Avengers Poster #144 Wolverine Doctor Strange Iron Fist by Stuart Immonen

Description

Iron Fist (Daniel “Danny” Rand-K’ai) is a practitioner of martial arts. Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, he first appeared in Marvel Premiere #15. The character starred in his own solo series in the 1970s, and shared the title Power Man and Iron Fist for several years. Plunging his fists into the molten heart of the dragon Shou-Lao the Undying infused the dragon’s superhuman energy into Rand; this along with training by Lei Kung the Thunderer gave Rand the power of the Iron Fist, allowing him to summon and focus his chi (or natural energy) and enhance his natural abilities to extraordinary levels. His strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes and senses can all be greatly intensified, making his already formidable martial arts skills even more so. The ultimate expression of this focus is the ability to concentrate his body’s natural energies into his hand, manifesting as a supernatural glow around his clenched fist, making his fist “like unto a thing of iron”. So concentrated, this “iron fist” can smash into its target with superhuman hardness and impact, while his hand becomes impervious to pain and injury. However, the feat of summoning the power required leaves Rand physically and mentally drained, unable to repeat the act for a time, as long as even an entire day in certain instances. Such an ability is described as “quasi-mystical”. Other applications of the Iron Fist power include the ability to focus chi energy inward to heal oneself or outward to heal others of injury, as well as the ability to telepathically fuse his consciousness temporarily with another person and meld with that person’s mind. In Maximum Carnage, Rand was able to use the mental application of the Iron Fist to temporarily calm a rioting mob. When asked about this by Spider-Man, Rand replied that all humans are, in essence, one divine being, in a constant craving for that oneness, and once it is offered, it cannot be refused. When asked by Spider-Man how long it would take to learn this “meditative technique”, Rand replied, “Eight or ten years.”

Near mint condition.