When I read about this, all I could think of was “awwwww crap. I don’t want to see Iron Fist in THUNDERBOLTS – I wanna see him in HIS OWN BOOK!” And I’ll tell ya, I’d like to think I wasn’t the only one who had that reaction. Marvel had something truly special with THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST, and as much as I realize that newer monthlies have a much shorter shelf life these days, it doesn’t seem worth it to me that, from the looks of things, Marvel seems willing to let this one go on the gamble that at least SOME readers will follow Danny Rand over to a comic that has, by and large, been rendered redundant by DARK AVENGERS. Sigh, and sigh AGAIN.

I think in this day and age, we as entertainment consumers in general have to accept that not everything we enjoy is going to last as long as we might like. So as much as some of us might’ve liked to have had Dan Slott on SHE-HULK even to this day, it’s better that we had him for as long as we did get, instead of not at all…

…but while we should be grateful for those comics that grace our shelves for just a little while, that doesn’t mean we can’t give a shout-out for those that deserve to be around just a wee bit longer than they will. For example, what about BOOM STUDIO’s THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK? This one’s only getting four issues, and if you’re a fan of the old TV show like I was, and have read either of the first two, you’re probably thinking the same thing I am: just FOUR?! Can’t we at least get twelve? SUPERMAN: BIRTHRIGHT got twelve issues, and that story DOESN’T EVEN COUNT!

Marvel has provided us with a 6-page preview of the Iron Fist special shippnig this Wednesday
WRITER: MATT FRACTION
ART: MIKE AND LAURA ALLRED, NICK DRAGOTTA, RUSS HEATH, LEWIS LaROSA, STEFANO GAUDIANO, MATT HOLLINGSWORTH AND MITCH BREITWEISER
PUBLISHER: MARVEL COMICS
Mothers, lock up your daughters when we revisit the continuing adventures of that dashing rogue, Orson Randall, the Golden [...]

In spending a great deal of time and effort delving into the history of the Iron Fist line, the creative team have established the potential for a number of interesting one-shots or specials, of which ‘Orson Randall and the Green Mist of Death’ is one. Now, I’m not usually too sure about these one-shots or Annuals; sometimes these can come across as just ways to make extra money, and often the original creative teams aren’t even involved. However, in this instance, the history is so rich, and the writing is so strong (Fraction here takes on the solo scripting chores for this issue), you are almost guaranteed an enjoyable adventure. The story doesn’t tie too heavily into current events, meaning that you don’t need to read this to enjoy the on-going story. It does, however, promise to provide an explanation for the cliff-hanger of # 12, in which the Prince of Orphans, fighting against K’un Lun and the Iron Fist in a tournament of the Heavenly Cities, announces his allegiance to the revolution being engineered by Lei Kung the Thunderer.