When I first saw this in my stack I thought to myself “Wow, the past month must have went by really fast” because I could have sworn I just read Iron Fist. Turns out I was right and wrong, I did just read Iron Fist but the month hadn’t gone by fast. Normally when an issue takes a look at a past Iron Fist there is some type of indication on the title by way of a sub-heading to the title, but #24 lacked that which probably helped throw me for a loop.

I’ve been enjoying Swierczynski’s current arc more than his first one, but the one thing that continues to keep it from being an elite book for me is the art. Granted I think Foreman’s pencils have improved since the run started, but they pale in comparison to Kano’s outstanding performance here. This book was an absolute beauty, and I would love to see Kano take on Iron Fist full time.

The writing is almost as good as the art which is totally not a knock against Swierczynski’s work here. In fact, I think his writing is here is better than it has been on some of his previous issues of Iron Fist. From the start he is able to make me care about a character I’ve never encountered before and that early success makes the rest of the issue where we see Li grow into his own work perfectly. Who would have thought a story about an Iron Fist who doesn’t want to get his hands dirty could be so much fun to read. Li Park is a different kind of Iron Fist and hopefully one we get to see more of in the future.

Since Fraction and Brubaker first relaunched Immortal Iron Fist these types of issues have been hit or miss, but issue #24 is definitely a hit perhaps even the very best of these types of back stories.