#9: Immortal Iron Fist #1-14 by Matt Fraction and David Aja
Suddenly Iron Fist was a kung-fu genius like those I'd seen in the movies rather than a cool-looking super hero with an Eastern flair. When Matt Fraction started naming Iron Fist's moves with creative names, I fell in love with this title. Not only did Fraction make Danny Rand cool(er), he added wonderful depth to the overall mythos. Suddenly we had a lineage of Iron Fists, with the surly Orson Randall living past his prime and drinking his way around the world. Randall and Rand's adventures led to the revelation of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, where readers lucky enough to meet Fat Cobra. Fat Cobra needs to appear in at least one comic a month, this guy is just tremendous. He's almost too much like Hercules, but how can you not like this guy who needs his "victory wenches" after combat?
This series was so well-received that it basically launched Fraction's Marvel career and landed Iron Fist a spot on the Avengers. Not bad for a low-selling title about a 2nd string character.
David Aja's kung-fu is strong. The martial arts always looked tremendous, but the subway battle with Hydra took the cake. With two Iron Fists flying around on wires cutting everybody to shreds, it was just about the perfect comic book battle.
Excellent
3 comments:
Again I am in 100% agreement with you.
Fraction's (and Brubaker's) run was creative and fun but still kept it's edge. It expanded on the existing mythos with all due respect.
I was remiss in praising Kolins' art on Flash (which was fantastic and the perfect partner to Johns' writing) on your last Best Of post. So, I won't make the same mistake here.
Like Kolins, Aja's art was the perfect fit for the Fraction's story. The illustrations seemed to move as if one was watching a film. A very good Kung Fu film.
However, my readership ended when Fraction departed the title. The same thing happened when Johns left Flash.
I miss Fraction's Iron Fist as much as I do Johns' Flash (Wally West).
If Fraction returned to this title I would pick it up in a heartbeat.
I dropped the titles the same time you did, that's why I included the issue numbers. It is always sad seeing a book go down after a stellar run, but that's how you can really tell how good a run of issues was.
I picked up the first hardcover to this book and was treated to the Fraction/Aja duo. Possibly more formidable than the Iron Fist/Luke Cage combo? I read through the "Seven Capital Cities of Heaven" then dropped, as well. Great run while it lasted.
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