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Comics, like television and other media, follows trends.
Sometimes comics have been there at the beginning, but most often,
comics have followed. These days it's the "revamping" trend, and the
"hyper-realism" trend. There's even on comic based on the idea of a
competitive reality show.
Back in the 1970s, there were several trends that comics jumped
aboard, but I'm only dealing with a character who came out of the
martial arts craze that swept popular culture, then.
The popularity of Bruce Lee made it inevitable that there would
be martial arts super-heroes showing up in comics. DC had Richard
Dragon, Marvel had Shang-Chi:Master of Kung Fu, and Iron Fist.
It is the latter, I am concerned with, today. Iron Fist is
Daniel Rand, the son of wealthy businessman, Wendell Rand, who was the
eldest son of the ruler of the fabled city of K'un-L'un. K'un-L'un
exists in a parallel universe with periodic contact with the Earth of
the Marvel Universe, through a portal that opens once every ten years.
Wendell Rand-Kai, as he was known there, was driven out of the city
and through the portal to Earth, by his younger brother, who coveted
their father's throne, as well as Shakirah, the women Wendell loved.
Wendell found refuge on Earth and became a successful
businessman in the United States, where he met and Daniel's mother,
Heather. When Daniel was nine, he traveled to Tibet with his parents
and Wendell's business partner, Harold Meachum.
On a treacherous mountain passage, Daniel fell and dragged his
mother and father over the side with him. Daniel and his mother landed
on a ledge, but Wendell hung precariously over a sheer drop. Wendell
called to Meachum for help, but Meachum caused him to lose his grip,
falling to his death. Meachum offered to help Heather and Daniel, but
Heather refused and tried to make it back to camp with her son.
Sometime later, pursued by wolves, they came upon a long suspension
bridge over a deep chasm. Heather fought the wolves while Daniel ran
across the bridge.
Safely across, Daniel was alone in the wilderness for awhile,
until he was found by an expedition from K'un-L'un. They took the boy
back to the city with them and presented him to Yu-Ti, Wendell's
brother and usurper of the throne of K'un-L'un. Yu-Ti sent Daniel to
train under the martial arts master, Lei Kung the Thunderer.
Rand's training was rigorous, and continued for ten years,
until he had earned the honor to fight the serpent Shou-Lao the
Undying for the power of the "Iron Fist". Daniel fought the beast
outside its cave, where it guarded a brazier containing its molten
heart. He grappled with the serpent and was burned on his chest with a
scar in the shape of a winged dragon (real likely, huh!). When he had
killed the dragon, Daniel entered the cave and plunged his hands into
the creature's molten heart, gaining the power of the "Iron Fist",
which enables him to focus his "chi", or life force to add power to
his blows.
Daniel Rand left K'un-L'un to seek revenge for his parents'
deaths on Harold Meachum. He turned from that revenge, at the end, and
assumed control of his family fortune.
For years, Daniel Rand fought crime as the super-hero Iron
Fist, partnering with Luke Cage, Power Man, in the Heroes for Hire
agency. Blah, blah, blah . . .
Danny has one of the coolest origins in comics. He has cool
powers, he has a damn cool mask and the dragon brand on his chest is
also cool. So, what the hell is he doing running around in this
thing????
Green and yellow. Ummm, OK. I like green, and with the right
shade of yellow, they can compliment each other reasonably well. What
I want to know is, who the hell thought is was cool for a super-hero
martial artist to run around in little yellow slippers??? I'm sorry,
but even if he's toughened the hell out of his feet by pounding them
on sand, gravel and rocks, the way he did his hands, it's still a good
idea to put on a little more foot covering that this!
So, I'm sitting here, working through the possibilities for new
costume designs. There's the traditional route, dip into Asian costume
designs, borrowing from ceremonial outfits and such. But...Daniel Rand
is a modern American, so why would he choose to dress in such an
impractical fashion?
What I came up with is based, as you can probably tell, on the
movie X-Men leather and neoprene style outfits, the same designs that
inspired the uniforms in The Ultimates. With modern materials, this
kind of suit can be made much lighter than one might think. Tough,
lightweight motorcycle boots offer protection and also add just a bit
more punishment to a kick.
Love that mask, though, no change, there. If I could just
figure out how to make one . . .
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