The Paperback Kung Fu Phenomenon: Part 2 (Standalone Titles, TV, & the 80s)
The following column was originally printed in Justin Marriott's Paperback Fanatic 47, which was published in July of 2023. You can buy a copy of it here. As I explained in this column last edition, I spent my teen years in the 1970s absolutely obsessed with all things martial arts. I collected magazines, comics, movies, and attempted to acquire every single paperback book or series that focused on this very specific genre. I was less interested in non- fiction books about the martial arts or individual styles; I was really only interested in the violent pulp fiction that was anchored in manly men (or sexy women) fighting other manly men (or sexy women) in stylized conflict. And thankfully there was no shortage of it for a decade plus. This time around I want to focus on some additional two-fisted series from that era, including a TV tie-in, a couple of titles that failed to spawn their own series, and some that were birthed in the 80s. Kwai Chang Caine, Master o