Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 6, Moon Knight 7

Sorry about the late post on this one, it was SUPPOSED to come yesterday at 2 PM but I GUESS that wasn't what Blogger wanted to do. And we all work on what Blogger wants to do.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 6

Things have gotten stranger and darker in New York as Brenda reveals herself again to be a little more than just a college student writing a report and as Li's police force is decimated by Davos, hoping once more to claim his birthright with the help of loyal monsters and the recently captured Pei and her newborn dragon baby, who is pretty adorable. Meanwhile, Iron Fist has been saved by a strange old man referred to as The Fooh and by his childhood friend Sparrow, now blind. Danny flashes back to his childhood with memories, real or dreams, of his father arriving in K'un Lun after his seeming death, rescued by the people of K'un Lun. It also turns into a flashback about Danny's mom having an affair with Harold Meachum which Danny found out about. Sparrow helps to refocus him and he decides that, even with his chi source gone and his iron fists diminished, he's ready to fight.

There's a lot of cool stuff happening here and some really interesting story telling, all helped by Andrews' great art (and check out that cover, it's real neat). It's also a pretty deep read and re-cast of Iron Fist's already remarkably dark origin. By the same token, I'm not sure I needed the affair with Meachum to cement my interest in these things. Affairs very rarely appeal to me and at this point they often seem cliche. I will say, in its defense, I think it's stronger here because Andrews has done such a good job to show that Danny's father had gone totally crazy and had disconnected from reality, even going so far as to have Danny's mother, in the throes of passion, say that she just wants Harold to make her feel something. So there's a little more of an emotional affair aspect going on but it still feels a little trite to me. Regardless, still a strong issue, check it out for a really neat little dragon, a fantastic cover, continued gorgeous art, and a compelling story. Can't do much better than that.

Total Score: 4/5


Moon Knight 7

A seemingly almost equally well-equipped ex-soldier has appeared on the scenes in New York targeting a visiting general who has committed some sort of crimes that the soldier has been privy to. Regardless, though, the general is a traveler in the night and therefore under Moon Knight's protection so a chase ensues throughout the city with Moon Knight eventually using his glider to stop the would-be assassin. He knocks the AWOL soldier out in time to answer the man's phone and learn that the woman behind the attempt is, in fact, Moon Knight's psychiatrist.

Though this is apparently the start of a continuing storyline, unlike the first six issues, Brian Wood goes to great lengths to make this issue read in the same way that Ellis and Shalvey's run read. There is a bit more dialogue as the soldier gives direction to his drone, which slows the issue a little but sets up the technology nicely, but Moon Knight acts and speaks in very much the same way he has throughout this volume, which is appreciated. Smallwood's art is very impressive, perhaps more expressive than Shalvey's (though I think I like Shalvey's style a bit more) and Bellaire's colors continue to be astonishing. The twist of Moon Knight's doctor being the benefactor of this assassination attempt is maybe one more twist than is necessary, but I'm still interested in learning more so it's certainly not enough to wave off. Strong first entry for the new creative team.

Total Score: 4/5

Moon Knight 6, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 5

Moon Knight 6
Ellis (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

For questioning why this Mr. Knight character gets to do the police work, NYPD officer Ryan Trent is told by his superior that he's going to be a street cop for life. With this, the latest in a lifetime of people telling him he's not good enough, Trent decides that he can be better than Moon Knight and begins gathering information on the vigilante. Things quickly spiral and he begins to really loathe Moon Knight, changing his plans from "make something of myself" to "kill Moon Knight as the new Black Spectre, classic Moon Knight villain, then take his place and enjoy the love and admiration of just EVERYBODY." It's, perhaps, a bit of a "shoot first, ask questions never/why would you even think about questioning this plan" plan but BOY does Trent commit to it. His final act (in the plan and, spoilers, in life) is to rig up some car-bombs and lure Moon Knight to their location. He detonates them, though Moon Knight isn't caught in the blast, having sent his car ahead as a decoy, and ends up blowing himself up with his last bomb while Moon Knight tells him that Black Spectre, like, it seems, Trent, only ever wanted to be loved and that was his ultimate downfall. Moon Knight, on the other hand, doesn't want love from anyone, that the people who love him end up dying horribly, and that's why he always wins.

