Iron Fist will celebrate his 50th birthday next year with Marvel releasing a massive new omnibus for the martial arts master. Iron Fist: Danny Rand – The Early Years Omnibus will be on sale on January 30, 2024, ahead of the character’s golden anniversary in February when Danny Rand was first introduced in Marvel Premiere (1974) #15.

The list of writers and artists who crafted Iron Fist’s introduction and subsequent stories boasts of the comic book industry’s most revered creators. Among the luminaries are writers Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Doug Moench, Tony Isabella, Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, and David Anthony Kraft, and artists Gil Kane, Larry Hama, Arvell Jones, Pat Broderick, John Byrne, Rudy Nebres, Marshall Rogers, Frank Mclaughlin, Don Perlin, and Joe Staton.

As a bonus, Marvel also included stories from The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu starring Iron Fist co-stars Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, a.k.a. the Daughters of the Dragon.

The hardcover omnibus is 952-pages thick with cover art by Gil Kane for the standard cover and a direct market-only variant cover featuring the first appearance of Sabretooth with art by Dave Cockrum. The book has an SRP of $125.00.

The announcement was delivered by Near Mint Condition back in February, making this the first time that an omnibus will collect the earliest adventures of the Living Weapon. The news broke as Iron Fist fans were already expecting the release of The Immortal Iron Fist and the Immortal Weapons Omnibus on the 28th of the month.

Previously, the stories contained in the upcoming omnibus were collected in various books. The Marvel Premiere (1972), Iron Fist (1975), Marvel Team-Up (1972), Power Man (1972), and Power Man and Iron Fist (1978) stories were the most reprinted in either one or two volumes, while Danny Rand’s The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu tales were included in two omnibuses of the same title. Marvel later reprinted only the Iron Fist stories from the black-and-white magazine in trade paperback form in the Iron Fist: Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, the Complete Collection.

Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane during the 1970s, Iron Fist was the product of the kung-fu era merging with the superhero genre after Thomas watched his first kung fu film, The Five Fingers of Death. In the film, he saw the protagonist gain “the ability to wipe out his enemies with his bare hands” after going through the Ceremony of the Iron Fist, Thomas recalled in the introduction to the Iron Fist Marvel Masterworks hardcover. He would tap Kane soon after to create the look and feel of the character. The two celebrated creators would go on to develop Iron Fist’s backstory with inspiration from Bill Everett’s decades-old character, the Amazing-Man. And this, in a nutshell, was how Iron Fist was born.

Check out the official Marvel solicitation for Iron Fist: Danny Rand – The Early Years Omnibus:

Celebrating 50 years of Iron Fist, Marvel is proud to present the early adventures of martial arts legend Danny Rand! This collection not only includes his complete color comic series, but also Iron Fist’s exploits in the black-and-white magazine DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU! After an expedition to find K’un-Lun left Rand’s parents dead, he found the path to the mystical city and spent a decade there training. Gaining the shattering power of the Iron Fist, Danny set out into the Western world to avenge his parents’ deaths! He is joined by detectives Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, who also star in their own three-part solo exploit by Chris Claremont and Marshall Rogers! Collecting MARVEL PREMIERE #15-25, IRON FIST (1975) #1-15 and MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #63-64 – plus material from DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU (1974) #10, #18-24, #29 and #31-33; DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU SPECIAL #1; and BIZARRE ADVENTURES #25.

FORMAT

Hardcover

PAGE COUNT

952 pages

COVER PRICE

$125.00

ISBN

9781302954857

 

DISTRIBUTOR SKU

JUL230827