Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Out of the PastOriginal Run – “Deadly Hands of Kung Fu: Out of the Past” issues #1-4 (2014)Writer: Mike BensonPenciler: Tam Eng HuatInker: Craig YeungColorist: Jesus AburtovLetterer: Joe SabinoAlso collected in this Trade:“Deadly Hands of Kung Fu” (1974) #1, 32, 33*Writers: Gerry Conway and Chris ClaremontArtists: Dick Giordano and Marshall Rogers#1 “The Place of No Mind”The story begins with Shang Chi performing an over-the-top maneuver of crashing his snowmobile into a helicopter. Besides for fighting a guy with swords for arms, (his name is Razor Fist and his gang is named Shadow Ghosts . . . cheesy, I know) this action sequence is one of the more outrageous events in the first issue.After the death of his close friend and former love interest, Leiko Wu, Shang goes to London’s Chinatown district to unravel the mysteries of his friend’s death. Like most first issues, the answers to questions generally lead to more questions.I think what works so well for this first issue is that it focuses on realism. It is a nice change of pace from the usual superhero comics. Shang Chi is reminiscent of a James Bond or Bruce Lee type of action hero. In fact, MI-6 is mentioned frequently and will be featured in the upcoming issues.For the first issue, I don’t think the writing is going to win anyone over, but the art is fantastic. Huat remains realistic, but keeps the art in a nice comic flavor. The faces are the best part of the art. The colorist and the inker really put a lot of emotion into each character’s face.#2 “No More Warnings”This issue picks up right where the last one left off. This time around Shang Chi finds his way to a Triad bar and a whole lot of mayhem ensues. After receiving the info he needs, Shang goes on a mini tour of Chinatown with one of his former enemies Skull Crusher. It just so happens that Skull Crusher has information on Leiko Wu and it may paint her in a different light then how Shang remembers her.Just who was this woman that our protagonist is after and why is her history shrouded in mystery? These are just some of the questions brought up in this issue.Even with the extravagant events, the story remains pretty straight forwards. Sometimes this can be a bad thing (some of the events are easy to predict), but for the most part it works well.#3 “Blood Brother”After attaching and slaughtering various monks at a monastery, White Dragon (presumably the mastermind behind Leiko Wu’s murder) has obtained a deadly book of magic. It is up to Shang Chi to find and stop the masked man from using it for evil. In this issue, some friends, and other not so close friends, join Shang as they trail the enemy.The writing at this point gets a little cheesy at times (more to come later), especially during the flashback portions. However, this generally does not get in the way of the great plotting.#4 “Out of the Past”Part of the appeal of “Deadly Hands of Kung Fu” was the lack of supernatural and superhero elements in the story. Sure there were some supernatural undertones, but for the most part Shang Chi’s adventure was a pure, badass action comic. However, this changes in the fourth issue when the whole story makes an abrupt shift in tone. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing, but it takes some getting used to especially since it occurs in a few short pages.This issue also does a fairly good job at opening up various future avenues. I’m excited to see where Benson takes the series and I think it could be heading in an interesting direction. My only hope is that he steers clear of the overt supernatural themes that the last issue so obviously employs. With that being said, I think that most comic fans will get a kick out of this series and enjoy where the future of “Deadly Hands of Kung Fu” is heading.* Since the remaining three comics found in this trade are from the early 70’s I did not feel the need to discuss them. All you really need to know is that they are written by two of the best writers in all of comics: Gerry Conway and Chris Claremont; and they are pretty damn awesome. They are in black and white, but the panels never looked better. The action flows beautifully from page to page and it really harkens back to the old school martial arts movies from yesteryear. Hell, you’ll probably enjoy them more then the new four-issue run.The new issues on their own are pretty fun and entertaining, but the older 1970's issues really make this Trade Paperback awesome. I am reluctant to give it five stars because the writing dips at certain points and some of the plotting is easily predictable.