Iron Fist Epic Collection: The Fury of Iron Fist

Iron Fist, Epic Collection, The Fury of Iron Fist, collections from 1974 to 1977. It includes Marvel Premiere 15-25, Iron Fist 1-15, and Marvel Tema Up 62-63. Totals some odd 400 full-color pages.

Much of the continuous work is done by John Bryne, well known for his work on X-Men, Avengers, and later, his title, Next Men. There are a few other who's who of artists included in this volume including Gil Kane and Patrick Broderick,

These tales focus on Iron Fist origin and introduce many of the enemies and allies that would become main streams of the Marvel Universe, some of them taking on a much larger life than their initial introduction here would indicate.

Part of that is due to the author and writer combo of Chris Claremont and John Bryne. For example, when Sabertooth makes his introduction here for the first time in comics and appears in later volumes of Power Man & Iron Fist, few would suspect that Sabertooth would probably become more popular than Iron Fist himself (arguably) and have more appearances in X-Men comics.

For those unaware, Iron Fist is a martial art comic that took advantage of the martial art craze in the 70s. It was not the only comic to do so. There was also Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, and the black and white magazine, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, where Shang-Chi and Iron Fist met and battle.

Some of the other characters introduced in the series include the Daughters of the Dragon, Colleen Wing, and Misty Knight; the latter can be seen in Sam Wilson's new Captin America titles.

For villains that are introduced and updated at a later time, we have such favorites as the Steel Serpent and the already mentioned Sabertooth.

Many of the other villains, though, some off as one trick ponies such as Scimitar whose only made a handful of appearances in the 40 years since the comic came out.

There is a nice play off of the character's original motif through the original story. Iron Fist is not only a deadly warrior, but he gained his skills to avenge the death of his father and mother. They were both killed by a friend during a trip to the mystic city K'un L'un, and only Danny survives it.

Danny undergoes a series of trials and tribulations cumulating in fighting a dragon and gaining the dragons' 'heart' and becoming the Iron Fist! This is an ability that still hasn't been fully explored, but it's primary use? Danny can summon his 'Chi' into his fist and strike very hard with it.

He's also been known to heal, meld minds, fight off radiation poisoning, fight off magic attacks, and other little cat out of the bag tricks.

But Danny became the Iron Fist to kill a man. When he finally finds that person, a wealthy tycoon who's surrounded himself with death traps and unique individuals to destroy Iron Fist, he discovers that this old man has suffered the ravages of time, lost his mind, and even his legs.

Iron Fist cannot bring himself to take that vengeance so instead, a newcomer, the Ninja, not just a ninja mind you, but the Ninja, comes out and does it. This leads to the daughter of the man Iron Fist came to kill, thinking Iron Fist is the murderer and set up a long sequence of events where Iron Fist has to discover what the Ninja wants, how to convince others that he's not a murderer, etc...

In the 30+ issues, the reader gets in this volume, there's some solid groundwork laid for future authors and writers.

If you're excited by the Nextlix series, this is an excellent trade to add to your collection.

Master of Devils by Dave Gross

Master of Devils
Pathfinder Tales
Written by Dave Gross
400 pages
Published by Paizo

Master of Devils is the second book I've read by Dave Gross that takes place in the Pathfinder setting. The Pathfinder setting is high fantasy with a wide array of character types of various nationalities and racial origins. For those not in the know, it's based on a role-playing game with modified Dungeons and Dragons rules.

The heroes of the tale, Count Varian Jeggare and Radovan, tell their tale in first person prose, along with a little help from their dog. Count Varian Jeggare is half-human and half-elf. He has some swordplay skill and a bit of magic on his side, while his bodyguard, Radovan, is half human and half fiend. In game terms, a tiefling. He's a burly sort who goes in with the fists and the swords and the punching and the stabbing.

The fun thing about this novel, is it takes place in Tian Xia. This would be a 'Far East' style setting similiar to that used by the game system Legend of the Five Rings. The Count and his bodyguard are our "eyes" to this exotic local.

Initially, I was worried that Dave Gross was going overboard with the Kung Fu super names. For example, Radovan and his boss, Jeggare, become separated.

