Master of Kung Fu is a 2015 Marvel Comics limited series written by Haden Blackman and illustrated by Dalibor Talajic and Goran Sudzuka, with colors by Miroslav Mrva.
The series is part of the Secret Wars (2015) event, set at a time when reality has been remade and the only remaining planet is Battleworld, a patchwork of different realms held together by the will of Doctor Doom.
One of those realms is K'un Lun, home to many different martial arts schools. In the wake of a war that almost destroyed the kingdom, it was decided that an emperor would be selected through trial by combat every 13 years.
For the last century, that emperor has been Zheng Zu, the father of Shang-Chi. But this version of Shang-Chi is very different from the existing Marvel Universe character.
Master of Kung Fu (2015) provides examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg:
- Zheng Zu amputates Razor Fist's hands as punishment for his failure against Shang-Chi
- Cy lost an arm prior to the start of the story, while trying to protect Rahne.
- Archnemesis Dad: Zheng Zu, as usual. Shang-Chi's rebellion against his villainous father has been one of the recurring themes for the Marvel Universe versions of the characters. These versions are in a different context, but the conflict is the same.
- Art Shift: The first three pages of each issue retell some of K'un Lun's history and are drawn as if they were an illustrated scroll.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The selection of the emperor.
- Big Bad: Zheng Zu, Shang-Chi's father. The main Marvel Universe version has always been an Archnemesis Dad to Shang-Chi, and this one plays the same role. Not only is he the ruler of K'un Lun and commander of the other villains, his corruption is what sends Shang-Chi into exile before the story starts.
- Composite Character: The Mandarin is merged with Shang-Chi's father, Zheng Zu. This version has Zheng Zu's name, but is closer to the Mandarin's personality and powers.
- Drunken Master: Shang-Chi starts this way. He drinks less later in the series.
- Merged Reality: This version of K'un Lun (Battleworld as a whole also qualifies, but the series doesn't stop to explore that).
- Race Lift: The series has a few Marvel characters reimagined as Asian, in keeping with the old school wushu film aesthetic.
- Sacrificial Lamb: Cy is killed by the Laughing Skull, convincing Shang-Chi that he needs to stop hiding and must stand up against his father.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Many of them. Most are drawn from the powers of the Mandarin’s ten rings.
- The Gorgon's Eye petrifies a target.
- The Mortal Blade shifts a hand into a razor-sharp blade.
- The Zero Touch can freeze someone to death.
