Posted By Dan Greenfield on Mar 5, 2026 | 1 comment

HOPE YOU LIKE IT: The ART of DAKOTA ALEXANDER…

By DAKOTA ALEXANDER

Continuing with my series of faux comics covers, I thought this week I would focus on a Marvel character who is very beloved despite not falling into the traditional “superhero” convention. In my humble opinion, Shang-Chi is an iconic member of the ’70s Marvel Bronze Age family. Along with Dracula and Conan, Shang-Chi embodied Marvel’s attempt to create a space outside of the capes and tights of crimefighting do-gooders and capitalize on trends and genres popular at the the time, like horror, fantasy, and, of course, the fad of martial arts in the movies.

In the case of Shang-Chi, the creators Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin chose to declare that this fast-footed protagonist was the good-guy son of the famous bad guy Dr. Fu Manchu. A decision that was perhaps an attempt to acknowledge Marvel’s guilty track record of having so many Asian villains in previous stories. Some would say this decision was perhaps not the best way to handle this situation, but I digress.

Here is Shang-Chi’s first appearance in 1973’s Special Marvel Edition #15. (The title evolved into Master of Kung Fu two issues later.):

Jim Starlin pencils, Al Milgrom inks

While Englehart and Starlin each eventually abandoned the character, the wonderful creative team of Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy breathed new life into Master of Kung Fu, and the series survived with a mix of creators until 1983.

Paul Gulacy

For this piece I utilized another Asian character — the deadly Mantis! Now, to be completely honest, I never knew much about Mantis beyond what I saw in the Marvel Handbooks, but I always thought that she looked really, really cool. And having one cool character fight another cool character is really part of the base formula for a good Bronze Age comic cover!

So here is my cover for Master of Kung Fu #13 (of which there is actually no original comic).

Hope you like it.

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Want more of THE ART OF DAKOTA ALEXANDER? Come back next week!

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MORE

— A Bronze Age BATMAN Series You Never Knew Existed — Because It Didn’t. Click here.

— A SPIDER-MAN COVER You Never Knew Existed — Because It Didn’t. Click here.

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DAKOTA ALEXANDER is an American artist living in Japan. He’s worked on many projects, such as The Liberty Brigade, The Masters, Charon 13, and G.H.O.S.T. Agents. His latest is his love letter to Bronze Age superhero-horror comics, The Hunter, which is now available at his Etsy, Drums of the Serpent.