He was raised by his father to be the ultimate lackey for the would be conqueror. However, his first mission, which was to kill his father's old archenemy, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, ended with him learning the true evil nature of his father. Disillusioned, Shang Chi swore eternal opposition to his father's ambitions and fought him as an agent of British intelligence.
The title, originally created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, was an early success that grew even more with the coming of writer Doug Moench and artist Paul Gulacy whose long tenure on the title made the series one of the most acclaimed publications for Marvel in the 1970s.