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Seven Ways To Die In Ed Brisson’s Iron Fist

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by Vince Brusio

If you’ve been trained to be reserved, righteous, and unmoving, then there’s no room for distractions. Life is linear. There’s black and white, and the grey is simply a bridge in between them. You don’t stop on the bridge to pick flowers. There aren’t any to pick anyway. The goal is to keep moving between the two points. So what happens when you stop between the two points, like Danny Rand, and look to see if the flowers were just out of sight, and that’s why you didn’t see them? Bottom line: when you focus on the ground beneath your feet rather than the destination, your focus goes sideways. And that’s when your enemies get the drop on you. And they might get seven chances to do it. A loss of focus for Danny Rand is at the heart of Ed Brisson’s Iron Fist #1 (JAN170951) for Marvel Comics, and in this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview Ed Brisson bemoans the danger Danny will endure because of his need to be good, rather than right in a fight.

Iron Fist #1 (JAN170951) is in comic shops March 22.

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Vince Brusio: It's being intimated that this series will see Danny Rand picking up the pieces after K’un-L’un was destroyed. For those who may not know Danny's past, or what exactly is left for him to pick up, what can you offer as a refresher course on the life of Danny Rand?

Ed Brisson: Oh man, where to start. Barebones history, for those not in the know: Danny Rand’s parents died in the Himalayan Mountains while on an expedition to find the mystical city of K’un-L’un. Danny is on death’s door when he’s found and brought to K’un-L’un on the one day in ten years that the city exists on the same plane as earth. He’s raised there in the ways of kung-fu, where he becomes champion, eventually defeats the dragon Shou-Lao, absorbing its chi and becoming the Iron Fist.

Over time, we discover that he’s the latest in a long line of Iron Fists. There’s been 66 before him.

He returns to earth and during the most recent series (Iron Fist: The Living Weapon), K’un-L’un is essentially destroyed, due largely to infighting.

This is where we come in.

Because Iron Fist is the champion of K’un-L’un and because that city lays in ruins, Iron Fist is starting to lose his connection to his powers, which is causing him to question everything that he is. He’s spent the majority of his life either being Iron Fist or training to be Iron Fist, so what does life look like after? Danny isn’t interested in finding out, so is out fighting, trying his damnedest to find a way to reconnect with his chi.

Vince Brusio: Also of focus for this story is that Danny learns there’s more to the history of the Iron Fist. So are we to see the wandering traveler scenario for a while? Does Danny set out as young grasshopper a la David Carradine’s Kung Fu, and seek answers to questions he hasn't yet asked? Or will his education be more trial-by-fire while simultaneously keeping his house in order?

Ed Brisson: Definitely a trial by fire. He’s going to learn more about K’un-L’un, getting an alternate look at its history and learning that the seeds of K’un-L’un’s destruction were planted over a century ago.

Vince Brusio: Much of the writing you have done has been in the vein of crime stories. Iron Fist is a superhero book. Do you attempt to cross the streams at all, and blend the two genres? Did you try to experiment?

Ed Brisson: With just about everything I write, I try to bring in a bit of that “grit” from the crime stuff. Nothing’s ever clean or straight, everyone’s always got their own agenda or grift. It’s no different with Iron Fist.

Danny’s in danger of losing his whole identity, and so is out trying to find a way to reconnect with a city that raised him, that made him who he is. This makes him vulnerable and puts him in a position where he can be exploited. It’s at this point where he’s offered the opportunity to regain everything that he’s lost and he rushes in, headfirst, against his better judgment – perfect set-up for a crime story, or for an Iron Fist tale.

Vince Brusio: Mike Perkins is said to be creating designs for characters known as The Seven Masters. What can you tell us about those characters? How well do they play with others?

Ed Brisson: Mike has been KILLING it on those designs. They’re so good, and I cannot wait for readers to see what we’ve got in store for them.

The Seven Masters are kung-fu champions who, like Danny, have spent their entire lives dedicated to martial arts. There’s some familiarity, which Danny recognizes early, but each has their own specialty, depending on their house/school.

In a nod to classic kung-fu flicks like The Five Deadly Venoms, each is named after and their style based upon different animals: The Eel, The Rat, The Snake, The Rabbit, The Bear, The Bull and The Wolf. Each has their own very distinct personality. Some play well with others, while others most definitely do not.

Through the Seven Masters, Danny is going to be facing opponents like he’s never been faced with before. Opponents who all have their own personal agendas and reasons for why they wanted to destroy the “Champion of K’un-L’un.”

Vince Brusio: Let's go freestyle on this last question. You've got the mic in your hand, you're on stage, and you've got a couple of minutes to woo the crowd into checking out the first issue of Iron Fist before it hits the street next March. What do you say to prospective readers that you want to have putting Iron Fist on their comic shop pull list?

Ed Brisson: This is a book for those who have never read an Iron Fist book and for fans of the character, who’ve been following Danny, especially since The Immortal Iron Fist and onward. It’s a high-stakes kung-fu story that pays homage to Danny’s roots, while building the Iron Fist legacy in new, exciting ways. We’re going to be introducing new characters who will be sticking around for years to come. Once the dust settles, Danny and K’un-L’un will not be the same.

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.

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