Sister Hammer

Zheng Shang-Chi, also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic book published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973) in the Bronze Age of Comic Books, and starring in his own solo title until 1983. Described as the greatest martial artist alive, Shang-Chi has been trained since birth to be the ultimate fighter with a specialization in various unarmed and weaponry-based wushu styles, including the use of the gùn, nunchaku, and jian. Shang-Chi later assumes leadership of the Five Weapons Society and acquires the Ten Rings weapons.

Shang-Chi was spun off from novelist Sax Rohmer's licensed property as the unknown son of fictional villain Dr. Fu Manchu. In later editions, his connection to Manchu was underplayed after Marvel lost the comic book rights to the latter's character; to get around this problem, the publisher eventually renamed Shang-Chi's father Zheng Zu.

In the early 1970s, writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin approached DC Comics to adapt the television series Kung Fu into a comic book, as DC's parent company, Warner Communications, owned the rights to the series. DC Comics, however, was not interested in their pitch, believing the show's and the martial arts genre popularity would fade quickly. The duo then approached Marvel Comics with the idea to create a kung fu-focused original comic. Editor-in-chief Roy Thomas agreed, but only if they would include the Sax Rohmer's pulp villain Dr. Fu Manchu, as Marvel had previously acquired the comic book rights to the character, and made their protagonist half-white. Englehart and Starlin agreed. They developed Shang-Chi, a master of kung fu, who was introduced as a previously unknown son of Manchu. Though an original character himself, many of Shang-Chi's supporting characters (most notably Manchu, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, Dr. James Petrie and Fah Lo Suee) were Rohmer creations. Starlin left the series after #17 (replaced by Paul Gulacy) and Englehart after #19 (replaced by Doug Moench). No characters from the Kung Fu television series were officially included in the comic series, though in the #19 issue the character Lu Sun bore such a strong resemblance to Kwai Chang Caine that to avoid copyright issues, the character was given a mustache throughout the issue. With artist Paul Gulacy, Shang-Chi's visual appearance was modeled after that of Bruce Lee.

Shang-Chi first appeared in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973). He appeared again in issue #16, and with issue #17 (April 1974) the publication was retitled The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Amidst the martial arts craze in the United States in the 1970s, the book became very popular, surviving until issue #125 (June 1983), a solid run that included four Giant-Size issues and one Annual. Special Collector's Edition #1 (1975) cover-titled as "Savage Fists of Kung Fu" reprinted stories from The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1–2; The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu Special #1; and Special Marvel Edition #15. The character did several crossovers with other Marvel martial artists, including the White Tiger, Iron Fist and the Daughters of the Dragon (Colleen Wing and Misty Knight). He appeared regularly in The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.