Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #632 - Iron Fist #1 - 2017, a comic book review
Hi Mom,
Hey, look, a comic book review that is actually current. This comic just came out last week, a week ago today, so I am on time to review it for me. Ahead of schedule for me, actually.
This is about as fast as I can produce such things.
This was planned for yesterday, but, heh, "planned" as in Planned Parenthood interceded.
Material will present itself.
Glad this done as I am studying all day for tomorrow's Calculus test.
Also, the new Iron Fist TV program has debuted on Netflix, but I no longer have the kind of lifestyle that allows me to jump right in and devote myself to binge watching the whole thing. For one thing, I have not finished watching Daredevil season two. For another, I had considered watching Luke Cage next, but I am more likely to jump ahead and watch Iron Fist because he's one of my favorite superheroes, Marvel or otherwise.
Some of my fan evidence for Iron Fist can be found here:
http://365-tshirts.blogspot.com/2013/04/t-shirt-27-iron-fist-would-you-like-to.html
Also, there's this, my list of top 20 favorite "non-flagship" male Marvel super heroes. See Iron Fist is #8.
UPDATED 1703.31: It has been called to my attention that I missed Moonknight, which is obviously just an oversight. Here's the new and updated list. I even made a category for it!! I may now need to do the DC one, which would feature Mister Miracle pretty highly.
MARVEL TOP TWENTY NON-FLAGSHIP SUPERHEROES - MEN
Yes, here it is, the list you have been waiting for. It was difficult to make this list. I had to confine myself to male Marvel heroes who either did not have their own books or who had/have solo books but are not considered the pillars of the Franchise (like Spider-Man and Captain America). Doctor Strange heads the list.
- Doctor Strange
- The Silver Surfer
- The Black Panther
- The Vision
- Adam Warlock
- The Black Knight
- Son of Satan
- Iron Fist
- Killraven
- Falcon
- Ka-Zar
- Deathlok
- MOONKNIGHT
- Black Bolt
- Ghost Rider
- 3D Man
- Machine Man
- Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu
- Quasar
- Captain Marvel
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
RE: SPOILERS: I don't have to explain that you read at your own risk, right?
So, on to reviewing...
IRON FIST #1 - 2017
WRITTEN BY Ed Brisson
ART BY Mike Perkins
Colors Andy Troy
Letters - VC's Travis Lanham
Cover by Jeff Dekal
Release Date - 1703.22
I was very excited for this issue's release because the advance art I saw looked very good, and I REALLY disliked the last Iron First iteration Marvel foisted on us (see review of the former comic below along with the Netflix news from 2014).
This comic did not disappoint. I am tempted to give it minor demerits for being a simple and brief story, but is that really a fault? The comic is very focused and clean in its elimination of extraneous details.
According to Comic Book Round Up, reviewers gave this issue high acclaim with an 8.0 rating out of 10, while users were slightly lower with 7.5.
http://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/reviews/marvel-comics/iron-fist-(2017)/1
Here's a few I liked:http://all-comic.com/2017/iron-fist-1/
http://pastramination.com/iron-fist-1-review-finding-purpose/
http://www.comicsthegathering.com/review/ryanl/9791/iron-fist-1
http://www.weirdsciencedccomics.com/2017/03/iron-fist-1-review-marvel-monday.html
Most of the reviews are very positive, but David Pepose gives it a 3.0 out of 10 because he doesn't like the story.
http://www.newsarama.com/33716-best-shots-reviews-unworthy-thor-5-action-comics-976-wwe-3-more.html
He doesn't like that Danny Rand is "mopey" and "depressed," which is the whole main theme of this story arc because he's trying to find himself again after the destruction of K'un L'un means that he cannot access Iron Fist power. Also, Pepose likens the opening sequences to Fight Club. Here's a news flash, Pepose: Not all arena fighting secret clubs are the same as Fight Club. In fact, almost all of them are not, which you would know if you had actually seen Fight Club, which given this flawed allusion I am wondering if you have.
Asshole.
Anyway,
The art fits with the realistic spy type comics that have lately been popular, such Image's Velvet.
When the story opens, Danny is seen entering an industrial warehouse in Bulgaria.Immediately, this is a good sign. We're off the beaten track. Bulgaria is hardly well known to most comic book readers. Though this is not quite the movie Fight Club set here in the comic, one can say that this is a private club in which people wager on the outcome of fights.
