Shang-Chi #1

[cyberghostface]

"I have to confess that even though I was a huge Marvel fan when I was a kid, I was not a Shang-Chi fan. I'm a Chinese American, and I went through a period where I was embarrassed by my own cultural heritage. I didn't want to be the Asian kid at the local comics shop buying the Asian hero comic, you know? It would've felt like I was highlighting everything that made me different from my peers. So, I didn't really have a big heart attachment to Shang-Chi coming into this project.

But there is this ongoing discussion about representation in our super hero comic books. Shang-Chi's been around for a very long time. He might be our most prominent Asian American super hero at this point. He was first created in the '70s, but I do think he's often been treated as an 'other' type of character, meaning his appeal lied in the difference between him and the reader.

In our miniseries, we want to flip it a bit. We want to bring the reader closer to the character. We want the reader to see the world from his perspective, to understand Shang-Chi's desires, flaws, and fears. We want Shang-Chi to be three-dimensional." -- Gene Luen Yang

Comments

[shakalooloo]

Is the lower case meant to replace <> for speaking another language, or represent the characters whispering?

[zachbeacon]

Maybe the former? I though it was just inconsistent lettering. Then again I'm still not used to people outside the Ultimate Universe NOT speaking in all caps; I wonder if younger readers who started there think the rest of the multiverse is yelling all the time.

I'm used to "<>" or footnotes as shorthand for foreign language and either broken word balloons or tiny/illegible text on a large balloon for whispering.

[donnblake]

Hmm. I'm a little surprised that this isn't setting up a connection between Shang-Chi and the Mandarin, but it looks interesting. Not having a lot of background with Shang-Chi comics, my first thought for "female martial artist, eye motif on forehead," was Lady Bullseye, who seemed a particularly odd choice for Sister Hammer.

[shakalooloo]

No doubt the inevitable revelation of the Mandarin being his real father will be a shock reveal somewhere around issue #5.

[dcbanacek]

They still can't get the rights back for Fu Manchu?

[cainofdreaming]

That would mean paying royalties. Marvel does not do that.

[cricharddavies]

[looks at Conan and other REH creations][raises eyebrow]

[thehood]

Plus, you know, Fu Manchu is a racist caricature.

[deh_tommy]

Sure, but that doesn’t stop Fu Manchu from being any less AWESOME

[bravest_spinja]

Yeah, I think bringing back Fu Manchu just isn't worth it--he's already an iffy character even if there were no string attached. Not that say, the Mandarin doesn't have problems, but he's so entrenched with the wider Marvel Universe, and at least you can try to make him a a villain who just happens to be Chinese and has an interesting, non-racial gimmick.

I'm not sure they'll retcon for synergy though, and I definitely think they shouldn't. It's a pretty shrewd move for the movies, but in the comics it'll be like "Oh, I got a NEW evil father? Here we go again." And I think it would also be kind of fucked up from a PC perspective?

[thehood]

If that was the case, what's the point of showing us Zheng Zu's backstory here?

[shakalooloo]

There's no point ret-conning something if the audience is not aware of what's being thrown aside in the first place. To definitively remove Fu M*nchu, they have to definitively prove that he never, ever had anything to do with Shang Chi, and the audience can be as well informed as the hero when he is informed that "everything he knew is a lie!"

[thehood]

Still doesn't seem like it's going to happen here, the solicitation for issue five is about Shang-Chi fighting his sister and the undead.

[thehood]

The issue is still going with Zheng Zu being his father, we even got more of Zheng Zu's backstory. That said, we did see Fing Fang Foom in the flashback.

[tripodeca113]

I guess if they can't get Fu Manchu, the Mandiran will work. Will the films do this as well and finally follow up on that short?

[cyberghostface]

Yes he’s going to be the main villain.

[lordultimus]

Mandarin is obviously based on Fu Manchu, so replacing the latter with the former only makes sense.

(Maybe do something with Yellow Claw, too? Not much motivation until Agents of ATLAS gets an adaptation, though.)

[zachbeacon]

Wasn't Yellow Claw eaten by a dragon? I know no one really stays dead but, as they go, that seems pretty final.

[shakalooloo]

Given that we've already had Jimmy Woo as a throwaway 'comedy' character in the MCU, the chances of a Yellow Claw showing up seem remote.

[thehood]

Mandarin wasn't mentioned in this issue, they're still used Zheng Zu as his father. Though it could always be revealed Zheng Zu is one of Mandarin's many aliases.

[zachbeacon]

I'm just hearing "Sister Dagger would be exelent at Comicbook Sins" in my head.

[leahandillyana]

I really don't enjoy the new character's design coping Okoye's movie visage.

[cyberghostface]

I don’t see the similarities beyond her being bald?

[leahandillyana]

Both her costume and her weapon are very similar.

[cyberghostface]

I'm not seeing it besides something covering the lower half but even then thats different. The guy in the first page is wearing the same type of clothes except its gray and not yellow.

[super_fly]

When they call it the House of the Deadly Staff I take to mean when they ask you to take a seat until your number is called you *do as they say*