last eight issues on 'Master of Kung Fu' - which should have been the pinnacle of the series - were blunted by inking that was competent, at best, but which could not match Dan Adkins' work, nor the work that Gulacy himself was putting into the comic. As a consequence of this, the real 'masterpieces' of 'Master of Kung Fu' are issues 38 and 39 - the 'Cat' storyline, which represents the apex of the Moench/Gulacy/Adkins partnership, with the Gulacy-inked issue 40 thrown in for good measure.As for this particular volume, the written introductions by series creator Steve Englehart, as well as by Doug Moench, are useful, but there are no examples of artist Paul Gulacy's original pages, nor any examples of Gulacy's work as it would have looked when it left his drawing board and before it reached the inker. Nor any word from Gulacy himself. As is so often the case with Marvel, you feel that the work could have been far more sensitively and comprehensively presented than is the case here.The glossy paper on which this material has been printed is also a nuisance. It is true, as others have said, that these comics were never made to be printed on glossy paper, which also happens to be highly reflective of artificial light, as anybody who has tried reading these things under a lamp will know.Generally speaking, I think that you are better off with the original comics than you are with these Omnibus reprint volumes.The five stars are for the series, rather than for this particular book. In my view, the work has yet to be fully and comprehensively presented at its best.