Jun 18 2008
The Immortal Iron Fist
Growing up, I had a soft spot for reject heroes in the comic book world. I liked the Brave and Bold stories were Batman somehow ended up hanging with Ragman, the Demon, or The Creeper. For the Marvel Universe, I always had a soft spot for Power Man and Iron Fist, Heroes for Hire. I always thought Iron Fist was damn cool, a white Kung Fu expert who had mystical powers and was a bit of a smart ass. My kinda hero!
Suffice to say he was a C-grade Marvel hero, somewhere between Manthing and Speedball. Not very popular, but pretty nifty. He and his partner, Luke "Sweet Christmas" Cage (AKA Power Man), blipped on and off the comics radar for twenty years. Until recently, I'd forgotten all about them.
Now, Ed Brubaker, the comic-noir maven, has breathed new life into ol' Iron Fist and it is terrific. It maintains a noir-seriousness with the hyperbolic pulp-violence of comic book heroes and sense of wonder rooted in Asian mythology and the aesthetics of wuxia films (what I call "kung fu flicks"). David Aja's art is captivating and stylish and fits the mood of the story like a hand in glove.
I have not been this stoked about comic books since I read Preacher. If you like noir, wuxia, fantasy, and/or action storytelling, check out the Immortal Iron Fist.
JSR
Suffice to say he was a C-grade Marvel hero, somewhere between Manthing and Speedball. Not very popular, but pretty nifty. He and his partner, Luke "Sweet Christmas" Cage (AKA Power Man), blipped on and off the comics radar for twenty years. Until recently, I'd forgotten all about them.
Now, Ed Brubaker, the comic-noir maven, has breathed new life into ol' Iron Fist and it is terrific. It maintains a noir-seriousness with the hyperbolic pulp-violence of comic book heroes and sense of wonder rooted in Asian mythology and the aesthetics of wuxia films (what I call "kung fu flicks"). David Aja's art is captivating and stylish and fits the mood of the story like a hand in glove.
I have not been this stoked about comic books since I read Preacher. If you like noir, wuxia, fantasy, and/or action storytelling, check out the Immortal Iron Fist.
JSR
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