Matt Fraction // David Aja
August 2008
*****
Few comic book runs open up character like Immortal has—& in under 20 issues! Fraction calls Aja back for a superb final issue. On one page, IF simply meditates! More generally, Rand turns his financial empire into a charitable trust. It generally points a way forward, not just for IF but for the creative collab.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #15
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #17
also indexed for Aug. ’08
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // Kano, Clay Mann, & Tonci Zonjic
June 2008
*****
Aja is missed, but Zonjic’s capable & the tale’s so good, it doesn’t matter. Bru & Frac harmonize their actors in a grand finale of kung fu: the Heroes for Hire, the Immortal Weapons, the women’s revolution, even Steel Serpent redeems himself. A satisfying conclusion to a superb 13-issue epic arc.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #13
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #15
also indexed for Jun. ’08
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja, Kano, & Tonci Zonjic
May 2008
****
Bru & Frac pull a superb bait-&-switch: this arc isn’t about a kung fu tourney at all, it’s about a revolution! The warriors join IF & help to defend heaven from terrorists! Craziest stake: will Fist archfoe Steel Serpent fight with them or against them? Aja, sadly, is nearly MIA & sadly missed.
continued from The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall & the Green Mist of Death #1 of 1
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #12
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #14
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Kano
January 2008
****
Immortal‘s long, strong second arc just keeps building! Its fifth issue sees the villains triumphant. Davos, arch-foe to both Danny Rand & his father, wins a round in the kung fu tourney & earns a flashback. And the Heroes for Hire can’t stop HYDRA & their supersonic transdimensional train!
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #10
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #12
also indexed for Jan. ’08
Astonishing X-Men #23
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Kano
December 2007
****
The title character is MIA this ish: a ballsy move. Check Annual #1 for his whereabouts & enjoy another round of the mag’s supernatural kung fu tournament! A pair of century-old plans build steam, one by HYDRA & one by a cabal of Fists. Aja’s partnered w/ Kano, whose flashback provides the action.
continued from The Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #9
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #11
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Roy Allan Martinez
October 2007
*****
In just 1 year, Bru & Frac have enough new ideas for a long run. The Shangri La home of the Iron Fist is merely 1 of 7 interlocking cities, & the stars have aligned for a kung fu tournament btw. immortal weapons! But Rand’s old foe Davos schemes on Earth as well as heaven.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #7
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #9
also indexed for Oct. ’07
Astonishing X-Men #22
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Russ Heath
July 2007
****
Tho’ the gunplay drowns out the kung fu, this battle in a skyscraper is a kick. And in all the ways that count, the Heroes for Hire lose: Orson Randall, the last Iron Fist, sacrifices himself (a la Ben Kenobi) & Danny’s lawyer is kidnapped! Next up: an old-fashioned martial arts tournament.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #5]
[next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #7]
also indexed for Jul. ’07
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Travel Foreman
June 2007
*****
WW1 vet Randall refused to fight in a tourney of 7 Immortal Weapons, earning the emnity of a crane goddess. Now he gives Danny the kung fu diary, a legacy of the Fist. This expansion of the IF mythos into pulp history is better than Brubaker’s revival of Bucky! Is Fraction’s contribution the humor?
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #4
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #6
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja, Sal Buscema, & Travel Foreman
April 2007
*****
This mag links ’00s Marvel to its ’10s future. As Danny Rand grew out of ’70s kung fu, so Orson Randall is a riff on ’20s pulp: born, like Tarzan, in a faraway land. His plutocrat father built a secret ‘hydraulic subway’ beneath NYC! He mentors Rand in new techniques like channelling chi thru his pistols.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #3
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #5
also indexed for Apr. ’07
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja, Travel Foreman, & John Severin
December 2006
****
Secondary artists help Frac & Bru elaborate on a history of the Iron Fist—c.f. a girl in 16C China who keeps pirates at bay! And the US doughboy (rough pencils of trenches by ’60s bullpen vet Severin) is still alive—immortal! His presence in NYC blocks the flow of IF chi, to Danny’s consternation.
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #1
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #3
also indexed for Dec. ’06
Astonishing X-Men #18
Civil War #6 of 7
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #9
Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction // David Aja & Travel Foreman
November 2008
*****
Kung fu hero gets an ’00s revival after his recent Daredevil cameos. Fist always had pulpy roots—his origin is a riff on ’70s Batman—but this debut ish elaborates on the concept by chronicling the legacy of Iron Fists. Also, a 21st century Chinese corp is a front for HYDRA, a modern Yellow Peril.
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #2
also indexed for Nov. ’08
Astonishing X-Men #17
Civil War #5 of 7
Nextwave, Agents of HATE #8
Frank Miller with Klaus Janson
January 1982
*****
This breezy ish guests Power Man & Iron Fist, whose low-rent heroics make DD into a perfect chop-socky noir (PS: the match btw. IF & DD is superb). It’s also a throwback to the Colan era of Matt Murdock, swashbuckling lawyer. He’s after blackmail evidence that connects a corrupt pol to Kingpin.
last issue: Daredevil #177
next issue: Daredevil #179
also indexed for Jan. ’82
The Fantastic Four #238
Index Indigo 