Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist, Vol. 2

Marvel Masterworks: Iron Fist

by Chris Claremont (Writer), John Byrne (Illustrator)

Before they made X-Men the No. 1 hit of its time, Chris Claremont and John Byrne brought their storytelling magic to the adventures of Iron Fist. It's kung fu action in the Mighty Marvel Manner - and here, in the pages of the Masterworks, you'll enjoy their classic run collected and fully restored for the first time. Joined by ladies of action Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, Iron Fist has his skill in both mind and body tested by radioactive horrors, martial arts masters, New York's kung fu kingpin and even his closest confidantes. Plus: an assault on Avengers Mansion, the first appearance of Sabretooth, an early guest appearance by the All-New, All-Different X-Men, and the final showdown with the Steel Serpent! It's '70s Marvel at its most exciting! COLLECTING: IRON FIST 3-15, MARVEL TEAM-UP 63-64

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Superheroes

271 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Chris Claremont is a writer of American comic books, best known for his 16-year (1975-1991) stint on Uncanny X-Men, during which the series became one of the comic book industry's most successful properties.

Claremont has written many stories for other publishers including the Star Trek Debt of Honor graphic novel, his creator-owned Sovereign Seven for DC Comics and Aliens vs Predator for Dark Horse Comics. He also wrote a few issues of the series WildC.A.T.s (volume 1, issues #10-13) at Image Comics, which introduced his creator-owned character, Huntsman.

Outside of comics, Claremont co-wrote the Chronicles of the Shadow War trilogy, Shadow Moon (1995), Shadow Dawn (1996), and Shadow Star (1999), with George Lucas. This trilogy continues the story of Elora Danan from the movie Willow. In the 1980s, he also wrote a science fiction trilogy about female starship pilot Nicole Shea, consisting of First Flight (1987), Grounded! (1991), and Sundowner (1994). Claremont was also a contributor to the Wild Cards anthology series.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claremont and Byrne’s run on Iron Fist is great stuff. If you love their (far more famous) run on the X-Men, you’ll probably enjoy this a great deal too.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the 1970s Marvel brought us probably the 2 greatest martial arts comic characters, Shang-Chi and Iron Fist. Shang-Chi was a more classical martial arts character while in Iron Fist we were give a more superhero oriented martial arts character. Lots of high powered mystical and superhero powers to fight the villains he encounters. Good reads. Recommended

[Nick Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Claremont and Byrne find a nice groove together on this B-level title that essentially prefaces their "hit-the-ground-running" take on UNCANNY XMEN just to prove that they didn't appear in a vacuum. Solid storytelling with Byrne's ever-growing confidence in narrative page design and action sequences. This Masterwork volume smartly includes the Marvel Team-Up issues that conclude a patiently developed storyline while successfully intersecting with Spidey;s universe.

A great example of the elevation of a second-tier book by first-tier talent.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of the two Masterworks volumes, this is probably the weaker -- it seems relatively clear that this is not the right book for Claremont, and that he has a lot of trouble tapping into the aspects of what makes the character interesting. This is supposed to be a flashy kung fu comic, but there are only three issues that run with the idea (in which Iron Fist runs through Chinatown fighting a martial arts drug gang, as he should). The rest of the series mainly just runs him through a gauntlet of meet-ups with other struggling heroes and villains, and doesn't really establish what makes Danny Rand a interesting protagonist. These could easily all be Spider-Man stories, for example, and nothing would change other than the tone of the banter.

Having peeked at a little of Power Man and Iron Fist, Vol. 1, I don't think Claremont is able to come into his own until he's got a lot more characters to play with -- he's not great at solo titles (imagine all the melodramatic monologuing of X-Men, but just spoken by one guy). However, if you add in more heroes and sidekicks, he can find a groove. Even at this stage, IF has an excellent supporting cast in Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, but it's not until they all join Luke Cage in his (similarly flailing) solo series that this corner of the Marvel universe figures out what it's going for.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fist rules

Good color artwork. Plenty of guest appearances like daughters of the dragon and Captain America, Spider-Man, the ex men. Chris Claremont dragged them all in. Does a good job portraying inter racial relationships without being inflammatory.

[John Peel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kung Fu action again, with Chris Claremont and Johnny Byrne teaming up for early work together. Decent stories, lovely artwork, and Spider-Man shows up once or twice. This finishes off all of Iron Fist's solo adventures.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

70's Marvel has been really hit or miss for me. Iron Fist has been one of the hits.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bronze Age is not looked back on fondly by many comic fans when compared to the Silver Age or even the Golden Age. While it is true that there was some subpar material churned out there was also some exceptionally good stuff, such as Iron Fist.

I love how Iron Fist gets his ass handed to him by the Wrecking Crew in #11. Sabretooth is introduced in #14, and I much prefer the earlier version of the character to the omnipotent immortal that came to be. Marvel has crapped up so many of their characters over the years, becoming as bad as DC in that regard. Back in the halcyon days that these comics were originally published in their continuity was as tight as a drum.

I also love how Claremont and Byrne introduce diversity to comics without pandering or the ridiculous hype that seems to surround such acts these days. Misty Knight was a strong black female character who was a love interest of Daniel Rand, a.k.a. Iron First. Talk about bold for this era! That is how I like my progress and diversity in comics- done for the sake of the story, not for the sake of a 140 character soundbite. Misty Knight was a good character who happened to be a black female.

This stuff is so good. Chris Claremont and John Byrne are the team supreme. Like Lennon and McCartney or Simon and Garfunkel, everyone wishes that there were more work from them. It's something that I will spend the rest of my days pining away for, since their “reunion” on JLA a decade ago didn't exactly work out. We'll likely never see them collaborate again. Comic books like this makes me realize how much I miss old Marvel. Make mine Marvel THEN!

[Sean Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Featuring the dream team combination of Claremont and Byrne, this is a really good collection, issue 14 features the debut appearance of Sabretooth, so actually you're saving yourself a few hundred dollars in buying this than the actual comic. The series ended with issue 15, but all the plot lines were completed with Marvel Team up 63-64.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I have to admit that it's a great looking book but the material never really clicked with me.