News Wed, 29 Nov 2006 18:30:40 CST Vu

White Tiger is Purty Good
November 29, 2006

(excerpt)

THE DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU #20 (Jan 1976) WHITE TIGER (1976)

Angela Del Toro's the niece of the original White Tiger, Hector Ayla. I remember first seein' the White Tiger in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #20. The lead story in Deadly Hands was always Shang Chi or Iron Fist, but the second series, The Sons of the Tiger, were by a couple of newcomers called Bill Mantlo and George Perez. I knew these boys were destined for greatness, especially Perez, whose artistic skills grew with each story. The Sons of the Tiger were a trio of kung fu fighters, each empowered by a Asian amulet. In Deadly Hands #19, they had a falling out and threw the amulets in the trash. Hector picked 'em up and was transformed into the mysterious White Tiger, probably the first Chicano superhero in the Marvel Universe. Perez had such a great enthusiasm for this character, as you can see in the splash page above, where he painstakingly drew a New York City skyline forming the logo (in Deadly Hands #21).