Radovan winds up trapped in his "devil" body. Much like Mike Mignola's Hellboy, Radovan has a 'normal' fiendish look and then there's the 'super fiend' look. In this intimidating form, Radovan winds up working with Burning Cloud Devil, who is out to avenge his dead wife, Spring Snow.

While on the opposite end, Jeggare winds up fleeing the Falcon Clan bandits and working with Jade Tiger.

At first, Dave was naming numerous kung fu attacks and stances and other bits common to such lore. But when the characters names themselves are up there with the other super hero sounding names, it can get confusing. Fortunately, most of the other characters have "normal" sounding names so it doesn't become too ridiculous.

In many ways, Master of Devils would make a great limited series anime. Radovan's training under Burning Cloud Devil is much like a "villain of the week" where Radovan continues to gain in knowledge and use his abilities to prepare for a 'boss' attack.

The parts where Jeggare comes in, also include a lot of training and exploration of the exotic, but more so on the subtle side. He trains in a monastery and undergoes numerous trials and tribulation as well as getting a glimpse of court life.

Even the dog and his adventures with Judge Fang and their gathering of animals and kami to fight the upheavals of Heaven itself provide entertainment.

Master of Devils doesn't go into a ton of setting detail. Radovan spends much of his time fighting and Jeggare is confined to his training while the dog is visiting odd spots. But what we do get provides a brief glimpse into things on this far away setting.  I hope that Paizo expands it with a "Tian Xia" anthology or something along those lines.

If you're looking for some light and fun popcorn reading, Master of Devils is fast paced and action packed.

The Grandmaster

I've seen a few lists floating around the old intranets talking about the top movies available to stream RIGHT NOW! One that hits a few times is The Grandmaster. So after running around this morning taking my mom to the doctor, picking up her prescriptions, prepping some chilli, and various other duties, I sat myself down and flipped Netflix on and stream the Grandmaster.

The movie is about IP Man, the teacher of Bruce Lee. In some ways, I'm kind of surprised that there have been so many movies on IP Man, and so many of them so entertaining. This movie though?

Fantastic.

The visuals in terms of the ambiance of the film are powerful. The scenery is its own character in this movie. It has its own style and makes itself felt throughout the entire movie.

Its action packed and yet has moments of reflection and advancement as its not covering one year or two years, rather, its covering a period of time from 1936 to the 50's. An era when China would be at War and not be victorious in those initial battles. An era where the simple life of a Kung Fu Master could be turned upside down.

This doesn't stop the personal moments from being more interesting than the bigger picture though. There's tragedy and potential, but the reality of the situation is what it is and the characters all continue to move through their paces.

It's not a happy movie. It's not a sad movie. It's a movie that in a short time brings a lot of elements of loss and triumpth to the theater and frames it all with kung fu battles that amaze in their performance.

If you have Netflix and were a fan of the old Kung Fu movies, let me know what you think!

In terms of gaming, there's a lot that could easily be lifted from here.

1. Schools: The country is broken up into North and South schools. This gives the people of each school a bit of a built in rivalry. It allows different martial arts to have themes to them while still retaining their own unique abilities.

2. Limited Impact: The greatest fighter of an a city, the greatest fighter of a country, the great kung fu master in the world, and well, when China falls to Japan, what good is it? It doesn't put food on the table. It doesn't stop the invasion. It doesn't stop friends and family from dying of starvation. The bigger picture, the larger scope of horror in an uncaring world, is felt handily against Ip Man who even when he moves to Hong Kong to build a better life, is cut off from his past life. And he's not the only one. In a scenario where the warriors of the party are truly outclassed, either by the scope of the threat or by the amount of threats there are, what is a warrior worth?

3. Limited Resources: When Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and becomes a teacher, he discovers that the competition is fierce. That people will challenge you for status, to save face, to have just one more taste of how things used to be in the old days. This pits him against specialist and grand masters who are, like him, striving to find their new way in this new world. Do all of them take to their new position with the same acceptance? Do some become skilled assassins? Do some become madmen and stalk the streets? Do some seek out challenges to the death in a bid to reclaim that lost glory?

