Friday, June 6, 2014

Making a Splash: Mike Zeck's Master of Kung Fu, Part One

HiYAA, Groove-ophiles! Whaddya say we kick off this weekend with some sensational splashes featuring Shang-Chi and crew by Mike Zeck! Mighty Mike started out as a fill-in artist, but quickly became regular Master of Kung Fu artist, drawing over 30 issues of MOKF and inked by a super-star line-up of finishers like Bruce Patterson, John Tartag, Al Gordon, and (best of all) Gene Day. We're gonna take a look at the splashes leading up to Day's inking debut, then we'll dig on the Zeck and Day era next Friday! Are you ready to rumbllllllllllllllllllllllllle?












Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

6 comments:

  1. BobJune 6, 2014 at 11:25 AM

    I SO loved Master of Kung Fu. Like many genre works in the 70s, it sought to connect with earlier, more pulpy roots, here by making Fu Manchu our hero's father. It seemed as if all pop fiction was one long, continuous story -- I just ate it up. Add to that it was a great title, wonderful supporting characters -- just one of the best comics back in the day. And, boy, I miss those days!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Edo BosnarJune 6, 2014 at 1:59 PM

    Great post, Groove. I only started reading MoKF when Zeck had taken over the art chores, and I just loved these. Of course, I later did manage to get a hold of a few issues from the Gulacy period, which are awesome, but Zeck really didn't miss a beat. And yes, I agree that Gene Day took the art to a whole different level.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RussJune 6, 2014 at 8:30 PM

    I'll see you next Friday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJune 6, 2014 at 10:11 PM

    The funny thing is, with the exception of #72 here, I have ALL of these issues still!

    - Mike from Trinidad & Tobago.

    ReplyDelete
  5. buddyJune 7, 2014 at 2:38 AM

    I started collecting MOKF in '80, til the end.I spent the last couple years rereading the whole series (which I may have accessed thru not entirely legal means, but I remain unrepentant til Marvel figures out a way to skirt legalities and REPRINT THEM!). Moench manages to create long form, intricate masterpieces through the eras of Gulacy, Zeck, and (my personal fave for art) Day solo.The level of complexity in plot, characterization and page layouts makes me so sad for the current state of comics.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tom MasonJune 7, 2014 at 5:27 PM

    The splash inked by Fred Kida is really nice. I'll have to see if I can find the issue to check out the whole thing.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!