Imbalanced

Shadowland continues from Shadowland #3…

Now

Shang Chi dreams of Yang-Tin, the fishing village he retired to after he finally vanquished his father.[1] It is a place he thinks of when he needs to meditate. However, this time, his dream turns into a nightmare as the sun suddenly turns black and he is pulled into the river by black tentacles.

He is suddenly woken up by Spider-Man’s shouts and remembers that he and the wall-crawler were being pummeled by Mister Negative’s Inner Demons. Right now, Mister Negative has Shang Chi by the thread. Spider-Man tells Shang to resist the Negative’s corrupting touch.[2] Shang Chi tries to resist the change but even though he fails to stop Mister Negative from unleashing his dark side, he also does not become Negative’s slave. Breaking free from Mister Negative’s grasp, Shang Chi openly opposes him. Watching in horror, Spider-Man can’t believe this is happening.

Then

Ten minutes earlier, Spider-Man was observing as ninjas from the Hand clashed with the Inner Demons. With everything that was going on in Shadowland, Mister Negative sought to expand his criminal empire beyond Chinatown. Watching from the sidelines, Spider-Man debated what to do about the situation when he was suddenly joined by Shang Chi, the Master of Kung Fu. He has come for the same reason Spider-Man has, to find Daredevil and try to lead him away from the dark path he is now traveling. During their meeting with Master Izo, Shang noticed Spider-Man skip away and, knowing that Spider-Man isn’t a coward, decided to follow to see how he could help.[3] Spider-Man explains that he left because he spotted Mister Negative’s men on the move and wanted to deal with it alone, particularly since Negative is one of his foes.

Now they are getting an idea of how imbalanced the battle is. The Hand ninjas all dissolve when killed, while the Inner Demons are virtually immortal and get up even after the most deadly blows. In order to prevent any further loss of life, Spider-Man and Shang Chi leap into the battle. With the odds against them, the Hand ninjas flee when Spider-Man urges them. The web-slinger is surprised when Shang Chi briefly breaks off from the fight in order to get a pigeon to safety. Mister Negative is furious that Spider-Man is interfering with his plans yet again and vows to destroy the accursed bug once and for all.[4] It was during this battle that Spider-Man and Shang Chi were overwhealmed, allowing Mister Negative to grab Shang by the neck.

Now

Fearing for his life, Mister Negative orders his Inner Demons to forget Spider-Man and protect him. Unfortunately for him, Shang Chi stole all of his power and now has control over the Inner Demons and orders them to stand by and await further command. However, he changes his mind and orders them to kill their former master. Spider-Man tries to get Shang Chi to stop, but luckily the Inner Demons are conflicted between obeying Mister Negative or Shang Chi. Spider-Man then gets between the two and tells Mister Negative to run for it. Spider-Man then fights Shang Chi to buy his enemy time to get away. Spider-Man then tries to convince Shang Chi to fight the negative influence controlling him.

Spider-Man tells Shang Chi not to become like Daredevil, or his father. This angers Shang Chi who kicks Spider-Man hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Deciding to end things, Shang picks up a discarded battle ax from the ground and prepares to decapitate his foe. Spider-Man stops resisting, knowing that Shang Chi won’t do it. Luckily, Spider-Man’s gamble pays off as Shang Chi is finally able to shake off Mister Negative’s corruption. Dropping the ax, he apologizes to Spider-Man.

Meanwhile, Mister Negative feels his full power return but his time is up and he reverts back to Martin Li. Back at the scene of the battle, the Inner Demons decide to flee when they realize that their boss will not be happy that they didn’t defend him. Shang asks Spider-Man how he knew that he couldn’t bring himself to kill the web-slinger. Spider-Man explains that he had a gut feeling. With the current danger over, the pair head back to where their allies are still planning. As they leave, Spider-Man is glad he was able to save one friend and hopes he has enough courage to save another. Shang Chi on the other hand thinks that while he is not his father’s son, he does have inner darkness that he will have to keep in check in order to keep his inner balance.

… Shadowland continues in Shadowland: Ghost Rider #1.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Shang Chi, Mister Negative, The Hand

Continuity Notes

1. Shang Chi’s father is not mentioned here by name but he is Fu Manchu, as revealed in Special Marvel Edition #15. The reason why is because Fu Manchu is the same character from the Sax Rohmer stories published from 1913 to 1959. Marvel got the license to the Fu Manchu franchise to create the Master of Kung Fu series. Once that series ended the license to Fu Manchu expired. Although Fu Manchu still appears in later stories it is under a new alias.

2. Spider-Man mentions how he was able to fight off Mister Negative’s influence. See Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1-3.

3. The meeting with Master Izo took place in Shadowland #3.

4. Mister Negative mentions the time they have faced each other in the past:

   • The time he stole some of Spider-Man’s blood was an insurance policy. Mister Negative can make a deadly DNA specific poison called Dragon’s Breath using an intended target’s blood. It will kill everyone with the same familial DNA. See Amazing Spider-Man #546-548.

   • He mentions the time he corruped Spider-Man, again, that happened in Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1-3.

   • Lastly he mentions their most recent clash. This was in Amazing Spider-Man #618-620.

Topical References

• Dated pop-culture references: Spike TV