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Iron Fist: A Review

By Christian

Here at ReVo, we’re no strangers to comic lore! Whether you’re a die-hard collector with every issue ever printed or a casual fan who’s content to take in a few flicks, almost all of us have crossed paths with a variety of heroes, villains, and sidekicks. But with so many properties now being adapted in so many ways, it can be difficult to judge what is – or isn’t – worth our time. Luckily, Christian’s here to help! In this issue, he takes a look at Netflix’s Iron Fist so we don’t have to – but that doesn’t mean you won’t still want to!

Be aware that this review contains minor spoilers for both the basic concepts of Iron Fist and some changes that were made for the show!

The original Netflix series Iron Fist is yet another part of the ever growing Marvel Television/Netflix projects. It’s been a month since it dropped, which has given me time to process all thirteen episodes and put words down on paper.

Of the four Netflix series produced by Marvel Television, Iron Fist would probably be labeled the most questionable and controversial. Usually every time a new Marvel Netflix series drops, some people want to see Marvel flop and deliver a dud, but even this time around it looks like Marvel has escaped that status for their latest series.

While it does have some problems, Iron Fist still wins the fight. From the announcement of the casting of Finn Jones there had been nothing but disdain from some critics about Marvel’s casting of the character being whitewashing. To this, we could say some rather harsh words to these people who obviously have never picked up a comic book. You won’t be bored with a lecture of how Finn’s character, Danny Rand, has always been a white American boy who learns Kung-Fu from – dare I say – another dimension; which brings us to the second recent complaint: That the series got Asian culture as a whole wrong. Being as Iron Fist was trained in a culture from another dimension described as one of the cities of Heaven, it would be easy to say that the culture could be whatever one wanted it to be, and not have to adhere to the stereotypical standards of what Hollywood or even reality have to say about Asian culture – because, let’s face it, Iron Fist doesn’t come from anywhere traditional.

More concerns about faults in the series are the story’s pacing and the choreography of the fight scenes. These might be the only truly valid points one can gripe about. However, to me, the pacing seemed good and steady from the get go. On the other hand, no one can fault people for complaining about the story of the series. One can imagine that when you hear about a series called ‘Iron Fist’, which is being billed as a martial arts adventure, one would expect something along the lines of Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan, but this was the opposite. The series isn’t about fighting – in fact, Danny barely uses the Iron Fist throughout the series, which is a good thing, as all problems aren’t solved with his powers.

If anything, this series serves as nothing more than a set up for Netflix’s next series, The Defenders, which will have all four series headliners being drawn together. For anyone paying attention, you can easily see the Hand has been a running theme through Daredevil, which links it to Iron Fist. There is the use of Rosario Dawson’s character, Claire Temple – also known as Night Nurse – which connects Iron Fist to Luke Cage. If you listen closely to the dialogue, we get a mention of Jessica Jones as, “A really good private investigator when she can stay sober,” and Carrie-Anne Moss once again plays the edgy attorney Jerri Hogarth, who was also in Jessica Jones. Iron Fist can easily be said to have served as a meeting ground for this televised universe to blossom. From the heroin cooked up by the Hand, first seen in Daredevil, to the precedent set by Luke Cage revealing his abilities to the whole of New York, we see all roads leading to this would-be Rome, with Madame Gao leading the way.

It’s easy to see how Iron Fist can rank #4 out of the four series so far. However, just because it may take last place doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. Sure, the fight scenes are questionably done. They bring up memories of the Batman episode with Bruce Lee (as Kato) fighting Robin, and Lee having to hold back because of Burt Ward’s lack of fighting ability, which blatantly showed on camera. Obviously the two to four hours a day Finn spent training for the role wasn’t enough, but that doesn’t take the fun out of the fights.

Iron Fist is a fish out of water story on many levels. The first is a man who returns home only to slowly learn that that home isn’t what he imagined it was, as time has moved onward in those fifteen years he’d been away. But Danny was a fish in a strange pond during his time in the Heavenly dimensional city of K’un-Lun, too. This is something else that can justify Danny Rand being cast as a white man, but again, that casting doesn’t require any form of justification in the first place, as most critics don’t understand the source material being adapted when these shows are produced.

This brings us to another point: Adaption. Iron Fist is beautifully adapted from the source material of the comics. From the use of the Meachum Family, to the inclusion of Colleen Wing as the Daughter of the Dragon, right down to her love for white attire. In the comics, Harold and Ward Meachum are brothers. Joy Meachum is the daughter of Harold Meachum and the niece of Ward. The change of Ward becoming Harold’s son, along with Joy becoming his sister, made for a much better dynamic on screen. Harold was shaped into a far more superior villain than his crippled comic book counterpart – who only stuck around for four issues of Marvel Premiere before being killed off prior to the launch of Iron Fist’s first short lived solo series – could have ever hoped.

