Clive Reston is a fictional character appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
. The character was patterned on
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
and Roper from the
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...
Movie ''
Enter the Dragon
''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Ahna Capri, Bob Wall, Shih Kien and Jim Kelly. ''Enter the Dragon'' was ...
''. Clive Reston was an agent of MI-6 and an ally to
Denis Nayland Smith and
Shang-Chi
Zheng Shang-Chi,. also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in ''Spec ...
. During his time with MI-6, he started a relationship with
Leiko Wu, but she left him for Simon Bretnor who turned out to be the mad assassin Mordillo.
Publication history
Clive Reston first appeared in Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu issue three, in 1974, created by
Doug Moench
Douglas Moench (; born February 23, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer of comics, novels, short stories, newspaper feature articles, weekly newspaper comic strips, film screenplays and teleplays. He is notable for his ''Batman'' wo ...
. He went on to be a recurring character in the ''
Master of Kung Fu
Zheng Shang-Chi,. also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in ''Spec ...
'' series, as well as occasionally appearing in other series such as ''
Rom
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
'' and ''
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...
''. He also recently appeared in the
MAX
Max or MAX may refer to:
Animals
* Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog
* Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE)
* Max (gorilla) ...
series ''
Wisdom
Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...
'', centered on the character
Pete Wisdom. Now, of course, it is widely known that Shang-Chi was basically
Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in David ...
’s
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu ( zh, t=傅滿洲/福滿洲, p=Fú Mǎnzhōu) is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character f ...
novels fused together with
Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee (born Lee Jun-fan; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was an American-born Hong Kong martial artist, actor, filmmaker, and philosopher. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy which was formed from ...
movies, but there is much of the concept that had been inspired by from ''Enter the Dragon''. Bruce Lee's character in the movie practically is Shang-Chi, and his uneasy alliance with wisecracking pal Roper
John Saxon
John Saxon (born Carmine Orrico; August 5, 1936 – July 25, 2020) was an American actor who worked on more than 200 film and television projects during a span of 60 years. He was known for his work in Westerns and horror films, often playing ...
echoes, in many ways, Shang-Chi's give-and-take with agent Clive Reston. Saxon's image was replaced with that of
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...
.
Fictional character biography
Reston first appeared as an ally to
Shang-Chi
Zheng Shang-Chi,. also known as the Master of Kung Fu and Brother Hand, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Jim Starlin, debuting in ''Spec ...
, the master of kung fu. He also had a romantic relationship with Melissa Greville, and the two were both present at the funeral of James Larner. He allows her to stay with him after she is released from hospital after having been injured by a gunshot wound, and she reveals to him that her mother knows his father. The pair were subsequently arrested in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, after they were framed for committing an explosion at a place called the Jade Peacock. They discovered that they had been set up and that the policemen were criminals in disguise. After escaping from custody, they contacted MI-6, who helped them locate the secret base of the villain, Kogar, where they engaged in a fight with Kogar's men, before they engaged in a fight with and defeated Kogar. Reston then returned to England.
Reston then encountered the villain
Shockwave
In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...
, who attacked him. He then discovered that former MI-6 agents were trying to kill him, Melissa and his companion Sir Denis. In order to escape, they traveled to a remote estate in Scotland, where they were all captured by a group led by MI-6's chief Ward Sarsfield, before they were rescued by
Black Jack Tarr.
Melissa then agreed to act as bait in order to capture a serial killer, dubbed,
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...
. The trap worked, and Jack the Ripper was attacked and killed by Reston and Shang Chi. Later, he told her that their relationship was off, although she continues to love him.
Reston was seen in London helping Pete Wisdom fight off an invading army of Martians and Jack the Rippers.
Powers and abilities
Reston possesses no superhuman powers or abilities, although he is a very talented agent. Clive's weapon of choice is an
ASP 9mm handgun.
In other media
*Clive Reston appears in a deleted scene in ''
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'', portrayed by an unidentified actor. He apparently has had history with
Everett Ross for "blowing
iscover in Tehran". Ross chloroforms him and poses as him while regaling about his attempts at capturing
Spymaster
A spymaster is a leader of a group of spies or an intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforce ...
.
References
External links
Clive Restonat Marvel.com
*
*http://www.comicbookdb.com/character_chron.php?ID=12032
*http://www.comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=12032
*http://marvel.fandom.com/Clive_Reston
Comic Vine*http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/grevmeli.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reston, Clive
Marvel Comics characters
1974 comics debuts
Comics characters introduced in 1974
Characters created by Doug Moench
Fictional spies
Fictional British people
Shang-Chi characters