The last time Iron Fist had his own ongoing, solo series was back in the 1970s, and he had the benefit of the early teaming of Chris Claremont and John Byrne to propel him forward. And even they weren't enough to sustain the character on its own. It's easy to understand why the title is being relaunched today, though; the Iron Fist property has been the subject of a big-screen adaptation for a while now. The question you're asking is, "Is this new comic any good or not, Don?" Honestly, the answer is "I don't know." This debut issue is rather low on plot, and it promises to send the character in a new direction... but without a clear reason why.
Danny Rand, AKA Iron Fist, encounters a familiar scenario. A gang of thugs is causing trouble for people trying to cross their turf, so the world's most skilled martial artist decides to revise the boundaries of what the criminals would call their own. There's just one problem... there are a number of people in the neighborhood watching, offering plenty of opportunity for something to go wrong. Meanwhile, an ancient evil arises anew, and a little girl has horrible dreams about it... and how it will hunt down a certain yellow-masked hero.
Kevin Lau's work is bound to make the manga fans happy. Mind you, I find the exaggerated line work makes for some inconsistent portrayals of several characters, notably the title character. Udon Studio's handiwork shines through clearly in the colors. They bring depth and a crisp, energetic quality to the visuals. Another element that struck me as odd was the main character's penchant for walking around in costume all the time. I don't know if it was an artistic choice or if the script specifically directed Rand wear his super-hero duds even in the most casual, everyday of situations. I do know it was a bad call. It distances the main character even more from the reader.
Perhaps one of the most distracting things about this script is the repetition of the character's backstory. The title credits on page four include a short blurb about Iron Fist's origin. To my surprise, the same blurb is repeated -- almost verbatim -- in the narration on the very next page. To be honest, I attribute it to careless editing rather than bad writing, though.
The plot here is fairly generic. We've seen martial-arts stories about a monster returning to the mortal world, and of a child's prophetic dreams. Still, I have to admit I want to learn more about it. What's puzzling about this story is the main character's unexplained melancholy. There's something about his life that makes him want to completely overhaul it, but I don't see why. We're missing a major piece of the puzzle here, as is the protagonist. It feels as though the writer has skipped a step in the plot.
