Gary lost his shit the last time I professed admiration for a non-Capcom fighting game, so it’s with some trepidation that I reveal that I am enjoying the hell out of Tekken 6.

In our neighbourhood the fighting games of choice were Street Fighter and Virtua Fighter, and the latter only because the convenience store across from the high school held onto their cabinet years past relevance. I had only played Tekken a few times before last week and walked away unimpressed. I think the reason I wasn’t interested back in the day is the same reason that I’m digging it now; despite a few whimsical flourishes, Tekken is a pretty straight-forward martial arts simulator, at least in comparison to most fighters. Now that I’m older and know a little bit more about actual martial arts I find I can appreciate the nuances in what I once perceived as practically interchangeable characters.

I’ve been using Lei Wulong exclusively since picking the game up, mostly so I can pit him against Marshall Law and simulate the Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee brawl I’ve always dreamed of. At this rate it’ll take me a year before I get through all 40 characters.

I’ll admit to some bias considering it’s one of my all-time favourite movies, and it’s equally possible this look was more prevalent during that era than I suspected, but doesn’t Mr. Man bear a striking resemblance to Z-Man from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls?

I say it’s about time for a revamp.

From Steve Englehart and Alan Lee Weiss’ tribute to Ballroom Blitz, starring Shang Chi and appearing in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #2.

I finished Bruce Thomas’ biography of Bruce Lee a week ago, so the story that Lee was passed over for Carradine for the part of Caine was fresh in my mind as I watched the pilot for Kung Fu.

It’s pure speculation as to whether the series would have been more successful with Lee in the lead role. I like to think that his martial prowess would overcome the racism the networks believed would work against his acceptance by the mainstream audience of the early 70s, but we’ll never know for sure.

Aside from that, I think Lee’s involvement would have ensured that Kung Fu would have been a much bigger cult hit over the years, particularly now as a DVD box set. Every frame of publicly available footage that exists of Bruce Lee has already been studied to the point of exhaustion. An entire television series starring Bruce Lee, even if the network executives were right and it only lasted a season or two, would be devoured by his legion of admirers and the fans yet to come. While it’s possible that Kung Fu starring Bruce Lee had been a bust in the short term, in the long term it would have been a juggernaut.

I haven’t read an X-title in years, but the promise of future Gordon Liu action prompted me to give the first issue of Wolverine: Manifest Destiny a try. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the very worst martial arts comics I have ever read.

Two things that are almost mandatory in the execution of a decent martial arts comic are placing the characters in relation both within their environment and to one another. Wolverine: Manifest Destiny fails on both counts, with angles skewed without thought across mostly featureless backgrounds. It gives the impression that San Francisco is still suffering from the effects of the earthquake of 1906. And where other reviews have made comparisons to Leinil Yu, Stephen Segovia’s haphazard fight choreography reminded me more of Rob Liefeld’s work.

The Drunken Mantis’ magic window, from three non-linear panels.

It’s not as if decent martial arts comics haven’t been published by Marvel in the past few years, with both The Immortal Iron Fist and House of M: Avengers as recent examples. But right now the only thing that would make me consider purchasing the next installment of Wolverine: Manifest Destiny would be to find out how Lin Sun of the Sons of the Tiger became Caucasian, Gordon Liu be damned.

“Jimmy Yang Wu is the Donnie Yen of the 70s.” – J.

“Real living is living for others.” – Bruce Lee.

As you can tell from my previous post, I watched Way of the Dragon earlier in the week in honour of the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s passing. No matter how dated the movie surrounding him, there’s something so powerful about Bruce Lee’s physical prowess that just watching him move seems removed from time. My brain just isn’t equipped to handle it.

My Macho Movie Review co-host Nagy first brought the story of the fate of Bruce Lee’s family home to my attention. Hong Kong philanthropist Yu Pang-lin was determined to sell the property to help victims of the the earthquake in Sichuan until a worldwide outcry from martial arts fans changed his mind. Now he’s seeking approval to develop the home into a museum honouring Lee.

I have read dozens of news articles, blogs and forums concerning this story, and I’ve found only one that even takes into consideration the ramifications of this decision. To be fair, for all I know Yu Pang-lin will find alternate ways to contribute to the relief effort, or use the museum as a way to provide continual aid to people in need. And it’s probable that a museum dedicated to a globally loved icon like Lee would help create jobs and give a boost to the local economy. The long-term possibilities could very well outstrip whatever benefits turning the property into a parking lot would have entailed.

It’s not Yu Pang-lin’s decision that bothers me. He’s free to do whatever he wants with the property, and you can count me as one of the many who would love to see a permanent monument to Bruce Lee. It’s the knee-jerk reaction from Bruce Lee’s fans that has me confounded, with commentators initially vilifying Yu Pang-lin when he was going to let the property go on the market, then lauding him for reversing his decision to the point that some people were calling him a hero.

I have no idea how charitable Bruce Lee was, or, since he died before achieving the height of his fame whether he really had the chance to be. But I just can’t help feeling that a more fitting tribute to Lee’s cinematatic legacy would be to help those most in need.

After a lengthy lull I’m finally easing my way back into animating, and to loosen up I’ve pulled out my Shaw Bros. collection and immersed myself in the balletic art of violence known as Kung Fu. I found the clip above at The Slums of Shaolin, where the proprietor gives a rundown on 36th Chamber of Shaolin director Lau Kar Leung’s incredible heritage. The clip is a straightforward, no frills look at various techniques from a man who spent his entire life as an ambassador for the martial arts.

Like many people, one of the titles that got me to sample superheroes again was Iron Fist. The revamp was a textbook example of how to pull off the comic equivalent of a b-movie, and I don’t just mean that in the sense that it dealt with both pulp and exploitation themes. Iron Fist is one of those titles that seemed to draw a fair number of readers from outside the regular Marvel readership, justifying its continued existence by bringing fresh money into the company as opposed to just transferring it from one property to another.

Word on the street is that the team behind Iron Fist’s resurgence is stepping down en masse, to be replaced by hard-boiled writer Duane Swierczynski and artist Travel Foreman. I’m almost as into crime fiction as I am kung fu flicks, so I’m hopeful that Swierczynski brings it. From the sounds of it, he’s not immune to the charms of a well-placed kick to the face himself.