It takes a bit for this series to rise above a basic "ride the kung fu wave" that it was started under, but the reader can really feel the story begin to kick into gear once artist Paul Gulacy signs on, then almost immediately after, writer Doug Moench comes aboard.

Gulacy, as a comic artist, definitely has his growing pains in the first few issues, but almost immediately, this goes from a standard Marvel comic in the 70s to something far deeper and far more cinematic.

Pains are taken with the supporting characters and, with each issue from the 20s on, the book overall gets better and better. Yes, there are the silly, dumb issues, but overall, this was one of the shining examples of what could be done on a series with the right team in place. ( )

Shang-Chi is the son of Fu Manchu, the criminal mastermind created by Sax Rohmer. Indoctrinated from birth into his father's twisted world view, he suffers a crisis of faith after completing his first assassination, rejects his father's teachings and falls in with a group of British agents actively thwarting Fu Manchu's grabs for world domination. Naturally, Fu Manchu wants Shang-Chi dead for his betrayal.

Back in the day I was more interested in the more "super" heroes than down to earth characters like this, but Doug Moench has always been one of my favorite comics writers so I thought I'd give this a try. While I don't regret it, I do have some misgivings. Sometimes it takes a series a while to find its groove and so it was with this one. I'm actually a little surprised that it lasted so long but I suppose martial arts being a popular fad in the west at the time gave it a boost. The stories are very formulaic for a good chunk of this volume and generally fall into one of two categories: the heroes get a tip-off that Fu Manchu is about to get his hands on some deadly technology or other, and they set out to stop him; or Shang-Chi is minding his own business in New York (for example trying to find a decent Chinese restaurant) when he is assaulted by Fu Manchu's assassins. At the end of the story, Fu Manchu always makes a miraculous escape. It probably was less noticeable back when you had a month between issues, but reading them in a collected volume makes it painfully obvious. The art is also pretty mediocre for most of the book, though there a few guest-shots (most notably John Buscema) that shine.

Then, about two-thirds of the way in, the book takes a self-proclaimed "exciting new direction" and it's not hype. We get multi-part stories that don't involve Fu Manchu at all. The characters start to become more developed and less stock. And Paul Gulacy's art improves dramatically. The characters' faces have more, well, character and look less like generic comic book faces with different hairstyles put on. The last third or so of the book looks great. I'm not sure if I'm going to buy all the volumes of this series, but the late change in styles in this volume is promising. ( )