Two weeks ago Super Tuesday looked at a house ad for a collection of Marvel Comics that presumably weren’t doing so well, sales-wise, and today we have an ad for another book that was never the top-of-the heap for the House of Ideas. This ad promotes Master of Kung Fu, which in 1978 was in the middle of what would eventually be a 109-issue run. The best and longest-running of Marvel’s martial arts comics, this series would be blessed by distinguished runs from superior artists through it’s relatively brief existence. This ad showcases the work of Mike Zeck, but MoKF fans will happily get into a swirling debate of flying fists and feet if you want to try ranking the book’s best artists between Zeck, Gene Day, and Paul Gulacy.
I love them all — and I love Master of Kung Fu, too. I’m nearing eighteen months of continual publication for Longbox Graveyard and have yet to assess Master of Kung Fu … an oversight I will correct tomorrow, with the first of what I hope will be several columns on this seminal and largely-forgotten series. See you then!
TOMORROW AT LONGBOX GRAVEYARD: Master of Kung Fu: Snowbuster!
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dangvozden
Paul O'Connor
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
Longbox Graveyard 
MOKF was always one of my favourites and from the tail end of Gulacy’s time I have pretty much every issue. Look forward to your thoughts on them. And Groucho Marx’s appearances.
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I think Rufus T. Hackstabber first appears in an issue of Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu (and I am thin on Giant-Size books) but I’m sure I will get to Rufus and his pal, Quigley J. Warmflash, when they eventually appear in the monthly book.
These MoKF reviews will be shorter and sweeter than the usual Longbox Graveyard fare. Tomorrow’s review covers only the “Snowbuster” arc from issues #29-31, but I will follow up with a review of the “Mordillo’s Island” arc in a couple weeks, and hope to get MoKF into the rotation on a regular basis here at the blog.
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Groovy. Can’t wait!
Hope you have a great day! 💋
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I’m listening …
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Soon!
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I’m looking forward to it. I never collected MOKF back in the day, and I now regret it, since it’s not available in TPB! I did pick up issues 45-50 (at no small expense) at a LCS recently, as I understand they comprise a story arc and I also happily picked up #34 in the dollar bin at that same LCS.
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That run in #45-50 is the last great Fu Manchu story from the Moench/Gulacy team, and might be the best run the book ever had. Good issues to have! I will review them in due time …
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I’m looking forward to that, as well as more from this series. If I like #45-50 after reading them, I may have to open my poor wallet for more.
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The series is not greatly sought-after by collectors, so the back issue prices for mid-list MoKF issues are comparable to the cost of new comics today, and sometimes even less. You can image which I think provide the greater value!
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Those are good prices. I’m not very picky about condition, so I can go cheap. The LCS chargers quite a bit more for these, which has turned me off from buying more, though I did recently get #57, 57, 59 and 60 at the LCS. I’ll have to have you clue me in on #58 whenever I get around to reading those issues.
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