4. Personal Loss: Despite the unimaginable loss of two of his daughters to starvation, and the loss of his wife to the isolation he faces in Hong Kong, Ip Man suffers another loss when one he could've loved loses her own way. It is despite these multiple wounds to his soul, to his very being, that the fact that he continues to teach, to strive forward, to bring his abilities to the common man, that make him such a figure.  In many ways, it reminded me of the 36 Chamber where bringing the skills to the common folk was a turning point. Perhaps all life is a circle?

5. The Ambiance: The movie opens up with Ip Man fighting a group of attackers in slick rain drenched streets in the dark. It's very atmospheric and while the rain doesn't make the sure footed martial artists slip, it does add to the intensity of the fight. In a further fight, two warriors face off against the backdrop of a moving train which acts like a zone of death as the two duel on a platform and the train roars past them, each trying to move the other into the train. Be aware of what the players see. What the players here. What the players feel. Is it raining? Snowing? Is it hot? Do birds take off like in a certain scene in Face Off? Is there a drop of a pin and then action?

The Grandmaster brings a lot of visuals to the screen and a lot of action in the fight scenes that do take place. Capture that energy and bring it to your table.

The passing of a Kung Fu Icon Run Run Shaw

Blogger apparently ate my post so this is a report.  Or a prepost? Anyway...
As reported by New York times, NPR, and other sources, the 106 year old media master, Run Run Shaw, has passed.

I'm not a film scholar. I grew up one of those dumb kids who was 'reached' by the 'Kung Fu' that Run Run Shaw brought over many times in many movies.

Some of my favorites are below. Things to remember though. One, is these were often done on a low budget. Two, they have a different perspective than most Westernized films. At least most of them. Three, they're from a different time and period.

Fists of Fury: I could just go, "Bruce Lee" and that would make it one of my favorite movies. But that's nonsense. As old as I am, I was born in 1971 so I was maybe 1 year old when this first came out. There are a ton of m'eh versions of this movie out in terms of transfer but I hear this one isn't too bad but if you're looking for a definitive version, I hear searching Amazon.UK is your better bet.

Fists of Fury is one of those simple movies where Bruce's character is told, "Honor your promise and don't fight" but hey, he discovers that his working environment is not what is seems and so must break his promise! This movie is over forty years old and it still brings the Wushu.


Five Fingers of Death: Also known as King Boxer. Another one from 1972. One of the 'fun' things about this movie is it's one of the first ones I remember with a 'secret' technique aka the Iron Fist or Iron Palm, depending on your translation. It's got a LOT of fighting and well, if Kung Fu is your thing...


Looking up his movies, I think I may be running into some directed by the sons but were ones that I enjoyed so I'm springing them up here.


The 36th Chamber of Shaolin: Thinking that the Shaolin Monks and the mystic elements associated with them? This is one of the movies that would make a good starting point to see where all of that came from 1978! Here we have some kindly wise old masters and the outsider who wishes to learn their secrets to take the fight back against corruption! Heck, this one is even on blu ray.


There are a lot more but again, no scholar, just someone who enjoyed a lot of these films, but saw them when he was a younger man and honestly can't remember most of them. They turn into a blur of kung fu with angry students, wise old masters, and the deadly arts of hand to hand combat!


But there is one that he is an unaccredited producer of...

Blade Runner: Yup, this one has all sorts of editions including a four disk edition and a blu ray.  I myself had one of those ultimate edition things that was sadly destroyed in a move. Verily that sucketh!

With my buddies getting ready to run more Legends of the Five Rings, or L5R, I think that instead of the next Samurai I was going to do, a crab who actually tried to be sociable, it's time to review the Dragon and see if I can monkey up a monk for Friday.


What about the rest of wushu fans out there? Any particular favorites jump to the forefront? Any particular stories about Shaw that you think people should know about? Share the

Kung Fu Panda 2

Sometimes there's a little touch of serendipity. For example, right around Christmas, Amazon had Kung Fu Panda 1 and Kung Fu Panda 2 on sale in the digital format. I snagged both of them for like $5.99 each as opposed to the almost $10 they are now.


I saw serendipity because I had no clue that I'd be playing in a Legends of the Five Rings game, which was brought about by seeing the movie 47 Ronin. Sometimes things just hit in cycles. Mind you, while I love Wuxia style games, Legends of the Five Rings is generally more of a samurai game. I'm not saying it's impossible to make a monk style character.


