The Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 3: The Book of the Iron Fist

The Immortal Iron Fist (Collected Editions)

by Matt Fraction (Writer), Ed Brubaker, Roy Thomas

There have been sixty-six men and women to carry the mantle of The Immortal Iron Fist throughout the ages - men and women of great courage, valor, skill, and sacrifice. Sixty-six men and women have stood between man and the unstoppable forces of evil, willing to give all they have to hold back the hordes. This is the story of four of them - Wu Ao-Shi, the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay; Bei Bang-Wen, power-mad Iron Fist of the year 1860; Orson Randall, the Golden Age Iron Fist; and Danny Rand, the Iron Fist of today - as told in "The Book of the Iron Fist"!

Collecting: Immortal Iron Fist 7, 15-16; Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death; & The Origin of Danny Rand

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 22, 2008

About the author

"How he got started in comics: In 1983, when Fraction was 7 years old and growing up in Kansas City, Mo., he became fascinated by the U.S. invasion of Grenada and created his own newspaper to explain the event. "I've always been story-driven, telling stories with pictures and words," he said.

Education and first job: Fraction never graduated from college. He stopped half a semester short of an art degree at Kansas City Art Institute in Missouri in 1998 to take a job as a Web designer and managing editor of a magazine about Internet culture.

"My mother was not happy about that," he said.

But that gig led Fraction and his co-workers to split off and launch MK12, a boutique graphic design and production firm in Kansas City that created the opening credits for the James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."

Big break: While writing and directing live-action shoots at MK12, Fraction spent his spare time writing comics and pitching his books each year to publishers at Comic-Con. Two books sold: "The Last of the Independents," published in 2003 by AiT/Planet Lar, and "Casanova," published in 2006 by Image Comics.

Fraction traveled extensively on commercial shoots. Then his wife got pregnant. So Fraction did what any rational man in his position would do -- he quit his job at MK12 to pursue his dream of becoming a full-time comic book writer.

Say what? "It was terrifying," said Fraction, who now lives in Portland, Ore. "I was married. We had a house. We had a baby coming. And I just quit my job."

Marvel hired Fraction in June 2006, thanks largely to the success of his other two comics. "I got very lucky," he half-joked. "If it hadn't worked out, I would have had to move back in with my parents.

- 2009. Alex Pham. Los Angeles Times.

Reviews

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This tells the origin of some Iron fists and like shows how the Pirate Queen of Pinghai bay was horn and that story was cute and then another story with Bei Bang-wen which was not that interesting but sets up the legacy of Iron fist and finally whatever Danny is doing in present day.

How he has become philanthropic and is using his money for helping others and finally another story with Orson as he is evading the hunt from Prince of Orphans and relationship there and that was an emotional story, flashing out stories from the past volumes and connecting with them.

It's a good decent volume and expands on the different Iron fists and their roles in history and sets the stage for the big story with the eighth city which is exciting. I like the simple story structure and the way it expands and hints on great things coming down the line.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a split mind on this volume. The stories in it are pretty good, standalone, rather one-shot pieces of past Iron Fists. Good, but only tangentially have anything to do with Danny's main story. Good for backstory and the whole legend, but not great for keeping the pacing up.

Fortunately, the art and their tales ARE good.

Win some, lose some. I still love it all, however. :)

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

After 2 good volumes I'm not too thrilled by this one.

Issues 1 & 2 are stories of Iron Fists of old. Not badly written but very anecdotal.
Third is much better. Danny dismantles Rand Corp. to give to charity aid and discovers a terrible thing about the Iron Fists. The last page is very well done.

Then it's a special about Orson and John Aman. Four parts, four very unequal pencilers-the best by far being Stefano Gaudiano-supposed to explain why Aman took sides with Danny in vol.2. Again, very anecdotal.

The book closes with 2 fillers from way back when, the origins of Iron Fist by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. Excluding the fact that I don't dig much these oldies included for no other reason than filling up the trade, the time machine used to bring them out don't bring tears of sweet memories to my eyes. Thomas' overwordy plot is very, very dated when Kane is not at his best on these 2.

