Legends in return in Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #1. Written by the iconic Larry Hama, penciled by David Watcher, colored by Neeraj Menon, and lettered by Travis Lanham, this new solo miniseries finds Danny Rand’s world(s) expanding. Supported by a new gateway system connecting the Cities of Heaven, Danny and his kung-fu compatriots have all new access to K’un-Lun, Under Heaven, and everywhere in between. But with new access come new dangers as enemies like Taskmaster and Lady Bullseye set their eyes on the Cites and the power they contain. Tighten your headbands for the martial arts fun already in progress.
America’s favorite karate himbo returns in Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #1!
Written with a stiff pulpiness by living legend Larry Hama (G.I. Joe, Kitty Pryde, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Wolverine) and given a kinetic, sumptuous colored look by the art team of David Watcher and Neeraj Menon, this new solo series looks to try to spin some gold out of the mess that was Kaare Andrews’ time in the Living Weapon sandbox.
We open on Danny somewhat in transition. Still tasked with the protection of mini-Living Weapon Pei and her Lockheed-like micro-Shao Lao dragon, Danny is looking to reach out beyond his mystic-powered penthouse in Rand Tower. Tinkerer Fooh (another Andrews’ creation from The Living Weapon days) has connected all the Cities of Heaven to the Rand Tower gate, providing unprecedented access to one of the weirder and more underused plots of narrative real estate in the Marvel Universe.
But of course, as soon as they step through it, kung-fu hell has broken loose in the Under Heaven. Undead hordes attack all the cities, aimed at killing all the Heaven dragons that power the Iron Fist lore, taking the power for their costumed masters, cult-favorite baddies and weapons-grade hotties Taskmaster and Lady Bullseye.
On paper, the idea is GREAT and precisely the kind of odd Marvel pulp that I love to see in the pages of Iron Fist books. Unfortunately the legendary name of Larry Hama is also the title’s greatest weakness. Or rather, his stilted but somehow also weirdly verbose script is. Meaning, throughout this opening issue Danny is dropping words he absolutely should not even know. Stuff like “poultry tally” when he could just say “counting chickens” and various other weirdly stiff missives throughout the script, up to and including some VERY sweaty Luke Cage dialogue toward the end of the issue. I am sure a lot of this is just the product of Hama being as old as he is and still operating in new comics.
You see this sort of stuff crop up when the older hands keep turning at the wheel. Your Dan Jurgens and Chris Claremonts, etc etc. And in it’s own way, it’s somewhat charming! It harkens back to Hama’s own older works on the G.I. Joe titles and even Wolverine in some capacity. It is also neat seeing someone trying to make some larger use out of Danny’s new status quo as a solo character in the wake of the…truly awful Kaare Andrews books (which I liked at the time because they were new Danny Rand comics and I will always appreciate Danny food, but now…woof-a-rooni, y’all, they are way bad and pretty racist, frankly).
But overall it all comes across fairly wooden, even with the charming artwork from Watcher and Menon. Worse still, it lacks the real aloof spark that certain writers have flinted with Danny, making him spark as a solo title. Danny is always better when he’s slightly stupid, right? And I say that as someone who LOVES Danny! He’s far too serious here, far too literal in his interpretation of their latest adventure.
Fooh and Pei here sort of get the more Danny dialogue almost, weirdly enough. Cackling in glee at the mowing down of karate zombies and flatly announcing kung-fu moves as they strike out at a hot lady in a body sock. But it should be DANNY doing all that stuff, it makes for a frustrating read even if I am buying the weird ticket with Hama’s gonzo plotting.
The visuals also make it doubly frustrating as Heart of the Dragon #1 looks pretty great! Under the solidly kinetic pencils of David Watcher and the film grainy, semi-sketchy colors of Neeraj Menon, the visuals of this opening issue really sell the 70’s action movie tone of the opening and of Iron Fist as a character overall. This is another throwback I can absolutely get behind.
If you follow me on Twitter (and you absolutely shouldn’t), you’ll have seen that I have been opining the lack of this sort of broad genre work from Marvel as of late. They KINDA got close to it with the return of those older titles like Where Monsters Dwell and the sort a few years back, but Heart of the Dragon #1 has a real Marvel Comics Presents look and feel to it that I feel like their recent output could use more of. But I also realize that this isn’t going to be for everyone and is a big ask for an audience that is more in tune with movie tie-in titles and more name recognition characters.
So all in all Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #1 is a mixed bag. Said even as a hardcore lover of Danny Rand and the kung-fu idiocy of his titles. Though the “marquee energy” of having someone like Larry Hama doing a new Iron Fist miniseries is novel enough, I fear for the long term viability of this title to pop for general audiences. Which is a shame because it is a sort of weird and cranky that Marvel isn’t allowed to be anymore, but at the same time, that crankiness could just as soon be called “badness” and you wouldn’t even have to walk that far to get there.
Oh well, at least the Ed Brisson run is still fun…
MARVELOUS MUSINGS
- Seriously, don’t read those Kaare Andrews Iron Fist books. You should only read those if you lose a bet or something. Or if you want an example of what NOT to do with a Danny Rand book.
- I didn’t talk too much about it, but Danny gets a fun little redesign in his costume here. He is back in the original green and white color scheme but the bodysuit has a hysterically deep V-neck that allows the top of his tattoo to poke out of the top, completing the emblem on the chest. It is very stupid, but I love it.
- Danny didn’t use my favorite of his arsenal of moves yet, The Brooklyn Head-Butt, but it is early days still.
- Truly dumb we haven’t had a good modern Heroes for Hire book.
Justin Partridge has loved comics all his life. He hasn't quite gotten them to love him back just yet. But that hasn't stopped him from trying as he has been writing about them now for a little over a decade. With bylines at Newsarama, Shelfdust, PanelXPanel, and more, Justin has been doing the work and putting in the time! Comics have yet to return his calls. Usually he can be found on Twitter screaming about Doctor Who.
