Escape from the Eighth City is a familiar warrior-prisoner story, predictable, but never rote, that benefits from well-executed storytelling and pitch-perfect art. To put a label on it, EftEC seems like Planet Hulk meets DOOM meets Mortal Kombat, and, I swear to God, I mean that as a compliment.

This first chapter of the new arc of Iron Fist is everything you can ask of an opening act. The world is lucidly created, with the rules and mission of the story made clear, and the characters are established enough that we're invested in them before they join the ruckus. The background story is nothing fancy, but entirely believable, and does an efficient job of saying "We need you to go to Hell. It's going to be a bitch."

Travel Foreman's pencils do a good job of giving the scenes both a darkness and severity without giving in completely to the Muddy Marvel school. The world that Foreman creates is exactly what the story requires, and it's no small reason why the whole thing works so well. The city is an amalgam of classic fire and brimstone and a stock imperial, Kung Fu tournament city. Though backgrounds are minimal, the tenor is maintained by well-executed character(monster) designs.

The one issue that I had with the art, and it's a significant one, is that this doesn't look like our Danny Rand. I know that he's supposed to have been through a LOT recently, even before he landed in hell, but I just feel like I'm watching a 50 year old version of Danny, not a beaten-down 33 year old version.