Kaare Andrews brings the true spirit of kung fu back with “Iron Fist – The Living Weapon.” Read our spoiler-free review to find out if it’s still going strong.
Written and Illustrated by Kaare Kyle Andrews
Lettered by Joe CaramagnaK’UN LUN IN RUINS!
• Ninja nurses versus killers in suits!
• Our villain’s face revealed, and it’s one terribly close to Danny Rand’s heart!
A few weeks ago, Marvel released a “Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu” relaunch starring Shang-Chi. But even with a classic character at its center and a banner that was known for honoring the genre made so popular in America in the 1970’s, “Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu” #1 was more of a straightforward espionage book and had little in it that really embodied the spirit of martial arts itself. In other words, it lacked something that set it apart.
Enter Kaare Andrews’ “Iron Fist – The Living Weapon.” Even with its faults, it sets itself apart by feeling like the spirit of kung-fu courses through every vein of the story. In issue #3, we spend a considerable amount of time with Danny Rand’s early training at K’un Lun, and the imagery is as classic and raw as you’d hope for – right down to the stylistic choice to make the flashback pages look weathered and beaten up. These flashbacks are woven into a story told in the modern Marvel universe, where Andrews is taking apart Danny Rand’s life piece-by-piece. They act as a reflection of a life that is being systematically messed with by forces acting against him. The best solo stories seem to take apart their central character and put them back together over the course of a run, and Andrews is taking that idea and turning it up to 11. The deconstruction is no doubt brutal – Andrews is clearly not pulling any punches. And it’s only going to get worse, if the future solicitations and cover images are any indication. On the other hand, the deconstruction relies on tragic events that are all too common in revenge stories of these types, and wholly unsurprising. You’ll see the elements of the breakdown of Rand’s life coming long before they happen and there isn’t much subtext to them, but even without the element of surprise they still somehow manage to draw an emotional response.
“Iron Fist” exceeds in doing this because Kaare Andrews never slows the book down for a moment, even when the emotional beats are hitting. This series is the definition of a roller coaster. Whether it’s the flashback to Rand’s boyhood training at K’un Lun or his current precipitous circumstances – it seems like the stakes are constantly being raised for him, which is one of the biggest keys to strong storytelling.
By this third issue, Andrews has settled into a style that he seems comfortable with riding on for the title. We noted that there was a range in quality over the course of the first issue, but issue #3 is consistent throughout. It’s a markedly different style than that of the interior art on past works like “Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis”, where his art had both a distinct air of realism to it, yet somehow maintained his just-this-side-of-exaggerated character work. “Iron Fist” is a little different. The characters can still be exaggerated at times (see the hulking bodies of some of Rand’s contemporaries), but the coloring and the cartooning lean further away from realism intentionally.
Andrews uses a rougher line to create his images, so when Danny Rand is filled with rage – or alternately, sadness – his body language and facial expression contorts to depict the most primal version of these emotions. Andrews’ “Iron Fist” takes everything to a boiling extreme, and this is mostly accomplished through emotive visuals. Actually, Andrews’ art might be the thing that embodies the spirit of martial arts media the most. As great as these films were, they were filled with exaggerated elements, stunts, and over-the-top emotional beats. The acting itself was almost never a highlight – it wasn’t supposed to be. And while the visual “acting” in “Iron Fist” is a highlight, it’s because it embraces the over-the-top emotion and the burning sense of honor and vengeance.
“Iron Fist – The Living Weapon” is a comic driven by these emotions over everything else. Kaare Andrews clearly “gets” what made kung fu such a sensation back in the ’70s, and why it endures today in the raw, over-the-top revival films that have sprinkled out every few years. “Iron Fist” can be both a big, fiery book and a brutally emotional book, even as it moves through story elements that seem redone and warmed over at times. None of that prevents it from being the emotional gut punch that a good character deconstruction should be.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
