Collects Immortal Iron Fist #1-6 plus the 'Choosing Sides' story from Civil War: Choosing Sides #1, all written by Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction and drawn by David Aja.
If people are getting tired of me reviewing Brubaker books, I can understand that. But the truth is, I think that Brubaker is responsible for some of the best (current) Marvel books that money can buy, and missing out on those would be foolish for anyone with the slightest interest in the Marvel Universe. On this book he shares the writing credits with Matt Fraction, and rumor has it that Fraction actually is doing most of the work, especially with the later issues. But this book does show off some of the characteristics that other Brubaker books have, especially in the areas of conceptualization (out-of-date character given an update) , structure (long story lines as opposed to self-contained stories) and tone (somewhat dark, although this time with room for humor). Brubaker's main trademark, though, is simply solid storytelling, and this book has that in ample amounts.
Having been brought up mainly with 80's Marvel, I don't know that much about Iron Fist aka. Danny Rand, except that he's a pastiche of 70's kung fu movies. Ahh, to have lived in the 70's... Anyway, since then he has only rarely surfaced, although his pal, Luke Cage, has seen a bit of a renaissance lately, especially in the hands of Brian Micael Bendis over in New Avengers. This series was originally planned as a mini to rectify that, but was turned into an ongoing due to popular demand, as they say.
Brubaker and Fraction reinvents Iron Fist by adding to his origin. He is now the latest to wield the power of the Iron Fist in a long line of Iron Fists, and this implicates him in a tournament that somehow involves both weird gods and Danny's father. But first he must face hostile takeover atttempts of his corporation as well as attacks of the somewhat more physical kind by Hydra and a contendor to the title of Iron Fist, who is somehow linked to Iron Fist's past. All the while, we are given details of some of the historical Iron Fists, adding depth to the character while moving the plot along. The plot delivers just enough twists and surprises to keep the reader glued while leaving room for some crazy ass kung fu action.
Aja has received loads of praise for his work on this title, and I can certainly understand why. He commands a broad palette of visual storytelling techniques here. Some of the page layouts will move the reader's eyes across the page in ways that will make the characters and action really come to life, while the shadow-heavy style adds to the dark content of the story.
All I can say is that this is yet another gem from (at least partly) the mind of Brubaker. Fans of same should not miss out, and I recommend those yet to be converted to definitely check out either this one, or his work on Captain America or Daredevil. When that is said, Fraction and Aja on their own are in fact reason enough to get this book. If Marvel keeps attracting talent like this, the future of men in tights looks bright indeed.
8/10
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