Iron Fist Celebrates 50 Years at Marvel with New Anthology (& Return of Iconic Artist David Aja)

Summary Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 will celebrate five decades of Danny Rand in Marvel Comics.

The anthology is coming August 14, with stories from Alyssa Wong, Chris Claremont, Jason Loo and more, including a story starring new Iron Fist Lin Lie.

Iconic Immortal Iron Fist artist David Aja will contribute a variant cover starring Danny and his mentor Orson Randall, the Iron Fist of WWI.

The kung-fu hero Iron Fist is celebrating his 50th anniversary in Marvel Comics, as the one-shot anthology Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 tells a series of short stories from the life of the Living Weapon of K'un-Lun. Fans of Iron Fist will be elated to learn that iconic The Immortal Iron Fist artist David Aja has returned to the character for an unexpected variant cover for the collection.

Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 is coming August 14, celebrating Danny Rand's debut in 1974's Marvel Premiere #15. Now, Marvel has revealed that Aja - who worked with Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction and Travel Foreman on the beloved Immortal Iron Fist - will be drawing a variant cover for the issue, showing Iron Fist with his mentor Orson Randall, the Iron Fist of World War I.

If Aja's art looks familiar, it may be because his Hawkeye run inspired the aesthetic and many of the characters and events in Disney+'s Hawkeye TV show.

Immortal Iron Fist ran from 2006-2009 and redefined Danny Rand's mythology. Not only did the series follow many of the Iron Fists before Danny, but it also introduced the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven - mystical cities similar to K'un-Lun which each have their own kung-fu protectors, collectively known as the Immortal Weapons. These warriors fight in a recurring tournament that Danny was forced to take part in.

Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 (2024) Release Date: August 14, 2024 Writer: Alyssa Wong, Chris Claremont, Frank Tieri, Jason Loo and Justina Ireland Artists: Lan Medina, Von Randal, Elena Casagrande, Ty Templeton and Whilce Portacio Cover Artist: Alan Davis The legacy of Iron Fist is a long-lived legend spanning centuries… all the way back to the year 10,000,000 B.C.E.! After an expedition to find K'un-Lun left Danny Rand's parents dead, he found the path to the mystical city and gained the shattering power of the Iron Fist! After avenging his parents' deaths, Rand became an iconic super hero, working alongside teams like Heroes for Hire, the Defenders, and the Avengers. IRON FIST 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL will have a range of stories that spotlight Danny Rand’s past, present, and future!

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The anthology will see different creative teams sharing stories from Danny Rand's life as a hero, as well as awesome covers from Alan Davis, Howard Chaykin and Kevin Eastman. Chris Claremont and Lan Medina will tell an early-years tale in which Iron Fist works with Wolverine, Justina Ireland and Elena Casagrande will bring back iconic allies the Daughters of the Dragon, Frank Tieri and artist Ty Templeton will reunite Danny with the Heroes for Hire, and Jason Loo and Whilce Portacio will look to the future and what may be next for Danny. The collection will also include a story from Alyssa Wong and Von Randal​​​​​​​ following Lin Lie - the former Swordmaster and current Iron Fist in Marvel Comics.

Fans will be happy to see Orson Randall in Aja's art. A former Iron Fist who fled the role due to PTSD from fighting in WWI, Orson vastly expanded Danny's powers, showing him how to imbue objects and weapons with the Iron Fist chi as well as how to use it to hypnotize and heal others. Randall also revealed shocking secrets about Danny's past, including the fact that he trained a young Wendell Rand​​​​​​​ - Danny's father, whose doomed expedition to K'un-Lun ended with Danny Rand becoming an Immortal Weapon.

Kevin Eastman's cover shows Iron Fist fighting Wolverine's nemesis Sabretooth. This is because Sabretooth was originally an Iron Fist villain, debuting in Chris Claremont and John Byrne's Iron Fist #14.

It's been a rough few years for Danny Rand - the former Iron Fist sacrificed his powers to defeat the villainous Hierophant and was soon replaced by the rebellious Lin Lie. Of course, even without the chi of Shou-Lao the Undying, Danny has remained a hero, using his unparalleled fighting skills in stories such as Marvel's recent Gang War event. Now, Marvel is looking to the future, celebrating the Iron Fist legacy in this new collection, while also teasing Danny Rand's continuing future as a fan-favorite Marvel hero.

Iron Fist 50th Anniversary Special #1 is coming from Marvel Comics August 14.