While Danny isn’t as strong a lead character as, say, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, or Luke Cage, what makes him hold his own are his surrounding plot lines. From the creation of a Hand splinter group through the villain Bakuto, to the heartfelt fight between himself and his best friend Davos, who we see at the end working his way to easily becoming the Steel Serpent (Davos’s comic book counterpart), these are just a few of the many Easter Eggs scattered throughout the series. (Anyone catch Stan Lee?)

In the end, Iron Fist was going to be a hard sell for Marvel. To begin with, the series had numerous script rewrites, and at one point, Marvel Television even stated they had no idea what direction to go in with the character. The 1970s haven’t been around for almost half a century now. Iron Fist is a bit late to the small screen, but that just adds to the whole “fish out water” theme. The series itself is a bit of the same, but the bottom line is Iron Fist does deliver: It was entertaining, it had balance between fighting and intrigue, and it gives us a great springboard for what is to come from the future of Marvel Television and Netflix. It proves once again that Marvel Television works wonders with what they have at their disposal.

Debunking the Myth of Canon Characters

By Christian

Have you ever considered playing a character straight out of fandom, but feared you wouldn’t be able to do them justice? Or, perhaps, do you find it difficult to understand why a player might choose to portray someone else’s creation? In this issue, comic guru Christian discusses the fun of fandom-based roleplay and why you don’t need to be afraid of it!

Online roleplaying can be fun. It can be a wonderful creative outlet which allows us to explore and express ideas as well as feelings. This is why you can find a roleplay room for just about everything – just name the subject matter or setting and a room probably exists. They all make for wonderful approaches, but as with anything else, some come with misnomers and/or bad reputations. One such avenue is comic book-themed roleplay. Over the span of time, a lot of misconceptions have cropped up regarding comic-based rooms and no one has ever bothered to step up and address them.

Now, comic books aren’t for everyone. Not everyone wants to run around in tights or suits of armor and beat up bad guys. However, it works for some, and others are curious what goes on in what are to them completely mysterious rooms. Listening to onlookers and observers in comic rooms, you will hear the same things again and again:

“I don’t know anything about comic books.”
“I don’t know anything about [Insert Character Name].”
“I don’t like combat roleplay.”
“Comics vs Reality vs God Modding”

While comments are not limited to these four, they are the most common. The thing is, comic book roleplay is no different than anything else. The only exception is you’re playing characters who in most cases have been around longer than you’ve been alive. That can be a bit intimidating, but keep in mind when you roleplay, you roleplay for yourself and no one else.

“I don’t know anything about comic books.”

First, no one ever has to know anything about comics to roleplay them. You always learn what you need along the way, and you probably have more exposure than you realize. We see these characters every day now in social media, movies, television, cartoons. If you have children, ten to one you’ve hunted down various action figures or tie-in merchandise regarding these characters. Thanks to films like Avengers and Batman vs Superman these characters are now in our faces. So right there, you already have an understanding of most characters – even those who are less well-known.

Take for example Felicity Smoak from Arrow and Sico Ramone from The Flash: Those two characters are real, everyday characters torn from the pages of comics – albeit obscure pages, but from the comics none the less. So right there you’re ahead of most people. Then there are the basics:
Batman watched his parents be gunned down as a child.
Superman was sent to Earth from a planet that exploded.
Peter Parker was bitten by a radioactive spider and became Spider-Man.

Until a few years ago, those would have been the top three. Now we have Tony Stark having to build a suit to live. Bruce Banner was exposed to gamma rays. Hal Jordan was given his power ring by a dying alien. Oliver Queen learned right and wrong by spending forever and a day on an island. Right there is more than you probably ever realized.

Now it gets easier!

“I don’t know anything about [Insert Character Name].”

Usually when we roleplay, we play characters who speak to us. Let’s say for the sake of argument you like Moon Knight. Okay, Moon Knight is cool. He looks like he could be the Marvel version of Batman. So we found a character, but now you know nothing more about them. This is where sites like Wikipedia become your best friend.

If we look at the Moon Knight wiki page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_Knight), we see everything from his Publication History to Origin, which is laid out by various series over the years, his appearances, and even his powers and abilities as well as a list of enemies. What also comes in handy is there are sections which have quotes from writers and creators who have worked on Moon Knight, giving some inside insight on the character.

