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[thefourthman]

I wouldn't exactly call subjecting us to a year of Sire clever.

I would. I bet it seemed real funny to Yoni.

[guitarsmashley]

I wouldn't exactly call subjecting us to a year of Sire clever.

I wasn't the one that let him take power.

[McKegan]

My girlfriend is coming to town. I plan on kneading the golden dough tonight!

But yeah, I wasn't all that impressed by this book. It's pretty standard for Iron Fist books of late: throw in a bunch of quirky flashbacks with the character popping up in moments of cultural significance, throw in a taste of MU history, and come up with some cool names for kung fu moves. This was a fresh approach under Fraction/Bru, but it's starting to feel old hat here.

The story, in itself is inoffensive. And is framed nicely, except for the fact that the story fails to mention one important little detail. Why the hell does Fat Cobra not remember his past? Cobra mentions forgotten glories, and I suppose the reason they're forgotten is because of the revelation at the end, but it isn't tied together very well.

I don't even have the moral problem with the ending that others seem to, it just didn't feel well set up to me. In a book consistenting of multiple panels that jump all over the place in time, the key sequence at the end just felt like another thing that happened, instead of the big shocker I imagine it's supposed to be.

The art is okay, but really comes off as poor when compared to the few beautiful pages from Lark.

The Iron Fist back up is standard fair you'd get from the monthly book. I don't really see the point of putting it in a mini. I'm also becoming progressively less and less of a Foreman fan. I don't know if it's the boring color pallate or the art itself. It's fugly.

Story: 5
Art: 5
Over-All: 5

[Victorian Squid]

Just shaking the dust off of this review thread this morning.

[******]

Just shaking the dust off of this review thread this morning.

I read the Fat Cobra portion of the book last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'll try and read the backup and write my review after the USA/Honduras Gold Cup match tonight.

[Victorian Squid]

I read the Fat Cobra portion of the book last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'll try and read the backup and write my review after the USA/Honduras Gold Cup match tonight.

Then we can fight!

[guitarsmashley]

I read the Fat Cobra portion of the book last night and enjoyed it quite a lot. I'll try and read the backup and write my review after the USA/Honduras Gold Cup match tonight.

Really? Soccer? Man you get lamer by the minute.

[Punchy]

Really? Soccer? Man you get lamer by the minute.

It's called Football.

[Victorian Squid]

It's called Football.

Wait, you aren't talking about futbol, are you?

[Starlord]

Immortal Weapons #1

I've grown very dissalusioned with the whole Iron Fist comic so I stopped buying it. Wasn't really excited about getting this but I'm a firm believer in going with the pick. It's what this is for.

and I'm glad I did. This wasn't my favorite book I ever read, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Although much of it seems repetative with every other Iron Fist story lately, it was really funny and tragic at the same time. Well created character, but a few more pages of explenation may have been wise.

Story: 4
Art: 8

My Score: 6

[malcolm reynolds]

Hey what time does midtown's list for next week go up US time?

[thefourthman]

Hey what time does midtown's list for next week go up US time?

earlier...

[malcolm reynolds]

already up hmmm? Time to work out some candidates for next week

[malcolm reynolds]

There's not a lot on offer this week, and thanks to indie books being harder to find, and a lot of more popular books being mid arc - this looks like the candidates for next weeks pick. I'll pour over midtown's list a little more but until then here's what I've narrowed it down to:

ultimatum #5 - Drive for the most reviews, even if its just Jeph Loeb bashing.

citizen rex #1 - intersting concept.

Justice Society of America #29 - New writers, with a great resume, I stopped reading JSA a while a go but this might be worth checking out.

[******]

If anyone was going to write the story of Fat Cobra's origin, it had to be Jason Aaron. Not because he had any previous history with the character, which he didn't, but because he has a sensibility that meshes perfectly with the world of the Immortal Iron Fist and he has that uncanny ability to take the most absurd situation and turn it into a kick ass good time.

Fat Cobra quickly became something of a cult favorite when he was introduced in the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven arc. It probably has something to do with fanboys envying his stable of wenches. Cobra's a bit of a party guy and that's where Aaron starts us off here. Fat Cobra, who we learn is not only 100 years old but he also has a healing factor (think Logan done right), has consumed so many "intoxicants" during his long life that he has virtually wiped away all of his long term memory and must have someone write a book about his life story so that he can remember any of it. From there hilarity, and tragedy, ensues. For all the times where we see a lighter side of Cobra's past, Aaron matches it with something doubly dark. As for the event that finally pushes Fat Cobra to the point where he could defeat the dragon Xiang Yao, I don't believe he wanted to kill his murderous offspring any more than he wanted to kill his mother in childbirth.

On the whole, I feel like Aaron has crafted a layered and entertaining origin while at the same time weaving Fat Cobra into the history of the Marvel Universe in ways that both make sense to the character and avoids interfering with existing continuity. As an added bonus, it's done in a single issue with no knowledge of any of the character's previous appearances required.

It's been well over a year since I had seen any of Mico Suayan's work, so I was very impressed with how his art has evolved. While at times the art could feel a bit posed, for his sections being almost exclusively talking heads the expressiveness of the characters was handled extremely well. In the past when flashbacks have been implemented they have been done on a page by page basis, but in this issue it was done panel by panel and I loved the effect it had on the story's flow. Most of the flashback work was brief, but in the case of the extended scene illustrated by Michael Lark the results were simply stunning.

Feature
Story: 8.5
Art: 8.5

With the backup story, Duane Swierczynski does the same thing he's been doing with the main title for months. It's kung fu, it's super hero, it's noir and it fucking kicks ass.

While at times Travel Foreman has been one of my favorite artists (check out his Ares mini written by Mike Oeming to see why), his work since taking over as the main artist on Immortal Iron Fist has been wildly inconsistent. While I suspect a lot of the experimentation he's gone through over the past year has been in an effort to keep up with the monthly schedule, it finally reached a breaking point in issue #27 when the finished product was an incoherent mess. Much to my surprise and delight however, it would appear that the solution to Foreman's current woes has been found. Stefano Gaudiano is quite clearly a miracle worker. His inks over David Aja's pencils help defined the look of Immortal Iron Fist early on in the series and with his return, Iron Fist looks better than it has in over a year.

Backup
Story: 10
Art: 9

Overall: 8.75