Master of Kung Fu #42
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMaster of Kung Fu #42 is the debut issue for two characters who would anchor the series for years: Shockwave (Lancaster Sneed), a former MI-6 operative turned electric-armored mercenary who is revealed to be Sir Denis Nayland Smith's own nephew, and Melissa Greville, Smith's administrative assistant at MI-6 whose family tree reaches back into Sax Rohmer's original Fu Manchu novels. The double introduction raises the personal stakes of Shang-Chi's world dramatically — one new character is a villain with blood ties to a series mainstay, the other a civilian who keeps the cast grounded in civilian London. The issue also sits inside what collectors and historians recognize as the heart of the celebrated Moench–Gulacy run, a sustained arc (issues #40–50) that Comics Bulletin ranked among the top ten Marvel comics of the 1970s.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
By issue #42, writer Doug Moench and penciler Paul Gulacy were well into their defining collaborative run, which had begun in earnest around issue #22 after original creators Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin departed early in the title's life. Gulacy brought a cinematic, photo-referenced visual style — Shang-Chi modeled on Bruce Lee, James Larner on Marlon Brando — while Moench layered spy-thriller plotting over the martial-arts action. The Grand Comics Database records that the issue was rush-inked by Tom Sutton (rather than by the penciler himself), a production detail confirmed on the letters page of issue #46, which suggests the deadline was tight; colorist Don Warfield and letterer Denise Wohl completed the creative roster under editor Marv Wolfman.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Shockwave (Lancaster Sneed) — a former MI-6 agent turned armored mercenary who wears a stolen exoskeleton suit that generates electrical shocks on contact.
- First appearance of Melissa Greville — Sir Denis Nayland Smith's MI-6 secretary, a Marvel-original character whose uncle Shan Greville is drawn from Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu novel continuity.
- First appearance of the Shockwave Armor as a distinct item in the Marvel Universe.
- Story titled 'Clock of Shattered Time!'; the central conflict pits Shang-Chi against Shockwave in hand-to-hand combat while a time bomb counts down — Shockwave is driven off only when Black Jack Tarr arrives to aid Shang-Chi.
- Shockwave is revealed within this issue's narrative to be the nephew of recurring series mainstay Sir Denis Nayland Smith, deepening the personal dimension of the Si-Fan / Oriental Expediters subplot.
- Creative team: writer Doug Moench, penciler Paul Gulacy, inker Tom Sutton (rush assignment), colorist Don Warfield, letterer Denise Wohl, editor Marv Wolfman; cover by Gil Kane and Al Milgrom.
- The issue was published with two cover-price variants (25¢ standard and a limited 30¢ price variant) plus a British edition.
- Reprinted in: Italian series Shang-Chi Maestro del Kung Fu #32 (Editoriale Corno); French Eclipso #75 (Arédit-Artima, 1981, black-and-white reframed edition); Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Omnibus Vol. 2 (Marvel, 2016); Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection Vol. 2 — Fight Without Pity (Marvel, 2019).
Cast · 10 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Eclipso #75 (1981), Shang-Chi: Master of Kung Fu Omnibus #2 (2016), Master of Kung Fu Epic Collection #2 (2019), Shang-Chi Maestro del Kung Fu #32
Key issues in Master of Kung Fu
Variants (2)
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