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in: Comics, Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1, Eli Katz/Cover Artist,
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Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1 3

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Quote1 My father has often said to me: 'A man may not be too careful in his choice of enemies, for once he has chosen ... he has forfeited a friend.' These are words my father has lived by, for he is Fu Manchu, and his life is his word. Quote2
—Shang-Chi

Appearing in "Fires of Rebirth"

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Synopsis for "Fires of Rebirth"

Shang-Chi looks into a toy-store window on Park Avenue, well aware that someone has followed him there. He confronts the man, who shows him an identity card from the British Secret Service and says that Sir Denis Nayland Smith sent him. Shang-Chi follows him to a sedan and gets into the back seat. Gas begins to fill the compartment. He punches through the roof, climbs atop the car, breaks the passenger-side window, and grabs the man by his tie. The car veers off the street and into a wall. Shang-Chi examines the man's effects and finds a dragon amulet—the sign of the Phansigars, an eastern Indian cult that handles Fu Manchu's most important jobs.

Clive Reston (Earth-616) fron Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1 3 001

First appearance of Clive Reston

At Smith's Central Park West townhouse, the butler informs Shang-Chi that Smith has left. He introduces Clive Reston, a British agent, who takes a sudden interest in the amulet. Just as suddenly, three Phansigars burst through the windows. Shang-Chi defeats two of them quickly, worried about Reston. Even without his gun, though, Reston is still dangerous; he pulls a curtain over his opponent and knocks him over a railing. In the process he knocks an elephant statue off a stand. With the fight over, Reston tells Shang-Chi that their destination is ....

Chapter 2: London

Shang-Chi and Reston find Smith in the Orientology Hall at the British Museum of Natural History. He and Black Jack Tarr are combing through the debris from a break-in. Smith says that the Phansigars have recently ransacked several such places, searching for something that they have not yet found. He draws this conclusion because they have taken nothing. No clues turn up, so they head out of the museum. Shang-Chi asks why Smith has focused his efforts on England; Smith says that a policemen found a note reading, "I am alive ~ Petrie" (Shang-Chi apparently killed him in Special Marvel Edition #15).

Clive Reston (Earth-616) fron Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1 3 002

Like father, like son

They pass an exhibit of cavemen, who come to life and attack. Reston looks for some deeper meaning behind this sort of attacker, but Smith assures him that Fu Manchu is simply showing off.

Chapter 3: Crucible of Deceit

Zheng Shang-Chi (Earth-616) and Phansigars (Earth-616) from Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1 3 001

Shut up and fight!

An English bobby guards a curio shop, following mysterious orders from Scotland Yard. Out of the fog flies a bola that wraps around his neck. Three Phansigars break into the shop to search it. The door swings open, surprising them. A muffled figures says only, "Stop," but then punches through the opened door, stunning the Phansigar hiding behind it. Shang-Chi drops his disguise and goes after the other two. He pins one to the wall with two swords, because Smith wants someone to interrogate, and sends the other through a window. On his way out, he finds the bobby's wallet lying on the steps; he had a wife, a son, a daughter. Shang-Chi puts the wallet with the bobby's body and drags the surviving Phansigar away.

Chapter 4: Test of Loyalty

At Scotland Yard, the Phansigar has been given truth serum. Smith asks what Fu Manchu wants so badly. "Vengeance .. for the theft of life ...." Where will he go next? "Buckingham ... Palace ...."

Fu meets with Shadow Stalker, his most trusted assassin, and sends him on an unspecified mission. Shang-Chi, Smith, Tarr, and Reston race toward the palace. A Phansigar flattens one of their tires with a blowgun. Shang-Chi gives chase, but while he is gone, Shadow Stalker knocks out Tarr and Reston and kidnaps Smith. When Shang-Chi returns, he finds Tarr being loaded into an ambulance; he and Reston continue on to the palace. There they guard the queen's collection of antiquities.

Two Phansigars burst in. Reston shoots, dropping one and wounding the other. Shang-Chi chases the wounded assassin through the halls to the queen's throne room. The Phansigar goes through a secret door behind the throne. Shang-Chi realizes that stealth is paramount, so he pinches Reston's neck to knock him out and follows the secret passageway.

Zheng Shang-Chi (Earth-616), James Petrie (Earth-616), and Zheng Zu (Earth-616) from Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu Vol 1 3 001

The depth of betrayal

At the end of the trail Shang-Chi finds Fu Manchu ... and the real Petrie! Only then does he realize how duplicitous his father can be and how thoroughly he has been used. He is angry enough to kill ... but Fu claps once and a panel opens. Smith is strapped to a table, with two Phansigars ready to stab him if Shang-Chi attacks Fu. Shang-Chi reluctantly agrees to a bargain: if he can beat Shadow Stalker, Smith will die quickly, but if he loses, Smith dies slowly. To make the fight interesting, Shadow Stalker has two spiked balls on chains at the ends of a bar run through his topknot, and both fighters are chained to a pole. Shang-Chi uses one of the spiked balls to break his chain and breaks the pole to knock out Shadow Stalker.

