The Undead Iron Fist #4 // Review
Mainstream superhero comics always make it look so easy to come back from the dead. The only thing that really kills-off a character is lack of reader interest. Sometimes it’s considerably more complicated, though. It certainly is that for Danny Rand, who has had one hell of a journey to the land of the living. Now he’s made his way to Rand Tower. His final showdown with the Quan Yaozu awaits, but before he can face him, Rand must stare-down an enemy of a completely different kind in The Undead Iron Fist #4. Writer Jason Loo and artist Fran Galán conclude their adventure tale with colorist Jim Campbell.
It’s Luke Cage. (Only it’s NOT Luke Cage.) The being that has taken over the body of his old friend tells Danny that Luke’s buried very deep in the basement of his own mind. Danny’s being held-back by a few possessed cops while he’s telling him this. The prospect of trying to defeat the beings in question feels a bit like trying to smash the yokeof an egg while keeping the shell completely intact. Even if Danny CAN manage to somehow defeat Luke Cage, how can he hope to do so without seriously injuring his old friend?
Loo has a lot of ground to cover in the final issue of the series. Some of it DOES feel a bit rushed around the edges of the action but it’s all quite clearly present. The action feels well-rendered throughout the issue, but the drama and backstory feels like it could have been allowed to breathe a little bit more in order to anchor-in the tensions that run through the issue. It’s all almost where it needs to be with respect to the pacing, but hte action feels powerful enough to keep it all moving through the final panel.
The action gets where it’s going under the power of some remarkably sharp art courtesy of Fran Galán. THe stuggle between Rand and the forces of darkness feels just exaggerated enough to belong in the. darker ned of the Marvel Universe while possessing the gritty, earthbound aggression that firmly plants it in he very r eal world of South Harlem. Tensions of aggression occasionally give way to more peaceful moments that provide a welcome visual contrast to all the violence that’s pummeling its way through page and panel. Campbell’s colors lend a beautiful radiance to action and drama alike.
Loo and company have delivered a respectable fantasy action story to the page. The challenge in the future is going to lie in developing a new Iron Fist for the page. Some of the work of that has been managed in the course of this series. Deadly Hands of K’un-Lun arrives in February with a new take on the Iron Fist character and his end of the Marvel Universe, which should be an interesting exploration into new territory. Iron Fist’s potential is one more step closer to becoming actualized in 2026.
