Iron Fist #4 Review

Written by: Alyssa Wong
Art by: Michael Yg
Colors by: Jay David Ramos
Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover art by: Leinil Francis Yu, Sunny Gho
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: June 15, 2022

Iron Fist #4 faces off against Fat Cobra and Bride of Nine Spiders to defend his mantle as the “new” Iron Fist while his brother, Feng, arrives at the second location of the Dark Destoyer’s remains.

Was It Good?

Iron Fist #4 is fine and not fine at the same time. There are only so many ways you can say “serviceable” and “mixed bag” before it starts to sound repetitive, so we’re trying something different today. This issue is fine because you get great art and coloring from Yg and Ramos. There’s plenty of action, the pacing is energetically high, and it feels like things are happening. This issue is NOT fine because when you peel back the layers, not much happens, and the writing barely results in a complete issue.

The plot centers around Iron Fist’s teleportation to the next location of the Dark Destroyer’s remains in a bid to stop his brother, Feng, from collecting all the artifacts that will result in the Dark Destroyer’s resurrection. As soon as Iron Fist arrives in Gansu, he’s confronted by two Immortal weapons, Fat Cobra and Bride of Nine Spiders to stop him. Meanwhile, Shuangshuang does all she can to defend the citadel from Feng.

It all sounds good until you start thinking about the whys and wherefores. Why are the Immortal Weapons attacking the “new” Iron Fist? They acknowledge he’s the Iron Fist. They insult him for not being strong enough to carry the mantle as the Iron Fist. So why are they attacking him out of the blue when the Immortal Weapons and the Iron Fist have historically been allies or at least in a truce? The entire fight comes off as a pointless contrivance to slow Iron Fist down and keep him from reaching the citadel in time to stop his brother.

A comic, or any chapter in a story, should have a beginning, middle, and end. This issue barely has any clear beginning, there’s no middle to speak of, and the cliffhanger ending sort of qualifies as an ending. In other words, you get a piece of one extended scene to make up the whole issue, and half of the issue is devoted to a fight scene that has no purpose (see prior paragraph).

Are the big booms and action fun? Yes. If that’s all you’re looking for, you’re going to be satisfied with this issue. However, if you’re looking for a comic that contains an actual plot and progress on the main story, you’re going to find this issue severely lacking.

Bits and Pieces

Iron Fist #4 is filled with exciting art, explosive action, and not much else. Half of the comic is devoted to a fight scene that doesn’t have a point, and the other half barely moves the story forward. If you’re looking for explosive action and nothing else, you’ll enjoy this comic. For everyone else, lower your expectations.