DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #16 - What'd you call me?
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - cover art by Luiz Dominguez)
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #16 starts off with a painted cover by Luiz Dominguez. Not my favorite DHoKF cover, and certainly not my favorite Luiz Dominguez painted cover (that would be Dracula Lives #5), but... it conveys a scene from an interior story pretty well so... it's all good.
I love this beat up copy I can read and look over endlessly. Ah, the beatup comic. So awesome.
Originally released one day after my 12th Birthday in 1975.
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by Frank McLaughlin)
Not sure where Frank McLaughlin got this story from or who the Thai King is supposed to be, but it's a very cool one page tale that he wrote and drew. McLaughlin of course is a Judo teacher and the creator of the JudoMaster character from Charlton Comics (now owned by DC). And he was a regular contributor to DHoFK.
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by Rudy Nebres)
Rudy Nebres was one of my favorite artists of the wave of Filipino talent that came over in the 70's and started working in the comic book business. His dark brushed style was perfect for the Black & White Curtis Magazine stories. He was a regular in DHoKF from 1975-77.
"Demons in Painted Death' is Part 4 in the 'Golden Dragon' Serial, written by Doug Moench. It would run 6 parts total, all drawn by Nebres, in DHoKF issues #12-14, and 16-18.
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by Rudy Nebres)
One thing that really stands out to me about some of these stories is the blatant racism of the bad guys. Shang-Chi gets called 'Chinaman' by this guy so many times, that by the end of the story, I'm READY for Shang-Chi to knock his head off!
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by Rudy Nebres)
And boy, could Nebres draw Shang-Chi knockin' people's heads off! I used to slowly take in every panel of a page like this...
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975)
One big difference between Marvel and DC back in the day, was Marvel's sense of humor. You just wouldn't see a goofy ad like this in a DC Comic. Marvel wasn't afraid to have a little fun when trying to talk you out of your money.
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by Sanho Kim)
The middle story of the book is 10 page John Warner story called 'The Corpse Rider'. Drawn by Sanho Kim (also a regular contributor to DHoKF), his style is almost the opposite of Nebres, and yet it works perfectly for this story.
In Ancient Japan (the city of Kyoto is mentioned), a man who'd left his wife to try and become a great Samurai, finds out she died of a broken heart. To keep her from rising from the dead and claiming her vengeance, he has to get on her back and hang on throughout the entire night as she DOES rise from the dead and go on a killing spree!
It's a cool story and the art is just right in its creepiness and haunting mood...
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by George Perez)
The cover story is a Sons of the Tiger 1st parter called 'The Rites of Every Citizen', in which the team goes to investigate killings at a prison and get caught up in a really bad scene. Again, the bad guys have a sick, racist edge to their abuse, the main guard continually calling Abe (he's black), the highly offensive 'boy', numerous times.
Personally, it's over the top, and I'm curious if they kept it as is in the collected editions.
(DEADLY HANDS of KUNG-FU #16 - Cover Dated Sept 1975 - on Newsstands August 7th, 1975 - art by George Perez)
Anyway, in case you're unaware, the Sons of the Tiger are the leader, Lin Sun (Chinese), Abe Brown (African American) and Bob Diamond (Caucasian), plus Lotus (the Asian babe) who is now a 'Daughter of the Tiger'.
Not sure why they broke the team up a couple of issues later, but some of them have made appearances over the years.
A very entertaining issue!
