Great introduction to new characters; definitely needs more time
I'm a big fan of Danny Rand as a character; he's a guy that hasn't been corrupted by his wealth, but still finds time to kick ass under a mask as the Immortal Iron Fist. With a great mythological background, writers who take on Iron Fist have a great number of tools at their disposal: they can go full-blown kung-fu action, or they can lean back and have Danny do some corporate shenanigans instead. It's almost like if Bruce Wayne was still a tiny bit sane, and his running of Wayne Enterprises was actually interesting.
And that's what Fred Van Lente is banking on with this newest Power Man and Iron Fist mini-series. In it, we get a taste of the same old Danny with a new Power Man as his apprentice. There's a very "year one" feel to this series: even though Danny's been in the tights for awhile, the fact that he's never had a sidekick to teach really brings out the best in his character. He's a bit self-conscious in his abilities, which makes for a great team dynamic.
Issue two introduces us to the Commedia Dell'Morte, or the Comedy of Death. This group of European assassins are based off the indispensable roles of many theatre stories, and are quite lethal. This is underscored by the appearance of El Aguila, a mutant who has dealt with the troupe before. Having a European invasion seems to breathe new life into tired old New York; it allows us to get some fresh characters in without having to explain their backstories fully. In some ways they're like Pyg from Batman and Robin; introduced immediately with a simple concept. They're killers and psychopaths, and provide a formidable threat to our duo.
But for most of this issue we get treated to a great character development session. Power Man is falling for the mysterious Noir, Iron Fist is taking his friends-with-benefits relationships with company assistant Joy Meachum a little too lightly, and we get a sense of how they act as partners. Power Man fills the requisite "hotheaded youth" role without being a complete idiot. This is a good thing.
The art is great, and I hardly recognized the switch in pencillers between the first half of the book and the last. It doesn't really hold a candle to David Aja's work on Immortal Iron Fist, but it still allows us to see the fighting fluidly. There is nothing worse than not being able to see how the fighting works, or having Danny Rand, kung-fu master, look like a rank amateur.
I'm interested to see where this issue goes; it's definitely worth a buy if you're an Iron Fist fan, or want to see some new blood injected into the Marvel Universe. Fans will delight in the lack of Hand, SHIELD, AIM or otherwise shenanigans here. It definitely needs another issue or so before it falls into the "horrible" or "awesome" category, though; thankfully, it's more on track for the former.
