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The Immortal Iron Fist: The Book of the Iron Fist (Marvel Comics, 2006; #7, 15-16, Orson Randall & the Green Mist of Death, The Origin of Danny Rand)

  • The last trade of Fraction’s (and one issue of Brubaker’s) Immortal Iron Fist collects single issues and one-shots that tell the stories of past Iron Fists.  
  • The highlights are the story of Wu Ao-Shi the Pirate Queen and Orson Randall’s pusuit by John Aman.
  • The one exception is issue #16, which serves as the capstone to Fraction and Brubaker’s time on the book: it sees Danny return to New York to deal with the fallout from the series to date and sets a new mission for him.
  • The Origin of Danny Rand reprints Iron Fist’s first two appearances with updated colors; it’s interesting if you haven’t read it but shows its source material’s age.
  • By virtue of collecting assorted single-issue stories, this volume has a huge art team with dispirate styles; but all of it is pretty good, and the changes only supported the storytelling, never took away from it.

Collected in

  • The Immortal Iron Fist, Vol. 3: The Book of the Iron Fist (#7, 15-16; Orson Randall & the Green Mist of Death, The Origin of Danny Rand)
  • The Immortal Iron Fist: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 (#1-16, Annual #1,  Immortal Iron Fist: Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death #1; Immortal Iron Fist: The Origin of Danny Rand #1; material from Civil War: Choosing Sides #1)

Credits

Writers: Matt Fraction with Ed Brubaker (7) | Artists: Travel Foreman & Derek Fridolfs (7), Leandro Fernandez & Francisco Paronzini (7), Khari Evans & Victor Olazaba (7, 15), Nick Dragotta (Orson Randall), Mike Allred (Orson Randall), Russ Heath (Orson Randall), Lewis Rosa & Stefano Guaridano (Orson Randall), Mitch Breitweiser (Orson Randall), David Aja (16), Kano (Origin), Gil Kane & Dick Giordano (Origin), Larry Hama & Dick Giordano (Origin) | Colorists: Dan Brown (7), Jelena Kevek Djurdjevic & Paul Mounts (15), Laura Allred (Orson Randall), Russ Heath (Orson Randall), Matt Hollingsworth (16, Orson Randall), Sotocolor’s A.Crossley & Kano (Origin) | Letterers: Dave Lanphear, L.P. Gregory, Artmonkeys Studios | Assistant Editor: Alejandro Arbona | Editor: Warren Simons

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