Iron Fist #11 (1977)
By Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Dan Adkins
Background: Danny has befriended Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, whose roommate is Jean Grey of the X-Men. During one of Danny's fights, Colleen's father has had his mind almost wiped out and is now in hospital. Danny and Colleen's minds have been briefly meld.
So, What Happens? Iron Fist meets up with Misty at the hospital to check on the status of Colleen's father, but the man hasn't had any significant improvement and still doesn't remember who his daughter is. Later, Later Misty and Danny go for a walk and the hero confesses to being less and less sure of what he wants. His musings are interrupted by the Wrecking Crew, who have reunited and want to make a name for themselves by killing Thor. Iron Fist and Misty fight the Wrecking Crew in order to give the police a chance to evacuate the hospital, but the power difference is too great and Danny is in trouble despite all his skills. When he tries to take the Wrecker's bar, the power of Karnilla coursing through it is more than he can handle and he is defeated. The Crew take Misty hostage, so in exchange for her life Danny offers to use his skills to enter Avengers Mansion and deactivate the alarms so that they can ambush Thor. The Wrecker agrees but also asks Iron Fist to kill every Avenger he finds. Hoping to find his old ally Iron Man, Danny runs towards the Mansion.
Notes: A couple of pages of flashbacks recap the recent history of the Wrecking Crew. The issue is full of cameo appearances, including Marvel writer Roger Stern, who mentions then-assistant editor and soon-to-be editor in chief Jim Shooter. Iron Fist had met, fought and eventually befriended Iron Man in Iron Fist #1.
Something Silly This Way Comes: The idea that Danny would meet Misty, who just so happens to be the roommate of Jean Grey seems a little far-fetched.
Review: Nearly three years into Iron Fist's editorial life and after several adventures with hardly any reference to anybody else outside of his cast of characters, this is one of a number of stories that seem aimed at connecting Danny to the larger Marvel Universe. From the little we know, this wasn't only a matter of creative ideas but a necessity too: despite having been promoted from Marvel Premiere to his solo title, and despite having been entrusted to the creative team that was revitalizing Uncanny X-Men, Iron Fist's sales were dropping, so Marvel hoped to lure readers in with cameos and hero vs hero fights. "A Fine Day's Dying!" is essentially a setup for one of said fights, preparing the scene for the battle between Iron Fist and Captain America that we'll see next time. For the record, it won't work and the book will indeed be cancelled within six months, but at least Danny will get another chance and start his long partnership with Luke Cage/Power Man in the pages of the latter's title.
What about this story then? At times, Claremont and Byrne seem to be trying too hard, with most cameos feeling forced and unnecessary, and a very long-winded recap of the Wrecker's recent history that slows the storytelling down. However, once you take that away, the rest is actually a fun, simple tale, one of those you can enjoy at the end of a long day with only half of your brain switched on. A slugfest, not encumbered by deeper motives, longstanding continuity or philosophical discussions, with the villains pursuing a silly plan (why chasing someone as powerful as Thor instead of robbing a bank or something?) and the hero trying to stop them to protect innocent bystanders. Even the action doesn't involve any strategy more complicated than jumping around or charging blindly.
I quite like the fact that Danny proves to be no match for the Crew or Karnilla's power and gets defeated. I generally enjoy stories where weaker heroes fight and triumph over unsurmountable odds, such as the classic Spider-Man vs Firelord fight (I've got to review that someday) but Iron Fist is still a relatively inexperienced hero and defeating four of Thor's stronger foes would have been too far-fetched. Instead, he valiantly holds his own for a while but is clearly outgunned in terms of raw power.
The art by Byrne is superb as usual, detailed and expressive despite being inked by someone else. In fact, it looks like veteran Dan Adkins changed Byrne's pencils as little as possible and it takes a closer look to realize Byrne didn't do the whole thing all by himself. Again, there is nothing terriby inventive or experimental about it, but it looks neat and good.
Final Verdict: Mindless fun in the classic Marvel manner. 4/5
So, What Happens? Iron Fist meets up with Misty at the hospital to check on the status of Colleen's father, but the man hasn't had any significant improvement and still doesn't remember who his daughter is. Later, Later Misty and Danny go for a walk and the hero confesses to being less and less sure of what he wants. His musings are interrupted by the Wrecking Crew, who have reunited and want to make a name for themselves by killing Thor. Iron Fist and Misty fight the Wrecking Crew in order to give the police a chance to evacuate the hospital, but the power difference is too great and Danny is in trouble despite all his skills. When he tries to take the Wrecker's bar, the power of Karnilla coursing through it is more than he can handle and he is defeated. The Crew take Misty hostage, so in exchange for her life Danny offers to use his skills to enter Avengers Mansion and deactivate the alarms so that they can ambush Thor. The Wrecker agrees but also asks Iron Fist to kill every Avenger he finds. Hoping to find his old ally Iron Man, Danny runs towards the Mansion.
Notes: A couple of pages of flashbacks recap the recent history of the Wrecking Crew. The issue is full of cameo appearances, including Marvel writer Roger Stern, who mentions then-assistant editor and soon-to-be editor in chief Jim Shooter. Iron Fist had met, fought and eventually befriended Iron Man in Iron Fist #1.
Something Silly This Way Comes: The idea that Danny would meet Misty, who just so happens to be the roommate of Jean Grey seems a little far-fetched.
I quite like the fact that Danny proves to be no match for the Crew or Karnilla's power and gets defeated. I generally enjoy stories where weaker heroes fight and triumph over unsurmountable odds, such as the classic Spider-Man vs Firelord fight (I've got to review that someday) but Iron Fist is still a relatively inexperienced hero and defeating four of Thor's stronger foes would have been too far-fetched. Instead, he valiantly holds his own for a while but is clearly outgunned in terms of raw power.
The art by Byrne is superb as usual, detailed and expressive despite being inked by someone else. In fact, it looks like veteran Dan Adkins changed Byrne's pencils as little as possible and it takes a closer look to realize Byrne didn't do the whole thing all by himself. Again, there is nothing terriby inventive or experimental about it, but it looks neat and good.
Final Verdict: Mindless fun in the classic Marvel manner. 4/5
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