Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: Danny Rand, Ed Brisson, heroes for hire, iron fist, mike perkins, shang chi, the master of kung fu

Iron Fist #6 Review- The Living Weapon And The Master Of Kung Fu

As his plane lands in Vancouver International Airport, Danny is still recovering from his time on Liu-Shi. He spots some suspicious figures on the runway, and they attack the plane, giving it a rough landing. Iron Fist busts out of the hull and begins defending the passengers from the assailants. They tell Danny that they are after him specifically. Thankfully, Iron Fist is soon joined by fellow martial artist Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu. He informs Iron Fist that they are the Sight, brainwashed followers of one known as the Seer, and someone has placed a bounty on the head of Danny Rand. The two join forces in the hopes of freeing the Sight and defeating the Seer himself.

This is another action-packed kung-fu-fighting issue of Ed Brisson and Mike Perkins' Iron Fist. Shang-Chi is a welcome and natural fit to the comic, and it's always great watching him team up with the Iron Fist in fighting an army of baddies.

The plot is straightforward as it has ever been in this comic. Someone wants Danny dead, and they are using the Seer and his Sight to bring him down. This, along with the Liu-Shi plotline, shows that Brisson isn't interested in making an elaborate plot to drive Iron Fist forward, and that is appreciated in this genre, which can sometime have comics drowning in their own convoluted plots.

It's nice seeing Danny actually care about the people who are in the vicinity of his fight. The heroes are supposed to help people, and that does often get lost in the high-concept fights and hero vs. hero conflicts.

Much of the fighting in this comic, and there is a lot, is set in the dark and comprises of Danny and Shang taking on hordes of robed warriors. This, unfortunately, does not play off of Perkins' strengths as an artist. When most of the comic seems to be an excuse to have Perkins depict the Iron Fist having elaborate kung fu battles with rogues, that is a bit of a problem. He showed Danny fighting one or two enemies in great, majestic detail. However, these fights are bit more muddled, and it's harder to see all of the cool martial arts moves the Iron Fist is using on the baddies.

The color art of Andy Troy does help make up for this with dark tones that help build the atmosphere. There is something ominous in the air with this encounter, and it doesn't bode well for the near future of the Iron Fist.

Perkins is still a fantastic artist, able to show a lot of expression and detail on every panel. Much of the fighting still looks cool, even if they aren't as well-shown as the duels on Liu-Shi. The design of the Seer himself is creepy and pretty damn cool. Shang-Chi is shown in his older attire, wearing a yellow bandana and red-and-yellow loose-fitting jumpsuit.

Danny himself is a lot of fun in this issue, rattling off one-liners and having Shang-Chi play the cool and collected fighter. The two are always a good pairing, and it's nice to see them collaborate on this battle.

This is a really fun comic. While this issue falls a little short of the saga on Liu-Shi, it's still a good read, and the addition of Shang-Chi, the Master of Kung Fu, helps make up for what is lost in the less-detailed fight sequences. Iron Fist keeps its strong recommendation with another action-packed and well-paced issue.

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