Writer: Gene Luen Yang
Art: Dike Ruan
Colors: Tríona Farrell
Letters: VC’s Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 10/12/2021
Reviewer: Soycornholio
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Shang Chi v. The Marvel Universe:
Looks can be deceiving. This phrase embedded itself into my mind as I saw the cover of Gene Luen Yang’s Shang-Chi #5. On the cover, there is a beautiful image of Shang-Chi wearing portions of the Iron Man suit. After last month’s issue, I couldn’t help but wonder if things had finally hit the fan. Let’s take a look
*Mild Spoilers*
Shang Chi v. The Marvel Universe:
I often become easily bored with certain comics. When I read an action comic, I expect a lot of action. When I read a Detective Comic, I expect some sort of mystery-solving. Lately, a lot of comics have not been meeting my standards on that front. Yes, you must build up to a certain point, but when I am reading an X-Men comic, I expected the X-Team. Shang-Chi is the complete opposite. From the first couple of pages in this issue, the action was there to greet me like an old friend. Shang-Chi is vicious. As relaxed as he is, this guy is catching bullets with his teeth, then spitting it back into the eye of his attacker. This type of stunt is something that would make the Dark Knight feel a twinge of jealousy. Excellent job!
Double Standard:
Shang-Chi is a solid hero. Whereas the bulk of our favorite heroes enjoy spanking the bad guy, Shang-Chi tries his best to treat them with some level of dignity. In this issue, Iron Man makes a special appearance. Disclaimer: I am not a big fan of Tony Stark I never got him like I did other heroes (but that is a discussion for another time). Tony is under the impression that Shang-Chi stole one of his suits. Now, in his defense, after Shang & Co broke into the Fantastic Four’s HQ in the last issue, certain heroes are on edge. But the thing that stuck out the most was the lie that Tony told to Shang-Chi at the end of Shang-Chi #5. Often, I find the Avengers to be some of the biggest hypocrites in comics. In one panel, Tony justifies his lie to Shang-Chi as being “necessary.” At this point, I am ready for Shang-Chi to become a fully realized character. He does not need the backdrop of the mainstream Marvel Heroes to become an A-List hero!
Final Thoughts:
Shang Chi #5 by Gene Luen Yang ensnared me with the hardcore bullet scene and kept me wanting more throughout the issue. Shang-Chi is trying to take a negative (his father’s organization) and turn it into a positive. I am interested to see how this will end. Overall, I would recommend anyone reads this issue. It is surprisingly pretty darn good.
Check it out!