Marvel Comics Shang-Chi #4 Review The Nerdy Basement

Shang-Chi #4 Review: Family vs Family


Shang-Chi is looking to find his sister in another dimension. Yet, he finds another relative and four-on-four with the Fantastic Four!

Marvel’s greatest fight gains the aid of his siblings. All four are a part of the Five Weapons Society. The group consists of Esme (Sister Dagger), Takeshi (Brother Sabre), Zhilan (Sister Staff), and Shang-Chi (Brother Hand). However, the siblings are missing Shi-Hua or Sister Hammer. Their mission is to retrieve her from the Negative Zone. The endgame is to unite The Society to combat upcoming attacks. Let’s see how the champions of The Society get in trouble with this task.

Shang-Chi awakens from a dream of an old temple he use to live in. The House of the Deadly Hand in disappeared. It was then replaced by a new one in Chinatown. He is also called by a female voice, likely being Sister Hammer. He then meets with Master Ling. That is when he is informed about the current situation. Ling then puts a memory spell on Shang to find that the original house is in the Negative Zone.

Shang-Chi talks with Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. He asks him to use his device to get to the zone. Reed refuses Shang’s request, stating that he did not want to put his family in danger. Shang-Chi then goes to the team headquarters, the Baxter Building. They plan to sneak in, use the device and retrieve the sister.

Zhilan uses a mist to confuse the civilians. The distraction then leads them away from the people. They know that the Fantastic Four have the most sophisticated system in the world. The team is then ambushed by guard robots. The siblings defeat them and get to the vehicle. Now strapped in, they make their way to the negative zone. After arriving at the original house, they walk in to investigate. They now have to deal with large bugs trying to kill them.

They defeat the critters and Shang-Chi punches a hole in the wall. He finds a woman play the piano. This woman is not Sister Hammer. Instead, it is Shang’s mother. This confuses him as he believed her to have died several years back. She explains that on her last night on Earth, she fought his father. Instead of dying, she was sent to the Negative Zone. She then goes into detail about her strong bond with the creatures of this dimension.

Continuously making the same sound as the bugs, she is recused by her son. The team makes it back to the building. Once again, they are ambushed, but this time by the Fantastic Four. Brother Sabre attempts to cut The Thing with his sword. Yet, it breaks over Ben’s arm. Sister Dagger cracks a joke at the Human Torch while fighting him. Then, there is the fight between Invisible Woman and Sister Staff.

The Thing thought the team was sent by Doom. Obviously, Shang-Chi and Co have no connections to the villain. We then see Shang paralyze The Thing’s arm! After this, Mr. Fantastic and Shang fight over what caused the fight. Reed was being cautious, while Shang was looking out for a family member. The siblings leave with mom.

Reed then contacts Captain America. The two talk about Shang-Chi. Later, Jiang Li is visited by her son. He is worried about her, but Master Ling tells her to let her be. After leaving, Li continues the “chit chit” and is called by a mysterious being. This being is asking for her help. Next month, Shang will dawn an Iron Man suit he got from a criminal! Do not worry, it is for good. Yet, Tony Stark may have a thing or two to say about that.

The writing from Gene Luen Yang could’ve been better. Sister Dagger was entertaining here. She cracked some jokes, but it wasn’t enough. The biggest letdown here was the fact the Shang-Chi and Co’s fight with the Fantastic Four. It was like three pages. I was expecting the whole or most of the issue to be dedicated to this fight. Also, this made Shang and his family look like idiots. They know that the Baxter Building’s security system is sophisticated. They should’ve known they were gonna get caught. One of the few highlights here was Shang paralyzing Ben’s arm.

As for the art, it was still great to look at. Both Dike Ruan and Tríona Farrell did a nice job! From the little fight scenes to the Negative Zone, it was carrying the issue. They did not miss details and I am thankful that there was a redeeming aspect. The Negative Zone was perfect! I would not mind seeing that in live-action. Also, the fact that this was the fourth issue featuring the Fantastic Four was unique. Yet, it was not enough to save the issue.

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