How I Became an Iron Fist Fan

There is no superhero from any publisher that I admire quite like Iron Fist. He was known as “the Living Weapon” before he eventually became known as “The Immortal Iron Fist.”

I didn’t realize immediately that Iron Fist was my favorite superhero, but I was hooked on the character from the very beginning.

I was eight years old when my cousin would let me read comics in his house and nine when my dad started buying me comics every time he came home from work on Fridays. I still remember how excited I would be whenever he arrived and I would ask if he had any comics for me. He would randomly buy me five comics and I would be poring over them and be done reading in a couple of hours.

This was in 1983 when I was starting my own collection and figuring out which comics and characters I wanted to follow. One thing I was sure of was that I loved superheroes.

One of the first comics my dad bought me was Iron Fist #3 (1st series), written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by John Byrne, my first exposure to the work of these two giants in the comic industry. From the very first page alone, I fell in love with Byrne’s artwork. It was so far ahead of all the other comics that I had seen previously. Claremont’s writing was also superior to the ones I had read before.

I was a fan of martial arts, in general, and kung-fu, in particular. I was a Bruce Lee fan from when I was seven or eight. I also loved ninjas, by the way. From ages 11 to 13, I studied karate, kickboxing, judo, and arnis because of my love for martial arts.

In Iron Fist, I had the best of both worlds. He was a superhero and a martial artist at the same time. What could be cooler than that?

This introduction to Iron Fist made me want to read more. Issue 3 of Iron Fist was right smack in the middle of “The Search for Colleen Wing” storyline and I was curious to find out how our hero would be able to rescue her from the clutches of Master Khan and Angar, the Screamer.

Eventually, I was able to visit the supermarket where my dad was buying all these comics from. It was there that I was able to find issues 6 and 7 from the racks! As I read the conclusion to the story arc, I found myself satisfied but wanting more at the same time!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any other issues of Iron Fist at that point. I only realized later on that these were random reprints of the original comics that were published in the U.S. In the Philippines, some comics were reprinted locally so that the stories could be easily accessible to kids like me.

After two years, my dad and mom thought it would be good for me to have my comics rented out so I could have extra money to buy more. I was saddened with the idea but it seemed like I didn’t have much of a choice then. Boy, was that a poor decision! I never saw my Iron Fist comics ever again after some folks borrowed them but never returned them anymore.

Later, I discovered that Iron Fist’s title was merged with that of another superhero’s, and was now titled Power Man and Iron Fist. Sadly, I wasn’t much of a fan of the series but I would just grab whatever issues I could get my hands on. The only ones I found were issues 96 and 97.

Back then, I didn’t know that the character was subconsciously and indelibly etched into my psyche as my favorite superhero. All I knew was that whenever Iron Fist was in a comic, I would buy it.

Fast forward to 1993 and I found out that he would guest star in three successive Spider-Man issues (41 to 43) with art by Jae Lee. I had admired Lee’s work before and I wanted to see how he would draw Iron Fist. As soon as the “Storm Warnings” storyline ended, I stopped buying the title altogether. I actually won a comics trivia contest with a couple of friends in college and one of the prizes I chose was a Marvel t-shirt with Lee’s cover art for Spider-Man #41!

I had an 11-year hiatus from comic collecting from 1995 to 2006. In 2007, I was pleased to know that there was going to be a new series for in what would soon be known as a modern classic: The Immortal Iron Fist by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja.

This was one series that I dared not miss! Reading each issue made me remember what I loved about the character in the first place and it deepened my connection to Danny Rand and his alter ego. When the entire Eisner Award-nominated series was over (it was canceled by issue 27), I was hooked into the character once again.

But there were no more Iron Fist comics to come and it took a while before he would find his way into a solo series again.

I never really thought of a favorite character before since I usually bought those that had good art and a good story. As much as I loved Iron Fist, I was also quite enamored by three other characters: Green Lantern, Flash and Batman. For a time, my wife thought that Batman was my favorite character. That was mostly because I was buying the best stories of the Dark Knight, but I wasn’t certain that she was right. I was more a fan of Green Lantern and Flash, actually. Yet even these two beloved characters never really clicked for me completely. I felt that the perfect connection was lacking.

In 2015, Iron Fist the Living Weapon by Kaare Andrews came out and I was like a kid again.

Then, two years ago, a friend posted Iron Fist #3 for sale! It was the first time in decades that I saw a copy of this issue and it brought back all the wonderful memories associated with it. I had the same sense of awe and wonder I had when I was a kid as I held the comic in my hands and I turned each page. That was when I realized that Iron Fist was my favorite character of all time, tracing it back all the way from my childhood in much the same way that I narrated my journey.

Iron Fist the Living Weapon was cancelled after 12 issues but a new Iron Fist series would be released by Marvel in 2017 with the creative team of writer Ed Brisson, artist Mike Perkins, and cover artist Jeff Dekal at the helm at the same time that Marvel’s Iron Fist aired on Netflix. I wrote a letter to Marvel Comics expressing how much I loved the new series and they printed my letter in issue 76! It was there that I boldly declared that I was the biggest Iron Fist fan in the Philippines. Haha!

Today, I collect anything and everything about the character and I look forward to owning the best Iron Fist collection in my country, and eventually in the world. Why? Because there’s nothing quite like being the best in something. I have the chance to be the Iron Fist fan with the most varied and most thorough collection there is.

Hope you continue following me as I write about the premier martial artist in the Marvel Universe and beyond!