Chang Tzu
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| Chang Tzu | |
 Chang Tzu from 52 #25, art by Joe Bennett |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Wonder Woman #157 (October 1965) |
| Created by | Robert Kanigher (writer) Ross Andru (artist) |
| In story information | |
| Alter ego | Chang Tzu |
| Team affiliations | Intergang Great Ten Science Squad |
| Notable aliases | Egg Fu (epithet) |
| Abilities | Teleportation Device |
Chang Tzu (Chung Zhu) is a fictional supervillain published by DC Comics. Originally a Silver Age creation named Egg Fu who battled Wonder Woman, he has been reinvented in modern times by Darkseid. He first appeared in Wonder Woman #157 (October 1965), and was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru.
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[edit] Character History
[edit] Pre-Crisis History
[edit] Original Egg Fu
Egg Fu first debuted in Wonder Woman #157. Robert Kanigher's Wonder Woman stories are generally despised by fans[citation needed] due to their campy nature, and Egg Fu is often held up as the prime example of this. Egg Fu was a Chinese Communist agent, inexplicably shaped like an egg the size of a house, with a Charlie Chan-like speech pattern, who used his mustaches as whips against his enemies.
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. She is unable to save him, but 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, Queen 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.
They leave Paradise Island. Wonder Woman plans to use the explosive power against Egg Fu. The Chinese leader 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 Wonder Woman, then the Amazon defeats Egg Fu. (Wonder Woman #157-158)
[edit] Egg Fu the Fifth
Egg Fu the Fifth, a relative of the original Egg Fu, debuted in Wonder Woman #166.
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 frieghter. 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. Held prisoner by her magic lasso, Wonder Woman offers to dance for Egg Fu. She then performs a dance which cracks Egg Fu and allows her to escape and rescue the stolen submarine.
[edit] Dr. Yes
A robot version of Egg Fu, named Dr. Yes (an obvious reference to Dr. No), appeared in Metal Men #20. In the story, he used a giant robot to capture Will Magnus, thereby luring the Metal Men to his base where he brainwashed them. The resultant programming conflict, however, caused them to explode, destroying Dr. Yes in the process. Magnus subsequently rebuilt them.
[edit] Post-Crisis History
[edit] Post Crisis Egg Fu
Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of Egg Fu was introduced in Wonder Woman vol. 2, #128. A nineteenth century super-computer, recently rediscovered, it became one of many carnival attractions along Gateway City's Oceanside boardwalk.
Wonder Woman's attention was drawn to him by complaints his design was racially insensitive. However, 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 began dominating people's minds and preparing them for transport to Apokolips. Egg Fu is defeated by Hippolyta, Donna Troy, Artemis and Wonder Girl. An associate of Mister Miracle, Metron, removes it.
[edit] Chang Tzu
- See also: 52 (comics)
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, a new version of Egg Fu appeared, calling himself Chang Tzu.
Chang Tzu (Chung Zhu) is the mastermind, along with Bruno "Ugly" Mannheim, behind the kidnappings of many mad scientists in in the comic book series 52. They are forcibly recruited them 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 manipuate 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. According to Magnus himself, he himself is acting irrationally due to a lack of medication. A new, smouldering egg was seen hidden in Chang's shattered remains[1]. When he later reappears and was asked about his seeming destruction, he explains, "My third incubation ended four months ago."[2]
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 presently unclear as it has been inconsistently presented; he is introduced as Chang Tzu[3], but is subsequently referred to as both Chung Zhu[4] and Chung Tzu[5]. 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.[6]
