IMMORTAL IRON FISTS / JAMES BOND 007 – KILL CHAIN [Reviews]: Dangerously Dapper.

Spinning out of the Iron Fist: The Living Weapon maxi-series, we catch up with Danny Rand as he continues with one of the hardest challenges of his life. The outsider who beat the odds to become The Living Weapon, is now trying to help raise a Teenage Girl. Eeeeeeek!! Pei (that’s ‘Pay’ for those of you who read your comics out-loud) is a high school freshmen who’s having some issues dealing with modern society. She only knows of life in the magical city of K’un-Lun and is having a bit of a transitional phase that isn’t going too well. You think having to deal with monks teaching you deadly arts or dealing with dragons or ninja trying to kill you is hard? You think being the youngest person to ever bear the mark of the Iron Fist is challenging? You’ve never had to deal with teens during puberty. Mean girls, bullies, and teen angst filled drama makes plunging your fist into the heart of a dragon seem like a cake walk.

Kaare (Spider-Man Reign) Andrews is an artist’s artist who this go-around is writing this fast paced fun fish out of water tale that should be welcome to any “Young Adult” reader– and those who are still young at heart. With art by AFU (Spera) Chan and colors by Shelly Chen, this book looks nothing like any other currently being published by Marvel; a fun, fluid, expressive style that is as reader friendly as it is distinct. AFU is a welcomed breath of fresh air.

Exclusively available on Comixology in digital first. Six issues, bi-weekly, and off to a fantastic start. 4/5 Glowing Fists That Go Boom!

-Sean Farrell

Okay, this book is cool; but it is hardly “Ian Fleming’s” James Bond. Let me explain myself: Ian Fleming’s James Bond was a different beast to the one largely depicted in the movies. The James Bond films featuring Connery, Moore, and Brosnan have all proven popular — and even I rate a few of them as fun movies in their own right — but they hardly reflected the cold, steely-eyed, ex-SAS assassin burnout that Fleming wrote of. Even with the portrayals of Lazenby, Dalton and Craig being closer to the mark, none could be said to be truly Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Each one lacks something vital even still, something made up for by explosions and chases -– like with the rest of the films. I would have thought that the “Ian Fleming’s 007” brand would mean exactly that, and give us the James Bond of the novels. Instead, what we have here is what appears to be Andy Diggle‘s love letter to the late 80’s Bond film, The Living Daylights – and also, like, one scene from Goldeneye.

Not that there’s anything necessarily bad about this. The reknown Green Arrow writer pays tribute to the excesses of 80’s and 90’s Bond films in a pretty good pitch in and of itself. I’d read that. Throw in the noir-ish cinematic art from returning 007 artist Luca Casalanguida, and a pair of antagonists straight out of both the Cold War, and the extremified 90’s — and this book is an exciting read. Brimming with action and light on the exposition, this first issue of Ian Fleming’s 007: Kill Chain is the action film I wasn’t expecting to read. 3.5/5 New Testaments & Apocrypha.

-Luke Anderson

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