Reimagining Iron Fist for Marvel’s 80th Anniversary Celebration Part 1

Marvel Comics is celebrating a milestone event with its 80th anniversary which started a day ago. Rather than a one-day celebration, Marvel is having a weeklong series of events and I decided that Iron Fist should be among its most involved participants.

I started a day earlier than Marvel which kicked off its anniversary festivities on Aug. 31, the day Marvel Comics #1 debuted eight decades ago. In one of the promos I joined on their Facebook page, participants were told to make a list of 80 Marvel characters and tell them how we were going to celebrate the event on our own.

The most creative answer will get a Marvel Comics box full of goodies! What’s inside? No one knows and the winner hasn’t been announced yet.

So I made my list and posted it along with a weeklong series of things I would do to promote Marvel’s 80 years. Later, I thought of doing a daily promo with my Iron Fist Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts, with this blog and the next one summarizing the seven days.

Here’s how I celebrated the first three days:

Day 1: 80 Iron Fist Characters and Promo Image

First, I created a promo image of Marvel’s 80 years logo merged with the best Iron Fist headshot ever, illustrated by the inimitable John Byrne.

Next, I made a list of 80 characters that were created within Iron Fist’s titles or were most influential to the mythology. Co-creators Roy Thomas and Gil Kane started it all in 1974 and others such as Len Wein, Larry Hama, Doug Moench, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja, Kaare Andrews, Ed Brisson and Mike Perkins have added to the character’s mythos.

Unlike coming up with a list of 80 Marvel characters, which was easy, it took me hours to list down characters who were unique to Iron Fist. Nevertheless, after much perseverance and research, I found my 80 characters!

1. Daniel Rand
2. Colleen Wing
3. Misty Knight
4. Wendell Rand
5. Heather Rand aka Silver Dragon
6. Miranda Rand aka Death Sting
7. Shakirah
8. Yu-Ti, the August Personage in Jade (Nu-an)
9. Lei Kung the Thunderer
10. Shou-Lou the Undying
11. The Ninja
12. Professor Lee Wing
13. Harold Meachum
14. Joy Meachum aka Death Sting
15. Ward Meachum
16. The Scythe
17. Jade the Firebird
18. Dhasha Khan
19. Bowman aka Lancelot
20. Princess Azir
21. Warhawk
22. Khumbala Bey
23. Detective Rafael Scarfe
24. Master Khan
25. Angar the Screamer
26. Jeryn Hogarth
27. Davos the Steel Serpent
28. Conal D’hu-Tsien
29. The H’ylthri
30. Ravager/Radion
31. Scimitar
32. Alan Cavenaugh
33. Chaka the crime lord
34. Sabretooth
35. Fera
36. Chiantang, the Black Dragon
37. Captain Hero aka Bobby Wright aka the Super-Skrull
38. Lord Tuan
39. Orson Randall
40. Bei Bang Wen
41. Wu Ao Shi
42. Dog Brother #1
43. John Aman, the Prince of Orphans
44. Fat Cobra
45. Tiger’s Beautiful Daughter
46. The Bride of Spiders
47. Mr. Xao
48. Zhou Cheng
49. Ch’i-Lin
50. Crane Mother
51. Kwai Jun-Fan
52. Quan Yaozu
53. Li Park
54. Bei Ming-Tian
55. Wah Sing-Rand, future Iron Fist and youngest at 9 years old
56. Vivatma Visvajit, the Indian version of Iron Fist
57. Ernst Erskine
58. Changming
59. Pei
60. Sparrow
61. Fooh
62. Brenda Swanson
63. The One
64. Zhu-Rong
65. Fan Fei
66. Fongji Wu
67. The Divine Wolf aka The One
68. The Rat of 12 Plagues
69. The Long-Armed Bull
70. The Eel of Blessed Waters
71. The Resourceful Snake
72. The Rabbit of Holy Flame
73. The Mountain-Slaying Bear
74. Choshin of the House of the Bull
75. Patience of the House of the Rabbit
76. Qi of the House of the Snake
77. Yue of the House of the Rat
78. Seng of the House of the Eel
79. Haichun of the House of the Bear
80. Shu-Hu of the House of the Wolf

Key Supporting Characters:

1. Luke Cage aka Power Man
2. Jessica Jones
3. Danielle Cage
4. Bob Diamond
5. Namor
6. Victor Alvarez aka Power Man II

Day 2: New Iron Fist Costume

I have a confession.

I’m not a fan of the Adidas-looking tracksuit that Danny is wearing now. Sorry, Kaare Andrews.

Though I liked the fact that Andrews’ original colors for the suit were black and yellow (a combination which I love but was rehashed later by others using dark gray or green in place of the black ), I disliked how it made him look like an ordinary jogger.

It works on the image below from Marvel: War of Heroes, though.

Yes, it’s an homage to Bruce Lee’s iconic yellow and black jumpsuit from his Game of Death movie, but the overall effect didn’t move me at all.

I’m an artist but drawing superheroes and the human anatomy is quite a challenge for me since I mostly paint inanimate objects. I can copy and draw humans and superheroes well to a certain extent, though.

Anyway, so rather than be frustrated with how I drew the character, I knew that the costume design should be my main focus.

I decided to redesign the costume using J. Scott Campbell’s sketch. I colored it using markers, then scanned and edited it a bit with Photoshop.

The design I wanted for a new suit is one that paid homage to the original while making it look modern. I didn’t want too much of a change as well. The colors are green, golden yellow and black, three hues that have been associated with Iron Fist for the better part of his existence.

Given the chance, I’d like Danny to wear an alternate suit with the colors switched up for a stealth operation, one where the greens are blacks and the blacks are green. I think it would look really cool!

Day 3: New Iron Fist Logo

I desperately want Marvel to give Iron Fist a new ongoing series with a new logo, which I hope they adopt for the comics. Taking inspiration from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Black Panther and Moon Knight logos, I designed this with their current aesthetic in mind along with the message I wanted to convey.

Additionally, it’s a design that’s virtually ready for an MCU movie, hopefully, one that will give justice to Danny in the way that the Netflix version did not.

The design is a modern take on the Iron Fist logo using the font Iceberg. It is a fusion of the old and the new, capturing the spirit of the hero who is a product of the 70s kung-fu craze and a present-day superhero tackling today’s challenges with a fiery fist and a staunch spirit.

The logo embodies the dynamic synergy of his eastern background and western lineage, with the cuts on the bold typeface, signifying how his experiences in K’un-Lun seamlessly merged and transformed his rich American poster boy persona.  

The original green is a callback to the original hue from when he was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, and the yellow gold color is a tribute to his New Avengers magic-protected, white and gold costume. The extrusion effect is also a nod to the first logo design.

These subtle juxtapositions are woven into the original design, resulting in a striking logo that pays homage to the past while embracing the present and unlocking the future of Iron Fist.

I have a few more design ideas, but I have a very limited amount of time. Hopefully, I can share them with all of you soon.

Next time, I’ll share with you Days 4 to 7 of my weeklong celebration of Marvel’s 80 years.

LIKE UNTO A THING OF IRON!👊