Danny enters, finds the big boss, and offers a million dollars to get in a fight. When asked which of the Balkan toughs he wants to fight.
"All of them," Danny says, taking off his hoodie. Cut to credits page as Danny is shown beating up all the thugs amongst the titles and credits, story name "The Trail of the Seven Masters, part one."
So, maybe there's at least seven issues in this arc, eh?
Danny confesses he was looking for something, but he didn't find it in this nest of killers in Bulgaria.
Next, he is seen on a plane flying to Cambodia, and in the airplane bathroom we are treated to Danny's state of mind. He used to be the Iron Fist. Now, he's not so sure.
He wins the fight in Cambodia, too. But he still cannot find what he's looking for: "I feel false. Like I'm going through the motions. Like I'm someone else and I can't find a way back to who I was."
In a hotel room somewhere, Danny continues his introspection. And we see that he cannot summon the Iron Fist because his "tether to the chi of Shou-Lao the undying has been fading, slipping away..."
Are we still in Cambodia? Presumably as text is translated from Vietnamese. Danny goes to a bar to drown his sorrows in whisky. Here, he is accosted by a man, who knows Kung Fu. They start fighting. This man uses "Tsunami Death Strike."
Here's what Kung Fu fans have been waiting for! A well drawn book with some good pathos and some actual Kung Fu Moves. The next sequence shows a grid that isolates these manuevers: Upward Canon Punch, Side Shatter Kick, Bird Beak Strike, Tiger Tail Sweep, Upward Lightning Strike.
It's an excellent sequence. It perfectly shows what this book will deliver: KUNG FU. This is something that has sorely been lacking from many of the recent Iron Fist iterations, even the good ones.
The man, Chosin, halts the battle, confessing that Danny would beat him if they continued. He reveals that he was sent to bring Danny to Liu-Shi for a Kung Fu tournament.
Next we see two beautiful end shots: an old style Asian sailing boat and the rocky island of Liu-Shi.
Brisson's writing is deft and controlled. Not too much text. Just the right angst and pathos. Almost no exposition. Tight POV (just Danny).
Mike Perkins art reminds us the very best of Steve Epting's Velvet. It's dark when it needs to be dark, but there's also plenty of light (as the orange sunset drenched ocean at the end proves), but he evokes his own style as well. He's not swiping. He's working "in the style of" these realistic comics. Gritty yet beautifully rendered. Colors are also gorgeous. The whole package is well worth the cover price, which is not always true in this modern age of comics.
I am excited for the other issues!!
I give it a 10/10.
Here's my review of the last Iron Fist comic. I liked the first issue cover. But the rest rather sucked.
from - http://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2014/05/weekly-comics-for-140409.html
Weekly Comics for 1404.09
Apparently, I am unable to finish my weekly comics lists posts during the week after I buy the comics. Here it is a week later,
..... uh, how about nearly three weeks later now as I write this text. If I do not get this written today, it WILL BE three weeks later. Yikes....
and I am just now finishing the comics for the ninth of April and have already bought and began the post for the comics from April 16th.... um, and the 23rd, and tomorrow is the 30th. Yikes...
I just posted last week's comic list yesterday on Thursday 1404.10.
I am endeavoring to be more on time since I am feeling better and taxes are done, which are the things that delayed me before. BUT that was not to be the case. I did not get caught up as the previous text indicates. I was in a tough programming course, plus work for my job, plus family stuff, plus.... there's so much. It's difficult to summarize. But I am back on track (I hope) with thoughts on the comics for the week of April 9th.
An exciting set of comics debuted this week with some tough choices. For fans of my T-shirt blog, I am big fan of Marvel's Iron Fist character who ranked 8th on my favorite Marvel non-Franchise superhero list as seen originally in T-shirt #119 but reprinted here in T-shirt #322: Curious George. My Iron Fist T-shirt won a spot early in my blog year at T-shirt #27.
.jpg)
Whether I will write new Iron Fist material here or in the T-shirts blog I have yet to decide.
Given how much I love the Iron Fist, the new Iron Fist - The Living Weapon would have been in the number one spot this week except the interior art is not quite as good as Romita Jr. or Greg Land and both of those comics have a strong stories and cliff hangers.