All in all a very dispensable volume.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of independent stories featuring different people who have held the mantle of Iron Fist over the years, including Wu Ao-Shi (1545), Bei Bang-Wen (1860), Orson Randall (early 20th century), and the origin issues of Danny Rand from the '70's.

The more I read about Iron Fist and the mythology that's been woven around the character, the more excited I get about the upcoming Netflix series. The glimpse into the past tales of former Iron Fists really gives the present day hero and the whole concept some interesting mythical depth. The highlight here was the story of Wu Ao-Shi, the last female Iron Fist, and how she met and lost her kind fisherman husband.

[Paz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gonna review this better tomorrow but this 160 page collection has only one issue, one, that continues Danny's story.
The other two issues, #8 and #15, are two one-shots of the lives of two former Iron Fists. Also collected here, an Orson Randall adventure and Danny's origin story and the first time he comes back to New York after abandoning K'un-Lun.
Anyway, back to that special issue which is in my opinion the best so far and coincidently it is also the last thing Fraction and team wrote for this run. I knew the ending was coming but I did not expect that they would stop when the book was finally shifting its focus to Daniel and the personal struggles he's dealing with after finding out where his family fortune comes from and finding his place now that the tournament is over.
Ugh, it was so promising. This sucks.

Also, this volume is getting three stars because that little glimpse of Daniel's personal struggles was that good. Cause I really ended up disliking the tales of the other Immortal Weapons. And I truly hated reading the special issue of Danny's origin story. Fraction was not the writer in either of the two parts and it was so long and repetitive and just dull all around. I won't even talk about the uneven artwork and how disappointing it was that Aja's art ended up lost in between so many other other styles. So, like I said, the last issue of this run was that good and save this entire volume.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection has a much different feel from the previous two. There are four origin/back stories about different Immortal Iron fists with all of them having roots in the preceding volumes.

The first starts out great but gets wrapped up all too quickly even indicating what is presented is merely a drop in the bucket of the overall tale.

The next two are ok with the third being about recently introduced Orson Randall whom I find rather uncompelling.

It concludes with current Iron Fist, Danny, and how he gained the Iron Fist mantle.

The biggest difference here is the lack of flow which had been a strength of the storytelling coming in. The shifting timelines and character focus was handled seamlessly before. Here, not so much. Another contributing factor is the over-abundance of artists. Not something I'm a fan of in general and in this book it is excessive.

Overall this is decent but also a disappointing way to end the run of such a strong creative team.

[Clarissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been a solid series so far. Although, this does feel like a bit of a filler so go away from the main story line revolving around Danny, but I still find the history of the Iron Fist compelling so I like learning about other people who once held the mantle.

You don't get a ton of character here but you can still see the depth of the relationships between Danny and Misty and Danny and Luke. *sings* "It's guy love...." (okay, I won't, but y'all know it's beautiful. This makes me excited for the upcoming Netflix series but I still don't know how a feel about the guy from Game of Thrones as Danny. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Sadly, my reading for this series will have to stop here for now. I was enjoying a month of Marvel Unlimited but that subscription will end soon so no point in starting the next issue when I might not finish it. I will be coming back to it !

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

End of the Brubaker/Fraction era.

Pretty fun series and I do like Danny trying to better himself. His fight was pretty epic, and his end of giving away his money to help many others is very nice. I just didn't care much about the immortal weapons if I'm being honest and their whole story. Also the background stories really didn't work for me this time like they did in the last volume.

A 3 out of 5.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a collection of one shots focuses on different Iron Fists, including the origin of Danny Rand from the 1970s. I like the one shots, it adds a new dimension to the Iron Fist series and the shorter stories are good on their own as well.

[Shane Stanis · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of interesting one shot entries - the first, #7 is by far my favorite, but the histories of Orson and Danny are great for rounding out your iron fist lore.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome comic. The tales of previous Iron Fist were great. The one thing I wasn't so into was the reprints of the first two Iron Fist comics from the 70's. I wasn't sure if they were reprints at first. They have been recolored which makes them look amazing. I just don't like how they have to explain everything that is going on. I feel comic are more of a visual medium and the art can tell the story. I don't need a narrator telling me Iron Fist is punching a guy when I can see it. That was the only problem I had with the comic.

[Yoshiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

POPKULTUROWY KOCIOŁEK: Zawartość albumu może być pewnym rozczarowaniem dla tych czytelników, którzy liczą na dalsze rozwinięcie głównych wątków. Turniej (rodem z Mortal Kombat), w którym brał udział Danny Rand, jest tutaj bowiem jedynie drobną i mało znaczącą wzmianką. Twórcy całą swoją uwagę i wysiłek skupili tym razem na przedstawieniu czytelnikom przeszłości „Żelaznej Pięści”. Autorzy odchodzą więc od współczesnych problemów Danny’ego, zabierając nas w podróż przez wieki, prezentując sylwetki różnych Iron Fistów, którzy dzierżyli tę mityczną moc.


Sam pomysł na fabułę nie jest tutaj zły, ale chęci twórców i dobre wykonanie to tutaj dwie różne kwestie. Autorzy chcieli, aby czytelnik lepiej poznał bogatą historię tej postaci, jego znaczenie dla K’un Lunu, jego wpływ na otaczający świat, a także lepiej zrozumiał tego bohatera i jego miejsce w uniwersum Marvela. Niestety kolejne zaprezentowane tu historie są bardzo nierówne. Niektóre opowieści co prawda wyróżniają się swoim klimatem i wartką treścią, ale większość z nich jest płytka i przeciętna. Objętość poszczególnych rozdziałów jest dodatkowo na tyle mała, że nie ma tu możliwości należytego rozwinięcia pomysłów twórców. Prowadzi to niestety do tego, że poszczególne scenariusze niespecjalnie wiele wnoszą do historii „Żelaznej Pięści” i raczej stanowią one rodzaj niepotrzebnego wypełniacza.

Pewne zastrzeżenia można mieć tutaj także do oprawy graficznej. Za każdą z historii odpowiedzialny jest tutaj inny zespół kreatywny. Tam, gdzie wielu artystów tam też wiele różnorakich wizji twórczych. Niektóre z nich prezentują się całkiem dobrze (zwłaszcza prace Davida Aja), inne zaś niespecjalnie pasują do klimatu dzieła (jest to jednak ocena mocno subiektywna)...

https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/odwie...

[Kris Shaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Fraction keeps it moving, while the artwork varies from passable to unappealing. The storytelling and pacing of it is fine, but I am not a fan of scratchy artwork. The lettering by David Lanphear is probably the aesthetic highlight of this title. *S-P-O-I-L-E-R-S* This whole thing has been building for a while, and if this is indeed the climax, then it is a letdown. All signs point to it not being the end of the Seven (or is it now Eight?) capital cities of Heaven, so we'll have to wait and see.

Immortal Iron Fist: The Origin of Danny Rand is a slightly tweaked and re-packaged version of Marvel Premiere #15 and 16, rendered with modern coloring. Old school artwork does not work well with all of the gimmicky bells and whistles. There is a major continuity snafu in these arcs. In Iron Fist's origin, he was 9 years old when he entered the mystical city of K'un L'un. Fine. The city's entrance/exit appears every ten years on Earth. Check. That makes him 19 in 1975, which in Marvel time isn't very long. It is estimated that since Fantastic Four #1 in 1961, approximately 12 years have passed. Some disagree, saying that it is less. So, if Peter Parker was still a college student in Marvel Comics circa 1975, it would put him in his early 20s. It is estimated that his age is 25-27. So, since 1975 we have had maybe 6 or 7 years of continuity unfold. Are you with me? Why is it that this huge sticking point in this arc is Danny Rand's 33rd birthday? It is not possible! If here were 19 in 1975's comics, then he couldn't possibly be older than 25 or 26. It's called continuity, Marvel! And no, I don't live in my Mom's basement, and I have kissed many girls, so don't even try that argument! Continuity is very important in a serialized format like comic books.

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

Issue 16 is included here (drawn by Aja and written by Fraction) which is great but the rest is pretty forgettable. We start with two stories from the past of Iron Fist - two of the old Iron Fists which weren't that engaging. A female Iron fist and her search for her lover the Fisherman...which depends on the the male rescuing the female Iron Fist (geesh). And a Chinese Iron Fist going on a long windy quest for something. And finally Orsen Randell - who I like as a character - has a confusing adventure which was hard to follow. Something about coins being stolen and him fighting for his life against the Orphan.