If I'm recalling correctly, the Dragon have their own clan for it, and there are some skills and advantages that allow you to at least be competent in it. I believe the Dragon monks even breath fire if they survive long enough. But it's been a long time since I was a master of the game system and 4th edition is still calling me to read it more and more.


Anyway, I enjoyed the original Kung Fu Panda. I dug the sound track, the visuals, and the story. The folks at DreamWorks tend to make a good movie in my opinion.


I was not disappointed in Kung Fu Panda 2. It helps that it's an animated film. By doing so, the company is able to overcome issues that plague many historical based productions like HBO's Rome. Anyone remember that it was supposed to be the sheer cost of the sets, the huge cast and the awesome costumes that doomed it to being only two season? Going the animated route allowed the creators of Kung Fu Panda to also play around with the imaging.


For example, we discover more about the Dragon Warrior's background. To all viewers, it's obvious that Po is adopted since you know, his father is not a giant panda but to Po it comes as a surprise. By using what I'll call 'traditional' or carton style imagery it clearly cuts the scenes that are memory and those that happen in the here and now. It works well.


The story hits several of the 'standard' bits. We have a little bonding between the members of the original Five and Po. We have some great 'kung fu' moments. We have moments where the opposition seems entirely too powerful and that it will take a miracle to overcome. Oh yeah, and chase scenes. We get several of these and some of them very entertaining visually like where Po and the Five are disguised as a dancing dragon for a festival and 'eat' their enemies and well, they don't come out the front end.


There is also a bit too much of the 'drama' key for me. Mind you, it's not an overwhelming thing. There are some tragic elements added to Po's background, which for the purpose of the movie, work fine, but the added little 'extra' at the end, that hit the drama key for me. Worse then that though, is the supposed sequel isn't supposed to be out until Christmas 2015. Thankfully there is an actual carton series that doesn't do a bad job of capturing some of the fun although the animation in that has nothing on the movies.


I'll be discussing some specifics of the movie below and things that inspired me from the movie so if you don't want any specific spoilers, read no further.


1. The nemesis effect: I'm not quite sure that is the actual specific name but in short, when you hear a destiny you don't like and go about changing it only to have the exact thing you didn't want to happen, happen. In this case, the foe, Shen, a peacock, is a chemist of sorts who sees a new future for the powders used to make fire works but a seer foresees that a panda will stop him. Shen's solution? Kill all the panda. Doesn't work though as Po winds up being sent off to a far away place and due to his location, becomes the dragon warrior, the only one capable of stopping Shen.


Mind you, that's the 'easy' way. It's similar to the original Batman movie with Jack playing the Joker. Joker in that movie at least, kills Bat's parents, Bat's and thug fight, thug gets turned into Joker and final showdown happens!


One of my favorites though is a little more subtle. It's a Viking tale. Powerful warrior goes to see how he'll die. He's told it's his horse. He's like, "My hose?" Kills the horse. Goes out and does all sorts of Viking things. Years later finds the skull of his horse and is like, "Whose killing who!" and kicks the skull aside, disturbing the poisonous snake beneath it who bites and kills the Viking.


2. Its a Wonderful World after all. I can't speak for Jack's acting chops. I'm entertained by his music mind you, but he really hasn't wowed me in any movies. Here though, maybe because it's animated or maybe because it's a character Jack would never have the ability to play in an actual movie, he does a great job. Now when I say great, what I appreciate is that Po is first and foremost, a fan of kung fu. He is a destined warrior and is an important part of the 'hero' food chain but he loves where he's at. He loves and can't believe his luck to work with the Five. When he meets other legendary characters, he's awed and thrilled to be working with them at the same time. It's a refreshing change of pace of heroism from some of the more cynical and standard batons of grim soldier that are so common these days. Po is fun.


3. Big Things: Po and the Five and the other masters are not your standard people. While we're not talking about Dragon Ball Z levels of power or anything, they are capable of dodging multiple arrows while fighting multiple opponents while leaping about and engaging in combat sequences that are visually appealing. This includes say, gang piling ships at the entrance of a river to prevent Shen and his canons from leaving the city and conquering China. This bigger than life effort only works short term mind you, but it does work and it's an impressive bit.


