Immortal Iron Fist Vol 2 TP Seven Capital Cities of Heaven 1st print Brubaker Fraction

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Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 2: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven Paperback
by Ed Brubaker (Author), Matt Fraction (Author), David Aja (Illustrator), Howard Chaykin (Illustrator), Dan Brereton (Illustrator), Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic (Illustrator)

Once a generation, the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven align on a plane far beyond the ken of mortal men. It is here that these cities send their Immortal Warriors to compete against one another in a combat tournament to end all tournaments, and it is here that Daniel Rand was spirited to in his darkest hour. Generations of mystical war traditions await their chance to prove they have the greatest kung-fu – to the Immortal Iron Fist! Plus: The Book of Iron Fist, written on parchment made from the dragon scales of Shou-Lao the Undying, tells the life stories and kung-fu secrets of every man and woman ever to hold the mantle of the Immortal Iron Fist – except two. One, Danny Rand, the current Iron Fist and the possessor of this most remarkable book. The other was Orson Randall, the Golden Age Iron Fist, and he died as he lived: trying to outrun the Iron Fist legacy. And if Danny hopes to escape a similar fate, he’ll have to track down Orson’s long-lost story and learn the mysteries within before it’s too late.

Melding the fast-paced action of his CAPTAIN AMERICA with an easy grasp of martial-arts fiction, writer Ed Brubaker has teamed with up-and-coming writer Matt Fraction and artist David Aja to tell a brand-new kind of Iron Fist story – one steeped in legends and fables, magic and adventure, and a historical sweep that stretches back through the centuries.

Collects Immortal Iron Fist #8-14 and Annual #1.

“Simply put, Dave Aja draws the # outta this book.” – Ain’t It Cool News

Paperback: 216 pages
Publisher: Marvel

Back in the 1970s it was all about grindhouses and blaxploitation and kung fu films, and even Marvel couldn’t resist playing this pop culture game. That’s how Luke Cage came around, and also his eventual partner and best bud Iron Fist, not to mention the likes of Shang-Chi and the Daughters of the Dragon. Daniel Rand, Iron Fist’s civilian identity, has always been my dude. But, even though he made a few half-hearted runs at a series, no one actually thought he’d be anything more than a lower tiered superhero. Was like that for years. Marvel even killed him off, but then brought him back. Then came Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction and David Aja, with some ideas for a new series. And, since then, they’ve made THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST monthly series unto a thing of beauty.

Here’s the thing, here’s what they did. These guys managed to revamp Iron Fist without really doing much to change the character of Daniel Rand. Danny’s still pretty much the same cat, an unassuming Western kung-fu fighting billionaire.What co-writers Brubaker and Fraction did instead is inject a pulp-era feel to the framework, without taking away the gritty, street-level elements and the mystical Eastern stuff. They also added to the legacy of Iron Fist, now making Danny only the latest of a long line of Iron Fists. Which then paved the way for the introduction of Iron Fists in the past, including Orson Randall, Danny’s Iron Fist predecessor and a hell of a cool guy for a fallen hero. It’s also stated that K’un-Lun is merely one of the seven mystical Capital Cities of Heaven. All this stuff, you can read about in the first trade (Immortal Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Last Iron Fist Story (New Avengers)).

Which brings us to THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST, Vol. 2 – THE SEVEN CAPITAL CITIES OF HEAVEN, which collects issues #8-14 and Annual #1. It’s a convoluted story arc, and takes place mostly in fabled, other-dimensional K’un-Lun, which only appears on Earth once every ten years. Ah, but once every eighty-eight years, a celestial convergence aligns the seven enchanted cities. A tournament is held in holy celebration and to determine the pecking order in the seven cities’ Earthly manifestations. Daniel Rand, in his mastery of the Iron Fist, holds one of the seven Immortal weapons and is K’un-Lun’s champion. As such, he must go against the doughty wielders of the six other Immortal weapons, each a champion of one of the six other cities.

But there’s other stuff going on, which takes away Danny’s focus on the tournament. He hungers for more knowledge about Orson Randall and the Iron Fist legacy. Jeryn Hogarth, the man who runs the Rand Corporation for Danny, has been kidnapped by the terrorist organization Hydra and, in the Himalayan mountains, is forced to construct an experimental magnetic-levitation train, part of a sick plan by Hydra to breach the mystic barrier and destroy K’un-Lun. In their search for Hogarth, Danny’s Heroes for Hire buddies show up in Tibet, with Luke Cage incessantly harping about the cold weather. Meanwhile, in the fastness of tradition-minded K’un-Lun, the embers of revolution are quietly stoked. Seems the ruler of K’un-Lun is weak, corrupt, and hedonistic. A change is called for.

In the first six issues, Fraction and Brubaker had established a noirish, pulp-adventure feel to THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST. Most of this flavor is retained only in the annual, reprinted here, which narrates several high points in Orson Randall’s life as Iron Fist. The ongoing flashback stories in the regular issues – chronicling the time Danny’s father, Wendell Rand, had spent in K’un-Lun and his quest for the Iron Fist – are more classic martial arts than pulp in feel. But I loved all the mystical weirdness, court intrigue and mythos building which the writers infuse into the story arc. I dug the new characters, the other martial arts champions. And the exotic and colorful names! Dog Brother #1, Bride of Nine Spiders, Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter, the mysterious Prince of Orphans… The gregarious Fat Cobra threatens to become the new breakout character of this series. By the way, this isn’t meant to put down the old, still very cool names, like Lei-Kung the Thunderer and the August Personage in Jade.

Collects Immortal Iron Fist #8-14 and Annual #1. Near mint, 1st print.