It's an appropriately dark ending for Ellis and Shalvey's last issue of the series and it does a phenomenal job of bringing their arc of six mostly unconnected single stories to a full circle. The story is interesting, Moon Knight plays his typical role as sort of a ghost in the issue and ends up, as in each issue, the only one to walk away (his logic at the end, then, is evidently infallible). Shalvey and Bellaire's art remains unbelievable and fit Ellis' tone perfectly. Just an overall great book and one of the best runs on a character I've seen in some time. Interesting side-note: Marvel seems determined to get the reader to stick with the book, addressing Ellis and Shalvey's departure and providing a four-page preview at the end of this book, which wouldn't be as weird if they hadn't plugged the four-page preview into other books (including ROCKET RACCOON and presumably others). Weird that they're so concerned the audience will jump ship. It reeks of backlash from fans upon learning Ellis and Shalvey were leaving. STILL, back to the matter at hand: great book, pick this and its preceding five up.

Total Score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 5
Kaare Andrews (w, a, c) and Caramagna (l)

Iron Fist begins to recognize the threat he faces as, of course, not his father but as The One, the final challenge a potential Iron Fist faces in their long line of challenges to ascend to the role of protector of K'un Lun (some day, SOME DAY, I won't have to look up how to spell K'un Lun). Look, that doesn't make it not weird since Danny killed The One in his own trial. Crushed and broken, Danny manages to escape only with the help of the K'un Lun elders, who whisk him out just in time to not be totally killed. Meanwhile, the messenger girl Pei continues to try to evade the dark forces following her with the help of Brenda who proves herself suddenly adept at many fighting styles (??) and escapes into the sewers carrying the chi of K'un Lun, though she inadvertently releases it and unleashes, it seems, Shou-Lao the undying (knew he wasn't dead...that's a joke, you guys) into the New York City sewer system.

Plenty happening but this issue almost acts more like catch-up, despite the incredible amount of action. Danny recaps a little what's been going on and we see just about everyone we've seen so far in Andrews' run. It ends up dragging the issue a little bit but I think it's probably worth it to kind of reset and show us where we are right now in a book loaded with pretty deep cuts into Iron Fist mythology. Still doesn't solve Danny's problems of totally broken fists and a lack of chi but I'm sure we're getting there, no doubt with Pei's help. Also kind of can't stand when characters suddenly whip out very convenient powers like Brenda did, though maybe that's building to something else too. Look, whatever, is what I'm saying. Still pretty good work and some stellar art from Andrews, as ever.

Total Score: 4/5

Moon Knight 5, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 4

Moon Knight 5
Ellis (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

A young girl has been kidnapped by a crime family. She's being held in the fifth floor of a six story abandoned building by a dozen or so guards. Moon Knight makes his way to the fifth floor.

I put down every issue of this series going "this book is awesome." It's a number of things and I think that it's a number of things I've already talked about with this book. Each issue gives a slightly different flavor and the flavor of this one is a far more brutal and less mystical one. Khonshu only plays a role insofar as his tie to Moon Knight. There are no spirits and there are no curses. This one is just Moon Knight making his way through a series of thugs who stand no chance against him. It is brutal and it is devastating and it is truly a phenomenal comic. As ever, one of Ellis' strengths on the book remains his understanding of how to keep quiet during the action and how to let Moon Knight's terseness speak volumes. Declan Shalvey does a phenomenal job both with the still moments and with the intense action just as Jordie Bellaire does a stellar job setting the tone. Check this issue out.

Total Score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 4
K. Andrews (w, a, and c) and Caramagna (l)

In a flashback to before Danny left for K'un Lun (on his present journey), we see a night between Danny and Brenda where she, having lowered his defenses and seen through his false callousness, gets him to confide in her, at least a little, and talk to her about his parents. That night, his mother, a monstrous skeleton not unlike the father he ran into at the end of last issue, comes to him while he sleeps and scolds him for looking back at her when she told him not to, for watching her get ripped apart. Brenda stays through his whole episode and calms him back to bed, though it's still a restless night. In the present, his maybe-father/monster insults his connection to Lei Kung and compares it to his connection and perceived failure to his own father. Danny raises his iron fist to strike with the power of Shou-Lao, K'un Lun, and the tree of immortality only to find that, with those destroyed, he has no power.

Danny's demons are very real and they're facing him down one by one. Andrews, on top of his phenomenal art and strong writing, has a real sense of tone and character for this book. The flashback to time spent with Brenda isn't necessarily what the audience is expecting but, after reading it, it feels like it's exactly what we needed. He's not a callous jerk, he's not humorless because Andrews has decided that's who Danny has always been, he's just a guy with a lot going on and a public face that differs from his private face. If you had fears that maybe this was signifying a massive shift in who Iron Fist has been in the past, I think you can relax. It might be a bit of a shift, perhaps leading to someone who's a bit darker underneath, but it's not anything that shouldn't be expected. Really solid book, very compelling art, perhaps a little risqué for younger readers. Only in America could I call this book risqué because it has sexual themes whereas I called MOON KNIGHT awesome and brutal with no such warning. Pretty weird, right? Guys, I have observations like this for DAYS. LOOK AT THAT COVER, EVERYONE. GOOOOOOOOOD week for covers and this is likely the best one.

