Fraction, Brubaker, Aja Off Iron Fist

I don't cover a lot of mainstream comics publishing news through this site, but I wanted to draw attention to this story about the writers Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker and the artist David Aja ending their run on Marvel's Immortal Iron Fist with issue #16 for a couple of reasons. One is that it was a solid superhero book that I sense a lot of older and longtime readers enjoyed. Fraction and Brubaker took the exploitation-era character and basically plopped him into an eternal warrior context, a fantasy trope that I for one couldn't recall anyone having done in significantly affecting fashion with a well-known character before. The result was an adventure comic that wore its influences on its sleeve, and a diverting pulp read, the kind of self-contained comic book with only a wave and kiss for the turgid past through which Marvel kick-started its early-'80s sales renaissance.

The other reason this story kind of popped for me is this: vocational issues. I kind of expected Aja to leave, because in these strongly sales-stratified time he had the skills of an artist who could be holding down a much more lucrative assignment. Fraction and Brubaker leaving surprised me save for the fact that both of them have more work on their plates than they can probably comfortably handle, too. What I find additionally compelling about such issues coming to bear is is that it changes the way I look at the book overall. While the groundwork was there for one of those pretty good, satisfying superhero runs of the kind I would have adored as a late pre-teen, as the current creative team leaves the book remains kind of half-baked, primarily in that it doesn't have the grounding in character that most of Marvel's post-Kirby effective runs use to find a place in that company's post-1980 pantheon. For instance, when in a recent issue a joke was made about the lead having a plan and this fact making everyone around him nervous, we don't really know enough about the character for this to make us laugh as well except that we're obviously supposed to because of the way that information is presented.

Well, it's compelling to me, anyway.

To be honest with you, I like short runs on mainstream titles. I don't buy or keep a lot of mainstream American comic books, and having them over with quickly allows for me to pick up the whole group at a later date, usually for less than $1 a book. The book's new creative team is profiled here.
 
posted 8:00 am PST | Permalink
 

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