Immortal Iron Fist Volume 1 Premiere Hardcover Written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction Review by Ryan Stevens With all the upheaval and events in the Marvel universe in the past few years, lots of old superheroes who had fallen into obscurity are being revived and given series to remind us 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. (Editor's note: the recent Ant-Man series was not the return of one of the former Ant-Men, but an entirely new Ant-Man.) But we’re not here to talk about flaming skulls or split personalities, we’re here to talk about iron fists! Danny Rand, the millionaire owner of Rand Corp and masked kung fu-fighter the Immortal Iron Fist, has returned to comicdom in his own monthly series. And what a return it is. 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. Cage seems to hijack any scene he’s in, demanding you realize how awesome he is. Also, anyone who can make the line “I have the best kung fu” not sound silly deserves major recognition. Brubaker and Fraction also deserve credit for not filling their fight scenes with unnecessary words. Like Orson says in one issue “Less talking. More kicking.” 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. Luke Cage is big and burly, Danny is wiry and spry, and Davos the Steel Serpent is menacing and creepy. 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 poorly. The figures have no depth, and one dead body actually looks like a clown. Comment on the review HERE
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