The cover is SUPER IMPRESSIVE as seen here. But it took third place because of the excellence of both Kick Ass and Mighty Avengers.
Those interested may wish to explore the following links. I apologize in advance for the intrusive ads. But there's some thoughtful consideration of the planned TV shows with Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, all of which culminate in a Defenders mini-series.
MARVEL, NETFLIX TO DEVELOP DEFENDERS MINISERIES EVENT
IRON FIST AND NETFLIX DEAL
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
RE: SPOILERS: I don't have to explain that you read at your own risk, right?
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=++=+=+
WEEKLY COMICS LIST
Iron Fist - The Living Weapon #001As I mentioned earlier in this blog entry, I am a huge Iron Fist fan. I am careful about how often I say that I am a "huge fan." Ranking Iron Fist eighth on a list of Marvel's non-Franchise heroes constitutes enough "hugeness" for me to apply the term "huge" to my fandom.
As I wrote about in my post for T-shirt #27 over on my T-shirt blog, I very much loved the series called The Immortal Iron Fist, created by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Travis Foreman, and David Aja in 2006-2009. And since I am a fan of previous incarnations of the Iron Fist, primarily the Chris Claremont and John Byrne stuff of the late 1970s, I received news of a new Iron Fist book with a mix of trepidation, dread, and excitement. Surely, Marvel is setting up its properties for the debut of the Netflix shows, which may start with either the Iron Fist or Daredevil programs.
I was not completely disappointed. I have my criticisms of the book, but in general, I liked it. I will not claim that I am in awe of the art on this book. It's not my favourite, but it is very good. But the overall effect of the book is quite excellent, and I am eager for the next issue, which may be released soon as I am three weeks late with this posting.The cover is impressive. The story starts with a well-worn trope of Daniel Rand (aka The Iron Fist) being interviewed by an unseen interviewer, in this case a journalist, and he retells his origin story as a choice between "life and death." The art here transitions to the multi-dot look of the old four color process of the comics of the 1970s (and before) in which Iron Fist first debuted. The origin moves through the sacrifice of Rand's father in the avalanche in the Himalayas. The story then reverts to the present and we see the young journalist who has fallen for our hero during the interview, and later he takes her home and beds her. Meanwhile, the narration delivers Rand's inner thoughts: he "can't feel the heat" and he's "one cold, dead thing imitating another."
Unable to sleep, Rand returns to his memories and thinks through the rest of his origin for the reader's benefit.
As you can see here, the Kaare Kyle Andrews art is not my preference if my preferences are Greg Land and John Romita Jr. as noted above. The work is more expressionistic than suits my tastes, bordering on the territory of the previously disparaged Simon Bianchi or Leinil Francis Yu, neither of whom are my taste. As a writer/artist, Kaare Kyle Andrews would not make the top of my list with such excellent candidates as Frank Miller, Matt Wagner, Walt Simonson, and George Pérez, but this first issue of the new Iron Fist is serviceable and enjoyable. Best known for his work on Astonishing X-Men for Marvel with writer Warren Ellis, Andrews has many short term credits and not a lot of extensive experience. Many of the art effects he created work well enough, such as a silhouette sequence on page 11 (not pictured). But the overall effect of skewed figured not anatomically accurate and heavily inked, heavily colored pastiche grows a bit tiresome after a while.
Rand battles ninja, which is hardly surprising for a first issue. But then things spiral out of control too quickly.
Rand Tower is destroyed, and then some undead ninja comes for the girl, presumably the journalist he slept with, and his Iron Fist power doe snot manifest when he needs it. Though he manages to defeat the "zombie robot that almost cut [the girl] into sushi," but then there's a small man delivering Rand a message to "get back to K'un Lun," the secret city in the Himalyas: "HOME."
As I wrote, not blown away, But I am invested enough to read the next issue.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you.
I miss you so very much, Mom.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Days ago = 634 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1703.30 - 10:10
NOTE on time: When I post late, I had been posting at 7:10 a.m. because Google is on Pacific Time, and so this is really 10:10 EDT. However, it still shows up on the blog in Pacific time. So, I am going to start posting at 10:10 a.m. Pacific time, intending this to be 10:10 Eastern time. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom. But I am not going back and changing all the 7:10 a.m. times. But I will run this note for a while. Mom, you know that I am posting at 10:10 a.m. often because this is the time of your death.
No comments:
Post a Comment