Sunday Splash Page #257

"Serpent Infestation," in Immortal Iron Fist #4, by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction (writers), David Aja (artist), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist), Dave Lanphear (letterer)

Immortal Iron Fist may have been one of the first books I bought primarily because of the creative team, rather than the characters. Granted, when I first heard about it, I somehow confused Ed Brubaker with Brian K. Vaughn, who was writing Dr. Strange: The Oath, which I was very much enjoying. But the point remains, I don't recall having any strong feelings one way or the other about Iron Fist prior to this title, yet, here we are.

One of the major thing Brubaker and Matt Fraction did was posit that Danny Rand was only the latest in a long line of Iron Fists. Even if DC went away from the concept in the immediate aftermath of Crisis on the Infinite Earths, the notion of characters being part of a legacy or tradition made a slow but steady comeback in the late-90s, spearheaded by Starman and JSA.

Marvel never seemed to have a lot of time for that, outside the occasional nod like Rick Jones trying to take the codename Bucky to be Captain America's sidekick. Marvel seemed to prefer the "replacement" approach. Jim Rhodes taking over for Stark as Iron Man when Tony was in his cups, or Scott Lang becoming Ant-Man after Pym had shifted to Yellowjacket. When they did explore it, it was usually relegated to side universes like Spider-Girl's MC2 Universe.

After Immortal Iron Fist's success, suddenly legacies started popping up for all sorts of second-tier characters. Jason Aaron used it on Ghost Rider, and Moon Knight is nodding to the idea right now. Immortal Iron Fist also expanded the mythos what I would call laterally, by adding another six "Heavenly Cities", each with their own champion, with Fat Cobra seeming to be the fan favorite of the bunch.

(Aaron's Ghost Rider did this too, with Spirits of Vengeance across the world, and MacKay introduced the notion Khonshu has two "fists" at the same time.)

Amid the larger story of Danny learning he's really just the most recent (and least well-prepared) Iron Fist at the exact moment he's besieged from all sides by both HYDRA and his old enemy the Steel Serpent, the book would take time out to devote one-shot issues to some of the previous Iron Fists. Issue 7's spotlight on Wu Aoi-Shi, the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay (drawn by Travel Foreman, who also drew flashbacks at the start of most of the issues, alone with Leandro Fernandez and Khari Evans), seemed to be the fave.

David Aja was primary artist, and he brought a different sensibility to the action sequences. Where other artists would combine multiple actions into a single panel (via the after-image approach), Aja would sometimes draw Danny jump kicking a single HYDRA agent through a subway window across three panels. Really stretch out the moment. A lot of alternating between larger panels to show the scope of the challenge and lots of small square panels to cut between important points within a scene rapid-fire.

He also ditched the '70s high collar with plunging neckline costume early on in favor of the number above. It's more streamlined and practical and I don't have any complaints, but I don't know how more committed Iron Fist fans felt about the change.

Unfortunately, having David Aja as your regular artist means that if you're going to keep a monthly schedule, you're going to have fill-in artists. By the latter stages of the "Capital Cities of Heaven" arc that covered the second half of their run, Aja was sometimes drawing only a handful of pages, or none at all, with Kano or Tonci Zonjic taking over the lion's share of the work. They were close enough in style that characters maintained a similar look, but they didn't seem to have Aja's sense of style when it came to page layouts.

Also, the arc suffers from either not enough time, or too much build-up. We're told what's at stake is how often the Heavenly Cities may intersect with Earth. The loser, rather than being limited to once a decade, will be limited to once per 50 years, for example. It's unclear how you would determine a loser since there was apparently to be a battle royale between the fighters who lost earlier in the tournament. For that matter, if Orson Randall fucked the whole thing up last time by first refusing to fight, then killing another of the champions when he fled, how did that not result in K'un-Lun getting barred for fifty years?

It's a moot point, since the whole notion is dropped entirely to focus on the HYDRA subplot, which is itself really a revenge plot by a new character, descended from another new character we meet in flashback. Overall, I'm not sure the Brubaker/Fraction/Aja run doesn't end up being less than the sum of its parts, but the book didn't end when they departed.

So Nova's In Secret Avengers

What do you think?

Brubaker seems aware of the idea Rich isn't necessarily going to fit for every mission the group undertakes, so he's going to be used on a case by case basis. That makes sense. Before I read the recap of his comments on Comic Book Resources, I was wondering how Nova would fit. Although, if Rich can keep the Worldmind in the loop while he's on Earth, it could be handy for infiltrating vital information systems. I can't imagine there are too many computer safeguards that could hold up against the Worldmind.

