Master of Kung Fu #17 - First Appearance of Black Jack Tarr, Printings and Contents

Identification plate

Series: Master of Kung Fu (Marvel, 1974 series)
Issue: #17
Publication date: April 1974
Key date: April 1974
On-sale date: January 15, 1974
Indicia publisher: Marvel Comics Group
Price: $0.20
Pages: 36
Rating: Approved by the Comics Code Authority

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance (cover) of Black Jack Tarr - the earliest appearance on record is a cover, not an interior story.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Ron Wilson, John Romita, Jim Starlin; inks: John Romita, Ernie Chan	Shang-Chi, Black Jack Tarr First
1	Lair of the Lost!	comic story	19	script: Steve Englehart, Jim Starlin; pencils: Jim Starlin; inks: Al Milgrom; colors: George Roussos; letters: Tom Orzechowski	Fu Manchu, Shang-Chi, Denis Nayland Smith, Black Jack Tarr First, Zheng Zu, Tak
2	-	letters page	1	script: Steve Englehart; pencils: Jim Starlin; inks: Al Milgrom
3	Homilies, Hijinx, and Happy New Year -- From the Hallowed Halls of Marvel!	in-house column	1	script: Stan Lee	Iron Fist
4	Value, Value - Who's Got the Value?	in-house column	0.5	letters: typeset
5	From the Valley of the (Ho! Ho! Ho!) Marvel Giants!	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.5	script: ? (promo copy)

Before you buy

Canadian and Whitman editions exist for many bronze books; match the barcode area to the plate.
Look for Mark Jewelers inserts and date stamps - they affect collector preference, not authenticity.

Series context

1 of 109#18 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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