Review by Win Wiacek

The 1970s began with a downturn in superhero sales and a resurgence of traditional genre tales, but a new genre emerged, blending eastern philosophy and personal combat systems with a real-world growth in organised crime. Former journalist Dennis J. O’Neil teamed with editorial cartoonist James R. Berry to write a prose thriller for this burgeoning market. As Jim Dennis, they detailed the life path of teenage thug Richard Drakunovski after finding friends and direction with a martial arts sensei. Kung Fu Master, Richard Dragon: Dragon’s Fists was released in 1974.

DC commissioned O’Neil to adapt the book for comics, expanding the premise and adding significantly to their pantheon of stars in the process: not so much with the leading man but through his potential-packed supporting cast.

Spanning 1975 to 1981, this fast and furious compendium collects Richard Dragon’s solo outings, plus a teaming apiece with Batman and Superman. In keeping with the tone of the genre and time, these stories are tersely underwritten and potently action driven, but racial and gender issues are ubiquitous and expressed in the terms of the times.

Opening episode ‘Coming of a Dragon!’ is credited to Jim Dennis and illustrated by Leopoldo Durañona, revealing how a teenager’s attempt to burgle a dojo in Kyoto, Japan is foiled by the head teacher O-Sensei. The venerable ancient easily masters the violent thief and then invites to him to change his life path. Richard Dragon spends the next seven years mastering countless forms of Kung Fu, higher education and his own raging nature, forming a lifelong bond with his fellow student, black American Ben Turner and seeking to become a physically and ethically “Superior Man”

While O’Neil is consistent as writer, it clearly took some time to assign an art team. We run through Jim Starlin and Jack Kirby before the combination of Ric Estrada’s layouts and Wally Wood’s finishes for five stories (sample spread left). Their second outing introduces a woman destined to be a major player in DC continuity, Lady Shiva, a conflict-addicted swordswoman seeking bloody redress for her murdered sister. In later years she would evolve into the most dangerous assassin on Earth, and so a major opponent of Batman, Robin, assorted Batgirls, Black Canary, the Birds of Prey and many others.

Dragon and Ben continue their friendship, and theoretically run a dojo together, although in practice Dragon combatting a parade of troubles leaves Ben solo there until villains begin targeting the students, less satisfactorily drawn by Estrada alone.

By two-thirds of the way through the solo series Shiva has become a permanent supporting character with the unfortunate Ben often sidelined through injury or poisoning. O’Neil’s final script sets up years of further stories by introducing the Bronze Tiger, later an integral member of the Suicide Squad. Shiva and Dragon would become crucial to the development of The Question (Vic Sage) and other martial arts-based characters.

Neither of the team-ups are as effective. Bob Haney and Jim Aparo’s ‘Batman – Dragon Slayer?’ is a forced tale of duelling fight stylists, while Mike W. Barr and Alex Saviuk reveal ‘Whatever Happened to Richard Dragon: Kung Fu Fighter?’ Having retreated to the peace of a Shaolin monastery, Dragon is called back to the outside world to save mind-controlled Bronze Tiger from the person who had truly been responsible for most of their perils and hardships all along.

This compendium is very much of its time, but still offers thrills and spills whilst providing crucial context to all devotees of DC’s overarching multiversal continuity.