Things That Make Me Smile--Eat Cold Steel, Pajama Boy

This is one of the earliest comic books I ever owned, as you can tell from it's somewhat decrepit state. But it holds a place near and dear to my heart, mostly because of this gloriously goofy cover.


First, the scene never takes place inside the comic, always a bonus. No thugs in scuba gear, no knife thrown whatsoever (let alone deflected back at the thrower's partner). The last part of the story does take place on an island, but Shang Chi is tied up the entire time.


Secondly, the cover dialogue. It just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? Say it along with me..."Eat cold steel, pajama-boy!" Something about that sooo says 1974 that I feel 10 years old again whenver I see it.


Admit it: if you struggled into a wet suit, swam out to one of the Florida keys, and threw a dagger at the estranged son of Fu Manchu, that's exactly what you would say. "Eat cold steel, pajama-boy." It's practically poetry.

This was the second issue of Doug Moench's amazing run on the title. For a young kid who hadn't read the first part of this story in the previous issue, or any of the previous issues for that matter, it served as a decent, if confusing, introduction. We had some action, and a good display of the solipsistic evil of Fu Manchu ("Only Fu Manchu may choose the moment of your death").


Most importantly, he had a great, great kung fu fight against a shark. And we learned one of the easiest ways to identify bad guys: they shoot dolphins...