Blog Positivity Week! The Immortal Iron Fist

This is Noetic Concordance's 400th post

I can't say enough good things about Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja's Immortal Iron Fist. This time I will let the following images speak for themselves:

click to embiggen




This is Danny Rand finding out that he's about to go to a tournament. A CELESTIAL TOURNAMENT!!!!! It starts in issue #8.

Weird-Ass Cover Wednesday: World of Fantasy

World of Fantasy was published during the mid-to-late fifties. Lee, Kirby, and Ditko all worked on it and it is one of the prime exemplars of the phrase "They don't make 'em like this anymore".

Since this is Blog Positivity Week I want to point out how much I love these old-school covers. They went out of their way to sell the book in a manner that the pinups of today can't match. Behold the majesty that is World of Fantasy!

#13

This one apparently takes place in the back room of a comic store. I think all you retailers can relate to the difficulty of unloading that last Spider Jerusalem figure. That's a typo, there, you see. It was supposed to say "The Unsold Man".

#19


I Saw Him!! I Saw Him!!

Yeah, the dude's kinda hard to miss.

I like that the denizens of the 5th Galaxy wear such comfortable-looking shoes. He's rockin' some mad sandals, there. Also, check out the non-Euclidean way that the cop in the foreground is shooting at the Gargoyle. He's so freaked out he's bending the laws of space and time.

#11


This is my favorite one of the week. I love the fact that the cover text never mentions that the guy is tiny. It's as if being small is the least of his worries compared to the fog, the scientist, and the nightmare. If that's the case, I don't want to be anywhere near those other three!

#15


Man, some people will do anything to find out what happens on the second season of Heroes.

Blog Positivity Week! Marvel Adventures: Iron Man #3 - Marvel (2007)

Blog Positivity Week is GO!

I know it's cool to be down on superhero comics in general and the Big Two specifically but Marvel and DC are still putting out some good stuff. Sure, the Civil War on Infinite Countdowns has increased the chaff-to-wheat ratio but as long as Fred Van Lente keeps putting out stuff like this there will always be a place for mainstream comics in my hold box.

First off, the title of this issue is "The Creeping Doom". Off to a great start.

The art by Ronan Cliquet and Scott Koblish is fantastic and it sets the proper tone for this comic: Light but not without suspense. I've mentioned it before but the best part of this series is the little readouts from Iron Man's armor which are superimposed on the panels. Printing "INTERNAL AIR SUPPLY AT 0.16%" does a much better job of combining the urgency of the situation with the high-tech coolness of Tony's armor.

The story is a lot of fun. Tony Stark goes to see the inventor of a new agricultural process because Stark International is interested in licensing the technology. Tony didn't bother to tell the guy he was coming because he's Tony Stark! No one doesn't want to meet with The Tony!

So, he surprises the guy who turns out to be just a little too into his plants. In fact, he's literally into his flora because he dons plant armor and does battle with Iron Man as Plantman! Pepper Potts gets more screen time and that's always welcome because she's a great character. She spends a fair amount of this issue in the damsel-in-distress role but she still gets to shine.

I'm not sure if this Iron Man reboot is a direct answer to all the Tony Stark: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. haters but I'm glad it's here.

Hooray for Kelly/Wood!

Ryan Kelly and Brian Wood are teaming up again on The New York Four. If you've read any of my reviews of Local you can guess how I feel about that.

These are two of my favorite comic creators and I can't wait to see what this collaboration will produce. DC is releasing it under their Minx line.

Blog Positivity Week! Immortal Iron Fist #7 - Marvel (2007)

Man, that's a nice cover! As good as the cover is, the stuff behind it is even better. The best thing that Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction have done during Immortal Iron Fist is their creation of a larger mythology around the legends of the Iron Fist. You know how Joss Whedon would give us a glimpse of slayers of yore every now and then on Buffy? Fraction and Brubaker do the same thing with previous Iron Fists.

This time, instead of a mere glimpse, we get a full issue about the Pirate Queen of Pinghai Bay. Danny Rand's fists get all glowy when he summons the Iron Fist. Orson Randall shoots righteous fire from his pistols. The Pirate Queen fires glowing arrows from her bow.

Let's separate that phrase:

GLOWING ARROWS FROM HER BOW

There. Go buy this issue.

The excellent David Aja takes a break since he's been drawing the modern-day stuff and this issue is all about the past. Travel Foreman, Leandro Fernandez, and Khari Evans pick up the drawing chores and all perform beautifully. Literally. The art is stunning and action-filled and fits perfectly with the tale.

Sixty-six men and women have carried the mantle of the Immortal Iron Fist and I get more excited by each one I learn about.

Blog Positivity Week! The Spirit #8 - DC (2007)

Heidi Meeley recently proposed Blog Positivity Day. I think that's such a good idea that I'm declaring Blog Positivity Week on Noetic Concordance.

Darwyn Cooke makes being positive about comics easy. This latest issue can be summed up quickly:

The Spirit
Special Agent Silk Satin
Nuclear Time Bomb

I don't really need to say more than that, do I?

But I will.

Cooke's art and writing are as good as ever. There's a single panel that I want on a T-shirt. It's The Spirit standing in shadow, having just freed himself from handcuffs saying "Come and get it, Psycho". Hee hee! This is the stuff that just makes me clap my hands in glee.

We learn an iota more about the Octopus, Silk Satin gets that sort of amnesia that only happens in fiction, and The Spirit messes with his hat and does a silly accent. Comic-book gold, people.

This comic is freakin' awesome. Flip through a few pages at your local comic shop and see if it's for you.