Chronologic Reading Order

Untitled

KEY

SME

Special Marvel Edition

MOKF

Master of Kung Fu

MOKF GS

Giant Size Master of Kung Fu

MOKF AN

Master of Kung Fu Annual

DHOKF

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu

DHOKF SAE

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Special Album Edition

MCP

Marvel Comics Presents

MOKF BB

Master of Kung Fu: Bleeding Black (1990)

MOKF MAX

Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu (2002)

JIM

Journey Into Mystery


CHRON DATE SERIES # STORY TITLE
1971
September SME 15 Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu
September SME 16 Midnight Brings Dark Death
September DHOKF 1 Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu
September MOKF 17 Lair of the Lost
1972
March DHOKF 2 Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu
March DHOKF 3 Web of Bleeding Vipers
March MOKF 18 Part 1: Attack
March MOKF 19 Part 2: Retreat
March MOKF 20 Part 3: Weapon of the Soul
March MOKF 21 Part 4: Season of Vengeance
May MOKF GS 1 Story 2: Frozen Past, Shattered Memories
May MOKF GS 1 Story 3: Reflections in a Rippled Pool
May MOKF GS 1 Story 1 Part 1: Death Masque
May MOKF GS 1 Story 1 Part 2: The Enemy Within
May MOKF GS 1 Story 1 Part 3: The Council of Seven
August MOKF 22 Fortune of Death
1973
June DHOKF SAE 1 The Master Plan of Fu Manchu
June DHOKF 4 Circle of Serpent's Blood
July DHOKF 5 Two Goals to Seek, One Path to Glory
August DHOKF 6 Lesson of the Locust
September DHOKF 7 The Past Assassins
October DHOKF 8 A Hatred for All Seasons
November DHOKF 9 A Contest of Truth
1974
January DHOKF 11 A Different Lesson In Blood Unchanged
September MOKF GS 2 Part 1: The Devil Doctor's Triumph
September MOKF GS 2 Part 2: Air
September MOKF GS 2 Part 3: Deceit
September MOKF GS 2 Part 4: Dementia
September MOKF 23 Part 1: River of Death
September MOKF 24 Part 2: Massacre Along the Amazon
September MOKF 25 Part 3: Rights of Courage, Fists of Death
December MOKF GS 3 Part 1: Fires of Rebirth
December MOKF GS 3 Part 2: London
December MOKF GS 3 Part 3: Crucible of Deceit
December MOKF GS 3 Part 4: Test of Loyalty
December MOKF 26 Part 1: Daughter of Darkness
December MOKF 27 Part 2: Confrontation
December MOKF 28 Part 3: A Small Spirit Slowly Shaped
1975
February DHOKF 12 Part 1: Blood of the Golden Dragon
February DHOKF 13 Part 2: The Dragon Dies at Midnight
February DHOKF 14 Part 3: Thief in Golden Shadows
February DHOKF 16 Part 4: Demons in Painted Death
February DHOKF 17 Part 5: The Key to the Dragon's Heart
February DHOKF 18 Part 6: Secret of the Dragon
March MOKF GS 4 Part 1: Why a Tiger Claw
March MOKF GS 4 Part 2: The Way of the Tiger: A Movement in Blood
March MOKF 36 Part 1: Cages of Myth, Menagerie of Mirrors
March MOKF 37 Part 2: Web of Dark Death
March MOKF 29 Part 1: The Crystal Connection
March MOKF 30 Part 2: A Gulf of Lions
March MOKF 31 Part 3: Snowbuster
April MOKF 102 A Vision of Winter in Spring
June MOKF 32 Part 1: Assault on an Angry Sea
June MOKF 33 Part 2: Wicked Messenger of Madness
June MOKF 34 Part 3: Cyclone at the Center of a Madman's Crown
June MOKF 35 Part 4: Death-Hand and the Sun of Mordillo
December MOKF 38 Part 1: Cat
December MOKF 39 Part 2: Fight without Pity
December MOKF 40 Part 3: The Murder Agency
December MOKF 41 Part 4: Slain in Secrecy and Illusion
December MOKF AN 1 The Fortress of Sahra Sharn
December DHOKF 29 To Slay the Savior
December MOKF 42 Part 5: The Clock of Shattered Time
December MOKF 43 Part 6: A Flash of Purple Sparks
December MOKF 44 Part 7: Prelude - Golden Daggers (A Death Run)
December MOKF 45 Part 8: Part One - Death Seed
December MOKF 46 Part 9: Part Two (Clive Reston) - The Spider Spell
December MOKF 47 Part 10: Part Three (Leiko Wu) - Phantom Sand
December MOKF 48 Part 11: Part Four (Black Jack Tarr) - City in the Top of the World
December MOKF 49 Part 12: Part Five (Sir Dennis Nayland Smith) - The Affair of the Agent that Died
December MOKF 50 Part 13: Part Six (Fu Manchu) - The Dreamslayer
December MOKF 51 Part 14: Epilogue - Brass and Blackness (A Death Move)
1976
February MOKF 52 A Night at the 1001 Nights
MOKF 53 MOKF #53 is a reprint of issue #20 and should be chronologically ignored.