Total Score: 5/5

Moon Knight 4, Iron Fist: The Immortal Weapon 3, Magneto 5

Moon Knight 4
Ellis (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Moon Knight has been contacted by a Doctor Skelton, a sleep scientist who had worked with one-time ally to Marc Spector Peter Alraune. Skelton is having troubles with his sleep studies as all of his patients, hooked up to machines and drips in his small office provided by the university, have been going slowly insane after having the same dream. Moon Knight, sworn to protect travelers in the night (which also includes protecting people in dreams), returns to the office with Skelton and goes to sleep on the floor of one of an open, damp and smelly room. He enters an incredibly colorful and psychedelic hellscape where seemingly every piece of the landscape has the face of a man pleading for death. Moon Knight explores the area for a bit and then abruptly wakes up and crashes into Skelton's office, dragging him out by the hair and throwing him into the damp and smelly room, where he rips up the floorboards to find a corpse wrapped in a bag rotting underneath. Skelton explains that it was a random guy from Craigslist who'd first participated in the study and who had undisclosed medical problems that reacted badly to the drugs Skelton used and that Skelton had been forced to hide the body or else he would be shut down. Moon Knight explains that he's been rotting there with his own fungus and with whatever else Skelton put into him, that they've "been breathing in his dreams."

Another amazing outing for this MOON KNIGHT book which finds Ellis doing one of his favorite things, weird and creepy science, and finds Shalvey getting to really play with a new environment and play with the constructs of dreams, while Bellaire gets to colors some extraordinary new settings. Just a really phenomenal book, one that really flies by but that you'll have no trouble going back to when it's over, one that you'll really want to flip through a couple of times just to see everything that Shalvey and Bellaire are doing, let alone the interesting story and the ever tight-lipped Moon Knight (which comes somewhat at odds with the Moon Knight in ORIGINAL SIN who was rather a chatterbox this week's issue). I said in my pre-game this week that this is a series that will, even just three issues in, undoubtedly be a phenomenal book for as long as Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey want to stay on it and, oh hey, what's this news now? Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood are taking over the series starting in issue seven in September? CURSE YOU, IRONIC LINK.

Total Score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Immortal Weapon 3
K. Andrews (w, a, c) and Caramagna (l)

As Danny returns to K'un Lun to find it in ruins with the Thunderer, his old master and current Yu Ti of the mystical city, decapitated, something inside him rather snaps. Between the present and a slew of flashbacks, we see Danny trying to keep his rage down and his rage turning into fear as he worries about who he is and what he'll become, that his fear is based on unleashing death. Thunderer was an instrumental part of learning that about himself and now he's dead and Danny wasn't there to stop it. Fellow immortal weapon Prince of Orphans is onsite to help K'un Lun recover and asks Danny to step up and eat the fruit of immortality that he declined when he was first given the choice. Then, he'd rejected it because he sought vengeance on the man who he believed killed his parents, Harold Meachum only to be denied that vengeance because Meachum was old and frail, already practically dead. Now he's offered the fruit in the hopes that he'll stay and be a new and stable Yu Ti, a guiding hand as K'un Lun rebuilds. He declines it and kicks down the tree, demanding vengeance and attacking the Prince of Orphans. he's thrown out from K'un Lun and into the snowy Himalayas where he runs across some sort of beast that appears to be his father. Meanwhile, Brenda, the girl he slept with in issue one, is trying to watch over the little messenger girl but things are complicated when Davos (it's always Davos) comes to kill her.

On top of a very clear love of Iron Fist and the mythology surrounding Danny Rand and K'un Lun, it seems as if Kaare Andrews sat down and thought out every single thing about Danny Rand. He compiled his origin and his past and his present and tried to map out who the character was. Though Danny has recently been something of a stable voice, guiding perhaps angrier characters like Luke Cage or Daredevil, and giving his time and powers freely (well, since Heroes for Hire, anyway), you can absolutely see where Andrews is coming from. Spider-Man every single day is reminded and pushed by his origin, by the fact that he let Uncle Ben die with his own inaction. Yet here's Danny Rand, a guy who, as a child, saw his crazed father fall to his death and his mother torn apart by wolves as he pressed forward to a city where he would be relentlessly trained to be a weapon, and he opens up a nice dojo in town for kids to come train with him. I'm not saying that's impossible or crazy or anything like that, no. Absolutely people come back from horrifying childhoods. But still, Andrews obviously looked at Danny and said "well there's clearly more to it than that." And that's the story we're seeing. It's a story set in the present but with very strong and obvious ties to his past. And it's just an astounding book to look at. Also, I like that cover and the next cover looks AMAZING.

