Published by Marvel (making it a wait for the trade book for me) Iron Fist is a weird little book. It contains elements of Kung Fu cinema tossed into a blender alongside Shakespearean characterization, with a dash of pulp thrown in for good measure. It's a bizarre concoction and one that, while not always striking the right note, manages to be engaging and fun most of the time.
As in the last arc the bulk of the story is building up to a large scale confrontation that errupts on the page like one of Fat Cobra's special moves. Unfortunately, this time the art is a hodge podge mass of artists struggling to maintain the dynamic look that David Aja has established and sadly, most of them just can't pull it off. Aja is present here, early on, but, by the end of the book he is all but extinct. Visually, in comparison with the first arc, this one is a drastic decline.
Thankfully Brubaker and Fraction chopsocky their way through this epic story of a Kung Fu-like tournament gone horribly awry. It sounds like a simple story premise but thankfully the writers take it in directions wholly unexpected and leave us twisting and turning trying to figure out just where this thing is going. There are tons of characters involved in this story and Brufrac handle them all superbly.
Though in comparison to the first book, this one may not stand up as well on the visual side, it more than makes up for it with (here's that word again) epic story, and fascinating character arcs. Not to mention the best new character this year, Fat Cobra.
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