Immortal Iron Fist #20 – Review

By Duane Swierczynski (writer), Travel Foreman & Russ Heath (artists), Matt Milla (colorist)

The Story: Danny Rand has had better days.  Having just celebrated his 33rd birthday, Rand discovered that all but one of his predecessors have died in combat at age 33.  Their killer is a beast called Ch’i-Lin, a mystical creature that feeds on the life source of the dragon that all Iron Fists draw their powers from.  Hiding in the body of a man named Zhou Cheng, Ch’i-Lin has finally come for the Iron Fist, and it will not stop until it has ripped Danny’s heart from his chest.

The Good: Any doubts I had about Swierczynski and Foreman not being able to deliver the same quality of stories achieved by Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja have gladly been put to rest.  Swierczynski has taken loose plot threads from the previous team’s storylines,– like the Iron Fists dying at 33, and the mysterious eighth Capital City of Heaven, and is fashioning them into some really dynamic and entertaining stories.  It helps that he has an artists as skilled as Foreman working with him.  Foreman’s art has a cool anime look to it that compliments Iron Fist’s kung fu heritage while still driving him forward in new directions.

The Not So Good: Foreman’s art suffers from some poor page compositions and erratic inking, with some pages having up to thirteen panels crushed together, obliterating any sense of detail and storytelling.  It wasn’t as bad in this issue though, so hopefully he realized his style looks best when it has the space come to life.  Also, the inks on some pages looking like they’ve barely been touched, while others are saturated in black.  A minor problem, but at times it was enough to distract me .

Conclusion: Under the direction of Swierczynski and Foreman, the future of Iron Fist is in good hands, and this continues to be one title I look forward to every month.

Grade: B

-Tony Rakittke

Immortal Iron Fist #18 – Review

By Duane Swierczynski (Writer), Travel Foreman (Artist), Russ Heath (Artist pgs. 1-4), Matt Milla (Color Art)

I have to hand it to Duane Swierczynski for managing to maintain a majority of the momentum left from the fantastic Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction run. He wisely picked up the plot thread with the most immediate potential, Danny Rand’s 33rd birthday, and ran with it. The introduction of mysterious Iron Fist killing villain brought an immediacy to back to the series that continues in Immortal Iron Fist #18.

The issue opens up by showing the demise of Iron Fist Kwai Jun-Fan at the hands of the mysterious man/creature that Danny Rand is currently battling in Central Park. From there, the action reverts back to the particularly brutal fight in the present as Danny’s narration brings everyone up to speed on the situation at hand. An appearance by the Heroes for Hire keeps the Iron Fist alive for at least another day, but things between Rand and the mysterious man look to be far from over. Even though the bulk of the issue revolves around an action scene, the story manages to advance in a meaningful way. It is clear the Iron Fist assassin is playing hardball and I can’t wait to see how Danny Rand reacts.

The only real complaint I can think of regarding Mr. Swierczynski’s writing is that he is clearly employing the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” style for his run. There are more than a few moments where he is obviously using aspects of the Brubaker/Fraction style to tell the story, but I can’t come down to hard on him when the results work so well. Simply put, the series is extremely close to being as entertaining as it was with the last creative team and I really like the direction the story is going. While it is not quite as epic in scope as the Brubaker/Fraction arcs, Swierczynski is using the foundation they laid to great effect. The only real cause for worry is that Swierczynski may not be able to sustain this momentum over the long haul, but that is something to think about another time. Fans of Brubaker and Fraction can rest assured that, for the time being, The Immortal Iron Fist series is in good hands.

Both artists do a great job making this a nice looking book, but a few things keep it from being something special. I love Russ Heath’s brutal scene with Kwai Jun- Fan, but can’t ignore the fact that it is a bit inconsistent with the details (Bloodless severed leg?!). As for Travel Foreman’s work, I am really enjoying his gritty style, but wish he had a better handle on his action scenes. While some of it looks fantastic (the headbutt!), the direction is a bit confusing and some of the more stylized moments just look rushed. A little  more refinement and I would easily consider this to be one of the better looking books on the stands.

Eventually, Swierczynski is going to have to find his own voice on this series, but I like how things are going so far. The story is interesting, the art fits nicely, and I think there is definitely potential for things to get even better. Take some time to check this one out. (Grade: B)

-Kyle Posluszny

The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall, And The Green Mist of Death #1 – Review

By Matt Fraction (writer), Russ Heath, Nick Drgotta, Mike Allred, Laura Allred, Lewis LaRosa, Stefano Gaudiano, Matt Hollingsworth, Mitch Breitweiser (artists)

What a wonderful book. I always wondered what Iron Fist would be like if Ed Brubaker wasn’t around. Thankfully, it’s just as good, which gives Matt Fraction the “street cred” he so rightfully deserves. This one-shot centers around John Aman, The Prince of Orphans, and his pursuit of Orson Randall, an earlier version of Iron Fist.

The story’s broken up into four parts – each centering on a different time. For instance, part one is pure Golden Age Iron Fist – something that was briefly touched upon in the series. Here, we see more of his group, the Confederates of the Curious. They’re a fascinating team that very much resembles a circus act. I’m hoping we get a mini-series of their exploits down the line. The art teams on this issue are to be commended for rendering each of their sequences to match the era; it’s crazy because this book jumps all over the place. It feels nostalgic in essence – moving from Victorian to western to horror eras. It should feel uneven and chaotic, but some how Fraction makes it all gel.

As the story progresses, it skips through time. We meet Wendell Rand, father of current Iron Fist, Danny Rand, and we see him grow up and study Orson’s techniques. Eventually, Wendell ends up shot and Orson brings him to the most unlikeliest of places to have his wounds fixed – Frankenstein’s castle! But, in a stunning turn of events, the Aman comes to Orson and Danny’s rescue and from there, the entire story and relationship between the two men changes.

This issue answers a lot of questions currently being addressed in the current Iron Fist series. It also offers a wealth of information and backstory to Iron Fist mythos. Iron Fist was never this rich of a character (in terms of history and depth) until Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction restarted his series. Here, Fraction goes the extra mile, painting a lush tale and bringing so many mysterious characters to life. This is one of the best Iron Fist stories ever. (Grade: A+)

– J. Montes