Written By: Larry Hama
Art By: Dave Wachter
Colors By: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Art By: Billy Tan, Lina Jin
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 14, 2021

Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #4 finds the titular character and his comrade-in-arms running here, there, and everywhere trying to stop further attacks on the holy dragons. When Wakanda’s Okoye seeks answers to her place in this developing disaster from the dragon overseeing spiritual balance, she’s place on a new path that has massive consequences fro the battle ahead.

Was It Good?

Yes, in a frantic sort of way. There’s is a lot of running around. So much so that it’s easy to lose track of where the fighters are at any given moment. The real development of the story comes into play with Okoye’s spiritual journey and a surprising result that comes at the very end.

What’s It About?

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Brenda Swanson, half-sister to Joy Meachum and enemy to Danny Rand, has joined the fray as another dragon hunter. Assuming the name Yama Dragonsbane, she has agreed to use her years of training to hunt the holy dragons in exchange for the acquisition of the Iron Fist’s power. She’s is granted the power to defeat Iron Fist and take his dragon chi… but at a heavy price.

Okoye enters the Heart of Heaven looking for answers about her role in this disaster. The city’s dragon arises to speak with her and provide the answers she seeks. I won’t pretend to be able to adequately convey the depth of metaphysics expressed in their conversation, but suffice to say it’s deep. The dragon’s final commend is for Okoye to use her warrior hands to restore balance.

At the Bao Fu Citadel, Danny and the heavenly warriors flee and undead ninja army just in time to jump through one of Fooh’s portals to escape. They enter the dragon’s citadel to meet this city’s holy dragon, a cross between a dragon and a spider that looks as horrific as it sounds. Fearing for the dragon’s life by another assassin, they leave to find a better safe point for the dragon-spider.

Here, the book gets a bit confusing as they jump through different locations and battles in progress so many times that it becomes difficult to keep track. Ultimately, the Prince of Orphans comes to their aid when they become overrun with undead ninjas, and he leads them back to the Heart of Heaven. There, they find Okoye who [Plot Twist] killed the dragon she was speaking with earlier and took out its heart. Before the fighters can react, Okoye leaps forward and does the same to the spider-dragon.

Final Thoughts:

Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #4 is a wild, frantic, fast-paced issue that challenges the readers to keep up with the players, twists, and turns. The art is excellent, and the twist ending was definitely a surprise.