Then we have the one gem in the volume - the story by Fraction and Aja. I love Aja's art and wish I could see it more - but all I have are Hawkeye and Iron Fist. I get the feeling he takes too long to be put on a regular title but I wish for a 6 issue limited series with him. The story is solid and picks up after volume 2 but unfortunately it is the end of Fraction's run so it kind of hints at a new adventure but mostly it is a quiet look at Danny's (Iron Fist) life in a quiet moment.

Then the last 50 pages are a recolouring of the first two appearances of Iron Fist form the 70's which I already have read in my Epic collection. Gil Kane's art has never looked better BUT it was just padding out this volume and I a, disappointed it was included. A third of the book is a reprint of old material? Not cool.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Vol. 3 after Vol. 4 because they were mis-labeled on Overdrive / Libby from the library. I really liked Vols. 1 & 2 of this series, and Vol. 3 has very little of Danny Rand, the current Immortal Iron Fist in it. Instead, this Volume explores the lives of some of the previous sixty-six men and women who have held the mantle of Iron Fist. While I understand the need to explain the history of the others who have been Iron Fist, I think that interspersing these stories among the earlier issues / volumes would have been a better approach.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of random Iron Fist related stories just doesn't have enough meat to matter. Faction and Brubaker, both great writers, deliver some back story on multiple characters that might not actually matter in the grand scheme of things. Danny Rand's presence was limited here and its a shame. The idea of scattering an Iron Fist from the past every once and awhile is fine but collecting so many here was a misstep. The art here was all over the place. Overall, this book doesn't need to be read and can easily be skipped and that's enough on its own.

[David Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two volumes were great, whereas this one has pacing that is off and becomes a bit boring. There is some background into previous Iron Fists, which is a bit of a distraction, before it picks up the story very slightly and give some background into Danny. This volume doesn't progress the previous story, but rather seeks to reinforce all the filler information over the first two volumes. It's OK, but a bit pointless overall.

[Caleb Abel · Rating 3 out of 5]

After three volumes of some of the most praised Iron Fist in the modern era of comics, I feel pretty confident to say I just don't care for Iron Fist.

I love martial arts movies, but that interest doesn't seem to stretch into comics with the same tones. It seems I need my superhero violence to be set against either mysteries or at least a more relatable day to day life for the hero and a billionaire on a spiritual quest isn't my thing.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

From meh to good with some bright spots

This collection left me wanting the next volume but not because of consistent quality. 3.5/5 stars

Honestly there were a few frames and dialog that made me cringe. I could see arguing for a 3/5 stars especially relative to the first two volumes. I may come back and revise the review after the next volume.

[Christopher Mclean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, anthology style book, showing off a few different Iron Fists throughut the ages. Most of the stories are very interesting, and I really enjoyed the distinctive art styles and tones used for the different eras and places explored.

Doesn't link into the main Immortal Iron Fist story very heavily but it a great read all the same.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

With Brubaker departing and not enough space to really take Danny Rand on new adventures following the climax of book two, The Book of the Iron Fist is partially a short story collection depicting the previous Iron Fists. Here the book shines. However, once the book begins to shift away towards Danny's timeframe. not enough space remains present here for anything too meaningful to occur.

[Vahid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a few creative stories on previous warriors who had held the title of the Immortal Iron Fist. And, reprints of some of the early stories, which just makes the TV show all the lamer by comparison.

This wraps up the Fraction/Aja run...I think I'll track down their Hawkeye run as well...

[Annemarie Kuhnau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me along time to finish...I like that I learned more about the previous Iron Fist but really felt like a filler and a bit of a waste of time in reading....Looking forward to getting back to the story line.

[Derek Neveu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disjointed but interesting. I find it odd that Faction tapped out leaving the storyline where he did, but he did, and now I have to give Swierczynski a fair chance. Time will tell!

[tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Worst volume in the series so far

[JetsFan AWL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thise comic is so incredible!.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This doesn't work as a part of the continuing story but it has some interesting stand alone stories as well as Danny's origin story from the 1970s.

[Manuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5?

[Torono · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad