Iron Fist - The Fury Of The Iron Fist!

Marvel dived into the burgeoning Kung Fu craze with the Master of Kung Fu, a series which worked in Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu and existed on the outskirts of the Marvel Universe and other series such as Sons of the Tiger and White Tiger in the pages of the black and white magazine Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, which spoke directly to the fervor that Bruce Lee's films and death had ignited. But the most accessible of the Kung Fu warriors has to have been the four-color Iron Fist, the Living Weapon which debuted in the pages of Marvel Premiere and held court there for many months before being awarded a self-titled series of his own. 

It likely begins in 1933 with a novel by James Hilton's novel Lost Horizon about a lost civilization called Shangri-La in the remote heights of the Himalayas where people can perhaps live forever. This "paradise" is not without its detractors though.  Frank Capra made a movie of the novel in 1937 which was well received by both the public at large and the omnipresent critics. 

So in the earliest days of comics when casting about for a way to explain superhumans (without resorting to the legally treacherous alien planet) Bill Everett created Amazing-Man who came from just such a hidden utopia and was gifted with above average abilities. Amazing-Man was a Centaur publication, one of the earliest publishers of comics. 

The notion was picked up by Pete Morisi under his penname of "PAM" at Charlton when he brought forth Peter Cannon, The Thunderbolt. Once again, we have a hidden paradise which has sent forth a representative who is skilled both mentally and physically beyond normal human standards. Thunderbolt became one of the "Action Heroes" and was for a time seemingly owned by DC until Morisi demonstrated otherwise. 

So, with martial arts all ablaze, it's logical for the creators at Marvel to seek the Himalayan well once again, this time with Daniel Rand-Kai, the Iron Fist. In an origin story by Roy Thomas, Gil Kane and Dick Giordano we learn some of Danny's story, both told in current times as well as copious flashback. He is an orphan raised by the cult which lives and rules the hidden land named K'un-L'un. 

Over the course of the next four issues of the series we slowly learn of Danny Rand's history and see him become the man who in the then current day of 1974 was back in the world fighting the Meachem Corporation headed by the man Iron Fist held responsible for his parents' deaths. Three of the four issues of the series are drawn by the new talent Larry Hama, who brought a sense of legitimacy to the martial artis aspects of the series. Len Wein writes an issue but then Doug Moench came on to write the next three books in the series. By the end Iron Fist has gotten his revenge but its taste is bitter, and the daughter of Meachum now wants her own revenger on Iron Fist. 

Things get incredibly complicated after Iron Fist gets his long-sought revenge when a death cult appears to threaten not only him but his friend Colleen Wing and her father. There is also a mysterious Ninja who has been showing up in the series, and the one who actually killed the murderer of Danny's parents. A trilogy of issues which are written by Tony Isabell and drawn by Arvell Jones. Alas it's a severe drop in quality when Jones takes on the book, though I will confess that I appreciate that he and Isabella hung around for a full story arc. Isabella and Jones are also responsible for introducing Misty Knight, though it will be more than a few issues before we see her again. 

Next it falls to Chris Claremont to take on the writing with Pat Broderick handling the artwork. This team lasts two whole issues, but when the change does come it's a most welcome one. Having solved his own issues Danny Rand as Iron Fist becomes embroiled in the politics of a distant territory called Halwan. Its princess has come under attack by the robotic Monstroid. Iron Fist also battles the murderous Warhawk. 

The twenty-fifth issue of Marvel Premiere is significant for a few reasons. It marks the final issue of Iron Fist's adventures before he gets his own title and more importantly it is the debut at Marvel of one of the most important artists in comics history -- John Byrne. He took on the title when Broderick missed a deadline, and the team of Claremont and Byrne was born. 

The debut of Iron Fist's own title comes in the middle of the storyline, and he is tracking Angar the Screamer when, in classic Marvel tradition, mixes it up with Iron Man. Misty Knight returns in this issue as well, and as rendered by Byrne, she is a knockout owing much to great Pam Grier. 

Master Kahn has kidnapped Colleen Wing as her father suffers in a coma. Iron Fist reflects back on his days in K'un-L'un when he came up against some bizarre plant creatures. The energy on the series is now palpable with Byrne improving with each issue, with first Al McWilliams and then Frank Chiramonte inking his work. 

Claremont takes the action to London where Iron Fist runs afoul of the villain Ravager who turns out to in reality Radion the Atomic Man. There are explosions galore, first a passenger plane and later an iconic tower in the city. Misty Knight's secret is revealed as we learn for the first time she possesses a bionic arm, but sadly it's when she loses it. Claremont likes to set stories in England, where he was born. 

