Danny Rand: Iron Fist Appreciation 2020

[taozen]

Just re-reading the Immortal Iron Fist and within a few pages, I have identified one of the many reason(s) I like Danny.

He generally enjoys being a "superhero" and is a relatively "sunny" character, even when the odds are stacked against him. (And not in an annoying way like some other characters...).

Plus the balance between his civilian life and (literal) costumed life is great.

Of course the stellar writing helps.

Then you must not have been a fan of Kaare Andrews' Iron Fist the Living Weapon series since he made Danny angry and morose in his story?

[Mr. White]

Then you must not have been a fan of Kaare Andrews' Iron Fist the Living Weapon series since he made Danny angry and morose in his story?

Not. At. All.

Couldn't even get through it though I think that was mainly due to the art.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

Honestly i think Danny found his nitch as a lighter foil to Luke Cage so its rare to see writers really dig deep into his "darkness".

Few try and none have really succeeded so far.

[Snoop Dogg]

I enjoy the nuance of Rand leaning more towards optimism and idealism but harboring great potential for anger. The folly of emotions harbored in a mortal shell.

[Tien Long]

Not. At. All.

Couldn't even get through it though I think that was mainly due to the art.

Ha, well, I guess I'm in the minority with that series. It was definitely jarring, but if you accepted what Danny could be, it worked. I could accept it. I've known a lot of people who can be calm, centered, goofy, and meditate who are really f'ing depressed. There's always one thing that you have to come to terms with. Ultimately though, Danny returned to his more optimistic self at the end of the series.

I enjoy the nuance of Rand leaning more towards optimism and idealism but harboring great potential for anger. The folly of emotions harbored in a mortal shell.

I definitely think that. I think Danny still has moments when he gets pissed. It would be cool to see those moments here and there.

In any case, just wanted your opinions on this:

Should Danny and Misty become a couple again? Or have they both moved on to new relationships?

[Pav]

Ha, well, I guess I'm in the minority with that series. It was definitely jarring, but if you accepted what Danny could be, it worked. I could accept it. I've known a lot of people who can be calm, centered, goofy, and meditate who are really f'ing depressed. There's always one thing that you have to come to terms with. Ultimately though, Danny returned to his more optimistic self at the end of the series.

I understood why people considered the change in tone and character in Andrews' run jarring, but honestly I felt like it added a lot of depth to Danny's character, just as you seemed to as well, Tien. To me, the easy-going nature of Danny is something he purposefully attempts to hold onto precisely because that darkness has always been inside of him, and he knows it. Like, a man like him wouldn't need to meditate if he was always at peace with himself and the world, y'know?

Here's hoping the next writer of Iron Fist looks at the work of Fraction/Brubaker, Andrews, and Brisson and can channel elements from all three to give us the most fully fleshed-out version of the character yet.

-Pav, who wonders how Gork is...

[taozen]

Kaare Andrews in his Living Weapon series makes his attempt at deconstructing Danny Rand. He takes everything away from him. His breaks the iron fist, removes Dannys closest friends, destroys K'un-Lun and even kills Danny's Master Lei Kung, The Thunderer. He reverts Danny back to when he was consumed with anger and revenge. I thought that Andrews needed a triggering event to give up this version of Danny. Something as simple as it being the universe of his parents death. It would have been understandable that on this date every year, Danny become morose.

My thoughts on the story was that instead of diving into the lore of K'un-Lun and its culture to build stories, he simply removes it from Danny's life. And the villain reveal was like meh to me. Finally with him creating another Iron Fist in the form of a child was kind of disappointing. I say that because what made Marvel different that DC Comics is that Marvel did not create a lot of legacy characters. They created new characters. So as a result, every generation of so, a new character would emerge and become extremely popular. Now Marvel is copying the habits of DC and has 5 versions of Wolverine and 10 versions of Spiderman. So now there are 3 characters with the Iron Fist around. The other two are mostly ignored by other writers. Pei as a character I think is fun but having so many with the same power, in my opinion, dilutes the uniqueness of the Iron Fist. I believe Andrews could have been more creative and created something similar to White Tiger. Meaning a unique mystical character associated with K'un Lun but not another Iron Fist.

[taozen]

Ha, well, I guess I'm in the minority with that series. It was definitely jarring, but if you accepted what Danny could be, it worked. I could accept it. I've known a lot of people who can be calm, centered, goofy, and meditate who are really f'ing depressed. There's always one thing that you have to come to terms with. Ultimately though, Danny returned to his more optimistic self at the end of the series.



I definitely think that. I think Danny still has moments when he gets pissed. It would be cool to see those moments here and there.

In any case, just wanted your opinions on this:

Should Danny and Misty become a couple again? Or have they both moved on to new relationships?

To me they are a classic marvel couple. Misty Knight is based on Pamela Grier and so Danny is this unique character that is so interesting that he could win Pam Grier's heart. So I would love for them to get back together. As long as the story builds it over time and it's earned.

[taozen]

So many have said they did not like Andrews' art but I liked it.

[taozen]

More Kaare Andrews art:

[taozen]

Mo' art:

[taozen]

Orson Randall by Kaare Andrews:

[taozen]

[taozen]

The Thunderer abusing (uuuhh I mean training) 9 year old Danny Rand 3 days after his parents are killed:

[taozen]

But Danny is made of sterner stuff: