The Immortal Iron Fist # 17
Written by Duane Swierczynski
Art by Travel Foreman, Russ Heath & Matt Milla
Published by Marvel Comics
I originally picked The Immortal Iron Fist because I thought, "Hey, haven't done this one before. This is so un-me." And then I was informed by another staff member that not only had I done it before, but that I attempted to re-pick it another week and was reminded then, too, that I'd already read it and thoroughly disliked it because it jumped around in time so much. I guess one couldn't characterize my last reading of this title as...unforgettable?
But, I decided to go for it again. I'm definitely less tired now than I was a few months back…..so maybe fresh eyes, fresh perspective?
Well, it certainly does jump around, doesn't it? Why? I mean, why use jumping all over time and place as a storytelling device when one has to jump so often? It works really well in, say, Michael Cunningham's The Hours, because by jumping around 3 different storylines in time, a bit of suspense and surprise is added to an otherwise already over-told, "my mother was fucked-up and that's why I'm fucked-up" story. (Okay, that's REALLY simplifying that book, but I'm just trying to make a point about Iron Fist, here.)
Whereas in this issue of the Immortal Iron Fist, we start with 10 years in the future and some FOREshadowing. Can you still call it that by basically telling us what's going to happen in the current issue by fully illustrating something? Doesn't foreshadowing require a softer touch?
Yes, I realize that this may also be a way of creating a "hook", installing a cliff-hanger right from the get-go, because we don't know whose kid this is, and who actually died in the [upcoming] fight. In the kid's picture, it looks bad for Mr. Iron Fist Danny Rand – but is it really that simple? And course we "assume" that the black woman in that sequence is supposed to be Misty the girlfriend? (I feel a little "set-up" here.) And oh yes, we are hit over the head with the whole "Iron Fist turns 33 today, and only one Iron Fist has lived past 33 in 66 years." OH MY GOD…I naive reader that I am, have this strange feeling.... this intuition....this vibe, that Iron Fist might die!
I mean, their desire for us to think that he will die soon is as obvious as the "twist" in Hancock, which I had to watch by myself. For the love of Pete, I saw so many trailers for that movie and read one review before seeing it. And no, by the trailers one has no idea of "the twist," but jeez. Charlize Theron's character all but winked at the audienced and mouthed silently "WE ARE EX-LOVERS, which means I'm a SUPERHERO, TOO." Wink, wink, wink. Nod. Nod. In Hancock, though, that IS the twist. In this issue of the Immortal Iron Fist, I feel like this is the train of thought (he's gonna die!) is what they desperately want us to believe and follow so that they can SURPRISE us with the big twist....that will come in another issue, and be something completely different.
So, let me step back and think about all of this. This may not be written for me -- my age, that is. I mean, honestly, this is one of the few comics that I've read that may truly be written for kids (Ten and up?) And in that case, I like it. For kids. It certainly does introduce them to certain conventions like foreshadowing, and cliff-hangers and "twists," which god knows they'll need if that Sixth Sense jerk keeps making movies. And if these days they are less apt to pick up Of Mice and Men or some quality literature, then it's great that they get the experience through comic books.
But then I also think, maybe because of the format of this story -- the jumping back and forth in time thing -- is less about pleasing an audience and more about pleasing the artists. It may be designed this way because they use a team of artists for this comic. And so that all involved get to work on it since they're contracted. But they're like, "Okay Mr. Heath, you're good at the West Texas stuff and we like the way you draw Kwai Jun-Fan. So, you get that story line. And um, Mr. Foreman, you get all the modern-day stuff…that's your "thang" afterall. And Mr. Milla, why don't you color it all up for us, huh?" It's cool, you can use a computer.
I was talking to a colleague about the last issue of Powers that I reviewed. And I said, "It was just so meaty! There's so much in it. The current story line, everything I need to know about the past, and a lot of forward motion of the story to a suspenseful conclusion. Whereas so many other comic books I've read seem to take a whole issue to cover all of five seconds in time."
And that's a little how this one felt. I mean, each flash to the past or the present only captured about three minutes of that Iron Fist time period. And although I grasp why they included the whole West Texas scene – did it need to be in this issue? Do they need to jump back and forth so much within one issue? Other comics, like that issue of B.P.R.D. that I read for instance jumped around, but they took a whole issue to illustrate past events and allude to future times. So, I can't help but draw the conclusion that the only need for doing this so much within the issue is to satisfy the contracts and pay checks of the artists. It would seem to serve them more than it does the story.
Nothing wrong with that. I mean, I like contracts and paychecks. I like knowing what I'll be working on and what I'm getting paid for almost as much as I like to know when. But this is a review of the comic itself – and the issue doesn't really need the whole West Texas part in this issue. Save it for the next one. It's a great looking section. I do love the way its drawn.
Meanwhile, I don't really know enough about this story to be like, totally shocked and appalled by the appearance of this character, the Servant of The Ch'I-Lin. But it all seems pretty cool. My money, though, is on the 9-year-old of the future being the Servant's son -- not Rand's as they seem to want us to believe; and that Rand kicks his Dragon-y ass. And that maybe, maybe the boy IS Misty's…meaning the Servant, well, you know. !!
So, you know, this time it is much more memorable than, apparently, last time. Even enjoyable, in a "for kids" kind of way. So...la-di-dah.
-Nina Stone, 2008
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