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Egg Fu

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Egg Fu is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Wonder Woman.[1] Most frequently represented as an enormous sentient egg (and often, inexplicably, of Chinese descent), he was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru[2] in 1965's Wonder Woman #157, being the first villain in the series to receive a multi-issue arc. Over the years, multiple versions of the character have appeared with varying backstories and alternative names (including Egg Fu the Fifth, Chang Tzu, and Dr. Yes) to battle not only Wonder Woman, but also the Metal Men (as Dr. Yes), Checkmate (as Chang Tzu) and Harley Quinn (as Eggy).[3]

Egg Fu
Wonder Woman #158 (November 1965), cover art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceWonder Woman #157 (October 1965)
Created byRobert Kanigher (writer)
Ross Andru (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoEdgar Fullerton Yeung
Chang Tzu
SpeciesAnthropomorphic egg
Team affiliationsIntergang
Great Ten
Science Squad
Notable aliasesChang Tzu, Egg Fu the Fifth, Dr. Yes
AbilitiesTeleportation device

In early appearances, the character was a Yellow Peril ethnic stereotype, complete with caricatured Asian facial features and a strong Chinese accent.[4][5] Later appearances of the character have striven to maintain his Asian ethnicity while de-emphasizing his historically racialized characterization and removing overt associations with Chinese culture and language.

Publication history

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Egg Fu was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru.[2] He first appeared in 1965's Wonder Woman #157,[6] and died in the same issue. One year later, Egg Fu the Fifth, a relative of the original Egg Fu, debuts in Wonder Woman #166 (November 1966). Soon after, Dr. Yes (a reference to Dr. No), Egg Fu's robot twin, appears in Metal Men #20 (June/July 1966).

Fictional character biography

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Pre-crisis history

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Original Egg Fu

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Egg Fu is a Chinese Communist agent, perplexingly shaped like an egg the size of a house, with a Charlie Chan-like speech pattern, who uses his mustaches as whips against his enemies.[7] In Egg Fu's first appearance, Steve Trevor is captured by the Chinese mastermind and turned into a human bomb. Egg Fu then launches Steve and a doomsday missile at the American fleet. Wonder Woman intercepts Steve, who has become a deadly menace. Unable to save him, she redirects his path into the enemy missile. The explosion destroys the missile, Steve, and Wonder Woman herself, but the fleet is saved. Informed of her daughter's demise, Hippolyta gathers the remains of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor and returns them to a laboratory on Paradise Island. Using an atomic structure reassembly beam, she restores Steve and her daughter. However, Steve's body is still infused with explosive energy. Wonder Woman finds that her own body has also become explosive, making them both a danger to the world.[8] They leave Paradise Island. Wonder Woman plans to use the explosive power against Egg Fu. He sends his troops against her, but they fail in their task to overcome her. A piece of anti-matter removes the explosive matter from Steve and her, then the Amazon defeats Egg Fu.[9]

Egg Fu the Fifth

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Egg Fu the Fifth appears in Wonder Woman#166 (November 1966); cover art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor investigate the disappearance of an American submarine. While flying over the ocean where it disappeared, Wonder Woman's plane is fired upon by an enemy freighter. Steve boards the ship, then disappears too.

Wonder Woman's plane is drawn underwater into a giant seashell. Frogmen attack her and take her prisoner. She is brought to a secret base controlled by Egg Fu the Fifth, a relative of the original Egg Fu. Held prisoner by her own magic lasso, Wonder Woman offers to dance for Egg Fu. She then performs a bracelet-clashing dance which cracks Egg Fu and allows her to escape and rescue the stolen submarine.

Dr. Yes

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Dr. Yes, Egg Fu's robot twin, uses a giant robot to capture Will Magnus, leader of the Metal Men. The team travel to Dr. Yes' base, where he brainwashes them, believing that "when the Amelicans see how these gleat heroes of theirs have turned tlaitors -- they will doubt anyone's stlength to lesist us!" [sic]

The giant robot takes the Metal Men to a football stadium that is celebrating "I am an American Day". Fighting the urge to say "Down with America!" in front of everyone, the Metal Men self-destruct instead. An angry Dr. Yes tries having the giant robot destroy the crowd instead, but the various pieces of the Metal Men attack and destroy the robot, freeing Magnus who had been trapped inside. Afterwards, Magnus rebuilds the superhero team. Dr. Yes is still at large at the story's end.

Post-crisis history

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Post-crisis Egg Fu

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Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of Egg Fu is introduced in Wonder Woman (vol. 2) #128 (December 1997). This Egg Fu is an early twentieth-century super computer, recently rediscovered and turned into one of many carnival attractions along Gateway City's Oceanside boardwalk, despite public protests that the attraction is racially insensitive.