September MOKF 59 Part 1: The Phoenix Gambit – The Temple of Time
September MOKF 60 Part 2: The Phoenix Gambit – The End
September DHOKF 31 Part 1: Dark Waters of Death
September DHOKF 32 Part 2: The Tiger-Sons Must Die
November DHOKF 33 Between Two Hates
1977
April MOKF 54 Part 1: The Story of War-Yore
April MOKF 56 Part 2: Of Heroes Past and Battles Present
April MOKF 57 Part 3: Call It Thunder
April MOKF 58 Part 4: The Final Faces
May MOKF 55 The Ages of Death
November MOKF 61 Part 1: Glass Orchids
November MOKF 62 Part 2: Red Seas
November MOKF 63 Part 3: Hiding Cats
November MOKF 65 Part 4: Black Knights
November MOKF 66 Part 5: Two Rivers
November MOKF 67 Part 6: Dark Encounters
November MOKF 68 Part 7: Final Combats
November MOKF 69 Part 8: Stairway to Rage
1978
February MOKF 70 Home to Die
February MOKF 64 Deadly Lessons: Like Father, Like Son
March MOKF 71 Part 1: Nightimes
March MOKF 72 Part 2: Traitors to the Crown
March MOKF 73 Part 3: Prisoners of the Crown
March MOKF 74 Part 4: Brynocki Triumphant
March MOKF 75 Part 5: Shattered Crowns
March MOKF 76 Part 6: Smoke, Beads & Blood
March MOKF 77 Part 7: Weapons
March MOKF 78 Part 8: Tread the Night Softly
March MOKF 79 Part 9: To Sleep this Side of Death
March MOKF 80 Part 10: The Pride of Leopards
March MOKF 81 Part 11: Breathless
March MOKF 82 Part 12: Like a God Weeping Fire
March MOKF 83 Part 13: Part One - The Phoenix and the Snake
March MOKF 84 Part 14: Part Two - The Bull and the Dragon
March MOKF 85 Part 15: Part Three - The Ram and The Dove
March MOKF 86 Part 16: Part Four - The Phoenix and the Dragon
March MOKF 87 Part 17: Part Five – The Chrysalis and the Peacock
March MOKF 88 Part 18: Part Six - The Leopard and the Dove
March MOKF 89 Part 19: Part Seven - The Dragons
April MOKF 90 Part 1: Triumphs of the Flesh
April MOKF 91 Part 2: Triumphs of the Spirit
April MOKF 92 Part 3: Shadows of a Silent Past
July MOKF 93 Part 1: Midnight Wind
July MOKF 94 Part 2: Agent Syn's Nightmare
July MOKF 95 Part 3: The Samisdat Secret
October MOKF 96 Part 1: Carter's Super Midnight
October MOKF 97 Part 2: Lost Art
October MOKF 98 Part 3: The Journey as Goal
1979
January MOKF 99 Part 1: Bitter Harvest
January MOKF 100 Part 2: Red of Fang and Claw, All Love Lost
January MOKF 101 Part 3: Not Smoke, Nor Beads, Nor Blood
May MOKF 103 Part 1: A City A Sea
May MOKF 104 Part 2: Fight without Reason
May MOKF 105 Part 3: The Razor-Fist Connection
May MOKF 106 Part 4: The Assassin Master
1981
September MOKF 107 Part 1: A Painless Result of Having Lived
September MOKF 108 Part 2: Chameleons
September MOKF 109 Part 3: The Dark Angel's Kiss
September MOKF 114 A Fantasy of the Autumn Moon
December MOKF 110 Part 1: Perilous Reign
December MOKF 111 Part 2: Deadly Rain
1982
March MOKF 112 Part 1: Commit and Destroy
March MOKF 113 Part 2: Learn and Burn
May MOKF 115 Part 1: Deals
May MOKF 116 Part 2: Blood of His Blood
May MOKF 117 Part 3: Devil Deeds Done in Darkness
May MOKF 118 Part 4: Flesh of My Flesh
July MOKF 120 Dweller by the Dark Stream
September MOKF 119 Brynoki's Marauders
November MOKF 121 Passing Strangers
December MOKF 122 The Madhouse Effect
1983
January MOKF 123 Part 1: Sins of the Son
January MOKF 124 Part 2: Retribution
January MOKF 125 Part 3: Atonement
1988
June MCP 1 Part 1: Crossing Lines Part One - Ripples
June MCP 2 Part 2: Crossing Lines Part Two - Bait
June MCP 3 Part 3: Crossing Lines Part Three - Fish
June MCP 4 Part 4: Crossing Lines Part Four - Water
June MCP 5 Part 5: Crossing Lines Part Five - Lures
June MCP 6 Part 6: Crossing Lines Part Six - Shaols
June MCP 7 Part 7: Crossing Lines Part Seven - Hooks
June MCP 8 Part 8: Crossing Lines Part Eight - Kills
1989
March MCP 156 Part 1: The Gauntlet - Part I
March MCP 157 Part 2: The Gauntlet - Part II
March MCP 158 Part 3: The Gauntlet - Part III
December MOKF BB 1 Bleeding Black
1994
August MOKF MAX 1 Part 1: Hellfire Apocalypse
August MOKF MAX 2 Part 2: Immortal Blood
August MOKF MAX 3 Part 3: Ghost in Paradise
August MOKF MAX 4 Part 4: Hellfire
August MOKF MAX 5 Part 5: Shadow Moves
August MOKF MAX 6 Part 6: The Devil's Son
1997
August JIM 514 Part 1: The Ripple That Stirs
August JIM 515 Part 2: The Ripple That Stirs
August JIM 516 Part 3: The Ripple That Stirs