The next three issues of the series follow the quest to rescue Colleen Wing who has been brainwashed and is now poised to attack Iron Fist when he shows up. There are plenty of other baddies such Scimitar and Kumballa Bey for Danny to fight as he tries to save Colleen. Ultimately, he has to use his Iron Fist abilities to bond with her mentally to free her mind and the two then share each other's most delicate secrets. Misty is on the sidelines alas. Khan also shows Danny that K'un-L'un has secrets he didn't know of and that those he trusted all his life might be treacherous. 

It's back to NYC and a trio of tales about a gang called the Golden Tigers led by a chap named Chaka who seek to rule crime in the city. Iron Fist has a really difficult time with this mob even with the help of Misty and Colleen. But ultimately he does indeed win the day. There are also moves afoot on the legal front for Danny to recapture his family's fortune. Byrne in growing by the minute and offers up some truly exciting splash pages showcasing Iron Fist's fighting style. 

Then the Wrecking Crew shows up and they try to force Iron Fist to help them invade the Avengers Mansion with the intention of killing their arch-foe Thor. The God of Thunder never shows up, but Captain America is on hand to assist in bringing these most powerful villains to heel. Of course, before getting down to brass tacks, Cap and Iron Fist mix it up a little bit, following the great Marvel tradition. 

Then it's a one-off as Iron Fist helps a friend he made in England, a former IRA bomber. This move alienates Misty, and she leaves to take on work elsewhere. Iron Fist has his hands full with a returning and souped-up Boomerang. Iron Fist also finds himself being attacked by a mysterious chap who seems to be stealing his chi, or life force. 

Then Claremont and Byrne give us Sabre-Tooth, a ferocious enemy who Iron Fist and Colleen Wing barely defeat in the wilds of Byrne's home country of Canada. 

But the road ends finally with issue fifteen when Iron Fist gets entangled with the then "New X-Men". He takes on Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Wolverine. Of course, it's Logan who started it. I can only assume this was intended as a try-out for Byrne on these characters. For withing a few months Dave Cockrum would step away from the X-Men title and the famous team of Claremont and Byrne would make it one of Marvel's most successful titles ever.

The saga of Iron Fist is wrapped up in the pages of Marvel Team-Up when the Steel Serpent reveals himself and his scheme to rob Iron Fist of his powers. It takes the Daughters of the Dragon (Misty and Colleen) and our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man to take the villain down. 

What will become of Danny Rand? The Iron Fist will have to wait for a few months when he guest-stars in the book Power Man. As we know he and Luke Cage will become one of Marvel's most successful comics of the era, an odd blending of the blaxploitation and kung fu crazes which blazed forth in the 70's. But that's a whole other "Epic". 

Rip Off

The Celestial Madonna - Kang War III

As the Celestial Madonna saga enters its third and final phase in The Avengers #133 by Steve Englehart and company,  Kang the Conqueror seems to have been defeated and the Avengers are then able to pursue mysteries which have bedeviled them for some months -- the conflicted and contentious origin of Mantis and the convoluted and enigmatic origin of the Vision.  To that end Immortus grants to the Avengers the use of devices he dubs "Synchro-Staffs. He gives one to the Vision who pursues his origin story along the timelines alone and the other to the rest of the team who accompany Mantis on her quest. (For the record this time while reading the story I heard the voice of "Siri" for the Synchro-Staffs) Meanwhile the Titanian priestess Moondragon heads to Earth. And the former Avengers-villain Libra meets a strange green creature who resembles the deceased Swordsman.

The Vision sees the earliest days of the Marvel Universe when he witnesses the birth of the android Human Torch who is almost immediately imprisoned by his creator. He escapes to become a hero of the era.  The Avengers see the birth of the Kree race, going back to their prehistoric origins when they shared their planet with the peaceful plant-life Cotati. The Skrulls appear and offer technology to which ever of the two races impresses them the most. To that end they take representatives of each species to remote planets - the Cotati to a distant world and the Kree to the Earth's Moon where they establish the Blue Area. The Skrull are more impressed with the Cotati's peaceful gardens than the Kree's techno-cities and choose them, but the Kree attack and kill everyone and take the Skrull tech.

The origin of Mantis continues in The Avengers #134 when we see the Cotati survivors make alliance with Kree pacifists who smuggle them to various places including the Earth where they become the Priests of Pama who eventually trained both Libra and his daughter Mantis. Later the Star-Stalker appears and menaces the them but they are able to restrain him.  

