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As Shang-Chi officially joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe, here are the best comic book stories starring the deadly hands of the Master of Kung Fu.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe just got its own superhero martial artist as Shang-Chi leaps into action in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Created by Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin in 1973’s Marvel Special Edition #15, the Master of Kung Fu has been a staple in the Marvel Universe, lending his unmatchable hand-to-hand combat skills and serving on a variety of superhero teams at various points of his history, including the Avengers.
With Shang-Chi now in theaters, here are some of the best comic book adventures available starring the Master of Kung Fu across his extensive published history.
Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection: Weapon of the Soul
The original Master of Kung Fu comic book series was an unequivocal success, totaling up to 125 issues, an annual and four giant-sized specials over the course of its nine-year run. The series encompassed Shang-Chi’s combative history with his evil father Fu Manchu — before the character was retconned with a different name — in a globe-trotting adventure, including the critically acclaimed creative team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy.
Marvel is in the process of collecting Master of Kung Fu in a set of Epic Collections, with the first volume, Weapon of the Soul, compiling the series through the 28th issue, the first giant-sized special and a handful of guest appearances from the 1970s. The second volume, Fight Without Pity, collects the series through the 53rd issue and its sole annual.
Shang-Chi: Earth’s Mightiest Martial Artist
While Shang-Chi didn’t headline his own title for years after the eventual conclusion of Master of Kung Fu in 1983, the superhero has sporadically resurfaced in memorable guest appearances in other titles ever since. And while there’s some overlap between the collection Shang-Chi: Earth’s Mightiest Martial Artist and other entries on this list, it serves as a fantastic sampler for Shang-Chi’s guest appearances.
The collection compiles several of Shang-Chi’s guest appearances and team-ups from the ’90s into the ’10s. Some of this volume’s highlights include a team-up with the X-Men that sees the heroes go up against the Kingpin and a standout tale from Shang-Chi’s time as an Avenger, where he puts his deadly hands to good use in keeping the Marvel Universe safe.
Secret Avengers: Eyes of the Dragon
Of all the guest appearances of Shang-Chi alongside his fellow Marvel superheroes, few are as acclaimed and tie directly in the Master of Kung Fu’s history than the second arc of Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker, Mike Deodato, Jr. and Will Conrad. “Eyes of the Dragon” subtly retcons elements of Shang-Chi’s history as he teams up with Avengers for a final showdown against his father Zheng Zhu.
Running through the pages of Secret Avengers #6-12, the story arc is perfectly accessible for new readers that may have missed the first arc and continues to stand among Shang-Chi’s best modern stories a full decade since its original publication.
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas
While the original iteration of the Agents of Atlas focused on the Marvel heroes of the 1950s, Greg Pak and Gang Hyuk Lim repositioned the team as one that comprised of the Marvel Universe’s Asian superheroes, with one of the team’s most prominent heroes being Shang-Chi.
While the New Agents of Atlas received their own series, Pak and Lim’s work on the title technically began with a tie-in miniseries as part of the 2019 crossover event War of the Realms. With Asia threatened by Malekith’s invading armies of monsters, the tie-in story had former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo form a team to defend the continent from a fantastical threat.
Shang-Chi: Brothers & Sisters
The most current writer of Shang-Chi comics is Eisner-Award winner Gene Luen Yang, who started his work with the character last year in a miniseries collected as “Brothers & Sisters.” While Dike Ruan illustrated sequences set during present day, flashback sequences chronicling Zheng Zhu’s rise to power generations ago are illustrated by Philip Tan, as Shang-Chi experiences his family’s corrosive potential firsthand.
Since the miniseries’ successful reception, Yang has since reunited with Ruan to relaunch a Shang-Chi ongoing comic book series that follows the Master of Kung Fu as he interacts with his reformed family while teaming up with familiar faces from across the Marvel Universe.
KEEP READING: Shang-Chi: The Next MCU Hero Just Met a New Kind of Watcher
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