The Immortal Iron Fist #1 - albrown

My deep and unabiding love for Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker is well-established, as is my passion for kung fu characters from the 70s and green footie pajamas, so it should be no surprise that my hopes for the relaunch of the Immortal Iron Fist were sky-high. And before you get too concerned that the series can't possibly live up to my expectations: I'm happy to report that it's just thirteen action-packed pages before my boy Danny Rand faces a mechanical Hydra spider named Mechagorgon.

As usual in Fraction's work, this book is dense and satisfying, and works as a self-contained story even while it sets up no less than two cliffhangers.  It efficiently gets new readers up to date on Iron Fist's origin and history, frames the conflict for the opening of the series, establishes the formidable power of the enemy, and...well, jeez, I didn't see those last few pages coming at all, even though they'd been telegraphed since the first page.  The art by David Aja is perfect: dark and dynamic, with beautifully choreographed action scenes and an occasional "focus bubble" gambit to draw your attention to the important punches.  My only complaint is that Fraction forgoes the classic Iron Fist second-person narration - "You are Iron Fist, and you are still wearing a leotard!" - but I'm gonna guess that he's just saving that moment for later.  (Because no one in their right mind would pass up that opportunity.)

I remember the last relaunch of Iron Fist back in 2004, which I reviewed for the site I was working for way back then -  here's the link if you want to see how awkward my writing style was back in the day.  I was excited for that too, but it turned out to be a pretty dire misfire.  It sank quickly and is now remembered by no one, including me.  Marvel is serious about this one, though - it's obvious that they're as high on Fraction as I am, and of course Brubaker's a big shot already - and their renewed commitment to the skinny white guy in PJ's is off to a promising start.

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