The trajectory of the Kung-Fu master is close to turning fifty in the Marvel Universe and very soon we will be able to see him debut within the UCM with Shang-Chi and the legend of the five rings. Panini comics open your mouth with this story where we expand the family of the fierce fighter.
The structure of the house
Many years ago Zheng Zu, formerly known as Fu Man … we will not name him, also by powers father of Shang-Chi, organized his faction under the guise of a series of houses, whose main characteristic was a lethal weapon. Zheng Zu is no longer among us, he died at the bedside of Secret Avengers with his son as a witness. But in these times when resurrection is getting cheaper, we can look forward to his return in the near future. Each house was left in the charge of one of their multiple sons and daughters, who earned the right by becoming champions of their respective houses.
It’s always nice to delve into a character’s roots if it’s done successfully. Digging into their past or that of their ancestors can help us enrich the story they are telling us, better understand the motivations and understand the reasons that led this or that protagonist to take one path or another. The education received, the values instilled, whether he received guidance or forged himself. Everything is important and we see it reflected in the different brothers that Shang-Chi has just discovered in a good exercise in retrocontinuity, which may slightly remind us of what Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and David Aja have already done with Iron fist in 2007, even in the structure, mixing passages from the past with what is happening in the present. Although it is not comparable in terms of merit.
The Asian team
Marvel has decided to give an identity to this new miniseries of the Master of Kung-Fu that surrounds it with all the mysticism and tradition that a group of authors with at least Asian origins can contribute. The script has fallen on Gene Luen Yang, an American of Chinese parents who makes his Marvel debut with this series although he has background in independent publishers and in various Superman stories for DC Comics.
In its favor, it must be said that it not only entertains but also performs didactic work by finding in these comics snippets of the real history of China, which it conveniently adapts to give greater importance to Zheng Zu, such as the one known as the Boxer Rebellion, when Kingdom The United States, Japan, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the United States of America joined forces to dismember China and gain colonial territories around 1900. In the cinema we have westernized examples of this with the great reference of 55 days in Beijing.
For the drawing we have the Filipino contrast Philip Tan (Uncanny X-Men, Spawn, and a long stay at DC Comics), who takes care of the pages where the flashbacks are narrated, and with Dike Ruan (with sporadic appearances in some collections Spiderman), a Chinese who currently resides in Italy, who offers us the adventures of Shang-Chi in the current era. Both are detailed artists with similar styles that it takes a bit to differentiate. His dynamism in the fluid combat scenes or his use of lighting cause the delight of the reader. A modern style and very indebted to cinematographic animation manage to complete the set by means of the coloring of the Malaysian Sebastian Cheng. I said, a team that comes from or has its roots in the Far East to take care of a character with a tradition closely linked to the area.
Shang-chi part of a not very original premise but that works when it comes to entertaining. As a starter for his future film, it can be considered an interesting approach to the character’s lore and the culture he comes from. Along with the volume that Panini Comics will put on sale in the month of August, with a selection of relatively current stories of Shang-Chi within the Marvel Universe, we have material to delve fully into what will be the most important film premiere for the Marvel fans in September 2021, day 3 to be exact.