Infinite Kung Fu
Paperback
Written by Kagan McLeod
Pencils by Kagan McLeod
Top Shelf
Release date: August 9, 2011

Infinite Kung Fu is a martial arts adventure with several twists. Set in an ancient time when souls are refusing to pass on and can jump from one dead person to the next, the students of the Eight Immortals have turned on the teachings of their masters and have begun practicing the Poison Kung Fu styles.

One of the Immortals, Chung Li Ch’uan, encounters Yang Lei Kung, a former soldier, and decides that he will be teach him Kung Fu. Ch’uan believes that Kung is the chosen one and will defeat the evil emperor and his generals. Eventually, Kung becomes one of the Emperor’s generals and goes on a quest to learn many different styles of Kung Fu in order to become skilled enough to overthrow the emperor’s evil empire. Along the way, Kung gains several allies, including Moog Joogular, student of Chung Kuo Lao, another of the Eight Immortals. Joogular looks like a young George Clinton and has a very unique fighting style.

The book is split between Kung’s and Moog’s individual journeys, which keeps it interesting. Many times, a book focusing on a single character’s quest runs the risk of becoming redundant. Kung is still the “chosen one,” but Moog is a very important supporting character with a huge part to play in this story.

Infinite Kung Fu combines horror, Kung Fu action, Blaxploitation elements, robots, and a classic quest story into a comic book genre mashup that is highly enjoyable. Kagan McLeod has created an epic on the scale of classic Jet Li or Shaw Brothers films. I remember seeing random issues of this comic many years ago and even though I only read one issue, I always hoped that the entire story would be collected one day. That day has finally come, and kudos to Mr. McLeod and the staff at Top Shelf Comix for finally putting this story together in one big volume. Trust me, the 464 pages fly by and leave you wanting more. I would love to see a second volume or an animated adaptation of this story. If you grew up on Kung Fu theater or just like epic action/adventure tales, you need some Infinite Kung Fu in your life.