Fu orders a Phansigar to kill Smith. Reston appears and shoots the assassin. Fu presses a button that drops him through a trap door, escaping yet again. Smith releases Petrie, who tells him that Fu's object was an elephant statue filled with elixir vitae, his potion of immortality, because his supply is low. Smith recalls that he took such a statue from one of Fu's bases years ago. Shang-Chi recalls that this statue broke during the fight in Smith's townhouse, which means that Fu Manchu is desperate... and more dangerous than ever...

Appearing in "Concentrate on Chaos!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Yellow Claw #2Concentrate on Chaos!

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  • Unnamed Farmer
  • "Amandy"
  • Elmer
  • Billy

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  • Yellow Claw's Plane

Synopsis for "Concentrate on Chaos!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Yellow Claw #2Concentrate on Chaos!

In his latest plot for world domination, the Yellow Claw captured six very powerful mutants possessing reality altering powers. He subjugated these mutants to his will using his power of hypnotism and set them to causing chaos throughout California. Jimmy Woo received a note from the Claw's grand-niece Suwan and follows its instructions, flying a jet alone into the Mojave desert. She shows him the way to the Claw's secret headquarters, but Jimmy's gun turns into a set of handcuffs because of the mutant's powers. The Claw then shows Jimmy the mutants who he plans to use to take over the world. Unbeknown to him, however, Suwan makes her way over to a large gong and bangs it, breaking the Yellow Claw's control and causing the mutants to come to. The mutants then use their powers to escape the Claw's clutches and teleport out of the secret base in a giant flash of light. The Claw, however, escapes aboard a plane with Suwan before Jimmy can capture him.

Appearing in "(Unnamed Yellow Claw Story)"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Yellow Claw #2
(originally printed as The Mystery of Cabin 361!)

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  • Unnamed S.S. Aloha Captain
  • Gestapo (Mentioned)
  • Unnamed American Diplomats

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  • S.S. Aloha

Synopsis for "(Unnamed Yellow Claw Story)"

Reprint of the 3rd story from
Yellow Claw #2
(originally printed as The Mystery of Cabin 361!)

Jimmy Woo of the FBI is in San Francisco searching for traces of Yellow Claw and spots a suspicious looking elderly couple boarding the S.S. Aloha when he notices that the "elderly woman" is walking in the way of someone much younger. Woo gets permission from his superiors to board the ship and goes undercover as a steward and learns from the captain that the elderly couple are in cabin 361. However they find that checking out the passengers is difficult when they have not left their rooms and have had food dropped off at their door.

Inside cabin 361, Jimmy's fears prove correct as Yellow Claw, his agent Karl von Horstbadden are in the cabin and keeping Yellow Claw's daughter Suwan sedated so that she does not tip off Jimmy Woo to their current whereabouts. Yellow Claw however, exhibiting telepathic abilities detect Woo is coming to snoop on them. When Woo comes pretending to deliver a meal to their room, Yellow Claw invites him in and doffs his disguise. With Woo at gun point, Yellow Claw shows off the images in his crystal ball and revealing his plans. He tells Woo that he intends to steal secret plans from two American diplomats from eastern countries in order to steal the secret plans they are bringing with them.

With Woo as a prisoner, Yellow Claw initiates his plans, sending Karl to take the diplomats prisoner and steal their plans. Yellow Claw then radios his communist allies to have a sub meet them at sea. Yellow Claw then forces Jimmy to carry Suwan out with them as they prepare to jump overboard, but Woo uses a moment to slam into an alarm bell. With everyone on board in a panic, Yellow Claw pulls a gun on Woo and takes Suwan and dives overboard with Karl without the plans and escapes.

Notes

  • Although the real Petrie makes his first appearance in this story, a doppelganger appeared in Special Marvel Edition #15. Until now, Shang-Chi (and the authorities) believed that he had assassinated Doctor Petrie by order of Fu Manchu. This issue reveals that the Petrie killed by Shang was in fact a duplicate of some sort created by Fu to cover his kidnapping of the real Doctor Petrie.
  • Clive Reston (who first appears in this story) became a regular supporting character throughout the remainder of the Master of Kung Fu series.

Trivia

  • Alert readers may infer that the character of Clive Reston is the son of James Bond, although for copyright reasons that name is never explicitly given.

See Also

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