Egg Fu is actually a product of Apokoliptian technology created from a device Scott Free accidentally left behind on a visit to Earth. Once activated, it begins dominating people's minds and preparing them for transport to Apokolips. Egg Fu is defeated by Hippolyta (at the time acting as Diana's successor as Wonder Woman), Donna Troy, Artemis and Wonder Girl. An associate of Mister Miracle, Metron, removes it.[2]

Chang Tzu

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Chang Tzu from 52 #25, art by Joe Bennett.
See also: 52 (comics)

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, a new version of Egg Fu appears, calling himself Chang Tzu (likely a reference to Chuang Tzu, or possibly Sun Tzu), an agent of Apokolips.

Chang Tzu (Chung Zhu) is the mastermind, along with Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim, behind the kidnappings of many mad scientists in the comic book series 52. They are forcibly recruited into Chang's "Science Squad" based on Oolong Island. Chang has a large, egg-shaped body with facial features and cracked skin, mounted in a spider-legged chair for mobility. He is equipped with small prosthetic hands that allow him to manipulate items and equipment; he is also armed with hidden weaponry.

Shortly after Black Adam escapes confinement on Oolong Island, Chang Tzu is shot apart by one of his kidnapped scientists, Dr. Will Magnus.[2] Magnus claims to be acting irrationally due to a lack of medication. A new, smouldering egg was seen hidden in Chang's shattered remains.[10] When he later reappears and is asked about his seeming destruction, he explains: "My third incubation ended four months ago".[11]

Chang Tzu later re-appears as the main villain in 2007's "Checkout" storyline that crossed over between the Outsiders and Checkmate series. The UN-sponsored clandestine agency devoted to meta-human special operations capture the then-wanted super-hero team led by Nightwing and coerce them into helping invade Oolong Island. A team of operatives from both groups reaches the island, but Sasha Bordeaux and Captain Boomerang are taken captive by Chang Tzu, who subjects them both to excruciatingly torturous studies in order to examine their own respective meta-abilities. Their teammates eventually free them and the group retreats, their mission a failure, with Chang Tzu still remaining at large. While studying her unique physiology consisting of human tissue and artificially intelligent nanotechnology, Chang Tzu takes a morbid interest in Bordeaux, remarking:

"Never in my wildest dreams... did I imagine I would meet a creature I pitied more than myself".[12]

As revealed to Alan Scott by Thundermind, Chang Tzu and his Science Squad are members of the Great Ten that provide, among other things, the funds to operate the organization and the technology they use.

His name is unclear as it has been inconsistently presented; he is introduced as Chang Tzu,[13] but is subsequently referred to as both Chung Zhu[14] and Chung Tzu.[15] It may be possible that he has multiple names; Chang himself explains that "Egg Fu" is one of his "Nine thousand and nine unmentionable names", and immediately kills a guard who laughs at his mention of it.[14]

Chang Tzu reappeared in a short story published in Wonder Woman #600, where he is defeated by Wonder Woman, Power Girl, and Batgirl.

Eggy

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In the New 52, a character nicknamed "Eggy" is introduced in Harley Quinn (vol. 2) Annual #1. He is Edgar Fullerton Yeung, an egg-headed scientist who is secretly experimenting on Poison Ivy at Arkham Asylum, but later reforms with Harley Quinn's help.[16]

In other media

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Video games

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Miscellaneous

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Daniels, Les (2004). Wonder Woman: The Complete History. Chronicle Books. pp. 116–118. ISBN 9780811842334. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d Wallace, Dan (2008), "Egg Fu", in Dougall, Alastair (ed.), The DC Comics Encyclopedia, New York: Dorling Kindersley, p. 113, ISBN 978-0-7566-4119-1, OCLC 213309017
  3. ^ Jimenez, Phil; Wells, John (2010). The Essential Wonder Woman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. pp. 130–132. ISBN 978-0345501073.
  4. ^ Wells, John (2014). American Comic Book Chronicles: 1965-1969. TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 33. ISBN 978-1605490557.
  5. ^ Austin, Allan W.; Hamilton, Patrick L. (2019). All New, All Different?: A History of Race and the American Superhero. University of Texas Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 9781477318973. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. ^ Wonder Woman #157 at the Grand Comics Database.
  7. ^ Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. p. 117. ISBN 0-8160-1356-X.
  8. ^ Schoell, William (2010). "Egg Fu — and the Return to the Golden Age". The Silver Age of Comics. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593936068. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  9. ^ Wonder Woman #157–158 (October-November 1965)
  10. ^ 52 Week 49
  11. ^ Checkmate (vol. 2) #15
  12. ^ Checkmate (vol. 2) #16
  13. ^ 52 Week 25
  14. ^ a b 52 Week 29
  15. ^ 52 Week 45
  16. ^ Harley Quinn (vol. 3) #1-8, 12-14, 17, 18
  17. ^ Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013). "DC Characters and Objects - Scribblenauts Unmasked Guide". IGN. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
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