Total Score: 5/5


Magneto 5
Bunn (w) and Walta (a) and Bellaire (c) and Petit (l)

Magneto is recovering between missions. Removed to small-town America, he plots his next steps and restocks his supply of staples and other small magnetic things. He meets with a man to learn a new target he can attack but, before he can set out, he's found by a woman wishing to help him. Briar Raleigh is a woman with a metal leg and a dossier on the entire SHIELD team set to hunt Magneto. He decides to hear her out as she promises to lead him to much bigger scores, including the Marauders, than any little random informant could give, though he's not without his suspicions. It's possible those suspicions are well-founded as we're privy to a flashback wherein we see that she lost her leg in a Magneto attack on Seattle some time prior.

Briar Raleigh, though a name I'm not sure I can get behind (though I'm not eye rolling at it like certain Verity Willises), seems an interesting addition to this book. Someone with questionable motives giving apparently useful information to Magneto and being the person who can lead him in a direction. Whenever you have a character who can point a protagonist in a direction you have the potential for an interesting character. One like this one, who has questionable motives and no known history, seems particularly useful, especially given how many enemies Magneto's made. It's a little like Isaiah in BLACK WIDOW but it's hard not to believe (though this could be just what Edmondson wants us to believe) that Isaiah is a pretty good dude, at least good for Natasha. In this case, Briar Raleigh (does not flow off the tongue, nor does it flow off the keyboard) may well be giving Magneto information now only to lead him to traps later. Fun stuff. Can't complain on this one.

Total Score: 5/5

Black Widow 6, Punisher 5, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2

Black Widow 6
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a) and Cowles (l)

Black Widow has been captured and has spent her interrogation trying to learn what she can about her captors but it's only led her to realize that they're more scared than anything, desperately striking out while they can at anything that could give them information. She breaks out of her bonds when the time is right and begins to make her way down to Damon Dran, who has apparently reconstructed Molot Boga in the hopes that the new steel Hammer of God will be able to protect him from whatever's after him. Widow throws him overboard and captures Dran but whoever it is that's after him has infiltrated SHIELD to some extent as well, turning one of their officers who delivers a poisonous gas to Dran in his cell. Not knowing who she can trust, Natasha returns to her regular life and gets her new assignment from Isaiah.

Story
Edmondson is doing something really interesting with this series so far. He's telling quick stories, getting in and out with a good read on the character and a good sense of what these sorts of missions are. Of course, between this new ongoing plot line and the Iron Scorpion plot line from issue two, there are plenty of directions still to go out there but neither requires immediate action. Instead, they create an atmosphere around Natasha, one that shows the world seemingly closing in around her and closing her off (there's a nice theme through this one that she can't trust anyone and that it's possible she'll need friends going forward with Hawkeye tossed out as a possibility). 5/5

Character
The biggest character movements here are seeing Widow using her interrogation to learn more about her enemies, something not uncommon to Widow's character (even enough that it was referenced in The Avengers), and when she realizes just how alone she is. Seeing how she copes with that, if she decides to pursue allies or pushes forward alone, will show a lot about her character while also allowing us a glimpse behind her process. Really looking forward to it. 5/5

Writing
Edmondson, on top of getting in and out of stories relatively quickly, even the ones that he leaves open-ended to return to later, knows that fewer words can often tell more. There's limited dialogue and limited narration, never distracting from the story or the art but still doing more than enough to convey the plot and the character and everything else he may need to do. Natasha has always seemed a terse character and Edmondson isn't afraid to let her action do the talking. Of course, that's made easier when you have Phil Noto doing astonishing work on the book. 5/5

Art
Gorgeous book with phenomenal characters, solid emotion, great action, and perfect colors. I've already said it all about this series but Noto continues to impress. This issue kicks off with a full page panel of a close-up on Natasha's punched face and it still looks phenomenal. I put this issue down, as I do with seemingly every new release from this book, going "geez, this book is great to look at." 5/5

Miscellaneous
Man, it's going to get a five. It'd be nice if she had her memories of Bucky because NATASHA, I KNOW SOMEONE YOU COULD TRUST.

