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, & Javier Pulido
February 2008
*****
Bru & Frac transform pulp fiction into meaningful drama. The kung fu contest is a screen for a feminist, anti-royalist celestial revolution! Rand’s father, like his adopted father Randall, wins by refusing to fight. Even a substitute artist can’t detract from this brilliant issue.
continued in The Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall & the Green Mist of Death #1 of 1
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #11
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #13
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 & Scott Koblish
November 2007
****
In a twist, the whole kung fu tourney is a red herring! Danny Rand’s a pawn in a conspiracy set up by his mentor, the late Orson Randall, & Danny’s father. Thus, a tertiary plot flashes back to Rand Sr.’s training while the present sees Dan exit thru a steampunk portal, bound for Paris.
continued in The Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1
last issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #8
next issue: The Immortal Iron Fist #10
also indexed for Nov. ’07
The Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1
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, 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
Index Indigo 