IRON FIST: HEART OF THE DRAGON #2 Review

Written By: Larry Hama
Art By: Dave Wachter
Colors By: Neeraj Menon
Letters By: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Art By: Billy Tan, Lina Jin
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 17, 2021

IRON FIST: HEART OF THE DRAGON #2, Danny takes the family on a road trip to visit the Mother of Mercy to find out why somebody is killing the dragons in the 7 Heavenly Cities. The answer lies with the Hidden City and it’s master’s plan to steal all power from the Heavenly Cities. Mother of Mercy call on the Immortal Iron Fist to save existence with a plan so big, the Earth may not be ready for it.

Was It Good?

Yes. Larry Hama knows efficient, exciting storytelling, and it shows 1000% here. The story is huge and crazy, and yet, you have no trouble going right along with what’s happening. Every Marvel and DC writer should follow Hama’s example.

Likewise, the art is great all the way through, especially for the sheer number of scenery changes. Readers are taken on a journey from the Hidden City’s hell gates to the Heavenly Garden in an upside down water pond (it makes sense when you read it). And special props goes to the letterer for put the right mythical touches on the Mother of Mercy’s speech.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Danny, Luke, Fooh, Pei and Gork travel to the Mother of Mercy’s palace for her celestial wisdom on what’s happened and what to do next about the dragon attacks. When they arrive, only the Iron Fist may enter, and Danny ascends (literally) into heaven to meet with the Holy Mother. She explains the rulers of the Hidden City have hired killers and thieves to steal the hearts of the each dragon protecting the 7 Holy Cities so that all power can be consolidated into the Hidden City. When that happens, all of reality will be undone.

Mother of Mercy’s command is for Fooh to build a giant portal machine that will bring all 7 Holy Cities to Earth so all heroes from both the Heavenly Cities and Earth will rally to fight the Hidden City. Only the Iron Fist can gather the heroes and lead them, she says.

Fooh, unsurprisingly, already has a massive portal machine under construction as a pet project. This point is a little too convenient but it’s certainly within Fooh’s character as the insatiable tinkerer. Fooh fires up the machine and the 7 Holy Cities begin appearing at various locations across the globe, from Wakanda to New York. When the portals open, the remaining Heavenly City heroes join Danny to fight.

As Mother of Mercy warned, an eighth portal opens for the Hidden City. Seizing the opportunity, Danny and the assembled heroes charge into the Hidden City to defeat their forces and prevent the Gates of the Hidden City Citadel from opening.

The heroes charge in but can’t sense any life in the Hidden City. Suddenly, the heroes are attacked by a horde of undead ninjas last seen in the previous issue. While they fight, the Hidden City’s Citadel Gates begin to open as their barriers begin to break.

We end the issue with the heroes fighting undead ninjas from the rear while they hold the gates closed in the front.

Final Thoughts

IRON FIST: HEART OF THE DRAGON #2, combines great art with masterfully efficient storytelling to set up a world-ending threat that’s believable and works on every level. With every page, the stakes get higher and not a single panel is wasted.