Total score: 5/5


Punisher 5
Edmondson (w) and Gerads (a) and Petit (l)

The Commandos after Frank tagged the coyote Loot with a tracker and waited while he traveled from Tuggs' place to Frank's hideout. Frank returns to Tuggs, freeing him from his binds, but doesn't have time to think on who attacked him as Electro has just shut down all power to the city. With the power out and the green light given, the Dos Sols attack every cop they can find, killing off police officers with abandon and creating havoc while their boss prepares to trigger the chemical weapon. Punisher finds him and manages to slow him down, nearly able to kill him, before Electro arrives and strikes at Punisher.

Story
The attack on LA is ramping up quickly as the Dos Sols begin to shoot cops and wrap their hand around the city. Guillermo, their leader, is ready to kill the city to show his strength and to advertise his gang to any who would join up. Meanwhile, the Commandos are still after Punisher and the other characters that have joined Frank's new life are all getting enough screen time to show that they'll warrant some attention here as well. Another strong outing from Edmondson as he shows a city in real chaos (which is, coincidentally, a buzzword in this week's BLACK WIDOW as well). 5/5

Character
It continues to be hard to judge Castle's character as he continues to be someone who plays things pretty close to the vest and doesn't have the benefit that, say, BLACK WIDOW has because there's not a lot of narration to show the reader what's really going through Frank's mind. Still, the speed with which he reacts to Loot's presence and his single-mindedness to stop the Dos Sols and Electro say a lot about him. Like with BLACK WIDOW (it's hard not to compare the books as they star protagonists who are similar in their demeanor and sort of in their skills and as they're both written by the same guy right now), Edmondson keeps it pretty short with Frank's dialogue and allows the art to do the talking for the character. It's strong work and it can be rare to see in a Marvel book but Edmondson is doing well in both his books. 5/5

Writing
Covered a lot of this section both in the story and character sections and in my BLACK WIDOW review, honestly. This story, obviously, is more of a traditional long arc than what B-Widz is going through right now but that makes sense with who Punisher is. You don't send Black Widow into a Punisher story any more than you'd send Punisher into a Black Widow story. Though they're presented in a similar fashion in some of the technical stuff, the stories are pretty diverse and I think Edmondson is showing a lot of poise in crafting them the way they need to be crafted. 5/5

Art
Mitch Gerads is doing really cool stuff with this book both in the action sequences and in the colors. It's a very dark book but he continues to mix in moments that are a bit lighter in their presentation if not in their tone, necessarily. Of course, this issue is largely darker because the power's gone out all around the city and cops are being killed in droves. Still, everyone has a very distinct look and Frank and Electro fighting has the sort of kinetic energy (and electric energy) that it should. 5/5

Miscellaneous
It's a testament to this book that I'm not sure I'm coming around a lot on Frank Castle as a character but I'm still finding this series remarkably engaging and well executed.

Total score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2
K. Andrews (w and a) and Caramagna (l)

Danny has to rush to K'un Lun, which isn't supposed to intersect with this plane for years still to come. Fortunately, he has a secret path back secreted away under Rand Tower, a way to teleport into the magic city. While the girl Brenda calls an ambulance for the messenger in Danny's apartment, Danny recalls more of his childhood, now remembering the crazed look in his mother's eye as she swears Danny to avenge his family on Harold and as she sacrifices herself to the wolves so Danny can make it to K'un Lun. Now he's apparently made it to K'un Lun, overrun by the cybernetic ninjas that attacked his apartment, where just days ago Davos, son of the original Thunderer, attacks his sister, who has since taken on the mantle of Thunderer while their father has taken on the role of Yu-Ti, leader of K'un Lun. When Danny finally arrives in K'un Lun, he finds it aflame with what seems to be a decapitated Shou-Lao front and center.

Story
Andrews really throws it all at us right at once, which is a gutsy move for someone delving so deep into K'un Lun history in just the second issue. We see Davos, we see the Thunderer, we see Shou-Lao, we see more Iron Fist origin, etc. It's kind of stunning all presented in there and it shows a lot of guts to hope that readers who may not know all of this will understand it as we push forward and that they'll stick with the book long enough to see how it fits together or where it's going. Still, the story itself is something of a mystery but what we need to know now is that there's discontent in K'un Lun and that someone somehow related to its past is transformed and attacking. It's an interesting story but we'll have to see where it goes now. 4/5

Character
There's a bit more to Danny revealed here particularly as Andrews ekes out the last bit of his childhood origin in this issue and as we get a slightly better sense of his voice through the narration and the way he views himself. We also get a quick tutorial in the way Davos thinks, which will undoubtedly be important, and we get a quick look at the new Yu-Ti (new-ish, anyway. I think this is one of the first times we've seen him acting as Yu-Ti). There are moving parts all around here and the story is at the forefront so there's maybe a little less character than the first issue's initial information dump but there's still a bit here to learn about. You can't expect every issue to come with major revelations. 4/5

