It’s Iron Fist’s 49th Anniversary!
To celebrate another year in the life of Marvel’s Living Weapon, we’re launching the first installment of The Immortal Interviews, a new series that revisits previous interviews conducted by writers from magazines or websites with former Iron Fist creators over the years.
I’ve always loved reading about what went on in the minds of writers, artists, and editors when they were working on an Iron Fist book. It’s like being physically there when the series was still being conceived whether in their minds, in their emails to one another, or in the meeting room.
“So why republish what’s already out there?” you may ask.
My goal is three-fold:
1. Preservation
I want these interviews to be available for everyone to read for so long as Iron Fist remains a character in the comics and beyond. Sometimes, websites remove certain material from their site and at other times, some of them cease to exist for whatever reason. Interviews with Immortal Iron Fist creators by Newsarama, for example, are no longer available ever since the site became part of Gamesradar.com.
In the case of magazines, they get old and tossed aside with very few people getting the chance to read about or revisit the amazing content hidden within its pages.
By republishing these interviews, they become “immortal” since this site is free and solely owned by me and will never be taken down (for as long as I can keep this going, at least).
2. Accessibility
Iron Fist fans have to scour the internet in order to find interviews of they’re favorite creators. By consolidating most, if not all, of them into one website, they can read or re-read these interviews as they recapture the magic of their most beloved stories. And there’s also a chance that a new Iron Fist fan who hasn’t read a particular series yet would want to read up on what these creators had in mind when they took on the assignment and what their initial plans for the series were.
3. Celebration
Lastly, I want The Immortal Interviews to celebrate the creators and their contribution to the Iron Fist lore. Their work on Iron Fist will ultimately be judged by the material they produced, but if the adage that the destination is not as important as the journey, then it’s necessary to look back at the creative process and celebrate these moments.
Just like you, I feel good when I read about the creators’ thinking process, their highs-and-lows at the time, and all the behind-the-scenes stories that produced the stories we’ve come to know and love. Even the ones we hate may not be as bad as we think after reading what the reason was behind a certain plot.
With these in mind, I’d like to share the first volume of The Immortal Interviews starting with this insightful exchange between Jesse Schedeen of IGN and The Immortal Iron Fist co-writer Matt Fraction, artist David Aja, and editor Warren Simons. This interview was originally published on Nov 9, 2007.
There’s also another interview with Immortal Iron Fist co-writer Ed Brubaker conducted by fellow writer Duane Swierczynski, who consequently took over the series for the original creators. The original interview ran in Crimespree #22 but was republished on Crimespreemag.com. I inserted the relevant part of the interview where it was appropriate.
Iron Fist was lost in comics limbo for some time during the early 2000s. He had enough of a fan base to support a mini-series, but not popular enough to sustain a regular series again like he did in the 70s. But with Brubaker dusting off Danny Rand and bringing him to the forefront of Marvel readers in the pages of Daredevil, the stage was set for Iron Fist to make a comeback.
Little did anyone know how huge that comeback was going to be.
After a few issues, The Immortal Iron Fist would become one of Marvel’s most popular titles, challenging some of the top comics in the industry. Iron Fist was becoming a household name to comic readers worldwide. I know because I live in the Philippines and I heard quite a number of my comic book buddies tell me that they became Iron Fist fans because of Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja.
To tell us more about the beginnings of the book and more, here are Fraction, Aja, series editor Warren Simons, Brubaker (from a separate interview), and IGN’s Schedeen.
IGN Comics: How did this new series come to be? What made Marvel decide that Iron Fist was capable of supporting his own book again?
Matt Fraction: What made the new Iron Fist book come to be was really Ed Brubaker. Deep down inside, for all of the neo-noir crime posturing and the “I killed Captain America and I write the X-Men” sales success, Ed’s entire career has been planned to allow him the chance to write Iron Fist. He was always a favorite [of] Ed’s and he’s really been wanting to write the character for years. He proposed it to Marvel, and it was really Ed’s belief that got the ball rolling. I don’t think anyone else believed it could support itself. It was originally planned to be a mini-series, but the response to those first few issues really surprised everyone.
Warren Simons: I also edit Daredevil, and had talked with Ed about characters that we might elevate out of Daredevil. He hit me up with a tremendous idea he had for Iron Fist, and with Danny Rand recently playing a key role in the pages of Daredevil, the timing came together. As DD fans will recall, Danny had taken on the guise of Daredevil while Matt Murdock was in Europe, and it was a great way to get Danny back on the map in the Marvel U. It also allowed Danny, as a character, to really take a look at what it meant to be the Iron Fist, and what his role was in the universe.
IGN Comics: Would the book have gone forward at all without Ed Brubaker’s initial pitch?
Simons: Well, I think that Iron Fist is a good enough character to support a book, but it obviously would be a much [more different] incarnation than the current one.
IGN Comics: So Matt, what was it that got you involved with the book if it was really Ed Brubaker’s project from day one?
Fraction: Again, it was Ed. Between Criminal, Uncanny X-Men, Captain America, and Daredevil, he had a pretty full plate. He really wanted to write the book but wasn’t going to be able to take it on full time, so he started looking for a co-writer. That’s when he thought of me. That was great. We’re friends and we get along quite famously. I was extra-eager for the opportunity.
IGN Comics: Has it made the job easier to have both of you working together on each script? How about for you Warren?
Fraction: Oh, absolutely. It was sort of a crash course for me in how to write comics the Marvel way. Ed is someone who can take over the heavy-lifting whenever he’s needed. At the same time, when Captain America died he was pressed for two weeks straight. He couldn’t do anything because the media attention was so huge. I was able to take over scripting on Iron Fist for that period. I think it helped him shift the workload some, and then everyone was happy.
Simons: Matt is a great guy, and Ed is… well, Ed is a decent man, certainly, at the very least, a generally pleasant individual. So, this has combined to form an above-average freelancer. And in this business, I’ll take it! No, all joking aside, the guys have been tremendous to work with. I think Ed and Matt have had a really successful collaboration [thus] far, and while I am fairly certain that this book has come close to killing me on at least three separate occasions, that’s simply because we have a lot of moving pieces.
Ed has watched Matt’s back, Matt has watched Ed’s back, and it’s been a lot of fun to get on the phone with the guys and talk about where things are headed. And the scripts have been great. We’ve had some nice reviews, and fans seem to really dig the book, and with all the claws to pop and webs to thwip up here, the book seems to be settling into a nice karate groove of its own. I know that once Sean Ryan gets on board, the sky’s the limit.
This next part is Brubaker’s answer to fellow writer Duane Swierczynski’s question on what it’s like to collaborate with other writers. – I Am Iron Fist
Brubaker: With Iron Fist, it’s a different ballgame. Me and Matt talk about the overall storyline, which I’m sort of steering, like I’ll say, “when he goes back to K’un-Lun, we’ll find out there are six other mystical cities like this with their own champions, and we’ll stage the whole arc around a huge Kung Fu tournament.” And then Matt actually comes up with the names and ideas for the champions and the new cities, and sends those to me for feedback. Then we hammer out a plot for the issue, Matt writes the rough draft of the script and I edit and rewrite and tweak. Then when the book is drawn and lettered, we each go over and rewrite little things here and there, because often our artists drawn something that makes our writing superfluous. So we cut it, or change it. It’s much more a fluid beast, Iron Fist. We’re actually going to be doing the next batch of issues more “Gotham Central” style, though, just to try it out, and because I want to write more scenes on my own in the book. Often on Iron Fist I feel like an additional editor as much as a writer, and that’s kind of weird.
Back to the IGN interview – IIAF
IGN Comics: David, how were you selected as the main artist for the series?
David Aja: That is a good question. I ask it to myself over and over again.
Simons: I can’t say enough good things about David Aja. After having the Spanish secret police blackmail and threaten him, he was kind enough to accept the assignment. Really a great guy. He sent a sample piece to me when I was editing four issues of X-Men Unlimited a few years back. After I saw that, I knew that I had to keep Mr. Aja as busy as possible [producing] as many beautiful pages as possible for us as he could. And as with Aja, I line up all of the artists for the book, which is easy when I am lucky enough to have them say yes. Not all require blackmail, intimidation, and the secret police, which is usually how I like to run the books. A lot of the time, Ed and Matt and I will kick around suggestions, but I’ve been very grateful and lucky to work with some tremendous talents. I love working with a guy that Roy Lichtenstein aped. Russ Heath, John Severin, Sal Buscema, Tom Palmer, Matt Hollingsworth — sometimes my job is easy.
