Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Encyclopedia
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu is a martial arts
comic book
magazine
published by Curtis Magazines
, a short-lived imprint
of Marvel Comics
. There were a total of 33 issues published, plus one "Special Album Edition," before the series was cancelled.
" movie craze. Bruce Lee
movies were scoring huge box-office grosses, and the Kung-Fu
television series was being watched by millions. Billy Jack
the half-Indian, Green Beret
martial arts
hero was making his appearance, and people were "shaking their booty" to Carl Douglas's
hit "Kung Fu Fighting
". Kung-Fu was on many people's lips and the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu was there to capitalize on it. The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu magazine was launched in 1974 and ended 33 issues later in 1977. Some of the core recurring characters of the magazine were:
Each issue had various comic stories from the above mentioned characters, both single issues stories and multi-issue arcs. Most of the issues had some kind of martial arts movie review from a recently released film
. Other issues had interviews with authentic Martial arts instructors, while others had interviews with movie or television
celebrities related to martial arts.
The early issues had a martial arts instructional section which described some elementary fighting techniques. These were provided by comics illustrator/martial artist Frank McLaughlin. The magazine was strictly black-and-white
with no color except for the cover. The cost of the magazine was 75 cents for issues #1-14. Issue #15 was a "Super Annual" (all reprints) issue and cost $1.25. Issues #16-33 were $1.00, as well as the "Special Album Edition" (June) 1974.
Issue #28, September 1976, was an all Bruce Lee
special, including a 35 page comic-format biography, written by Martin Sands, and drawn by Joe Staton
and Tony DeZuniga
.
When the magazine's run reached the mid-20s, the editors began experimenting by setting some of the comic stories in feudal Japan and starring samurai
-type characters, including a four-part story arc called "Sword Quest". The Sons of the Tiger/White Tiger feature ran until the penultimate issue. By 1977 the "Chop-socky" movie craze was beginning to lose steam, which no doubt contributed to the poor sales of the magazine and its cancellation as of its 33rd issue.
published one issue of an offshoot magazine entitled The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu. The single issue mimicked The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine's format in almost every way except it did not contain any comic book elements, but instead instructional features by Frank McLaughlin.
The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu also ran without a single advertisement in its pages, which was rare for such a magazine. Editor John Warner explained in the issue's editorial that the extended reprint — a discussion of the film Enter the Dragon
originally published in the parent magazine and serialized in three parts there — allowed him to go without ads. Warner's editorial also posited that The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu was a trial balloon for an all-articles companion to Deadly Hands, but it is generally believed that a page-count cutback across Marvel's black-and-white magazine line came entirely out of the article section for Hands, leading to an inventory backlog, which this one-shot cleared.
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
published by Curtis Magazines
Curtis Magazines
Curtis Magazines was an imprint of Marvel Comics that existed from 1971 to 1980. The imprint published black-and-white magazines that did not carry the Comics Code Authority seal. Initially, page counts varied between 68,76, and 84 pages....
, a short-lived imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. There were a total of 33 issues published, plus one "Special Album Edition," before the series was cancelled.
Overview
This magazine was published in the early 1970s amidst the "Kung Fu" or "ChopsockyChopsocky
Chopsocky is a colloquial term applied to a diffuse group of martial arts movies made primarily in Hong Kong and Taiwan during the 1960s and 1970s. The term was coined by the American motion picture trade magazine Variety...
" movie craze. Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
movies were scoring huge box-office grosses, and the Kung-Fu
Kung Fu (TV series)
Kung Fu is an American television series that starred David Carradine. It was created by Ed Spielman, directed and produced by Jerry Thorpe, and developed by Herman Miller, who was also a writer for, and co-producer of, the series...
television series was being watched by millions. Billy Jack
Billy Jack
Billy Jack is a 1971 action film. It is the second, and highest grossing, in a series of motion pictures centering on a character of the same name, played by Tom Laughlin who also directed and co-wrote the script. Filming began in Prescott, Arizona, in fall 1969, but the movie was not completed...
the half-Indian, Green Beret
United States Army Special Forces
The United States Army Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets because of their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force tasked with six primary missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, special reconnaissance, direct action, hostage rescue, and...
martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
hero was making his appearance, and people were "shaking their booty" to Carl Douglas's
Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas is a former Jamaican-born, UK-based, singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The R.I.A.A. awarded gold disc status on 27 November, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single...
hit "Kung Fu Fighting
Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written by Jim Brusatto and Vivian Hawke performed by Carl Douglas, and composed and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to...
". Kung-Fu was on many people's lips and the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu was there to capitalize on it. The Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu magazine was launched in 1974 and ended 33 issues later in 1977. Some of the core recurring characters of the magazine were:
- Shang Chi, Master of Kung Fu (from Marvel's color line)
- Iron Fist, The Living Weapon (also from the color line)
- The Sons of the TigerSons of the TigerThe Sons of the Tiger were three martial arts heroes featured in comic books published by Curtis Magazines called the Deadly Hands of Kung Fu...
- Three men linked by mystical amulets (a feature created for "DHOKF") - The White TigerWhite Tiger (Hector Ayala)White Tiger is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe, and was created by Bill Mantlo and George Pérez. First appearing in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19 , he is the first Puerto Rican superhero in the history of comics, and Marvel's first superhero of Hispanic descent.- Publication history...
