Middle-of-the-road, I'm afraid. After a great run by Fraction, Brubaker, and Aja and a TERRIFIC wrap-up issue by Matt Fraction and Aja, Duane Swierczynski and Travel Forman (with flashback art by Russ Heath) certainly had big yellow slippers to fill with Immortal Iron Fist #17. They didn't mess it up, but let's just say those slippers are still a little on the biggish side.

I certainly contemplated dropping the title after #16. But I've always been a big fan of Danny Rand (particularly the old Power Man and Iron Fist stories) and I thought that Matt Farction left things at enough of an intriguing juncture that I should give this first arc a chance. And, after reading the first issue, I still will. That's something, anyway.

Swierczynski starts this arc at the right spot. And he does it in a cool way. In Iron Fist #16, Danny just discovered that virtually all of the Iron Fists died at thirty-three years old. And he discovered this on his thirty-third birthday! Iron Fist #17 opens in the City of K'un Lun (did I spell that right?), ten years from now. Misty Knight and her nine-year old son are about to discuss how Danny died. Then we flash back to the present and the story begins. Cool, right? I liked that opening quite a bit, but the rest of the book felt more like treading water.

Basically, Hydra is still after the Rand Corporation and some mystic fella from a rival mystic city is after Danny. This guy can apparently tap into a powerful dragon (his city's Shou-Lao, I take it) and kill himself some Iron Fists. In fact, he claims that he's killed a whole bunch of them. And Danny's next. He also tells Danny that he's the weakest Iron Fist that he's ever faced.

That leads me to my beef with this title, including the Fraction/Brubaker issues: Danny does seem a little weak -- not in terms of powers, but in terms of will. Danny doesn't seem to take charge of his own book. In the very first arc, he played second fiddle to Orson Randall. And in the next arc, he played second, third, fourth, and fifth fiddle to the tournament, K'un-Lun politics, and the magnetic train plot. He seems to assume the role of junior partner whenever Luke Cage is around and he lets Misty call all the shots in their relationship. He doesn't even run his own company!

I think, for a protagonist to be truly compelling, he or she has to drive the story. Danny hasn't really done that yet. He's had some moments, to be sure. But, for the most part, he seems to let things happen to him. That holds true for Immortal Iron Fist #17. If this continues, I'll probably stop buying this title with the resolution of this arc. However, if Swierczynski can turn this around and make Danny a force to be reckoned with... ? This book will truly be immortal.

(By the way, Foreman's art? Makes me miss David Aja. It's not bad, but I looooved David Aja's work.)