Forging an Immortal Weapon

IMMORTAL WEAPONS preview art by Khari Evans

By Kevin Mahadeo

The old adage "beautiful but deadly" pretty much wholly sums up the mindset of writer Duane Swierczynski-at least when it comes to forging one of the most dangerous weapons in the Marvel Universe, the mysterious and powerful Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, whose origins finally get unleashed on the world in this week's IMMORTAL WEAPONS #4, on sale November 4.

"This is a proper origin story, so readers will see why Tiger's Beautiful Daughter wears that shiny mask," teases Swierczynski. "You'll learn that if you call her 'beautiful,' she may punch you in the face. Finally, you'll meet the ever-elusive Tiger. And Tiger may not be what you expect."

The issue continues the line of separate but thematically interconnected one-shots exploring the beginnings of the Immortal Weapons, central players in the Iron Fist mythos. Tiger's Beautiful Daughter, whose aforementioned metallic mask obscures the majority of her face, gets the spotlight this issue and Swierczynski readily admits his attraction to the enigmatic character.

"Her mystery is what appeals to me," confesses the writer. "She's the ultimate woman behind the mask. That and she's smoking hot."

Although the character lost her first match during the Seven Capital Cities tournament showcased in issues of IMMORTAL IRON FIST, she more than

IMMORTAL WEAPONS preview art by Khari Evans

proved her warrior prowess through skill and mastery over her own personal weapons: a pair of steel fans sharpened to a razor's edge. Her fighting abilities easily make her one of the best fighters in the Marvel Universe, however, Swierczynski says her most dangerous ability brings new meaning to the saying "if looks could kill."

"She's relentless. She's inventive. She's fierce. But let me quote one of her enemies: 'There is no more fearsome an adversary as one with a beautiful face.' In other words, you may be too busy gawking to notice she's ripped out your spleen."

When it comes to those martial arts moments, Swierczynski says he often approaches fight scenes the same way in both his comic work and in his novels: by coming up with things people haven't seen before. For example, Swierczynski says that rather than shoot a character in the head, he might strangle them with dental floss. The writer previously displayed his inventiveness with Tiger's Beautiful Daughter when she broke a spear in two-with her teeth.

As for the combat abilities of Swierczynski himself, the writer cops to taking only one class of Tae Kwon Do during his younger days, but claims a role-playing level of fondness toward martial arts cinema.

IMMORTAL WEAPONS preview art by Khari Evans

"I wish I had a cool story like, 'I accidentally killed my instructor with my very first blow,' but the truth was, I was more interested in music and books," he recalls. "I watched a ton of Saturday afternoon Kung Fu flicks growing up, as well as David Carradine in 'Kung Fu.' There's a photo of me as a kid pretending to be a young Kwai Chang Caine, posed next to my toy box. I'm shirtless, I'm skinny and I look like I'm ready to get my ass kicked."

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