It sounds as though Nova will be the "big gun" of the team, called in when they have a really big threat. Perhaps similar to how Busiek frequently used Thor for his Avengers' work. It's encouraging, because I was afraid he might get nerfed. He still might, but it sounds as though there's recognition that Nova's one of the most powerful heroes on Earth. When he's on Earth, anyway.

I'll be curious to see the difference in the threats the team faces w/Nova vs. without. Will it be a matter of power, or will Nova be called in for anything extraterrestrial in nature? Are the team's activities focused on Earth, or will they try and meet incoming threats away from home? Will Nova be calling them in on some of his work?

Also, what's Nova's standing with the team going to be? He's been doing the hero thing for a shorter amount of time than several of his team members*, and most of them have been on more high-profile teams than him. At the same time, Nova's been up to his neck in crazy "the universe is about to die" stuff for the last couple years, but nobody on Earth realizes it. I know Steve Rogers will respect him, because he's Steve Rogers, but hopefully the rest aren't going to treat him like some relative rookie.

I guess I'll be adding this to my pull list, eventually. I still wish they'd paired Brubaker with either Immonen or Romita Jr., and put Deodato on one of Bendis' books, but it's not a perfect world, and Deodato's done work I enjoyed in the past. I would have added the book already if Marvel hadn't been cagey about who was on the team for the first two issues**. I'll have to decide whether to try and grab spare copies of the first two issues, or wait for the first trade.

* Steve Rogers, Black Widow, Sharon Carter, Beast, for certain. I'm not sure about Valkyrie, since I'm not sure which Val this is. Brubaker's comments suggest it's the one Moon Knight worked with briefly on the Defenders, who would have seniority, but I thought Busiek and Larsen said she went back to Valhalla, and there was a different Val running around. I'm pretty sure Nova has Jim Rhodes and Moon Knight beat, but they both saw combat long before they became costumed types, so that might offset. The only one I'm positive he has service time over is the Irredeemable Ant-Man.

** I like Brubaker, but on his own, not enough to get me to buy a title. Pairing him with Deodato wasn't enough either. The roster was what clinched it.

Is It A Big Change If The Same Writer Is Still There?

I see several bloggers are excited about some of DC's upcoming news. Aquaman's coming back, and Geoff Johns is going to do that thing he does - Mutilate some characters while making everything fit into continuity. I'm kidding. Sort of. The Green Lantern franchise is getting another book, which is nice for Green Lantern fans, if not their wallets. Or maybe it is good for wallets. They won't be as full of money, lowering their chances of bursting at the seams. I'm happy Tony Bedard gets to write a higher-selling title, as he seems to keep landing projects which aren't going to get high sales (I'm a fan of his Exiles run).

You know me, though, always been more of a Marvel guy. I'm happy to hear the Agents of Atlas are getting another chance (as Atlas), but the bigger news seems to be about the Avengers. Two teams, two books, Bendis and Romita Jr. on one, Brubaker and Deodato on the Secret Avengers.

Anybody excited about these? I don't mean that in a sarcastic way, I'm curious. I'd prefer the artists be switched, as Deodato's more hit and miss for me than Romita Jr. You say, "Then buy the Bendis/Romita book, Calvin," but I've made my feelings on Bendis' team books pretty clear on this blog. His style hasn't been what I look for. Then again, I'm not sure Brubaker's pacing will be to my liking either. When I read Immortal Iron Fist, I felt some individual issues had little forward progress, and not much to them, though they worked much better when I read several issues consecutively.

In spite of those misgivings, there's part of me inside hopping up and down chanting "They could be good! The rosters could be interesting! You really liked that issue of Moon Knight Deodato drew! Maybe you'll enjoy Bendis' style more this time! Or maybe he'll shift his style more towards something you like!" Yes, it's quite irritating, but it's enthusiasm is a little endearing, like scans daily. I've been trying to encourage that voice, because I'd rather be excited, but I can't help wondering if the titles will be left to their own devices long enough, or if they'll swiftly be dragged into whatever the next big important deal, limiting their ability to find a groove. There's that cynicism again.

How about the rest of you? I imagine there are some folks with considerable trust in Brubaker, or Bendis, or fans of Romita and/or Deodato's work. Maybe you're excited about the prospects of a particular character being on the team?