Writer Haden Blackman
Penciler Dalibor Talajic
Inker Goran Sudzuka
Colorist Miroslav Mrva
Letterer VC’s Travis Lanham
This series keeps getting better and better!
This issue opens with the origin of the name, Red Hand. As the Master of the Red Hand laid dying and the Iron Fist Master held her, her hand was red. The Master of the Red Hand clan, has never been the ruler of K’un Lun.
The story proper starts with Iron First, Laughing Skull and the third guy (Red Hood?) are interrogating a thug, Lester. Lester’s old job was to track Shang Chi, he wasn’t very good at it.
We see Shang Chi is with the X-Men, in their underground base. Which should make them Morlocks, especially with Callisto leading them – so I will try to call them that, going forward. Though the story does refer to them as, Outcasts – but that name isn’t so great.
Shang Chi is still super drunk but he takes out Caliban, Wolfsbane and Doug Ramsey.
Callisto, the best fighter of the bunch, gets a few hits off of Shang Chi – not like they even really connect – and is taken down.
Shang Chi is curious who trained these outcasts.
Callisto tells him that they don’t have a Master, they were hoping to have him train them.
Shadowcat, the ever introductory character, goes around explaining why the Morlocks are outcasts. Sarah needs to learn the Morrow technique, as her bones are just sticking out of her body. Caliban is an idiot but is great at trivial facts, an idiot savant – if you will.
Wolfsbane was part of the Wolf Clan but fell for Cypher before she can learn to shift to different forms. They are called, the Wolf Clan, so I wonder what other forms there would have been? I imagine reverting back to human, is one of them. Doug lost his left arm while defending Wolfsbane. I do like these two, finally having a chance at romance.
Kitty’s aliment is that she tried to master a skill that is way outside of her comfort level. Lockheed is next to her, but she doesn’t give any reasoning to why an awesome lengthy green dragon is with the team.
Callisto wants Shang Chi to train them, as he was his father’s greatest student. He has mastered nine of the ten techniques.
This may be the most brutal page of the issue, perhaps the series. Shang Chi straight up cuts the team up, with his words and they sting!
If Shang Chi was to teach the outcasts – like how his father, Zheng Zu, would – this is what he would do :
Zheng Zu would flay Sarah alive, making her look at her bones
Caliban would fight even simpler creatures, like donkeys, for Zu’s enjoyment
Wolfsbane and Cypher would be tortured, together, until one of them would denounce their love for the other. Shang Chi suspects it would be Doug.
Callisto, he would completely blind her – as if she can’t defend one eye, she doesn’t deserve either.
We see that Shadowcat is in permanent phase (of course) and she will be forced to watch her friends die
I like how he drops the bottle, like it was a microphone. Shang Chi out!
The Citadel of Emperor Zheng Zu. Zu punishes Razor Fist (the leader of the small gang from the first issue) by slicing off Razor Fist’s hands – intense!
Iron Fist, Laughing Skull and the still not renamed guy come before Zu. A guard, Norrin (who I imagine is Silver Surfer, with the silver word balloons. Norrin is about to express how much they failed at their task to find Shang Chi but Iron Fist wants to tell his own woes.
Iron Fist is going to challenge Zu in the Thirteen Chambers tournament. Laughing Skull reveals that Iron First is the sheriff of this region.
Callisto is brought before Zu, she is willing to reveal where Shang Chi is but she wants to become a member of the Ten Rings.
Shadowcat comes and wakes up a very drunk Shang Chi.
Iron Fist is leading the charge in the Morlock tunnel. He straights threatening Wolfsbane, Shang Chi knows that Iron First is a man of peace, so he is merely bluffing.
Cypher comes running at Iron First, as poor Doug doesn’t know that Iron Fist is bluffing.
Classic Doug, once again, dies trying to save Wolfsbane – bonus points for once again, that she wasn’t in any danger, this time either. Oh poor dead Doug.
Laughing Skull turns his attention to Caliban next.
Shang Chi prevents this attack and tells the Morlocks to escape.
Shang Chi uses the technique, Nightbringer, to cloud the room in mist and they all escape.
Later. Kitten is disappointed in Shang Chi’s lack of action earlier. Shang Chi is still broken from killing a master.
Shang Chi will become a master, he will make the Morlocks his students so that he can have his own school, that way he can enter the Thirteen Chambers.
I can only imagine the tournament issue is going to be pretty intense!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 