Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon #1

   To say that Iron Fist has had an erratic career would be an understatement.

   Created during the Kung Fu / Martial Arts craze of the '70s, he was an attempt to cross that genre with superheroes. Thus we have the costumed young man who can turn his fists into glowing, unbreakable... well, fists.

    The original series was quite good, and featured some top-notch writers and artists, including Roy Thomas, Chris Claremont, Larry Hama and John Byrne.

   The character eventually teamed up for a long run with Luke Cage (Power Man). Some (largely forgettable) mini-series followed, but Ed Brubaker's series titled The Immortal Iron Fist was excellent.

   For the "All New" version, Iron Fist's adventures are written and drawn by Kaare Kyle Andrews, and he's off to a solid start here.

   We get a partial recap of Danny Rand's young life, a look at his (rather grim) existence in the modern world, and an over-the-top action sequence. I don't really care for Danny as a listless, idle hero - but events seem to be moving to correct that.

   I like the art a lot - it's very dark and edgy, with a Jae Lee feel to it. The layouts are fresh and the designs outstanding, and the story flows with lots of energy.

   It's been typical through Iron Fist's past series that his stories start out strong and then eventually fade - but I'm a fan of the character, and hope this series will break the trend. It's off to a promising start!

Grade: A-

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

This first issue was fairly good. It seems like they are jettisoning Iron Fist's relationship with Misty Knight. I thought the creator's statement at the end was pretty odd.

Chuck said...

Glen, I agree, that was a unique commentary at the end of the issue.