Writer: Christopher Priest Artists: Sal Velluto (p), Bob Almond (I)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot: The book opens by looking in on private investigator Colleen Wing who finds herself attacked by the femme fatale Nightshade, who takes Colleen down with a paralyzing agent. Nightshade then makes off with a canister of ashes, that allows her to bring a powerful creature back to life. However, Nightshade's bid to get herself a powerful pawn she can control backfires, as the Black Dragon slips past the fact that he's been poisoned, and the idea that Nightshade is the only one who can cure him, by body swapping with Everett K. Ross, while posing as Mephisto (you get all that). So with Ross trapped in a body of a resurrected dragon that is about to keel over, we see the Black Panther wades in to try & untangle this mess. However, to tip the scale back in his favor, the Black Dragon recruits himself his own ally, as he magically enthralls Iron Fist to do his bidding, and as the issue ends we see the Black Panther finds himself face to face with a possessed Iron Fist. Are you ready to rumble?
Comments: Oh joy! It's Iron Fist. Now I'm sure Danny Rand has his fans, and given his regular visits to the pages of every comic Marvel produces, it does appear that he's a popular guy with the writers of my beloved comics. However, I just can't work up much enthusiasm for this guy. I mean his big power is that if you allow him to concentrate for a fair amount of time, he can deliver one heck of a super-punch. Oh, he's also one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Marvel Universe, but in the end all of his battles have the same finish, as the villain of the comic discovers how hard an iron fist to the gut can be. He's also been a bit of a dud personality-wise, as he's almost always overshadowed by who ever he's teamed up with, with his wise & all knowing demeanor making him into a regular wet blanket. However, Priest has set up an interesting twist on Iron Fist's regular guest-appearance, as he's playing the role of villain this time out, and I must confess I'm curious to see if the shock-absorbing vibranium can absorb an iron fist.
Well, it's a bit confusing at times, and I'm not sure if I'm having as good a time as Priest wants me to have, but I will concede that even though this story doesn't exactly float my boat, at least the effort is there. This book takes great pains to explain who everyone is & what they are doing. It's also fairly clear that Priest is having a grand old time revisiting these characters, and he's managed to fashion a fairly engaging story to bring all his old friends back together. On the other hand, there were times in this issue where the story wandered places that I don't have a great deal of interest in. Sure, I pretty much understand the how & why of this tale, but there's also a very really sense that I'd be having a lot more fun if I had been a reader of the "Power Man & Iron Fist" series. Still, it should be interesting to see how Priest manages to work this all out, as there is a pretty nifty little scene between T'Challa & the main villain of the piece, where we look to have a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.
Sal Velluto is a solid art talent, and this series is all the better for his presence. His work is nicely detailed, and while there's the occasional lapses where a scene isn't delivered as clearly as I would prefer (e.g. the way Colleen is defeated in the opening battle, Black Dragon's change into his dragon form), for the most part, I'm highly impressed by how the art details Priest's fairly complex plots. There's also the added benefit of the art being quite good at delivering the big impact moments, such as Black Dragon in his dragon form, or the final page that serves as this issue's cliffhanger finish. Other, nice bits include the art's ability to deliver the humor without being overly obvious, as how can you not inwardly giggle at the shot of Mephisto reading Oprah's monthly magazine. My one quibble is that there is a shot in this issue where it looks like Iron Fist sends a trio of thugs plummeting to their deaths, and this doesn't seem all that heroic to me, even if these said thugs were trying to kill him at the time.
Final Word: Honestly, this was an issue where I found myself floundering a bit, as I never was a huge follower of the "Power Man & Iron Fist" series, and this current arc does seemed to be aimed at this group. Oh, Priest does a solid job filling in the gap a fan like me has, but it is hard to get worked up about characters when you never gave a flying fig about them before. Am I looking forward to the tussle between the Black Panther & Iron Fist? You bet your boots I am, but there's still the sense that Priest has steered his ship into murky waters if you aren't a follower of his earlier work with these characters. Plus, this current arc has an uphill battle to fight, as the mystical mumbo-jumbo/kung-fu fighting corner of the Marvel Universe has never been exactly my preferred watering hole.
