How does one make a journey and imprisonment in hell by a group of martial arts experts seem even remotely grounded enough to avoid involuntarily chuckles? There are so many wonky elements here – from the pseudo-hell, to video game-like combat trials – that one would assume a writer would want to avoid, due to the process of making them relevant or tactile seems a semi-monumental feat. How does one not make one expect Noob Saibot to be revealed, or stifle the echoes of “Toasty” heard in your mind as we witness duel after duel in a mystical realm?
Apparently, if you are Duane Swierczynski it’s rather easy. You make it into the Marvel’s Comics version of a Kurosawa’s – or Sturges if it suits you – 7 cats coming into town to kick ass, and then flip it into a prison drama. It’s not a farcical battle in hell, it’s a story of visceral survival. This issue continues the story of the imprisonment of Rand and his Immortal Weapons who traveled to the Eighth City to uncover both the answers to personal mysteries, and to free some of those wrongfully imprisoned there. It is a city that is thought of as final destination, with one way in, and no way out. At the end of the previous issue we were introduced to another prisoner who resides in a cell next to Rand who we now know claims to be the original Iron Fist. In this issue he relays to us his story, while we also see Rand and his companions attempt to formulate a plan of escape. The idea of using the only ‘shared ground’ that the prisoners had in common and available to each other to communicate is one of those moments that allows the notion that you are in the hands of a writer who is about to be big time to enter your mind. Another sequence of events seals the deal. After having his discussion with Quan Yao Zu (the first Fist) interrupted to be taken to the arena for a series of fights and later tortured, when put back in his cell he doesn’t reinitiate the discussion immediately– he passes out. Because that’s what you do after you get tortured. When he does come around, he starts again with morse code, but does so with his feet, as just before he was hung hooks-through-forearms style. On reflection, it seems quite the obvious thing to do. Of course he can’t use his hands, but in comics we have all read issues that would have had Rand doing push-ups, and using his tortured arms in the very next scene while contemplating escape. It really is just that level of consistent sensibility that makes for great comics. When you throw in a mystery outside of the gate, and Danny never forg the Swierczynski Iron Fist run goes from a damn solid follow-up to a great run, to simply a great second chapter of its own.
I have to admit that while I have enjoyed this series from the first issue, and continued to after the Brubaker/Fraction and David Aja creative team left, I was mainly a fan because of the writing. To some degree it could be said that I really was reading The Immortal Iron Fist despite the art. What should be noted is that I thought Aja’s work in the run was absolutely amazing and critical to what seems to be at least a slight renewal of interest in yet another character from Marvel’s ‘70’s catalog. This issue lists three artists, and the page break-ups really helped me appreciate the book as a whole visually. Foreman definitely has this knack for horror, but a part of me thinks that horror is not necessarily best represented by exaggeration and a lack of clarity. I get that we might be getting relayed the fragments of a tortured mind, and ones that begin to focus on simply the matter at hand and survival. I’m just not so sure – even understanding that – if I think that the main body is a complete success. At this point, I do think he is an environment that suits him, but I’m interested in seeing how the art progresses, though I do find myself appreciating it more and more with each issue. I will say that Foreman does represent a stark departure from Aja, and with little doubt, that simple fact has allowed Swierczynski to establish his own voice and tone in the series; one that you look to for guidance as walk you through the visual and creative transition, to trust, and in the most miniature of meta ways, survive. I very much enjoyed the scrolled flashback scenes (by Timothy Green II) of the ‘first’ Iron Fist, and these breaks definitely help the main body, as does a very panel-layout, by making it (Foreman’s work) seems like a series of vignettes, capturing and framing moments of lucidity.
I think I may have just lost my own case against the art to myself.
When I see a character like an Iron Fist have a monthly that’s getting to the point where it’s about to go into a third year of publication, and br in a position where I feel comfortable calling it one of the half dozen most consistent titles Marvel has in its stable since it’s come out, it’s an exciting journey to ponder. From premiers, to deadly hands, and heroes for hire — to now with Swierczynski’s Fincher-wuxia arc, where he continues to embrace the modern character, and mines this newly created pulp legacy and identity. Danny Rand is one man, his own man, written in a manner you’d expect a crime writer to bring to the principal narrative, but at the same time he’s the current chapter in an epic and ancient tradition of Iron Fists. The next issue would seem to point to conclusions, and I’m intrigued in seeing if the answers come as enjoyable as the mysteries, but something tells me that’s just where the writer wants us: Expectant for answers when we should be wary of uppercuts.
- Jay Tomio
Jan-ken-pon is the time traveling, force-walking, multiverse crossing column of Jay Tomio, owner of 1/3 of everything you see currently on screen, and the editor of Heliotrope. He is the eighth weapon. Some call him the Bodhisattva.