IGN Comics: David, are there any unique challenges working on a series that not only has two writers, but typically one or two guest artists each issue?
Aja: It means that I have to argue with one more guy than I would usually [laughs]. I think I could not say enough how much I love Matt and Ed. I think they really complement each other. They always listen to my ideas, discuss them, compliment me when I send a page, or demand more of me when it is necessary. I love to work with them, and I think they are doing terrific work on Iron Fist.
About the artists, I designed some Iron Fists for the past, and it was great to see what Travel Foreman did with them. You know, I just did some studies and then I could see them full of life with the job that Travel did. And not to mention I have been in the same book with John Severin, Russ Heath, Sal Buscema [and] Tom Palmer, I still cannot believe it – props to Warren to get the masters.
And if we talk about art I also would like to mention how important Matt Hollingsworth is to the book. He [understands] color as narrative, he knows how to play with color composition. Hell, he is the best.
IGN Comics: Matt, as a writer, what would you say makes Danny Rand tick?
Fraction: He’s sort of a stranger in two worlds. He has a constant need, not so much to fit in, but to simply live wherever he is, whether he’s serving as the heir of the Iron Fist legacy in K’un Lun, or as a captain of industry in the regular world. Iron Fist exists in both of those worlds. He’s both K’un Lun’s hero and a hero to the people of Earth at the same time. I think, ultimately, the desire to be who he is is what keeps him moving forward. I’m hoping the series will continue to explore who Danny is as a businessman just as much as it does his role as a hero. They’re two sides of the same coin, really.
IGN Comics: What separates Iron Fist from the other martial artist superheroes out there?
Matt Fraction: Are there any other martial artist superheroes out there?
IGN Comics: Well, I’d argue that characters like Daredevil and Batman would qualify. I’ve heard you call Iron Fist the “kung-fu billionaire,” but isn’t Batman also a kung-fu billionaire to a certain extent?
Fraction: No, Batman isn’t “kung-fu billionaire” in my opinion. It sort of depends who’s writing it, I guess. There’s very little darkness in Danny. There’s certainly a degree of alienation, and a “fish out of water/stranger in a strange land” element to him. Compare that to Batman, who’s absolutely wracked and tortured by the death of his parents and can’t grow beyond where he was as a nine-year-old boy. Danny connects with a love of life that a lot of the more dark superheroes don’t have. I think if you’re going to wear green tights and gold booties you need a certain sense of je nais se quas.
IGN Comics: How are you approaching all of the back-story associated with Iron Fist? So far it seems like, as much as the new series is dealing with the Iron Fist legacy, you don’t need to have read the older stories to really appreciate it.
Fraction: Yeah, and that’s the goal. He’s always been an awesome character, and there are tons of things to love about him. The best you can do is remind everybody of that. Our goal is to scrape the dust off, polish him up, and remind everyone why they loved him in the first place. I think there may be some sort of selective memory going on where things that worked in the ’70s don’t work so well today. I don’t want to say we’re trying to negate things, but we’re trying to tell our own story in our own way, hopefully making the character acceptable for a modern audience along the way.
IGN Comics: Where do you strike a balance between appealing to new readers and pleasing older fans?
Simons: I don’t think that one is mutually exclusive from the other. I’m confident that fans are attracted to quality, excellent art, a great story, and creators who are passionate about the material they’re working on. Matt, Ed and David really have a love for Danny, Davos, Barko the Dog and Orson, and I think that’s a recipe for success.
IGN Comics: Was the updated costume meant to be part of this modernized take?
Fraction: We knew immediately we needed to move away from the disco superstar look that he’s been known to have. The costume was the subject of a lot of e-mails between the creative team.
Simons: I know that David felt that it was something that a guy might wear to Studio 54 in 1977, so he wanted to tweak it a bit. It’s an iconic costume, so I love the update, but I understand why other artists like the open-chested look. As Matt likes to say, Danny does have great pecs.
