Broken Frontier

Last week, we covered Punisher War Journal #1, which is written by Matt Fraction. The delays in Civil War which made that title be pushed back caused November to become Matt Fraction month at Marvel. This week we cover another number one by the same author, the Immortal Iron Fist #1.

The Punisher and Iron Fist have more in common than just the same author. Both characters first appeared within 3 months of each other: Punisher in Amazing Spider-Man #129, cover dated February 1974 and Iron Fist in Marvel Premiere #15, cover dated May 1974. Both were by-products of what was popular in pop culture at that time.

Just as the Punisher tapped into the same zeitgeist that the movie Death Wish did, Iron Fist was an entry in the martial arts genre that was popular in the mid-Seventies. Thousands had posters of Bruce Lee on their walls, were watching Kung Fu Thursday nights on ABC and were taking classes at the local Karate dojo.

Iron Fist made several appearances in Marvel Premiere on the martial arts-themed magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu before getting his first series in 1975. The series only lasted 15 issues, but was historic for two main reasons.

It was one of the first books that the creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne worked on (their collaboration would reach a legendary status with their work on Uncanny X-Men). Secondly, issue #14 introduced a new villain to the Marvel Universe: the bad guy’s name was Sabretooth, and he would become a major part of the life of everyone’s favorite clawed mutant, Wolverine.

After his first series ended, Iron Fist made a quick stop in Marvel Team Up #63 and #64 (done by the team of Claremont and Byrne as well). Then he moved onto what would prove to be his most successful incarnation. He guest starred in several issues of Marvel’s Power Man—again done by the Claremont/Byrne tandem—before eventually forcing his way into co-billing.

If Iron Fist was Chuck Norris with a tattoo and a fist made of Iron, Power Man was Shaft with super-strength and diamond hard skin. It was martial arts meets blaxploitation, two film genres that filled the cult movie houses of the 1970s. The combination paid off well in comic book form as the team lasted over 75 issues. However, when this book was cancelled, the last issue featured the death of Iron Fist.

   

But, as we all know, death in comics is never permanent. Iron Fist was revived—surprise, surprise—by John Byrne in his Namor series of the early 1990s. Marvel tried to fan the flames of the revival by showcasing the character in a series of guest appearances, a serial in their anthology series Marvel Comics Presents, and a co-starring role in the 19-issue Heroes for Hire series which ran from 1997 to 1998.

He even starred in several limited series—the most recent one appearing in 2004—but none truly caught on with audiences.  Now, he’s back in a new series, an ongoing, with a team of hot creators in Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker and David Aja working on it. The current volume will flesh out the concept of the character, making Danny Rand only the latest in a long line of Iron Fists.

It appears that this latest incarnation might be the best chance Iron Fist has had at success in years. Marvel seems to be throwing some weight behind the title, which is always a good thing. Some might think that Iron Fist is an anachronism that would never catch on with modern audiences. I think he is a character that has a legacy, one that helped shape the Marvel Universe we know today. I know he’s going to be on my pull list. Hopefully, he’ll be on yours, too.       

Also out this week:

• The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #6:  This issue brings to an end Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo’s first arc on the title. “Lightning in a Bottle”, if the solicitation is to be believed, ends with a battle to the death on the Keystone Bridge.

Is it just me, or is anyone else somewhat disappointed with this title? Perhaps my hopes were too high considering that Bilson and DeMeo worked on the Flash TV series. Or perhaps I never gave the new team a chance because of my fondness for what came before. Either way, another person with TV writing experience, Law & Order’s Marc Guggenheim, will be taking over the reigns in Flash #9. I’ve liked his work on Wolverine and Blade so far, so I will be willing to stick around on the title a little while longer.

Danny Bilson & Paul DeMeo (W), Ken Lashley (A), DC Comics, $2.99. Ongoing series.

• Crossing Midnight #1:  Mike Carey makes a triumphant return to Vertigo, just a few months after the end of his Lucifer series. This title seems to be a bouillabaisse that contains several hip and trendy genres mixed into one book. The solicitation seems to indicate that this new ongoing will be a mix of the Sandman, Far Eastern horror and the animation of Hayao Miyazaki.

A heady mix like this would never have seen the light of day if not for Vertigo. The line has been home to thought provoking, boundary breaking comics for well over a decade. Crossing Midnight is only one of many new titles to debut for the imprint over the last year.  I, for one, celebrate Vertigo’s health and vigor. It serves a valuable service of exposing inventive ideas to large audiences.

Mike Carey (W), Jim Fern & Rob Hunter (A), DC Comics/Vertigo, $2.99. Ongoing series.

• Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #14: It’s always hard dealing with old girlfriends. Even if the split was amicable and you both agree to be friends, there will always be awkwardness there. And that would be a best-case scenario.  What’s worse is if you are Spider-Man, having just revealed your secret identity to the world, and an ex-girlfriend puts out a tell-all memoir about your time together. Even worse, the title of the book is How Spider-Man Ruined My Life. Ouch.

The details of Peter Parker’s love life could fill a book (and has). Deb Whitman might not have been one of Spidey’s most memorable paramours, but through her Marvel has another way to show the consequences of Peter’s decision to reveal his identity to the world.

Peter David (W), Scott Eaton (A), Marvel Comics, $2.99. Ongoing series.

• Black Panther #22: This issue and issue #21 were supposed to be preludes to the Civil War tie-in issues that were to start with #23. The tie-ins were to start after the title wrapped up its World Tour storyline, which ends in this issue. However, there was enough pertinent information in #21 that the issue should have been listed as a Civil War tie-in. It wasn’t, and many CW “completists” were left scrambling to pick the issue up.

Marvel was able to correct its mistake with this issue, which should receive the proper accreditation as a CW tie-in. So, if you want to see how T’Challa fits into the Superhuman war in the Marvel Universe, you might be well-served to pick this title up.

Reginald Hudlin (W), Manuel Garcia (A), Marvel Comics, $2.99. Ongoing series.

• Sea of Red #13: It appears that Image Comics is trying the corner the “Vampire plus some other genre” market. Last week, we told you about Drain, the story of a vampire ninja. A few weeks before that, we covered Impaler, a vampire/crime drama. This week, it’s Sea of Red, a vampire pirate story. Yes, a vampire pirate story. I would not make this up.

The saga of Marco Esperanza wraps up in this, the series’ final issue. This obviously leaves a hole in Image’s schedule. What will come next? What will be the next genre combination Image will offer us? A vampire/zombie story would be redundant. Perhaps a vampire/funny animal story?  A vampire western? Vampire science fiction? Or maybe a vampire superhero? Ah, the possibilities are endless…

Rick Remender & Kieron Dwyer (W), Paul Harmon & Franceso Francavilla (A), Image Comics, $2.99. Ongoing series.

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer. Bill also writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software.