Out Of This World Pages

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Early Black Comic Book Heroes: Misty Knight (3/6) in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 33 - "Daughters of the Dragon" (Part 2)


In the previous issue of this Chris Claremont/Marshall Rogers story of the Daughters of the Dragon, we saw Misty and Colleen captured by Chung and taken to Vachon's base of operations. The girls had just laid waste to Vachon's mercenaries and all of their munitions, so he's out for revenge big time. In this issue, DHoKF 33, we're going to get a little more information on Misty's origins, but the story begins with Vachon's plan to addict Misty and Colleen to heroin, to completely enslave them and sell them to the highest bidder.


What Vachon doesn't know is that Misty has a bionic right arm, which she uses to snap the neck of the vile doctor who's administering the heroin, when he tries to take advantage of Colleen's helplessness.


Misty hasn't been affected by the heroin, because it's been injected into her bionic arm, but Colleen's good and hooked, so she decides to fight off the addiction cold turkey while Misty sees what she can do to thwart the bad guys.


Misty runs into Chung and his electronic bolas, but has him beat, when Vachon himself enters the fray announced only by a kick in the back that takes the wind out of Misty's sails..


Misty puts up a good fight but with that bad start, she doesn't recover. Just as Vachon is about to finish Misty off, Colleen comes to the rescue:


Colleen is fighting Vachon and heroin withdrawal. She retrieves a sword from Vachon's collection, and the samurai in her takes over. The combination of the circumstances, and her internal battle against the drug, make memories surface that inspire her to reach deep into her reserves to fight the soulless monster, Vachon. It's here that we get a glimpse of Colleen and Misty's past, as cops with the NYPD, and an occasion when Misty saved Colleen's life.


Colleen gathers strength as the fight continues, as long as her concentration doesn't drop. She recalls the day Misty had her right arm amputated, and the support she tried to give her. Chung has, by now, regained some of his faculties, and seeing Vachon is going down unless he intervenes, grabs one of his boss's premium weapons, with the intention of dispatching Colleen. Cue Misty regaining consciousness. Misty sees Chung's intent, and makes her move, the only move possible given the brief time frame.


Time for Colleen to stick it to the vile Vachon.


And it's all over. A big present for the Hong Kong police. Colleen and Misty more bonded than ever.


I love the business card tossed onto Vachon's body at the end. Nightwing Restorations have indeed restored justice on this occasion. Great scripting by Chris Claremont, and gorgeous art by Marshall Rogers. Next we'll be returning to the pages of Iron Fist to see where Misty's inroad into the Marvel Universe takes her next.

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