American Update: Mighty Marvel Firsts: Debut of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu in Special Marvel Edition #15
*Marvel: One of Marvel’s most successful attempts at diversifying their line in the 1970s was their cash-in on the Martial Arts craze, with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu! His inauspicious debut in Special Marvel Edition, a series previously devoted to reprints, indicated that there wasn’t much faith in Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin’s co-creation, but readers took him to their collective hearts, and more than 100 issues ensued, with a star roster of creators including Doug Moench, Gene Day and Paul Gulacy. Here, however, was where it all started, in Special Marvel Edition #15, December 1973, with the Son of Fu Manchu discovering his villainous heritage, and setting out to oppose his father. Shang-Chi is now in line for a big screen debut – Marvel doubtless hoping to repeat the ‘outsider’ successes of Black Panther and Captain Marvel – and this debut is escalating in value. Never distributed in the UK, and therefore doubly sought after on these shores. This is a quite lovely copy, glossy black background cover, nice page quality and tight staples, with very minimal edge wear; it would grade VF but for a stiff crease along the length of the right cover edge; this does not break colour and is not too obvious — it looks like something heavy has rested against it at some point in its history. If you can live with it, this is your chance to get a quite lovely, fresh copy at the fraction of the price it would be without that defect.
PICTURED: SPECIAL MARVEL EDITION #15 VG/FN £300 SOLD