 |
Black and white
preview art by
Kano |
By Tim Stevens
Readers of IMMORTAL IRON FIST have seen a great variety of individuals wear the Iron Fist moniker. There has been a mid 19th Century Chinese welder, an American drug addict in the early 20th Century, and a child in the far flung future, to name a few. With issue #24, written by Duane Swierczynski and drawn by Kano, there comes an Iron Fist unlike any other; an Iron Fist with a personal commitment not to hit anything. That man, Park Li, has embraced pacifism as his way of life.
"It's his worldview," explains Swierczynski. "He prefers a life of art and beauty to a life of violence and hand-to-hand combat."
Of course, a man dedicated to non-violence cannot possibly fare well when trying to defeat a rampaging dragon. Therefore, the subject of how he could become the Iron Fist bears asking.
 |
Black and white
preview art by
Kano |
"That's an excellent question," agrees the writer. "Somehow I don't think strumming a guitar and singing 'Kumbaya' will do the trick. Guess we'll have to check in with Park Li and see what he comes up with."
Creatively, Park Li came to be because of a small joke between the editors of the book and Swierczynski.
"It was one of those things that I originally mentioned to editor Warren Simons as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense," he recalls.
At that point, there became no stopping the brainstorming.
"There were many happy surprises," Swierczynski continues. "I was batting the plot around with Warren and with IRON FIST assistant editor Alejandro Arbona and it was Alejandro who came up with a neat little twist which explains a fun little piece of the Iron Fist legacy, the piece that has to do with the funky floating purple bubbles—you'll see."
With the ideas in place, it became time to find an artist to make the script a four-color reality. The search did not take long as Kano, a contributor IMMORTAL IRON FIST during the "Seven Capital Cities of Heaven" epic, proved available and an excellent fit.
 |
Black and white
preview art by
Kano |
"Kano brought his stunningly versatility," praises Swierczynski. "He can serve up eye-popping period detail one minute, a touch of whimsy the next, and then a violent hyperkinetic action sequence right after that. I loved every page."
Kano's gift for action sequences will come in handy when Park Li inevitably finds himself drawn into a horrifying conflict that will test his stand on non-violence.
"Park—through a series of disastrous events in K'un-Lun during this time period—literally becomes the last best hope of his mystical city," reveals the writer. "The war is a real one: the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty. The death toll was estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 36 million, which is just astounding. And as we know from previous issues, fate seems to draw the Immortal Iron Fists to those kinds of violent conflicts—even Iron Fists who'd rather paint than fight."
Meet Park Li in IMMORTAL IRON FIST #24 on March 25. For more Iron Fist, head over to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.
Check out the official Marvel Shop for your favorite Marvel Heroes!
Download episodes of "X-Men: Evolution" now on iTunes!
