Writer Joe Gill and artist Warren Sattler gave Charlton its first Groovy Age martial arts hero with Yang #1 (August 1973). One could say that Yang was just a rip-off of TV's popular Kung Fu TV series, since both starred Chinese men truckin' around the U.S. of A.'s Old West, but all you had to do was read an issue to see that Gill and Sattler were going in a whole 'nother direction from the one Kung Fu's producers had charted for Caine. Yang was on a mission to free his people who had been brought to the U.S. as "paid slaves" to help build our railroads. He wasn't on some spiritual journey, or even searching for a long-lost family member, but a mission of justice. Yang didn't seem to shun violence with Caine's conviction--and he wasn't above shooting an enemy, either. Of course he didn't use a lot of kung fu moves, but what're ya gonna do? And don't let the fact that the comic dealt quite frankly with a dark chapter of U.S. history fool you into thinking it's gonna be anywhere near "PC" in it's language and, yes, even attitudes. It does have heart, tell cracking good adventure stories, and sport the singular, cartoony, and fun art of Warren Sattler, though. Check out ish #4 (June 1974) as Yang faces..."The Hooded Death"!
Yang's mag lasted a whopping 13 issues (ending in February 1976) and gave birth to a spin-off, House of Yang (much more on that next time we have a kung fu week, promise!).
