Robin Lewis
May 4, 2008, 09:06 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0408/IFIST014_col.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0408/IFIST014_colt.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Iron Fist #14"></a>Reviewer: Robin Lewis, lucillerobin@aol.com
Story Title: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven: Round Seven.
A fitting finale to Brubaker and Fraction's martial arts epic.
Writer: Mat Fraction & Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Tonci Zonjic, Clay Mann
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano
Artist: Kano
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Production: Paul Acerios
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Editor: Warren Simons
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/)
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
HELL'S UNFURLING HURRICANE
The recent news that Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker are leaving this unexpectedly delightful book no doubt disappointed many of the fans who have been making it a consistent, if not stellar, presence in the sales charts. Their take on the character has promoted Danny Rand from the doldrums and made a decent fist of putting him among the first tier of Marvel's heroes, creating a book good enough to send his readers off to evangelise the comic to the unconverted. They've deepened the mythos behind the character to an astonishing degree, and introduced a slowly burning mystical conspiracy story that's been cross-bred with the mother of all Kung-Fu tournaments. It's been a triumphant run for them, and at the very least, whoever follows them is going to have a hell of a job to live up to what's gone before. Before we have to worry about any of that, we get this oversized finale to everything that's been going on in the first thirteen issues and numerous gap-month filling specials.
VAULTING MANTIS SPINE-SNAP
Given the extra room here, we get plenty of space for the expected martial arts extravaganza, the climactic confrontation between Rand and the evil Xao, the final fate of Davos and the corrupt ruler of K'un-Lun, and even the odd flashback sequence or two. As ever, the benefits of setting up your domninos as perfectly as Brubaker and Fraction have over the past year or so are that when the time comes to knock them over they make an awfully satisfying spectacle. Of course, this being an ongoing, certain threads must be left trailing from the story, and new mysteries must be introduced to keep us reading - Xao's final words are a delicious entree and an further widening of Rand's mystical world that seems entirely natural. Still, the train, the revolution, a redemption, the various reunions and the nicely pitched individual moments of pure cool are plenty to be getting on with for one finale (even if, like me, you're a teensy bit disappointed that we never got to see the final stages of the tournament). All these elements are well-written and immensely satisfying, especially if, like me, you weren't expecting such riches to come from a book that once seemed destined to languish in the soon-to-be-cancelled lower echelon of Marvel's solo titles.
THE STABBING NEWLYWED
Stand-out points in this climax are the ever-entertaining Kung-Fu move names that Brubaker and Fraction must surely write with a happy smile on their faces, and Misty Knight's convincing arguments against taking her and Colleen Wing on in combat when they're clearly unafraid of a tussle or two, but to be honest it's all this good. Ridiculously cool moments in a tightly plotted epic story are the kind of thing many crossover epics shoot for and miss horribly, but here all those things are being done with panache in a book that is as self-contained as anything on the shelves.
MISTRESS OF ALL AGONIES
The art is in the by-now customary Iron Fist style. Like Captain America, this book has had a rotating team of artists build up a remarkably solid look for the book, keeping the changes in style limited to drawing distinctions between the various time-periods portrayed. Such an approach has made the lack of one single main artist an unexpected strength of the book, rather than a weakness.
EXQUISITE SPEED RELEASE
I'm sure plenty of readers would be happy for Brubaker and Fraction to stay on the book indefinitely, but the groundwork they've laid has to count as one of the most fertile regions for a new writer to land in. The prospect of a Fat Cobra story alone seem highly enticing. The issue ends with the Immortal Warriors of Heaven looking down into a cityscape that seems rich with possibilities, a view that is echoed by the one that greets the continuing readers of The Immortal Iron Fist.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mhalf.jpg
‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save.’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2519&cat=IMMORTAL+IRON+FIST)
Story Title: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven: Round Seven.
A fitting finale to Brubaker and Fraction's martial arts epic.
Writer: Mat Fraction & Ed Brubaker
Penciler: Tonci Zonjic, Clay Mann
Inker: Stefano Gaudiano
Artist: Kano
Colorist: Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer: Artmonkeys Studios
Production: Paul Acerios
Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Editor: Warren Simons
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/)
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
HELL'S UNFURLING HURRICANE
The recent news that Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker are leaving this unexpectedly delightful book no doubt disappointed many of the fans who have been making it a consistent, if not stellar, presence in the sales charts. Their take on the character has promoted Danny Rand from the doldrums and made a decent fist of putting him among the first tier of Marvel's heroes, creating a book good enough to send his readers off to evangelise the comic to the unconverted. They've deepened the mythos behind the character to an astonishing degree, and introduced a slowly burning mystical conspiracy story that's been cross-bred with the mother of all Kung-Fu tournaments. It's been a triumphant run for them, and at the very least, whoever follows them is going to have a hell of a job to live up to what's gone before. Before we have to worry about any of that, we get this oversized finale to everything that's been going on in the first thirteen issues and numerous gap-month filling specials.
VAULTING MANTIS SPINE-SNAP
Given the extra room here, we get plenty of space for the expected martial arts extravaganza, the climactic confrontation between Rand and the evil Xao, the final fate of Davos and the corrupt ruler of K'un-Lun, and even the odd flashback sequence or two. As ever, the benefits of setting up your domninos as perfectly as Brubaker and Fraction have over the past year or so are that when the time comes to knock them over they make an awfully satisfying spectacle. Of course, this being an ongoing, certain threads must be left trailing from the story, and new mysteries must be introduced to keep us reading - Xao's final words are a delicious entree and an further widening of Rand's mystical world that seems entirely natural. Still, the train, the revolution, a redemption, the various reunions and the nicely pitched individual moments of pure cool are plenty to be getting on with for one finale (even if, like me, you're a teensy bit disappointed that we never got to see the final stages of the tournament). All these elements are well-written and immensely satisfying, especially if, like me, you weren't expecting such riches to come from a book that once seemed destined to languish in the soon-to-be-cancelled lower echelon of Marvel's solo titles.
THE STABBING NEWLYWED
Stand-out points in this climax are the ever-entertaining Kung-Fu move names that Brubaker and Fraction must surely write with a happy smile on their faces, and Misty Knight's convincing arguments against taking her and Colleen Wing on in combat when they're clearly unafraid of a tussle or two, but to be honest it's all this good. Ridiculously cool moments in a tightly plotted epic story are the kind of thing many crossover epics shoot for and miss horribly, but here all those things are being done with panache in a book that is as self-contained as anything on the shelves.
MISTRESS OF ALL AGONIES
The art is in the by-now customary Iron Fist style. Like Captain America, this book has had a rotating team of artists build up a remarkably solid look for the book, keeping the changes in style limited to drawing distinctions between the various time-periods portrayed. Such an approach has made the lack of one single main artist an unexpected strength of the book, rather than a weakness.
EXQUISITE SPEED RELEASE
I'm sure plenty of readers would be happy for Brubaker and Fraction to stay on the book indefinitely, but the groundwork they've laid has to count as one of the most fertile regions for a new writer to land in. The prospect of a Fat Cobra story alone seem highly enticing. The issue ends with the Immortal Warriors of Heaven looking down into a cityscape that seems rich with possibilities, a view that is echoed by the one that greets the continuing readers of The Immortal Iron Fist.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/mhalf.jpg
‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save.’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2519&cat=IMMORTAL+IRON+FIST)