Notes:
This is a chronologic reading order. It is not a suggested reading order. In terms of an enjoyable reading experience, it's probably best to read the MOKF series and DHOKF series as separate entities.
  • MOKF GS #1 Part 4: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: This resolves both chronologic story-line continuity and geographic location issues concerning the events of MOKF # 21, MOKF GS # 1, and MOKF#22. 
  • MOKF GS #1 Part 5: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: This resolves both chronologic story-line continuity and geographic location issues concerning the events of MOKF # 21, MOKF GS # 1, and MOKF#22. 
  • MOKF #36 & #37: Sequentially relocated and chronologically adjusted. Rationale: MOKF #36 and #37 are fill-in issues. Smith, Tarr, Reston, and Shang Chi are in Smith's Central Park West townhouse in New York. This fits geographic continuity. Tarr and reston are playing chess. Presumably, the same game of chess they are playing in MOKF #29. Leiko is not present or mentioned in this story. This suggests these events occur before Shang Chi and Leiko first meet. 
  • MOKF #53: is a reprint of issue #20. Therefore, it should be chronologically and sequentially ignored. 
  • MOKF #55: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: MOKF #55 is a fill-in issue and interrupts a four part story. It should follow after issue #58. Plot details and events are intertwined with, but must follow, the resurrection of Shaka Kharn as recorded in MOKF #40-51. 
  • MOKF: #59: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: This resolves chronologic story-line continuity issues concerning the relationship of Shang Chi and Leiko detailed in MOKF #58 and #61. 
  • MOKF: #60: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: Issues #59 and #60 form a single indivisible story-line. 
  • MOKF #64: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: MOKF #64 is a fill-in issue and interrupts an eight part story-line. Chronologically, for geographic location continuity, it should follow after issue #70. 
  • MOKF #102: Sequentially relocated. Rationale: This resolves chronologic story-line continuity issues concerning the events of MOKF # 101, 102, and 103. 
  • MOKF #114: Sequentially relocated and chronologically adjusted to September 1981. Rationale: This resolves logic and chronologic story-line continuity issues concerning the date of events as recorded in MOKF # 113, 114, 115, and 120. 
  • MOKF #120: Sequentially relocated and chronologically adjusted to July. Rationale: Shang Chi explicitly states the month is July.
    For a more detailed exposition see: Continuity

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