Aja: As much as I loved his original costume and the ’70s, I thought Danny needed an update. Ed and I suggested first to change the slippers to boots. They didn’t have to be heavy boots, like the kind Cap wears, for example, so I went with some kind of ninja boots. I thought that [the] weather in New York is not especially good for showing your chest, and I found the collar a little uncomfortable for [hand-to-hand] combat. Also, the collar made the character less dynamic, and I also made the mask and belt strips longer, for using them as kinetic lines, visually.
The change to the collar was not approved at first so I had to destroy his costume in issue one [laughs]. Well, I think it fits better for an urban hero. Otherwise, on the second arc, you won’t see his spandex costume, at least by now. As we are now in a martial arts tournament, I think it wouldn’t fit, so by now Danny is wearing more classic Asian attire.
IGN Comics: Does it ever bother you that the new costume never seems to show up in other books like New Avengers?
Aja: Bother me? No, at all. It is just an artistic choice. At least in my case I have to draw characters the way I feel comfortable doing them.
IGN Comics: What are your thoughts on the Power Man/Iron Fist dynamic?
Fraction: I like it a lot, especially now that they’re kind of grown up. As Iron Fist goes on we’re going to see him and Luke interact more and more. We’re going to see a lot concerning where they’ve come from, both as friends and as heroes. Luke is married and has a kid, and Danny is a captain of industry now, so it’s interesting to see the two of them as adults as opposed to how we remember them from their younger, more reckless days. But I love it. I think there’s a great dynamic between the two of them. I really love writing the classic Heroes for Hire crew. I love to see them on the page.
IGN Comics: As the series goes forward are we going to continue to see standalone flashback issues breaking up each longer arc?
Fraction: That’s the plan for now, yeah. There’s another one that’s already been written. I’m not sure where it’s going to fall in the timeline exactly. These single issues allow David a bit of a breather and allow us to explore the Iron Fist legacy in a way that the arcs don’t really allow.
IGN Comics: What level of collaboration is there between this series and the other books Iron Fist appears in, particularly with Brian Michael Bendis and New Avengers?
Simons: The great Tom Brevoort keeps us in the loop on Danny’s appearance in the book, and I gotta say, I think Danny’s been a great member of the New Avengers. I’ve really enjoyed Brian and Leinil’s issues, and the Danielle bit with Cage and Danny was great.
But to answer your question, yes and no. It’s not like we have a spreadsheet that everyone goes through and plots out a character’s appearances. But everyone’s aware of what’s going on, and we give each other a head’s up or say “Hey, I want to use this character for this story. Is that cool?” We’re all very communicative and it’s a very fun process done in the spirit of sharing and collaboration. It’s like there’s a workshop bench with different tools and everyone’s always reaching across the table to play with new tools. It’s not a terribly formal arrangement, but everyone communicates back and forth.
IGN Comics: Matt, you’re known to get together online with Bendis and a few others and play Halo…
Fraction: It’s all about Call of Duty 4 now. Everyone’s really excited for that one.
IGN Comics: Do you ever actually sit down with Ed and hammer out story details as you’re shooting each other in the face in Halo 3 or some other game?
Fraction: That’s actually how Ed and I really got started. We do that very often. It started off with ping pong and gradually got more and more aggressive. As a matter of fact, we were doing that just the other day. There’s an Iron Fist special coming up, and I wanted to make sure that I remembered all the details. No one else knows this stuff as well as me and Ed. As great of an editor as Warren is, there are hours of conversation that we haven’t had but Ed and I have. It’s nice to have someone else who can communicate in the same style of shorthand that we share. But yeah, just last week we were playing Halo 3 and ironing out the details for this special coming up.
IGN Comics: This special is something different from the annual issue that just came out?
Fraction: Yes, it’s a free-standing story about the Golden Age Iron Fist and the Prince of Orphans character we’re going to be seeing in the main series. It reveals a long-running history between the two characters. The special allows us to revisit Orson Randall and how he first met the Prince of Orphans.
IGN Comics: Sounds great. I’m looking forward to more work from all three of you. Thanks, guys.
Fraction: Anytime, Jesse.
Aja: Thanks.
Simon: Thanks a ton!
This takes us to the end of the interview but we continue to celebrate Iron Fist’s anniversary in our social media accounts from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter. Hope to see you there! – I Am Iron Fist
I AM IRON FIST 