Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics | Tagged: iron fist, marvel, sword master

Marvel's New Iron Fist Revealed – And Allocated (Spoilers)

Today's Iron Fist #1 by Alyssa Wong and Michael Yg may be a little harder to find than expected, especially in this country. Diamond UK, the exclusive distributor for Marvel in the UK write to retailers, telling them;

"Due to an issue at the distribution level, Diamond U.K. will be allocated on our order of Marvel Comics' DEC210965 – IRON FIST #1.  As a direct result of this, Diamond U.K. customer orders will be allocated on this title. The lost FOC orders due to this allocation are small, however any post FOC orders have been cancelled on the main cover, and also on the two open to order variants (DEC210966 & DEC210967). After all S&D claims have been made, Diamond UK will look to fulfil any allocated FOC orders on DEC210965 – IRON FIST #1 with remaining copies of the two open to order covers. All three open order codes to Iron Fist #1 are now closed down to additional orders permanently.  Accounts that have been allocated will still receive copies of the ratio variants they originally qualified for prior to allocation."

There may be other allocations in the USA, for stores ordering through Diamond too, with US retailers being told similar, screencapped by a retailer for Bleeding Cool.

Do let us know if the comic gets to you. Because Iron Fist #1 features a new Iron Fist…. and yes, it is basically just who everyone thought it was.

Everyone but Danny Rand, that is.

But he still worked it out eventually.

Looking for shards of a broken sword… maybe Danny Rand read the ad for the Death Of Doctor Strange White Fox one-shot also by Alyssa Wong?

Because yes, it's Lin Lie, the Sword Master, no longer with a sword to master, so instead turning to a little internal chi.

And a little family exposition later, Marvel has a new Iron Fist. 

Which brings to mind some criticism of the original Iron Fist when he was created fifty years ago. Recently with the release of the TV series version of Iron Fist, there had been complaints for casting a white man in the lead, of a show that focuses on East Asian imagery, spirituality and concepts. It has been criticised for cultural appropriation – but that has also been criticised because Danny Rand, Iron Fist, was and always has been portrayed in the comics in exactly this fashion. And that this is a modern complaint that shouldn't apply to adapting such a comic from the seventies. Iron Fist was fine at the time, and should be seen in that context. But the letter column from Marvel Premiere #17, which referred to Marvel Premiere #15, the first appearance of Iron Fist back in 1974, one letter really stands out in this context.

Fifty years ago William F. Wu wrote in saying, "Iron Fist might have been a pioneer, a publishing coup. Instead, it's just another new superhero. Marvel now has two regular comic-book titles featuring martial arts experts [the other being Shang Chi, Master Of Kung Fu]. The total of Asian ancestry is one-eighth and belongs, of course, to the symbol of the "Yellow Peril," Fu Manchu. Marvel continues to turn away from Asian protagonists, even when the heart of the storyline is Asian in basis. Marvel's omission of an apparently human Asian hero is reminiscent of the omission of black characters in the early 'sixties. For many years, racial consciousness has been growing, and with the success of the kung fu films, the problem of identifying with a pen-and-ink Bruce Lee is gone"

The letter gets no reply from the editor, Roy Thomas, who also created the character (basing him on Bill Everett's Amazing Man, also white) but he did run the letter. Fifty years later, Marvel has answered it.

Three years after the letter was published, he is a Chinese-American science fiction author William F Wu had his first story published. He has had thirteen published novels, including two entries in the Isaac Asimov Robot City series and the entire Robots in Time series and a collection of some of his many short stories, being nominated for Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, and being a member of the Wild Cards writing group. He was also the author of the scholarly work, The Yellow Peril, a revised version of his doctoral dissertation in American Culture from the University of Michigan on American fiction's evolving depiction of Chinese and Chinese-Americans. His most acclaimed book, Hong on the Range, was adapted into a comic book trilogy by Fly Paper Press for Image Comics and is in development for film and television entertainment with Matinee Entertainment. I hope someone sends him a copy of the new Iron Fist comic book. If they can get a copy.

IRON FIST #1
MARVEL COMICS
DEC210965
(W) Alyssa Wong (A) Yg, Michael (CA) Jim Cheung
WHO IS THE NEW IRON FIST?! After giving up his power to save the world, DANNY RAND believes he's seen the last of the IRON FIST… But when DEMONS begin to attack cities around the world, a MYSTERIOUS NEWCOMER in a FAMILIAR MASK appears, hands blazing with the CHI OF SHOU-LAO THE UNDYING! Who is this NEW IRON FIST? And does his power really come from the DRAGON OF K'UN-LUN… Or from something far more sinister? Rated T+In Shops: Feb 16, 2022 SRP: $3.99

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