When you have characters that are capable of doing great things, like in L5R perhaps some of the more magical classes, let them shine. Let those points spent in advantages and specializations come to the forefront.


4. Character moments: One of the things that's easy to overlook in the movie, is that Po continues to bond with the others in the setting. This doesn't only include the Five, but also his master and his father. These moments of character allow the character to be more than just a set of awesome abilities.


When I was regularly running, I tried to make the characters lives interesting with numerous NPCs, interactions with lots of people, and enough things going on in the character's lives, that going to a dungeon and fighting might not be the most important thing, but countered that by having things in the dungeon that they'd need. Mind you my 'dungeons' used to be much smaller than the common monstrosities out now and might have even resembled some of those in 4e where things might be 'grouped' into mini-dungeons for specific things for the characters to do or get.


5. Visual Style: This one can be hard to pull off. I mentioned that my friends started the L5R game because they were inspired by 47 Ronin. Part of that was just how cool it looked. Kung Fu Panda has a lot of moments of visual 'stunts' and great action sequences. These things make it appealing. Doing so while just describing it can be a touch more difficult, so don't be afraid to steal visuals and even sounds when you can. There are some songs, like the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack where if I play the Anvil of Crom, from the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack, of which there is apparently a three disk version now, most of the players know that the big fight is getting ready to come down, or if I play The Siege of Camylarde, which is actually a different song in its original classic name, from the soundtrack of Excalibur, which is no longer available apparently but the blu ray is like $10 bones. Go figure.


Anyway, it doesn't necessarily have to be a 'visual' style, but if your words can enforce the themes and conflicts without any need for print outs or sounds, all the better, but don't be afraid to use those other resources when they're out there.


Kung Fu Panda 2 is a fun movie and while it gives some maturation to the main character, at the end of the film he's still jumping into the air in awe that he gets to fight alongside the legends of kung fu.

Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster

Perhaps it's cheating having Netflix and some time to myself because I was able to watch the second movie, Ip Man 2. If you enjoy boxing movies, this one is right up your alley. See, while the first one cast those vile Japanese as the ultimate villains, when they are overcome and Ip Man has moved to Hong Kong, who's the foreign devil now? Why, the British of course!

In terms of casting a nemesis, there are a few ways to do it. Some of the most common involve creating someone who is equal to the character, built along similar lines as the character. For Ip Man, this often means fighting martial artist who are masters of their trade and craft. They may dress similar, may have similar builds and may have their own outlooks and attitudes that aren't that different from the main character.

In others, they go the exact opposite. For example, Superman, the alien, the man from tomorrow, the individual with incredible innate powers, has a normal human as his main enemy; Lex Luthor. While its obviously more complicated then that, as Lex uses high tech equipment and henchmen and other bits to make himself Superman's physical equal, the idea, that the native born, Earth first, Lex Luthor, could ever stand up to someone like Superman, is where the contrast comes in.

In a similar manner, when Twister, the world champion British Boxer is introduced here, he is an excellent study in contrast. The actor sports a massive build, impressive height, and a wild mane of hair. His outfit, that of the traditional boxer, showcases this musculature, while Ip Man and other martial artist, often wear lose fitting garb. There might also be an age difference going on here, but it's difficult for me to say. I mention this because Ip Man mentions his age as a factor in the decline of martial abilities.

In making foes for the characters, try to keep the differences, as well as the potential similarities in mind. The drow against the elves, the derro against the dwarves, the tielflings and the devas. The lists go on and on.

Another thing that struck me, was the quick use of rivals turned allies here. The first master to perhaps be able to challenge Ip Man, Hung Chun-nam, uses a different style but the two come together when they realize that their own differences are petty when compared to the threat against all Chinese Martial Arts from the British.

Does that sound familiar? How about Rocky IV? How about most of the heroes of Dragonball Z, who originally started off as enemies of Goku ranging from Vegeta to Piccolo to Yamcha to Tien Shinhan.

In role playing games though, this can be a difficult feat not because its not something to look into, but rather, because unless you're playing something like a martial arts tournament, or something like a Super Hero setting, most fantasy combats don't stop until the death of one character or the other. This is another problem when trying to have recurring characters that are meant to challenge the players outside of the realm of politics and the social arena.

Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster is well worth a viewing for those who enjoy the fight scenes.