Historical Origin

In Special Marvel Edition # 15, we find this letters page titled "Missives to the Master". Since this issue was the first appearance and origin story for the character, Shang-Chi Master of Kung Fu, Roy Thomas and Steve Englehart wisely elected to give us the genuine historical origin story!

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MISSIVES TO THE MASTER

c/o MARVEL COMICS GROUP, 575 MADISON AVE N.Y.C. 10022 

 

SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY NOTE:

MASTER OF KUNG FU!

Catchy title, that: it, along with the cover of this issue of SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION, was premiered at the July 4th Comic Art Convention held in New York City, and it's been the subject of questioning letters and capricious fan-comment ever since.

It's a weird-enough concept, you'll have to grant us that: a cataclysmic combination of the kind of martial-arts action which has recently taken both TV and the movies by storm, and the sinister super-villainy of the most famous fictional evil mastermind ever, Fu Manchu. And all birthed over cheeseburgers and chocolate mousse in an informal conference between Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin, and yours truly at a unique little place called the Auto Pub. 

But the real origins of this series go back even further - more than sixty years to be exact, and - well, I'll let stainless Steve tell you all about that in his own inimitable way...! 

Roy T.

This initial tale of Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu, and his frankly far-out father, could only touch upon many of the major points Jim and I plan to develop further in the issues to come, so we thought we'd use this space (later to be devoted to your letters of comment) to rap a bit about the series.

First, for those of you who are meeting the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu for the first time - the archetypal arch-fiend (upon whom all other so-called "yellow peril" types. including Marvel's own Yellow Claw and Mandarin, were based) was the creation of Arthur Sarstield Ward, under his much better known pseudonym of Sax Rohmer. Rohmer's early interests included ancient Egypt and the occult, but for a time he worked as a journalist - until editors began buying his fiction as well. He wrote a great many stories in his lifetime, most of them not about Fu Manchu, but it is for the devil doctor that he's most remembered.

Rohmer detailed Fu Manchu's epic battles with Sir Denis Nayland Smith for nearly fifty years, always setting the stories contemporaneously. Thus, in the first book, published in 1913, Nayland Smith and Petrie are in their twenties, and live in pre-World-War-I London. In the final adventures, written in the late 1950's, Sir Denis is in his 60's, and Petrie has long since retired from the chase. We have tried to maintain the practice in the series.

But why, you ask, are we doing Fu Manchu anyway? Isn't the real star of this hook Shang-Chi? Well, the answer lies in an agreement worked out between Marvel and Rohmer's literary agents several years ago, granting us the rights to use Fu Manchu in comics. On more than one occasion, Stan and Roy began to work up a series for the good doctor, but somehow, something always aborted their plans. Then, recently, an interest in Oriental philosophy and culture swept America, and two of the most-swept were Steve and Jim. They started haranguing Roy for a chance to do a strip about a master of the martial and mental arts - Roy remembered the classic Oriental villain he had in the wings and voila! A combination of the two, in order to provide a framework of evil in which Shang-Chi could operate.

As to who the real star of the books is - well, Steve and Jim consider both of our lead characters to be in that category. The focus of the adventures will be on Shang-Chi, because his abilities for action and his complex character are very interesting to follow; but the diametrically-opposed character and unnameable evils of Fu Manchu provide the perfect counter-point. As with Rohmer's novels, Fu will remain in the shadows most of the time, but his presence will be everywhere.

Finally, I, Steve, would like very much to thank Robert E. Briney, editor of The Rohmer Review, a journal dealing with all aspects of Rohmer's life and works, for his help with this first issue. I hasten to add that Mr. Briney only responded to questions I asked him, and hasn't seen this story before publication, so any errors in my telling of the Fu Manchu legend are my sole responsibility. If you'd be interested in learning more about The Rohmer Review, write to Mr. Briney at 4 Forest Avenue, Salem, Mass. 01970.

See you in SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #16, folks!

 

MARVEL

IS ON THE

MOVE AGAIN!

The Letters Page

In many MOKF issues, the letters pages are just as interesting and entertaining as Shang-Chi's adventures. With a regular cast of returning letter contributors, including Catherine “Cat” Yronwode, Bill Wu,  and future Marvel executive editor, Ralph Macchio, Missives to the Master are worth giving a read. If you haven't taken the time, I suggest you do!

There are two ways that the community of readers of Master of Kung Fu becomes a selective community, more than just "anyone who picks up this comic book." First, the common, shared tastes enumerated above become a litmus test separating the fan from the reader. Recognizing the allusions in the comic helps to establish a common symbol system. Second, and perhaps more importantly, the members of the community recognize each other. They refer to each other in their correspondence—creating a kind of positive reinforcement of common group identification. 

A web of members of the community is created by these references. The readers of MoKF interact with each other in ways that we see echoed today in online forums and other sites of "online community"—helping cement our sense of the readers of MoKF as a genuine community of readers. 

[ David Beard. Comic Fans and Convergence Culture: Community of Readers in The Master of Kung Fu. 2009 ]

'Nuff said!