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
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: August 31, 2022
Iron Fist #5 concludes the current arc (but promises to continue in an A.X.E tie-in) with a final battle of brother against brother. Can Lin Lie reconcile the warring powers within him to rise to the occasion?
Is It Good?
Iron Fist #5, much like the rest of the arc, is fine for what it is. The big questions introduced in the first issue, namely…
Why did Shou-Lao give Lin Lie the power of the Iron Fist when he didn’t go through the trials? And,
Why does Lin Lie keep fighting against Danny Rand when he’s the best person to ask about what it means to be an Iron Fist?
Both get answered in this issue. The answers are somewhat satisfactory.
The plot revolves around Lin Lie confronting Lin Feng to find out why he wants to resurrect the Dark Destroyer. Feng’s explanation makes sense as presented, the stakes are raised, and you could see Feng filling the spot of a sympathetic villain who wants to do the wrong thing for relatable reasons.
That said, the least satisfactory part of this issue is the ending because Feng takes a step that effectively ends the arc on a “To be continued…” moment. Everyone is left in a worse spot, except Feng, from where they started.
That feeling sums up the arc as a whole. Confusing questions that take too long to get answered. Character actions that don’t make sense until they’re explained with varying degrees of satisfaction, and an outcome that’s not really an outcome. It’s difficult to tell if this series suffers from a clarity problem, a pacing problem, or both, but the net result is a story that is technically complete but somehow lacks a theme that’s worth telling.
The art is fine. Yg gets to flex some creative muscle with spiritual visions between Lie and Shou-Lao that look great and an interesting battle between Lie and Feng. Kudos are due to Ramos for spectacular coloring.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts:
Iron Fist #5 ends the arc without ending the story, and that sentiment exemplifies the series so far. The story is just there. Some confusing bits are clarified, new confusion is introduced, and the ending isn’t really an ending. The art is solid, but the story, so far, has yet to justify the Iron Fist mantle swap or its own existence.
Weird Science Marvel Comics 
I’m so glad that I’m not the only one who felt this arc was just kind of…meh. Overall it just felt like a story that was dunking on Danny Rand because that’s cool to do now, I guess.
Honestly, I hope Danny gets the powers back sooner rather than later and Lin is allowed to go back to having his own story without it being dressed up as someone else’s.
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I like Lin…just not as Iron Fist!
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