Books Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 2: The Seven Capital Cities of Heaven (v. 2)
Books and Publications Average Rating:

Rating: - Best story ever of Iron Fist
This is the best comic book story I have read in the last year. Great buy!

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Rating: - Great Read
Volume 2 was a great read. I read the original story of Ku'n Lun when I was a boy, and this updated version does it justice.

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Rating: - Finally... Iron Fist done right!
If you grew up during the 1970's Kung Fu craze you will love this series. If you grew up during the 1980's ninja craze you will love this series. If you grew up with Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II in the 1990's you will love this series. Iron Fist has been a hit and miss character in the Marvel Universe for about 30 years. His longest run was as friend and partner to Luke Cage in the Power Man & Iron Fist series. The current Immortal Iron Fist takes the character in a new direction and brings back memories of those wonderful cheesy Kung Fu movies I grew up with.

The Seven Capital Cities of Heavens follows a tournament between the living weapons of seven mystical cities which only are accessible from Earth every decade. A KUNG-FU TOURNAMENT BETWEEN MYSTICAL CITIES~! For Pete's sake what more do you need to know?

Fabulous characters too like:

Dog Brother #1~!
Bride of Nine Spiders~!
Tiger's Beautiful Daughter~!
Prince of Orphans~!
Fat Cobra~!

Seriously, how can you not love this series?

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Rating: - Iron Fist 2.0
Iron Fist has never been an A-list character. Like Shang Chi the Master of Kung Fu, Iron Fist had an uneventful run before hitting his groove as the partner of Luke Cage as a Hero for Hire. Cut in the mould of Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Oliver Queen (Green Arrow) - ergo, the playboy with a lot of money and superpowers, blonde Daniel Rand has never really matched the former two in personality.

This new chapter of Iron Fist however, tries to retool Iron Fist by tapping into his mystic origins ala Batman Begins...and largely succeeds. Vol 1 was alright and Vol 2 steps up the storytelling. If kung fu heroics and intrigue are your thing, then Iron Fist will keep you happy. An interesting array of artists takes on the reins, making this a vivid showcase. The story would have worked better minus the happy Hollywood ending and really should veer into the noir territory. There seem to be a lot of possibilities for the character - the writers should look at the early Shang Chi comics which painted a very grey world.

We meet new warriors in this novel, giving us more insights into the Iron Fist origins and fascinating backstory. These characters add a hint of the possible manga-like direction of the series - if handled correctly. If not, they will just be hokey sidekicks to Iron Fist. Fraction or whoever is writing this needs to ditch the conventional superhero schtick - a limitation of the writing - and research the cosmic possibilities out there. And please - forget about Hydra which the writer indicates as "Hydra fights like they're fighting for a pay check..." - exactly the problem. Make it deadly. The writers need to study the East a lot more to make this fly.

Note: Orson Randall - the mysterious Iron Fist from the past added an interesting pulp fiction angle to the heroics - ala Doc Savage. I would argue that the old Iron Fist stories provide a richer and more appropriate setting for Iron Fist and should be further explored. In all, this book is a decent return to form for a character that still needs more development. 3 & a 1/2 stars.