Released on July 1st, 2020
Maybe Robert Kirkman is just bored...but in the last two years he's been trying all sorts of new things in the comic book world. He surprise released his book Die!Die!Die!, he surprise ended The Walking Dead with a 70 page, regular priced issue, and now he's introducing his new book, Fire Power, with a one-two punch of a graphic novel and Free Comic Book Day issue. Kirkman mentions in the post script of FCBD Fire Power that his original idea was to have a 70 page first issue for no good reason. His script for the first issue ballooned into a 154 page script so he decided to release that first issue as a graphic novel. Originally the graphic novel prelude was supposed to come out on the first Wednesday of May followed by the Free Comic Book Day issue on that first Saturday in May. Well the pandemic squashed those plans so we just got both of those books last week on July 1st. I'm not entirely sure why Kirkman decided to bombard us with so much content at the beginning. Normally I'd say that's a good idea to get press and buzz for something...but Kirkman is the most popular, well-known comic book writer out there these days...he doesn't really need the press. So I'm thinking he's just bored (and I'm kind of surprised he hasn't just fled the comic book realm for Hollywood by now). Fire Power is great, though, and probably the most entertaining of the new books he's created since Invincible and The Walking Dead. The huge problem is that there's a reason it's super entertaining: it's a complete rip-off of Marvel's Iron Fist. It's not even really a somewhat similar book...it's literally the same book. It's kind of like if I wrote a book called Bat Person where a superhero dressed up like a bat and was rich and had a butler and faced a villain that told riddles. I'm not entirely sure why Marvel can't sue him. I guess because Kirkman is rich and has influence at Image are the reasons he can get away with it. Or maybe Iron Fist copied something when that character was introduced. Maybe? Should I look it up? I just did and Iron Fist is a copy. Amazing-Man was a superhero in books published in the 30's and 40's. He was an orphan raised by monks in Tibet and trained to have super powers. Okay...so I guess Kirkman is just copying from everyone then. Which doesn't exactly make it better. He can't come up with an original idea? Considering his two most famous books are just a zombie book and a Superman book...no, I guess not. Anyway, in this Fire Power graphic novel...a half Chinese, half American dude is climbing through the snow in the Himalayas to find a mystical city in the clouds where a monk dude trains people to do kung-fu. The guy trains and eventually learns to lost art of being able to throw fire balls with his fists. Yes, it sounds fucking stupid but it's actually a super fun and super enjoyable book. I read the whole 154 page book in one sitting. It helps that Chris Samnee is drawing it, so it looks fantastic and exactly like a comic book should (more cartoon-esque than realistic). At the end of this graphic novel, we cut to fifteen years later when the hero has given up on his kung-fu life and is married with kids and living in the suburbs. But there's a ninja watching him from the trees! Uh oh! And that's the book. I loved it...so I guess I can't complain that it's a copycat. ***
No comments:
Post a Comment