Meanwhile the Vision follows the Torch's story into the 50's when he is revived by an atomic test and later is rescued (sort of) by the Thinker who seeks to use the original Torch to attack the Fantastic Four but he is unsuccessful and then Ultron appears. Moondragon appears at the Avengers mansion and meets with the Scarlet Witch who has continued her training with Agatha Harkness. The story ends as the Avengers meet Libra and the weird green Swordsman in the grove of the Priests of Pama where they buried the unlucky Avenger.

Up to this point the art on this run had been by the remarkably good team of Sal Buscema and Joe Staton but with The Avengers #135 the always reliable George Tuska takes over with inks by Frank Chiramonte.

We see Ultron appear to steal the body of steal the body of the Torch which he uses to form the basis for the Vision. Moondragon appears in the Priests of Pama grove to confront the Avengers. Ultron gets the hapless Phineas T. Horton to help him revive the Torch and between the two of them they recreate the android into the image of the Vision, who turns against his creator as we already know. Later his mind will be remolded using the patterns of Wonder Man. The Avengers meanwhile confront Immortus who appears bearing a large cask.

In Giant-Size Avengers #4 Englehart continues his story but Don Heck and John Tartaglione step in to finish up on the artwork. The Vision, having learned his origin (he thinks) is stranded in a dark dimension by the Dread Dormammu who has also captured Wanda the Scarlet Witch to somehow use her power to allow him access to Earth. Immortus and the Green Swordsman then continue the origin of Mantis by explaining that she is the perfect  human being, developed over the years to bear the ultimate child -- she is in fact the Celestial Madonna. Also having been prepared over that time on Saturn with an origin remarkably similar is Moondragon who likewise is a candidate. But Mantis wins the day and it is her destiny to mate with the Green Swordsman who is a manifestation of the Cotati. The Avengers are then surprised to find the Titanic Three (Crimson Dynamo, Titanium Man, and Radioactive Man) on the grounds of the garden defeated by some mysterious foe. The Avengers discover that Kang has returned yet again.

The Vision and Wanda continue to battle against Dormammu and his sister Umar in the Dark Dimension. Thor, Iron Man, and Hawkeye look for Kang and find him, not once but three times, and all of them battle simultaneously a version of the Conqueror, each with limited effect. Meanwhile Wanda and the Vision finally find a way to defeat Dormammu and exact a promise from him that they are safe for the time being. Eventually the myriad Kangs are rounded up while both Mantis and the Green Swordsman and Wanda and the Vision prepare to be wed. Then yet another Kang appears and attempts to kidnap Mantis yet again but he is tricked by Immortus who substitutes the Space Phantom for the beautiful Vietnamese vixen. Kang is needless to say, surprised. Then the Vision and Wanda appear in the garden, and Immortus agrees to make it a double wedding and officiates as the two couples are joined. The Avengers, at least for the moment are happy, happy, happy and head home while Mantis and her new and verdant husband head into the depths of space to pursue their destiny.

More Kang is coming of course. He's like that cinematic, metallic time traveler...he'll be back!

Rip Off

Marvel Horror - The Living Mummy!

When the monsters were unleashed at Marvel they lumbered in from everywhere, including the crypts of ancient Egypt. The Mummy was a natural addition to a line-up which already included Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, a Werewolf by Night, and assorted other fiends. This "Living Mummy" woke up and walked out first in the pages of Supernatural Thrillers #5.

Written by Steve Gerber and drawn by the muscular team of Rich Buckler and Frank Chiramonte, the mummy, named N'Kantu, rose up in the middle of the Middle East with its interminable conflicts. Found by Israeli soldiers, N'Kantu is an black African king and giant who was buried alive by the vile priest Nephrus. He seeks revenge on the descendants of Nephrus.

That descendant turns out to be one Dr.Alexi Scarab who along with his colleagues Ron McCallister and Janice Carr are about the opening up old tombs. You get the sense that the story is intended as a one-off as that's what Supernatural Thrillers featured until that point and the next issue of the comic feature a whole other set of characters.

But by the seventh issue it had been decided that the Living Mummy would be a series and to that end Gerber is joined by new regular artist Val Mayerik, his former partner on the Man-Thing. If they thought they could work that same magic here, they were alas sadly mistaken. Tony Isabella became the regular writer with the next issue and an elaborate plotline about other-dimensional super-beings called "Elementals" dominated the series for the balance of its run with the Mummy becoming a sidelight in his own title. John Warner as writer and Tom Sutton as artist stepped in toward the end of the run to try and take it in a new direction but that didn't work either.

They did get some striking covers, one must say. See below.

Rip Off