Writing
The tone, helped along by the art and the color, is decidedly dark and hectic, all of which comes through pretty strongly here. Andrews deciding not to go into tons of detail about who these characters are and how their lives fit together may be a somewhat risky move in terms of keeping readers onboard but it makes sense as far as establishing a frantic tone and keeping an air of mystery to the book. It's a clever move, we'll just have to see if it pays off as we continue. 4/5

Art
Andrews' art continues to be pretty outstanding and the colors really help to set the tone effectively. The switches between looking at the present and looking at Danny's past are made more interesting and made easier to see as Andrews switches art forms a little bit and switches color palettes while also giving the past sections a more classic comic book faded feel. It's effective and it's useful to establish what's going on in a book that can come off so chaotic at times, intentional or not. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Another strong issue though there are real concerns about how vague and cryptic Andrews is going to be as we push forward. Obviously way too early to tell if this is a real concern just yet.

Total score: 4/5

This week's picks

Lotta books out this week. Several good books, several okay books, a couple of not so great books, and only a few great books. So which ones are they? LET'S FIND 'EM TOGETHER.

Avengers Undercover 2
I think there are really interesting ideas coming out of this book right now and that those ideas are really driving this book. Dennis Hopeless has done something very cool with this batch of characters and looks to continue it here. They're characters we can't help but care about because we saw what they went through and he did such a good job characterizing them the first time out. Now we can dive right into the brand new story and bring our feelings about these characters with us. It's almost a perfect situation as we're already guaranteed to care if we made the leap with this team already and now Hopeless just needs to find a good story to keep us here. I think he has, which is a great thing to be able to say on just issue two. There's plenty here and there's a lot to keep us onboard not to mention the interesting plot Hopeless has already established here. Gonna be another fun ride on this one.




Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1

Kaare Andrews is off to a really strong start with this book. I was ready for the art to be fantastic and to care about the character because I love Iron Fist but I wasn't sure what to expect out of the story or the characters or the writing or anything. I hadn't read anything big by Andrews and it's not super easy to write a good Iron Fist story; Iron Fist fans are lucky because his most recent ongoing series was written by Duane Swierczynski...and also by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker just before that. So yeah, not a bad team-up. ANYWAY, I wasn't sure what to expect out of IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON but almost immediately Andrews has shown that he has some interesting ideas and that he's ready to take this character and this book to cool new places. He's already taken a look at the origin and put his own completely believable twist on it (assuming you bought into his origin anyway). The art, of course, is also amazing, but I'm really impressed by the story and the character that Andrews has already begun developing. I'm looking forward to this series as it keeps going.

Iron Man 24

Okay, this is where things kind of break down for me on this list. It was between IRON MAN, CAPTAIN MARVEL, THUNDERBOLTS, DEADPOOL, and ALL-NEW X-FACTOR. Frankly, that's too many books to have to choose from. There are upsides to each but I didn't think any were necessarily at the top of their respective games. Of them all then, I thought IRON MAN had the strongest outing. CAPTAIN MARVEL got maybe a little too caught up in the introduction of the Guardians of the Galaxy for my liking (and that cover really did put me off). T-BOLTS has really built up too much of a great book for its own good so a good issue still doesn't really measure. DEADPOOL was strong and a worthwhile look for the content inside but it's hard to fully recommend it for anyone but big ol' Deadpool fans. ALL-NEW X-FACTOR is taking good steps but doesn't quite feel there yet, you know? Also, kinda annoyed still with the ALL-NEW titles. Anyway, IRON MAN was a pretty strong book as Tony directly interacts with Malekith and dives headfirst into his war with the rings. There's a lot happening here and I think Gillen's right on the edge of throwing us some juicy Tony Stark character development. It's a fun read, it's a good story, and it's a strong character showing. I think IRON MAN is still kind of on the rebound for me after the amazing SECRET ORIGIN OF TONY STARK storyline but I am liking this story anyway. Look, it's hard to explain feelings, you guys.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1, Daredevil 1.50

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1
K. Andrews

Danny Rand meets with a journalism student as she interviews him about his past and his powers. The night devolves quickly as she becomes attracted to him and, while the drinks flow, eventually goes home with him. The whole time, Danny is distant, thinking about his father's determination to get his family and business partner to K'un Lun. Of course, this event drove Danny's life as his parents would both die that day and Danny would barely escape death to make it to the mystical city, where he would become the immortal Iron Fist and choose to leave K'un Lun, forsaking his immortality to avenge his murdered family. As he mulls over his past (before, after, and probably during his, erm, relations with the girl Brenda), he realizes that someone is coming for him. He dives out the window of his penthouse apartment which overlooks the ruined Rand building and meets a flock of ninjas descending from a helicopter. He defeats them handily (that's very nearly a pun about his iron fist, you guys) and returns to the girl only to find that there's an undead but very powerful ninja waiting for him there. His iron fist blinks out at the wrong time but he's more than just his power and he still defeats the ninja. With the last combatant dispatched, a different girl appears, arrows in her back, and whispers that he needs to return to K'un Lun.

