The Legend of Shang-Chi #1: The Soul’s Edge

As you’d expect this one shot gets right to the point: Shang-Chi has been “quested” by MI:6 Agent Leiko to steal a dangerous soul sucking sword from a museum before it can fall into the wrong hands. No sooner does he make his move than we see that Wolverine foe Lady Deathstrike has already got her claws on it. What follows is the kinda martial arts action you can’t write a good Shang-Chi comic without topped with on point characterization of Shang-Chi and Leiko.

Writer Alyssa Wong shows some solid writing chops here, yeah sure this one issue doesn’t completely change the comics game but it does exactly what a great one-shot should do: show you why the character itself is interesting and adds something to their world. In this case it is as simple as a new artifact but not something that tries to rewrite the history of Shang-Chi in one go. When you pair that with some absolutely on point art panel after panel by Andie Tong and fantastic color palette choices by Rachelle Rosenberg you just can’t go wrong.

By the end we see that Lady Deathstrike escapes with a fragment of the Equinox Blade which promises future adventures in which Chi must stop whoever seeks it’s power but the issue itself still wraps up on a fun note and never feels like fluff or time wasted. Instead it feels like going on a wild ride with an old familiar friend for those old heads like myself already in the know about Shang-Chi but also a really great opener for new readers wondering what all the hub bub is about a 70s martial arts character with an upcoming movie. The timing couldn’t be better for that coming flick but also to get you on the ball to hop into the recent Shang-Chi miniseries as well.

All in all just good ole fashioned fun to get you pumped without trying to reinvent the wheel.