- Heir to the amulets of "Sons of the Tiger" - Daughters of the DragonDaughters of the DragonThe Daughters of the Dragon are the duo of Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, fictional characters from Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #32 , introduced in the early 1970s in early Iron Fist stories....
- Colleen WingColleen WingColleen Wing is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Colleen Wing first appeared in Marvel Premiere #19 , and was created by Doug Moench and Larry Hama.-Fictional character biography:...
and Misty KnightMisty KnightMisty Knight is a fictional character in Marvel Comics' Marvel Universe. She was first mentioned in Marvel Premiere #20 and appeared in the next issue. She normally appears with Colleen Wing.-Publication history:...
(characters derived from the Iron Fist series)
Each issue had various comic stories from the above mentioned characters, both single issues stories and multi-issue arcs. Most of the issues had some kind of martial arts movie review from a recently released film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
. Other issues had interviews with authentic Martial arts instructors, while others had interviews with movie or television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
celebrities related to martial arts.
The early issues had a martial arts instructional section which described some elementary fighting techniques. These were provided by comics illustrator/martial artist Frank McLaughlin. The magazine was strictly black-and-white
Black-and-white
Black-and-white, often abbreviated B/W or B&W, is a term referring to a number of monochrome forms in visual arts.Black-and-white as a description is also something of a misnomer, for in addition to black and white, most of these media included varying shades of gray...
with no color except for the cover. The cost of the magazine was 75 cents for issues #1-14. Issue #15 was a "Super Annual" (all reprints) issue and cost $1.25. Issues #16-33 were $1.00, as well as the "Special Album Edition" (June) 1974.
Issue #28, September 1976, was an all Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee was a Chinese American, Hong Kong actor, martial arts instructor, philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement...
special, including a 35 page comic-format biography, written by Martin Sands, and drawn by Joe Staton
Joe Staton
Joe Staton is an American illustrator and writer of comic books.-Career:Staton started his work with Charlton Comics in 1971 and gained notability as the artist of the super-hero book E-Man...
and Tony DeZuniga
Tony DeZuniga
Tony DeZuniga is a Filipino comic-book artist best known for his work for DC Comics, where he co-created the characters Jonah Hex and Black Orchid.-Early life and career:...
.
When the magazine's run reached the mid-20s, the editors began experimenting by setting some of the comic stories in feudal Japan and starring samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
-type characters, including a four-part story arc called "Sword Quest". The Sons of the Tiger/White Tiger feature ran until the penultimate issue. By 1977 the "Chop-socky" movie craze was beginning to lose steam, which no doubt contributed to the poor sales of the magazine and its cancellation as of its 33rd issue.
Editors
The magazine had various editors throughout its run; below is each editor and the issues he oversaw:- Roy ThomasRoy ThomasRoy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
: #s 1, 2 - Tony IsabellaTony IsabellaTony Isabella is an American comic book writer, editor, artist and critic, known as the creator and writer of Marvel Comics' Black Goliath, DC Comics' first major African American superhero, Black Lightning, and as a columnist and critic for the Comics Buyer's Guide.-Marvel Comics:Before he joined...
: #s 3–6 & "Special Album Edition" - David Anthony KraftDavid Anthony KraftDavid Anthony Kraft, also credited simply as David Kraft, is an American comic book writer, publisher, and critic. He is primarily known for his long-running journal of interviews and criticism, Comics Interview.- Writing career :...
: #s 9, 10 (co-edited with Don McGregor) - Don McGregorDon McGregorDonald Francis McGregor is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics, and the author of one of the first graphic novels.-Early life and career:...
: #s 7, 8, 10 (co-edited with David Anthony Kraft), 11, 16, 17 - Archie GoodwinArchie Goodwin (comics)Archie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work...
: #s 12–15, 18–25 - John WarnerJohn Warner (comics)John Warner is an American comic book writer and editor, known for his stories of horror and the supernatural.Warner's most prolific period in the comic book field was from 1973–1979...
: #s 26–33
The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu
As a historical footnote, Curtis MagazinesCurtis Magazines
Curtis Magazines was an imprint of Marvel Comics that existed from 1971 to 1980. The imprint published black-and-white magazines that did not carry the Comics Code Authority seal. Initially, page counts varied between 68,76, and 84 pages....
published one issue of an offshoot magazine entitled The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu. The single issue mimicked The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu magazine's format in almost every way except it did not contain any comic book elements, but instead instructional features by Frank McLaughlin.
The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu also ran without a single advertisement in its pages, which was rare for such a magazine. Editor John Warner explained in the issue's editorial that the extended reprint — a discussion of the film Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon
Enter the Dragon is a 1973 Hong Kong martial arts co-production with Golden Harvest and Warner Bros. studios, directed by Robert Clouse; starring Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and John Saxon. This is Bruce Lee's final film appearance before his death on July 20, 1973...
originally published in the parent magazine and serialized in three parts there — allowed him to go without ads. Warner's editorial also posited that The Deadliest Heroes of Kung Fu was a trial balloon for an all-articles companion to Deadly Hands, but it is generally believed that a page-count cutback across Marvel's black-and-white magazine line came entirely out of the article section for Hands, leading to an inventory backlog, which this one-shot cleared.
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