Stellar first issue by Kaare Andrews. There's a ton happening here and it's ever so slightly twisting the story of Iron Fist. Iron Fist is rather my go-to for "which superhero has the darkest origin?" That question comes up more than you'd think (mostly I pose it so I can answer "Iron Fist." I never said I didn't play to win). As a child, Danny Rand was walked through a harsh, winter, mountainous climate because his dad was driven to show them all K'un Lun. His dad's business partner, Harold Meachum, watched as Wendell Rand fell off the cliff to his death and offered help to Danny's mother if she would marry him. She refuses and she and Danny are left to their own devices, which here means "promptly attacked and chased by wolves." She falls behind to let Danny gain some distance and tells Danny to just keep going. As the wolves get to her, Danny finds the entrance to K'un Lun. PRETTY DARK, YOU GUYS. This twists the origin very slightly but not in any way that is unbelievable. Instead, Andrews casts Wendell Rand as someone who had long since gone mad, desperate to return to K'un Lun. It's not a stretch in any way, just a slightly different way to look at it. There's an amount of apathy to Danny as this series opens and a fear that he'll go the way of his father. There are so many emotions here and so much depth already to this Danny Rand, not even getting into the story that's happening and the phenomenal art Andrews brings to the book. Really great first issue. Everyone should check this one out.

Daredevil 1.50
The King in Red: Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez and A. Lopez (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)
The Last Will and Testament of Stana Morgan: Bendis (w) and Maleev (a) and Hollingsworth (c)
The Last Will and Testament of Mike Murdock: Kesel (w and a) and Palmer (a) and Allison (c)

Daredevil's 50th anniversary is celebrated with a double length issue telling three tales from Matt Murdock's past and future. The first is a story from Mark Waid and Javier Rodriguez that finds Matt on his fiftieth birthday. He's more or less retired from the superhero game though his senses have all increased with age. He still lives in San Francisco with his son Jack and near a slimmed down and healthy Foggy. He's had a career in politics and, though it seems he and Jack's mother are separated, gained the love of the city in the process. His fiftieth birthday brings horror to the city, though, as Jubula Pride, deranged daughter of the Owl, blinds the majority of the city with the help of cyber optic eye treatment (like Google Glass but with eye drops) in Matt's honor. He tracks her down and fights her, though he's slowed by her toxins and by his age. He eventually finds the source of the blinding, a machine just bursting with radioactivity, and he destroys it, subjecting himself to the radioactivity and fully blinding him, taking away his radar senses. Sad as it is, he's reunited with his son (who had gone blind in the epidemic) and the two are left to lead a more normal life. It's a pretty neat story with plenty of seeds for stories that may or may not be coming. Javier Rodriguez's art continues to stand out whenever it's called upon and makes the book feel like it's just continued right on up through the next decade of comics. Considering how good this DAREDEVIL book and team are, that's not a bad way to feel.

Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev return to the world of DAREDEVIL as Bendis tells a story in the form of the world's longest letter (probably) from Stana Morgan, purported love interest of Daredevil, to her unborn child and to her husband (they would even go so far as to be MARRIED, you guys). She left the letter because she had a suspicion, thanks to her one-time best friend, that she would die as a result of Daredevil's work, somewhere in the crossfire. I'll be honest, I have no idea the point of this story. It's really, really long-winded and it's about a character it's almost impossible to care about, even if this is presented in a first person letter to make it more sympathetic. It's hard to see her as anything but a woman who fell in love with Daredevil under the weirdest circumstances and quit her job and dedicated herself entirely to him within about five minutes. Then apparently she dies at the hands of Bullseye because that's the only thing Bullseye cares about: killing Daredevil's girlfriends/wives. It's an incredibly lengthy story for five pages and I don't think it really adds much. Add this to my long list of Bendis bias, I suppose.

