It's no secret--both Swierczynski and Foreman have huge shoes to fill. Brubaker/Fraction and Aja's sixteen issue run was a blockbuster. But, almost predictably, three issues into a four issue arc, it doesn't feel like this new team's shoes are as snug as they should be.
The premise of "The Mortal Iron Fist," set up earlier by the original creative team, is great kung-fu pulp-type stuff and a nice, light breather arc after the epic "Seven Capital Cities of Heaven." But so far it's been handled with minimal flair.
Foreman's gritty, grimy style is about as far away from Aja's clean, precise lines as you can get and the contrast is not pleasing. It's gotten better since issue seventeen, but Foreman would be better suited to a book like Ghost Rider. Issue 19 is full of dark, bloated lines and there are a few panels with close-ups that are flat-out ugly.
Swierczynski's efforts are more consistent with what we've been reading in Iron Fist than what we've been looking at. The biggest flaw, apparent in issue nineteen, is pacing. We pick up where eighteen left off and there's a confrontation that ends with Cheng (Iron Fist Killer) fleeing, but by the end of the issue he's already back, inside Rand Headquarters no less, ready continue his mission to rip out Danny's heart despite being whooped by Fat Cobra. It felt like Cheng showed up because Swierczynski realized "Oh shit, we've only got one issue to wrap this up!"
There was a cool idea when Cheng, instead of predictably having Danny's students attack him, Cheng turned the kids against each other, but the fight failed to deliver due to the black-laden art. And that kinda sums up this latest Iron Fist run: good ideas, some decently executed panels, but overall a poor experience. I hardly blame Swierczynski and Foreman though, I can't say I dislike either (I would love to see Foreman on Ghost Rider), but Iron Fist is not the book for them.
Story: 2 - Average
Art: 2 - Average
