44. Iron Fist vol 2 #1 ... Marvel ...

Marvel did a very odd thing just a few years ago ... among its stable of characters that could have benefited from an ongoing series ... they selected Iron Fist. I liked Iron Fist and enjoyed reading the first volume (about 15 issues if memory serves) when it was re-released in collection format in black-n-white ... and to a certain extent his adventures subsequently with Power Man ... but even then I have doubts how long it would survive and to its credit, it survived more than 2 years with even special one shots, annuals and what-not during the height of its popularity

So what made this lame ass martial artist become a hot property when this volume was launched?

Artist: David Aja's almost realistic, quiet, not over the top workmanlike style ... and a generally engaging storyline that doesn't require you to know Iron Fist background ...

The change in uniforms also work and the stress to show you how Danny came to be where he is ... his corporate multi millionaire side of his life ... and the forthcoming problems from his role as Iron Fist .. as he finally learns that it is more than channeling his chi unto his fist making it "like unto a thing made of Iron" ... it's just plain entertaining and makes you want to come back for more

In this first issue, we are shown Iron Fist today with problems coming in the form of his corporate world even as we are shown glimpses of something coming from Kun Lun the fabled mystical city where Danny disappeared to learn his martial arts skills. All is not well there and we are not just talking about the villains but apparently there is a bigger problem brewing across the various classes in that world

And as if that wasn't enough, we are shown that there are other mystical cities ... and that each of them have their sworn champion ... and there comes a time every few years where the stars aligned and the champions will come to do battle!

See? A lot of new information to make Iron Fist interesting. If you have never read this, I do encourage you to pick up the first TPB

Ratings: 8/10