Iron Fist and Okoye have lost their chi, and now they have to face the Ghost Dragon. This could be bad. Your Major Spoilers review of Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #6 from Marvel Comics awaits!
IRON FIST: HEART OF THE DRAGON #6
Writer: Larry Hama
Artist: Dave Wachter
Colorist: Neeraj Menon
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Editor: Jake Thomas
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 2, 2021
Previously in Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon: The end of Heaven?
The dragons have fallen. A champion rises.
An ending…and a new beginning?
ONE MORE DRAGON HEART
As we open, the Immortal Weapons, Luke Cage and Okoye are facing the Ghost Dragon, trying without success to penetrate it’s scales. Okoye almost makes it through, but their combined power just isn’t enough. That’s when they realize that there’s still one dragon left: The cute little baby called Gork. Iron Fist convinces Gork and his friend Mei to sacrifice his chi to power their final strike, but in defeating the Ghost Dragon, they’re left to face the Heirophant. With all the Dragon Chi at her disposal, Okoye is almost powerful enough to take him on… and then Danny gives her the power of the Iron Fist. The daughter of Wakanda faces him down, and the assembled warriors see the battle end in a massive explosion of power.
WAIT, WHAT?
As the issue ends, Daniel Rand has given up the power of the Iron Fist, which has been imbued in an egg that carries the essence of Gork the Dragon, awaiting his rebirth, but… I’m not sure why we spent six issues getting rid of the title character’s powers, but I have to admit, I enjoy Hama’s character interactions greatly. Luke Cage is especially fun, getting in a “Christmas” after being bitten by a dragon, and Hieorphant’s co-conspirator (whose name is, hilariously, Brenda) has a moment of screaming, crazy villain monologue that is wonderful, especially as it ends, with the Immortal Weapons in silence… until Dog Brother #1 offers to cute off her head. Wachter’s art is interesting, providing a rough-edged take on kung-fu battles that helps to emphasize the alien nature of the setting and the dragons involved. When Okoye gets a dragon tattoo across her face, that mirrors Danny’s chest markings, I actually smiled, as it’s a great detail that might have been left out by another artist.
BOTTOM LINE: WHAT A STRANGE ENDING!
In short, Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon #6 is a bit of a puzzle, featuring strong art but a plot that confuses me, assembling a fun cast that has entertaining interactions but ending everything with a moment that I just don’t understand, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. The power of the art overcomes at least some of the issues I had with the story, but I am wondering what comes next for the artist formerly known as Iron Fist.
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IRON FIST: HEART OF THE DRAGON #6
Though this is presented as an Iron Fist story, it's an ensemble cast focused on Okoye of the Dora Milaje, ending with Danny Rand losing his powers. Hama's character work is wonderful, but the plotting perplexes me.
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Writing6
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Art7
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Coloring7
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3 Comments
Expected more from Larry Hama. Very disappointed with Danny relinquishing the Iron Fist, and with Okoye being, more or less, the hero of the story.
This is just setting up the MCU. They have come out said they didn’t like the actor in the Netflix series and wanted to recast that. So maybe someone else takes the helm of the Iron Fist. I would have thought it would go to an Asian, but hey who knows, I wouldn’t rule out an African American female either, so maybe Okoye is the new Iron Fist for the MCU movies?
I love iron fist, but im kinderen done with writers making look like he is bad at what he does… He had more training than almost any other mu character and defeated a friggin dragon to get his powers. Imo the ending freaking sucked