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Marvel Database

The girl surprises me. I have met her in a place which demands money in return for the 'teaching' of a skill which may only be learned... through a process of self-effacement ... and yet she has learned.

Shang-Chi

Appearing in ""The Devil Doctor's Triumph""

Reprint of the 1st story from
Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu #2

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  • Peko
  • Doctor Chen
  • Sandy Chen (First appearance)
  • Bodhidharma (Mentioned)

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Synopsis for ""The Devil Doctor's Triumph""

Reprint of the 1st story from
Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu #2
Chapter 1: Eyes

On a sidewalk outside a martial arts studio, a drunk accosts Shang-Chi while he waits for Sir Denis Nayland Smith to arrive. The man swings, misses, and crashes through a plate glass window. The owner of the studio, a woman named Sandy, invites Shang-Chi inside. She invites him to dinner, then to a walk in the park. The "drunk" reports to Fu Manchu that Shang-Chi missed his appointment with Smith.

a deadly first date

a deadly first date

Sandy and Shang-Chi sit on a park bench. They stare into each other's eyes. They kiss. Shang-Chi hears a stealthy motion in the bushes, just before a group of Si-Fan assassins appears. Not only does Sandy strike first, she holds her own in the ensuing battle. Smith appears in a horse-drawn carriage, driven by Black Jack Tarr, and picks them up. Smith tells Shang-Chi that Doctor Ling (called "Chen" later), a Chinese scientist, will defect soon and needs protection. Sandy reluctantly leaves.

Chapter 2: Air

flying the unfriendly skies

flying the unfriendly skies

Smith continues to give instructions to Shang-Chi right up to the door of the plane. Smith will take another route, but he has placed agents on the plane for backup. Once aboard, Shang-Chi realizes that the plan has gone awry when the stewardess tries to garrote him. One by one, the other passengers shed their innocent appearances and attack. Shang-Chi knocks out the pilots and finds the real crew tied up in a closet, along with his contact. The plane lands in Peking. The contact gets Shang-Chi past customs and gives him a pair of nunchaku.

Chapter 3: Deceit

Shang-Chi makes his way through the streets of Peking to meet another contact. He hears footsteps following him. Assassins gather in his wake until there are dozens. He reaches a courtyard and cannot go any further. He draws the nunchaku, angry that he must use a weapon, but here he has no choice. "Madness rules his spirit! He would oppose us all!!" says one of the assassins before they close in.

mad Shang-Chi

mad Shang-Chi

Rather than scattering his concentration, Shang-Chi's anger only makes him more dangerous. Some of the assassins flee rather than face him. The others fall.

Shang-Chi reaches the rendezvous point. A robed figure beckons him to a waiting car. The figure pulls back its hood to reveal ... Sandy! The car takes them to Chen's home in the countryside. Sandy turns out to be the daughter of Doctor Chen, whom she has not seen in ten years.

While Sandy prepares tea, Chen tells Shang-Chi that he must pass on the secret of his research. He whispers it before Sandy returns.

Next morning Sandy and an agent leave to make the final arrangements for Chen's defection. The "agent" goes to Fu Manchu's fortress and carries an unconscious Sandy inside.

Shang-Chi patrols outside Chen's house. He notices a door left open and finds Chen has stabbed himself. Fu has arrived too late to wrest the secret from Chen, but he can still get it from his son. Someone knocks out Shang-Chi.

He awakens in the fortress with truth serum in his bloodstream. Fu wants the secret. Shang-Chi only says, "Where ... is ... the ... girl?" Fu pulls a lever, and Shang-Chi falls through a trap door.

Chapter 4: Dementia

Shang-Chi finds himself in the top half of an hourglass, and the bottom half has metal spikes set in a pool of acid! Fu Manchu demands the secret, but time runs out. Shang-Chi falls headfirst ... and grabs two spikes. He flips onto a normal floor. Taking the only exit, he enters a maze.

the maze of madness

the maze of madness

The truth serum (or, more likely, something Fu added to it) causes Shang-Chi to hallucinate. At every corner in the maze, the voice of Fu Manchu mocks him, threatens him, demanding the secret. Around every bend lurks a Si-Fan assassin—or it might be a skeleton—or it might be a shadow. When he can go no further, he meets Sandy—or it might be Death. Whatever they are, they fall before his fury. So does the stone wall that blocks his path.

Shang-Chi steps into the original room. He has proven that Fu cannot force the secret from him, so there is no reason to keep it. But in fact, there is no secret. Chen was trying to develop a synthetic nutrient and abolish hunger. He failed, and so he killed himself. Fu becomes angry. When Shang-Chi asks again about Sandy, Fu says, "You fool!! You killed her yourself!"

A commotion erupts upstairs. Smith, Tarr, and several agents erupt into the room, guns blazing. One of the assassins tries to kill Shang-Chi with a large sword but manages only a deep cut in his side before getting shot. Fu Manchu escapes in the confusion. Smith tells Shang-Chi that they found Sandy's body in the maze.

Appearing in "The Black Knight Lives Again!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Avengers #48

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Synopsis for "The Black Knight Lives Again!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Avengers #48
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are held captive by Magneto, but Quicksilver manages to send a distress signal. Hercules continues to search deserted Olympus for clues. Hawkeye, Goliath and the Wasp receive the distress call. Meanwhile, deciding to use his uncle's inventions for good, Dane Whitman becomes the new Black Knight. He goes to the Avengers to help them, but mistaking him for evil, they attack. Dane becomes angry when they do not believe him, so he flies off on his own.

Appearing in "...I, Dormammu!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Doctor Strange #172

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Synopsis for "...I, Dormammu!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Doctor Strange #172
Revealing himself to his opponent, Dormammu adds Doctor Strange to his collection of prisoners. Dormammu then explains that when all thought he was destroyed battling Eternity, he was really transported to the Nameless Realm where he took control and plotted his revenge after Clea had appeared in that realm and he took her prisoner.

With his enemies imprisoned, Dormammu leaves a demon to guard over them while he deals with more pressing matters. Freeing himself from his mystical confinement, Doctor Strange battles the guardian, killing it with the Eye of Agamotto. Freeing Clea and Victoria, and after a brief reunion with Clea, Doctor Strange sends both women back to Earth while he goes to deal with Dormammu.

Summoning Umar to show her that he still lives, Dormammu then leads an army of Dykkors to the Doorway of the Dimensions; however, when they arrive there, they find that Doctor Strange is the only force barring their path.

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