Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Breathless: Part 1
Written by: James Mullaney
Penciled by: Kevin Lau
Inked by: Alan Tam
Colored by: Omar Dogan
Lettered by: Virtual Calligraphy’s Dave Sharpe
Assistant Editors: Nicole Wiley & Andy Schmidt
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
I may not be a huge of kung-fu, but I have a soft spot for it in comics. Master of Kung Fu is a favorite series and I’ve enjoyed the current Batgirl quite a bit. Iron Fist has always been one of those characters that I thought looked super-cool and I have had a distant interest in him for years. Yet, I’ve never read much of anything featuring Danny Rand besides guest shots. I know the basics of who he is, but I’m in no way an expert.
So, I debated quite a bit on whether to pick up the first issue of this new Iron Fist series. In the end, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided for certain that I was going to pick up issue #1 even before I got the assignment this past week.
The question: what did I get for my near 3 beans, and was it worth the effort?
As comics go, I’m not going to debate the pricing here, this comic was pretty damn good and I’m glad that I picked it up. It was by no means a perfect experience; it worked well on some levels and failed me on others. It was both a good introduction to the new book, but conversely it was lacking in some important areas.
Who exactly is Danny Rand?
Danny Rand is the hero known as Iron Fist. His story is pretty familiar. After the death of his parents he grew up in the Tibetan city of K’un L’un. He gained the power called “the heart of the dragon†which is the tattoo on his chest that serves to focus his chi. Giving him, among other powers, the one that his name implies. He returned to the outside world and took over his father’s former company Rand-Meachum, teamed with Power Man, and died. Oh yeah, at some point he was resurrected. That’s pretty much where we are.
The New Deal
The new series starts off with a three page introduction that serves to whet our appetite a bit for the evil that Danny Rand will face in the first arc. It’s standard horror-faire where we never see the enemy, but get a small idea of what he/she is capable of.
We’re introduced to our hero and given some bare bones narration that sets up who the hero is. Iron Fist shows off his powers and defeats a gang of punks in an alley. Unfortunately, for our hero, when he dodges a gunmen the mother of a child living nearby is killed by the stray bullet. This is the thread that launches the book forward.
Obviously, Danny’s in a bad mood following the death. He does his best to have the orphaned child cared for by a relative, but he blames himself and broods for the remainder of the issue. There is another moment for the power of Iron Fist to shine as he prevents a robbery. The only other notable plot point regards an Indian child in South Dakota who dreams of a showdown between Iron Fist and the mysterious entity from the first few pages.
The main thrust of the book appears to be Danny’s search for inner tranquility or even identity. There is a major plot development for the brooding Danny Rand on the final page, a point that has been par for the course in Marvel’s comics the last few years. I don’t know to what extent it will play out, but it could be interesting or the kiss of death for the book.
I really enjoyed Kevin Lau’s pencils as inked by Alan Tam. Lau and Tam’s work is clearly anime influenced, and it works like a charm. The panels are pretty light on detail, but the marital arts fights are rendered with a really cool style. I especially enjoyed the blur effect when Danny uses his powers, which creates a stunning and memorable image.
There’s one thing that ticked me off about this book. It seems like Superman and Batman, characters that most everyone on Earth knows origins of, have theirs retold every other month, Yet, a lower-tier character like Danny Rand doesn’t get more than a few brief lines in his premiere issue. Perhaps soon we’ll get a solid recounting of his story. I think it would help the book innumerably.