Now comes the kicker – we’ve assembled all this information. We have an idea who Moon Knight is now and are even given various sources to continue our reading and investigation, but in all honesty this is more than enough. You don’t have to do extensive homework; you don’t have to read every issue or appearance. This wiki page is enough; however, there is no rule that says you have to use any of this!

There is a belief in comic RP rooms that comes largely from outsiders that you have to play a character the way they are portrayed in the comics. Sadly, more often some people find that if they come in and play a character how they know them, be it through movies, TV, or animated series, they won’t be welcome. Well, fuck that noise; I ain’t got time for that and neither do you! For example, as the player of Moon Knight, you have now become the writer of that comic. What you say goes! Not enough people realize this. When we roleplay in these rooms, we become writers and we are penning the story for the characters we play! So let’s say you don’t like the last few arcs Moon Knight has been in? Ignore them! Let’s say you really do appreciate his first series from the early 1980s, then play from that aspect. The thing is, when you take up a canon character you’re in control, and no one can tell you what’s right or wrong because at that point there is no right or wrong.

“I don’t like combat RP.”

This is usually the necessary evil with comic book roleplay. At some point your hero or villain is going to come to blows with others. This is when the beatdowns happen. Now, some people are skittish of this. Why? Who the hell knows, but the thing is, it’s easier than you think. Unlike Gor, there aren’t a lot of rules that need to be known, and there is no set method for superhero comic book combat. This what they call Free Form online. It’s whatever works for the group at the time. Some rooms have used dice, be it a form of complex rules systems to something as simple as whose roll beats who. The only thing is know what your character can do. Powers and abilities can enhance a roleplay greatly.

Let’s look at Moon Knight again. He has no real superpowers, but he does possess peak human potential. This means that all his physical abilities are the best and highest achievements reached before being more than human. In theory, Moon Knight is up there with Olympic athletes. He also has a plethora of martial arts combat training and knowledge. With the added edge of gadgets, Moon Knight really does rock! So now you have someone who can theoretically throw down with Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine. Bet no one saw that coming?

“Comics vs Reality vs God Modding”

Superhero combat can get messy with a lot of people. Some people who are more creative than others are always going to be thinking outside of the box, but others don’t fully think their idea through. While they don’t mean to come across as God Mods, they may become irksome. There are characters such as Batman, which over the years, the comics have turned into a know-it-all God with a plan for everything (and we mean everything). As a player of Batman for over 10 years online, this writer has learned to temper that part of the character in a checks and balances of what works and what doesn’t work at the time. This character trait becomes a tool to help any storyteller in a room. There are other things you want to look out for. For example, someone could show you a comic page where Spider-Man swings down and picks up a car that is speeding down the street. What they won’t show you is on the following page, Spider-Man saying, “Wow, remind me never to do that again!” Another example is Electro. While it would be possible for Electro to carbonize the atmosphere around a character, the feat would drain and take so much out of him he wouldn’t be doing much of anything else for a while. Same can be said for when Magneto liquefied and ripped all the Adamantium out of Wolverine’s body. That weakened Magneto to the point where Xavier could slip into his mind and shut it off, unhindered by any of Magneto’s psychic defenses. The thing to remember is that these over-the-top cool feats aren’t done everyday.

Superheroes can do amazing things! This is what makes them superheroes. However, it has to be kept fair and grounded. This is where the room staff comes into play with knowing who they are allowing to play the bigger characters. The God Modding isn’t as bad as one might think. Usually a good storyteller will punish a player who takes over extended liberties and tries to God Mod without approval from anyone involved. When in doubt, always stop and ask the Storyteller or the Room Owner.

“What Did We Learn (& Shameless Plugs)”

These are just a few of the misconceptions people have about comic based roleplay rooms. These don’t speak for everyone, as everyone has their own misgivings, and while I can’t speak for other rooms, I can speak for mine which have been around for a very long time. Marvel United and DC Noir have evolved with the times. We started allowing people to play villains, which was a huge taboo for most rooms unless the room staff knew you! We dropped pesky character sheets, and it was one of our best decisions ever! We tend to be player friendly in the sense you sign up, claim a character, and then show up in codes. No approval time, no wait, no cliques to deal with. Our character registration is simple, easy, and geared for people with no knowledge of a damn thing when they click on ‘Enter Room’. With a system this simple, we just have to show people how easy and far from complicated everything can be in comic book rooms.

So the next time you watch a superhero or comic book movie, TV show, or animated series, or even just read a comic and think, “Hey, that would be cool!” come check us out!