Advance Review: Iron Fist - Heart of the Dragon #6 (of 6)

The final issue of this mini series, sees Danny, Okoye and the gang with their backs against the wall as the Ghost Dragon is about to attack and the big bad mustering his forces of deadly undead ninjas. But a greater sacrifice may well be needed to save the day!

This is the battle royale issue. The big bad stands almost victorious; will the chi power of Okoye and the Iron fist be enough. Good thing that they have a gang of friend to help out. I say help out as, in this issue at least, they don’t do much. The Hearts of the dead Dragons hold the inherent power to either save or destroy the day.

There is probably no better creator for a relatively old school character like Iron Fist than an old school creator like Larry Hama. I am all for synergy between character and creator; Hama’s writing is severely old school. Where the majority of Marvel’s book aims for the funny, here Hama returns to the tried and tested expositional manner of explaining what is going on in the art. Everything is moving at break neck speed, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for a lot of anything else. Still, Hama manages to squeeze in one emotional twist that is kind of devastating and hopeful in its conclusion.

Dave Wachter supplies the art with style that whilst has modern stylings, cannot hide its old school influences; I am reminded of Tom Tenney from Force Works. There are other influences for sure. Wachter works well with the chaos factor that comes with this type of issue. Given that the action is quite intense, there are still a couple of spots that catch my eye; Bride of Nine Spiders’ thigh highs being one and at the other end of the scale, the facial elements including Pei’s which helps sell the middle and third act. Colors are supplied by Neeraj Menon is on point with the current blurry style of any number of Marvel’s output. VC’s Travis Lanham provides the letters, which seem a larger font than usual, but still works.

I am one of the view people in the world that actually enjoyed the Iron Fist TV series and with Marvel’s propensity to manage to eke out every ounce of interest from its different media, I was a little surprised that this comes out now rather than then. Of course Okoye is also a major player currently, so mixing and matching sounds like a plan. The end is a kind of fraught and fighting book that can pack a punch, whether with a fist of iron or a spear of chi!

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 3.5 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Larry Hama
Art by; Dave Wachter
Colors by; Neeraj Menon
Letters by; VC’s Travis Lanham
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network