Story three is a tale from Daredevil's past. As present day Matt and Foggy pack up the law offices of Nelson and Murdock, Reed Richards sends along an old video that was left with him during the days of Mike Murdock, the twin that Matt Murdock invented to convince Foggy and Karen Page that he wasn't Daredevil. Present day Foggy and Matt talk about how unbelievable and crazy the whole situation was and how stupid they were for believing it and for perpetrating it respectively. The video is a sweet little thing where "Mike" dons his Daredevil suit and, followed around by some of Reed's flying cameras, performs stunts and narrates his little video, dedicating bits and pieces to the three (yes, including himself) to whom the video was dedicated. There's not a ton to this little story but it's sweet and it's certainly fun enough with just a pang of regret as Mike says that he's sure they'll be the top law firm in the city by the time they see the video where, in fact, they're packing up their law firm having just been disbarred. Fun little issue overall and definitely worth a look for Daredevil fans. There's a preview of ELEKTRA at the end as well as a nice little letter page that highlights fans who sent in letters about their experience with Daredevil (including a nice shout-out to manwithoutfear.com's Kuljit Mithra) as well as creators who have worked on the series. Always nice to see and looking forward to more DAREDEVIL as the years go on.

Comics this week

Hey all my buddies, it's the start to another new comics week so it's time to highlight the five I'm anticipating most. There are eighteen new books out this week and more than a QUARTER of them start with the worlds "ALL-NEW," as the list on the right would indicate (unless you're looking at this post sometime after the week of this post, in which case there are hopefully different comics there). Though I am interested to see how ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER 2 is after a pretty strong debut issue, I refuse to put it on this list because there are FIVE "ALL-NEW" TITLES and I kind of hate the "ALL-NEW" designation. The tiniest protest aside, there are still more than enough books to choose from this week.

Avengers Undercover 2
A strong opener from Dennis Hopeless and company put the survivors of AVENGERS ARENA back on the map and now they're reunited to try to save the revenge-fueled Cullen Bloodstone from destruction or worse at the hands of bigger villains than even Arcade because, you know, Arcade isn't that big of a villain outside of his island. The tone and the focus on characters drove the initial series and I'd look for it to drive this one too.

Captain Marvel 2
Carol Danvers has gone to space hoping that the time off Earth gets her in a new headspace. It's a whole new start for Carol Danvers and one that will shake things up a bit for our hero. She's taken on a role for the Avengers as a sort of space warning system, fighting off or alerting the Avengers to threats to Earth coming from space. She's also set to join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy as they continue to gain popularity. Could lead to interesting stuff.

Daredevil 1.50
This is one I'm not a hundred percent sure of as it launches. To celebrate the fiftieth year of Daredevil, this 1.50 issue is a standalone issue that will purportedly give us a glimpse into DD's 2014 from the creators of his current series as well as a few stories from DD's past from past creators. By "not sure of it," I mostly mean that I tend not to put in standalone stories or retrospective stories to this list but I really like Daredevil and I think this one will still matter in the long run. Plus, I'm sure it'll still be good.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1
Everyone's favorite K'un-Lun chosen one returns to the forefront of Marvel comics as IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON takes off. Writer/artist Kaare Andrews will lead Daniel Rand through all sorts of new and, given Andrews' work with Iron Fist before, presumably beautiful places in this all-new (but pointedly not ALL-NEW) series. I love Iron Fist; he's somewhere up pretty high in my pantheon of superheroes. I'm really excited to see where this series goes.

Nightcrawler 1
With the return of beloved mutant Nightcrawler comes the return of beloved X-Men legend Chris Claremont. I'm very intrigued to see how Claremont comes at this new series. He was always a little wordy for my tastes but that was also certainly a product of the times. Now, in a world where comics are more accepted and understood and the artists are able to do more storytelling with a page, we'll see how Claremont handles a brand new series. I'm interested enough that I'm not even going to mention how much I miss X-MEN LEGACY, the book this one is replacing (kind of, anyway. Originally Nightcrawler was just going to take over LEGACY but then they were like "well hey, let's just title the book NIGHTCRAWLER." Regardless, I think Spurrier's LEGACY would have been over anyway).

New Iron Fist ongoing announced!

Before the reviews kick off today, I wanted to quickly note that Hero Complex and CBR have both confirmed a new IRON FIST ongoing written, illustrated, inked, and colored by Kaare Andrews (he's also doing the covers). IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON will debut in April and will mark Andrews' return to comics after a stint in Hollywood directing and, according to Andrews, will feature a somewhat despondent Danny Rand returning to K'un-Lun to try to figure himself out some. Very excited about this one; regular blog readers will know that I am a pretty big Iron Fist fan and regular IRON FIST readers will know that Kaare Andrews draws a mean Iron Fist. Check out that Hero Complex link above to read the full interview with Andrews, which goes into further detail about the upcoming series, a bit of Danny Rand's origin (guys, easily the most horrifying origin in comics), and a little about the Iron Fist Netflix series Marvel has announced.