Broken Frontier

Someone else has tapped into the Iron Fist power; someone not Danny Rand and now Rand needs to know who, why, and how.

A character that has been something of a stock martial arts figure has found new life and a new direction with the writing team of Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. The two have stripped away a lot of the trappings to get at the character underneath and they continue to build from there.

Danny has mostly recovered from both his wounds and the backlash of someone else using the Iron Fist power and now it is time to hunt that person down. What Danny finds is a scene of carnage – of power he has spent his life using for good now seemingly used for evil. Someone is going to pay dearly for this. There are other worries as well, though. Hydra is looking to take Danny apart from the outside in and make sure every last bearer of the Iron Fist is destroyed. The Iron Fist power is wrapping a number of lives in an ever tightening web – heroes, villains, and those who stand between are headed for a conflict that will bring victory for some but possibly death for others.

In this issue, the main players all begin to move towards one another. Relationships begin to come into focus but what they will come to mean still remains a mystery. Brubaker and Fraction take a bit of this issue to explore the past of the mysterious Orson Randall and it is certainly not a pretty one. In fact, Orson’s life contrasts significantly with Danny’s, and this continues to delve into what it takes to be Iron Fist. This is not a duty for those who can or will be broken.

The art by David Aja also continues to come into focus. His first rain drenched issue was a little murky but this issue clearly shows that he has become comfortable with walking the line between noir and martial arts action. The lines here still have a rough edge and a lot of shadow but important details are not lost. There are also some nice treats as Travel Foreman and Derek Fridolfs provide the art for an action-packed four page "Iron Fist of the past" opening story and Russ Heath pencils a page from Orson Randall’s sordid past.

Perhaps one of the most impressive things about this series to date is how new reader friendly it has been. Rather than craft a tale that only a die-hard Iron Fist fan could follow, Brubaker and Fraction are giving a story that informs new readers of the pertinent information without ever seeming forced or pedantic while at the same time honoring the character’s past and moving it forward. If you’ve never read Iron Fist before then this is the perfect title to jump on with. If you enjoy character-driven stories that mix humor with a hard edge (and a little Kung-Fu) then you should look into The Immortal Iron Fist.