Kung (comics)
Kung, Assassin of a Thousand Claws is a fictional character appearing in DC Comics publications and related media, commonly as a recurring foil of the superhero Wonder Woman. A Japanese-American mercenary with the magical ability to transform into animals, he first appeared in 1977's Wonder Woman #237, written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by José Delbo. He would reappear several years later in both All-Star Squadron and Who's Who in the DC Universe, as well as in Crisis on Infinite Earths, the 1985 company-wide publication event that rebooted DC Comics' continuity. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wonder Woman and her supporting characters and foes were re-imagined. Though originally absent from this revised mythos, Kung was reintroduced for the Modern Age in 1998's Guns of the Dragon, a four-issue DC Comics limited series by Tim Truman. An updated version of the character, a shape-shifting martial arts master, would emerge to once again confront Wonder Woman in 2007's Wonder Woman Annual #1, written by Allan Heinberg and illustrated by Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson.
Fictional character biography
Thomas Morita
Thomas Morita is a Japanese-American man whose parents die during the Great Depression. Afterward, he becomes a samurai and undergoes a mystical process that gives him the ability to transform into animals.In Wonder Woman #237, Kung is killed while saving his sister Nancy from a teetering battleship. The Monitor later retrieves him, among other heroes, to battle the Anti-Monitor in Crisis on Infinite Earths.
In post-Crisis continuity, Kung is killed during the bombing of Hiroshima, but returns as a spirit to battle the Justice Society of America.