Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter #1
This issue launched DC's answer to the early-1970s martial-arts craze that Marvel had capitalized on with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, making it the publisher's flagship foray into the genre. Beyond its genre-positioning, the issue's deepest long-term significance lies in its supporting cast: it delivers the first DC Comics appearances of Richard Dragon, the O-Sensei, Benjamin Turner (the future Bronze Tiger), and Barney Ling — characters who would collectively underpin decades of DC martial-arts mythology, from the Suicide Squad to Birds of Prey. Turner in particular would evolve into one of DC's most fully realized Black heroes, and both he and Dragon would become the in-universe teachers of Batman, Black Canary, Huntress, and others. The series this issue inaugurated also served as the cradle for Lady Shiva, introduced later in the run, cementing its place as the generative text of the entire DC martial-arts corner of the universe.
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Richard Dragon did not originate as a comic-book character: he was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and editorial cartoonist James R. Berry as the protagonist of their 1974 pulp novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists, published under the shared pseudonym 'Jim Dennis' by Award Books in the U.S. When the novel failed to produce a sequel, O'Neil sold the property to DC Comics, which was looking for a title to compete with Marvel's booming martial-arts line. O'Neil then served as both writer and editor on the series, adapting his own novel — still credited to the 'Jim Dennis' pen name — with interior art by Argentine illustrator Leopoldo Durañona and a cover by Dick Giordano. The first four issues of the series adapt the source novel, after which O'Neil expanded the premise with wholly original material.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First DC Comics appearance of Richard Dragon (Richard Drakunovski), the series' eponymous martial-arts hero.
- First DC Comics appearance of Benjamin Turner, who is called 'Benjamin Stanley' in this issue — his surname was corrected to 'Turner' beginning with issue #2; Turner would eventually become the Bronze Tiger.
- First DC Comics appearance of the O-Sensei, the aged martial-arts master whose dojo serves as the origin point for both Dragon and Turner.
- First DC Comics appearance of Barney Ling and his espionage agency G.O.O.D. (Global Organization of Organized Defense), the spy-world framework for the series.
- Story title is 'Coming of a Dragon!'; script credited to 'Jim Dennis' (the shared pseudonym of Dennis O'Neil and James R. Berry), interior art by Leopoldo Durañona, cover by Dick Giordano; O'Neil also served as editor.
- The issue loosely adapts the 1974 pulp novel Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon's Fists — itself co-written by O'Neil and Berry under the Jim Dennis pseudonym and published by Award Books.
- Batman (Bruce Wayne) and Robin (Dick Grayson) appear in this issue in a Hostess Twinkies house advertisement, 'Batman and the Mummy' — they are not part of the main Richard Dragon story.
- The issue was later collected in the 2021 DC hardcover Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter: Coming of the Dragon!, which also includes the full original 18-issue run, The Brave and the Bold #132, and DC Comics Presents #39.
Cast · 8 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Richard Dragon and Benjamin Turner travel to Afghanistan to stop the slavery ring of Aki.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).