Iron Fist (4th Series)

(Marvel, 2004)
™ and © 2004 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Udon Studios has produced far better work for Dreamwave, DC, and Marvel. This is a sub-par effort for them, with Lau not providing good martial-arts depictions. A title like Iron Fist demands an artist who can recapture the fast-paced style of kung-fu movies, and this depiction is little better than the lame kung-fu craze of the 1970s.

Lau has a lot of trouble drawing characters from the side; he opts for the front or three-quarters view the majority of the time, but, when forced into a side perspective, as in the first panel of Page 27, the result is awful.

All this would be forgivable, if the story had held up, but a generic tale of Danny Rand deciding to quit after he dodges a bullet that kills someone? That old yarn’s been around for decades. Danny’s been shown to be dedicated in the past; he wouldn’t let something like a random accident get to him and he definitely wouldn’t let the bad guys escape at the end. Many comics get off to a shaky start before finding their footing. Here’s hoping Mullaney, Lau, and Udon find it before this one goes the way of Iron Fist’s two other series attempts.

— Steve Horton

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