Immortal Iron Fist volume 1 premiere hardcover review

Written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction

Art by David Aja, with numerous others.

Review by Ryan Stevens

With all the upheaval and events going on in the Marvel universe in the past few years, lots of old superheroes who had fallen into obscurity are being revived and given kick-hiney series’ to make the world remember who these awesome heroes are. Moon Knight’s been given an ongoing, Ghost Rider got a new series (though this was probably to cash in on his movie), and even Ant-man got an ongoing which was tragically short lived.

But we’re not here to talk about flaming skulls or split personalities, oh no, we’re here to talk about Iron Fists! Danny Rand, the millionaire owner of Rand Corps, and masked kung fu-fighter the Immortal Iron Fist has returned to comicdom in his own monthly series. And what a return it is.

See, ever since the creation of the character, we’ve been told that Danny is not the first Iron Fist, and will not be the last. The title of Iron Fist passes down from person to person. Once one Iron Fist dies, a new one is christened, and so and so on until the end of time. However, it turns out that Danny’s predecessor, Orson Randall, isn’t dead after all, although there are evil forces at work who would like to put them both 6-feet under. Thus begins the story so misleadingly titled “The Last Iron Fist Story.”

Thankfully, this is not the final story of Danny Rand, because the creative team is so phenomenal that I would hate for them to only work on 1 story. Written by Ed Brubaker, the guy who killed Captain America, and Matt Fraction, the guy who killed Stilt-man, this story is filled with amazing twists and turns, providing an extremely entertaining story that both deepens and widens Iron Fist’s back story without contradicting any pre-existing facts with the “retcon button” which is so commonly used in today’s comics industry. Amidst all the kicking-and punching, the writers also succeed in sprinkling in delicious bits of humor, such as Iron Fist’s reaction to Night Nurse, or Orson Randall’s drinking game.

Thankfully, Brubaker and Fraction don’t have to sacrifice characterization for story quality. Everyone is 3-dimensional and unique. Pre-existing characters like the Heroes for Hire are characterized perfectly, while new characters are anything but generic. The writing duo are particularly good with writing Luke Cage, Danny’s old partner. He’s a big African-American guy, with a lot of heart, and prone to shouting “Sweet Christmas” in the heat of battle. He seems to hijack any scene he’s in, demanding you realize how awesome he is. And I mean that in a good way.

The art is mostly handled by David Aja, whose shady and moody artwork is perfect for a kung-fu book like this. His lines are great for portraying karate-fight scenes on a grand scale, and he gets his chance in spades with this book. However, there are a lot flashbacks concerning previous Iron Fists which are handled by other artists….not all of whom are very good. A flashback in issue 2 is handled particularly…badly. The figures have no depth, and one dead body actually looks lie a clown. I’m serious.

So, all in all, a very, very, VERY, good story, and hopefully a just the start of a great series to come.

8 out of 10.