Broken Frontier

Iron Fist along with Orson Randall faces off against the Steel Dragon in hopes of settling old scores, but in doing so more mysteries seem abundant.

We’re now finishing up the "Last Iron Fist" arc with a slam bang ending which sees Danny Rand and Orson Randall facing off against Steel Dragon and his minions from Hydra. Of course this issue is shaping up into a big crescendo by revealing two significant plot threads to push this series forward for several months.

But beyond that, this issue also strives to utilize previous continuity to reshape the mythos of the Iron Fist and writers Brubaker and Fraction should be patted on the back for doing so. So to get down to story specifics, Danny and Orson confront Davos in a battle which sees Orson giving up the ghost. In doing so, he transfers all his remaining energy to Danny to give him the edge he needs to best Davos in combat. Surprisingly though, the fight is cut short once Davos realizes how strong Danny has become, so a quick exit soon ends the proceedings. But before Danny can further ponder the situation he is ushered away to K’un-L’un to answer a warrior’s call.

Now this issue is chock full of big story beats for my money’s worth, and I am sure Brubaker and Fraction hit their stride here with this issue in particular. They really knew how to steer the supporting characters like Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing into the plot and it made for a trip down memory lane since I was a big fan of the original Power Man and Iron Fist series. I also enjoyed the impact and implications this arc was meant to have and it makes for a very intriguing story, what with the usage of previous continuity to build upon here.

The other big surprise for me is artist David Aja’s strong storytelling abilities every single issue. David is a relative newcomer to North American comics, but his pencils and inks look and feel like the work of a well seasoned professional. Most of his panels for this issue exhibit frantic pacing and are infused with moments of high octane action. These sequences work so well with the beats provided by the story, and he’s definitely looking to become an A-list artist for Marvel in a very short time.

The Immortal Iron Fist is quickly shaping up to being a strong action and adventure book. So it is obvious how writers Brubaker and Fraction are committed to telling a good story around a B-list 70’s character and I like the way they have revamped and updated him for this new series. Perhaps artist David Aja should also take some of the credit here, since his work is gritty and action infused to compliment all the beats. So with top level creators working on this series, there probably should be some more serious butt kicking going on when the next arc begins.