The Immortal Iron Fist Appreciation 2023

[Mike]

My favorite image of Iron Fist.
IF.jpg

[Frontier]

My favorite image of Iron Fist.
IF.jpg

Powerful Danny .

[taozen]

A nice sequence from Daredevil:

Brubaker wrote the best Danny Rand. I listened to a interview of his on the podcast Word Balloon when he said that he was a big Iron Fist fan and that Danny was one of the characters he always wanted to write. And you can tell he has a real affection for the character.

[taozen]

Hoping 2023 will be AWESOME for "The K'un-Lun Kid"

I didn't like the series but I really liked the art and I loved this cover.

[K7P5V]

I didn't like the series but I really liked the art and I loved this cover.

On that, we can agree on. Neither the artwork nor the covers were the problem, though...

[Panic]

I didn't like the series but I really liked the art and I loved this cover.

Agreed, it’s a great cover but I hated the story.

[taozen]

Agreed, it’s a great cover but I hated the story.

Yeah, Kaare Andrews reverts Danny back to his origin story as extremely angry and impulsive. He destroys K'un-Lun and kills the Thunderer off panel. I mean he kills the Thunderer!!! And he creates another Iron Fist by a baby Shou-Lau dragon laying on Pei's shoulder and branding her with the power of the Iron Fist. Really love the art and man that story was just not for me at all.

[Panic]

It was like he just didn’t like anything about Iron Fist. Retconning Danny’s beloved parents into an irresponsible nutty ***hole and a cheating wife, retconning Harold Meachum from a tough-looking stone-cold murderer with no conscience to a pathetic boob, turning Danny from one of the nicest Marvel heroes, and one of the most romantic, into a guy who sleeps with women whose names he doesn’t remember, and as you said, Kaare Andrews kills the Thunderer, one of the coolest members of Danny’s supporting cast, off-panel, then brings in his own characters…

Andrews is a very talented guy, but he obviously saw Iron Fist as a property that didn’t work and needed a total overhaul. It even sounded like he originally planned for Danny to be killed off at the end before he changed his mind.

[Will Evans]

It was like he just didn’t like anything about Iron Fist. Retconning Danny’s beloved parents into an irresponsible nutty ***hole and a cheating wife, retconning Harold Meachum from a tough-looking stone-cold murderer with no conscience to a pathetic boob, turning Danny from one of the nicest Marvel heroes, and one of the most romantic, into a guy who sleeps with women whose names he doesn’t remember, and as you said, Kaare Andrews kills the Thunderer, one of the coolest members of Danny’s supporting cast, off-panel, then brings in his own characters…

Andrews is a very talented guy, but he obviously saw Iron Fist as a property that didn’t work and needed a total overhaul. It even sounded like he originally planned for Danny to be killed off at the end before he changed his mind.

I may be remembering it wrong. But didn’t Danny’s father Wendell have an affair first? Which is how we got Danny’s half sister Miranda aka Death Sting?

[Panic]

I thought Miranda was the product of a relationship Wendell had in K'un-Lun before he met Heather (wiki is suggesting the reason he left K'un-Lun was the murder of Miranda’s mother - I honestly don’t remember - and that Miranda’s mother, Shakirah, was actually his first wife).

[Panic]

[Tien Long]

Hi all. Wanted to tell you that Lin Lie Iron Fist shows up in a back up story in Daredevil #11:




Again, we see that Danny is teaching Lin Lie. I like this idea that Danny is using outside instructors to teach his students.

[taozen]

Hi all. Wanted to tell you that Lin Lie Iron Fist shows up in a back up story in Daredevil #11:




Again, we see that Danny is teaching Lin Lie. I like this idea that Danny is using outside instructors to teach his students.

That is a good writing idea of Lin Lie making the Marvel Universe rounds with Marvel's best Martial artist. I have to admit that I just cannot get excited about Lin Lie as THE Iron Fist. There just doesn't seem to be much "weight" to his character for me yet.

[Panic]

I suspect I’ll never get over him replacing Danny as Iron Fist.

I get why they did it, but I really don’t like replacing heroes. A heroic identity, which consists of a look, a gimmick, code name, supporting characters and rogue’s gallery is a difficult thing to build, but incredibly important. Lin Lie being Iron Fist unfairly strips Danny of his super-hero identity to give Lin Lie a ready-made identity, and that makes me very resistant to Lin Lie as Iron Fist. Again, I get why they did it, but I can’t see myself supporting a character that’s the reason one of my childhood favourites isn’t allowed his super-hero identity. Character loyalty is a big factor in picking up comics for me, it’s why I will buy mediocre runs when the material doesn’t really make the grade.

No offence to Lin Lie fans, I’m sure he’ll pick up a fanbase as he acquires good stories.

[Tien Long]

That is a good writing idea of Lin Lie making the Marvel Universe rounds with Marvel's best Martial artist. I have to admit that I just cannot get excited about Lin Lie as THE Iron Fist. There just doesn't seem to be much "weight" to his character for me yet.

I suspect I’ll never get over him replacing Danny as Iron Fist.

I get why they did it, but I really don’t like replacing heroes. A heroic identity, which consists of a look, a gimmick, code name, supporting characters and rogue’s gallery is a difficult thing to build, but incredibly important. Lin Lie being Iron Fist unfairly strips Danny of his super-hero identity to give Lin Lie a ready-made identity, and that makes me very resistant to Lin Lie as Iron Fist. Again, I get why they did it, but I can’t see myself supporting a character that’s the reason one of my childhood favourites isn’t allowed his super-hero identity. Character loyalty is a big factor in picking up comics for me, it’s why I will buy mediocre runs when the material doesn’t really make the grade.

No offence to Lin Lie fans, I’m sure he’ll pick up a fanbase as he acquires good stories.

Very true. I see potential in Lin Lie. Hence why I've been making posts regarding him. However, I'll be the first to admit that his character development has been lackluster. As someone who has his first appearances as well as his run as an Iron Fist, I see the pieces of a great character. A missing father, a destiny to take on an ancient evil, inheriting a new legacy, a solid cast of characters during his time as an Agent of Atlas as well as in K'un Lun, all of these components should work. Someone just needs to distill all these things and present the core essence. (The same could be said with Pei, Victor Alvarez, the Immortal Weapons, and all of the other members of the Iron Fist family).

That being said, I see Lin Lie as "Robin Iron Fist." He's a good successor, but not there yet as a main character. That's why I say we bring back "Batman Iron Fist," Danny Rand. There can be a way to reconcile all of the aspects and controversies of Danny Rand. Because at the end of the day, I still see a great protagonist who has so many other stories to tell. Personally, I feel that he could be the Thunderer for the new generation of Iron Fist characters, Pei, Lin Lie, and Victor Alvarez. I feel that he could serve a prominent role in Luke Cage's mayoral administration. Use those to springboard him back as a "Thunderer Iron Fist", someone who is both a master AND works with his disciples.

We don't have to neglect Iron Fist. There is a way to build the character and the legacy back again.