Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus

Title: Immortal Iron Fist Omnibus
Writers: Matt Fraction & Ed Brubaker
Artists: David Aja with guest artists Travel Foreman, Sal Buscema, Russ Heath, John Severin, Howard Chaykin, Dan Brereton, Tonci Zonjic, Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic, Kano, Khari Evans, Leandro Fernandez, Nick Dragotta, Mike And Laura Allred, Mitch Breitweiser & Lewis Larosa
Publisher: Marvel
Format: Omnibus Hardcover
Page Count: 560 pages
Dimensions: Over-sized, if I can find the exact dimensions, I'll update later.
Price: $74.99, but you can pre order it for $47.25 from Amazon with similar discounts available from many online comic retail outlets (G-Mart $48.75, DCB Service $44.95, Westfield Comics $61.90, TFAW $59.99) all prices given are at the time of writing this and subject to change without notice.

The Immortal Iron Fist has been one of a few favorite titles of mine recently. It may actually be my favorite. Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction launched their run from the idea that there have been many Iron Fists (66 in fact) and how that legacy lead to Danny Rand taking up the mantle. Also, when rethinking the series, they realized that Danny Rand has the coolest job on Earth. He's a kung fu billionaire. And the story only improves from there.

David Aja brings action to the page like no one else can and redesigned his costume with a bit of urban practicality (getting rid of the fin collar thing and his booties) while keeping the iconic parts of his costume (the color scheme and the dragon tattoo, now a logo on his costume when his shirt does stay undamaged).

Since most modern comic book artists really can't draw 12 issues a year, the creative team and editorial planned ahead and established a tradition of having guest artists draw the flash back sequences introducing us to the Iron Fists that have come before. Yes, I said guest artists as there isn't a fill in artist in the bunch. Each artist was chosen for specific strengths applying to the storyline being proposed and together as an art team bring more to the story than any one artist could.

Enough about the series though.

This is THE Omnibus I've been waiting for. It contains the entire run of Immortal Iron Fist by Matt Fraction (Casanova, Last of the Independents, Uncanny X-Men), Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Incognito, Sleeper, Captain America), David Aja, and many guest artists and includes Immortal Iron Fist 1-16, Civil War: Choosing Sides (I assume just the Iron Fist/Daredevil parts), Annual #1, Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death, and The Origin of Danny Rand.

Robert's Two Cents:

Points in Favor:

• All that beautiful artwork in all its over-sized goodness.
• Seriously the only way this book could have been any better is if it were drawn by John Cassaday (sorry thinking about my Absolute Planetary hardcover at the moment).
• Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker (and even their successor on the title Duane Swierczynski) found a way to bring the concept of Iron Fist and Power Man into the 21st century without being a joke.
• Great writing and great art by a team who were really enjoying what they were doing. How can you go wrong?
  

Points Against:

• You need a really big bookshelf if you are going to buy very many of the Omnibus Editions and/or Absolute Editions.
• Price. $74.99 is a big price, especially when you can buy all of the trades for about half that and the single issues on eBay for even less. But none of those are over-sized and the artwork is beautiful.
• I'm not a big fan of that dust cover, so I'm hoping the hard cover underneath has the Iron Fist dragon logo embossed in gold underneath. I'm not holding my breath though.
  

Recommendation: Hot, Hot Buy. Seriously, you need to see this in all its over-sized glory.



Additonal Recommendations: If you like this book you may also be interested in Daredevil by Ed Brubaker & Michael Lark Omnibus 1 or any of the many trades available of their run on Daredevil, found here. It's been the best Daredevil run in years, possibly even since the original Frank Miller run.