INVADERS #6 & MARVEL PREMIERE #30

"...AND LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!"
Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas | Artists: Frank Robbins & Vince Colletta
Colorist: Phil Rachelson | Letterer: John Costanza

The Plot: At their New York radio station base of operations, Bucky and the Liberty Legion hold a brief press conference, daring the Red Skull to send the Invaders against them. The group then heads out, battling Nazi spies across the home front, until the Skull can take no more. He publicly announces that he will send the Invaders to destroy the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, and the Lincoln Memorial.

The Liberty Legion splits up to guard the historical landmarks, with Jack Frost and the Blue Diamond defending Lady Liberty from the Sub-Mariner. The duo gets Namor on the ropes and he is ordered to retreat by the Red Skull. Meanwhile, Captain America attacks the Liberty Bell, but is fought off by the Patriot and Miss America. Cap escapes as well, while Red Raven and the Whizzer battle the Human Torch and Toro at the Lincoln Memorial. The heroes defeat and capture Toro, but the Torch escapes, flying to New York, where Bucky and the Thin Man spot him out the radio station window.

Continuity Notes: Days pass during the course of this issue, as the Liberty Legion fights Nazis to draw out the Red Skull.

Krieghund, the Nazi U-boat commander from GIANT-SIZE INVADERS #1, now serves the Red Skull in America. Krieghund notes that he assisted the Skull in capturing the Invaders thanks to equipment he brought to the U.S. from the late Brain Drain's base. Moments later, when the Skull boasts of his creation, the "Nulla-Ray" branwashing machine, Krieghund accuses him of actually stealing the technology to create the device from scientists in occupied Europe. This leads to the Skull executing Krieghund's right-hand lackey to keep him in line.

MARVEL PREMIERE #25

”MORNING OF THE MINDSTORM!”
Writer: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker: Al McWilliams
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: Michele Wolfman | Editor: Len Wein

You are Iron Fist and this man is trying to kill you.

His name is Khumbala Bey and, until three days ago, he served as bodyguard to the princess Azir of Halwan, serving her as his family had served the Lion Throne of Halwan for over a thousand years.

And then, a stolen robotic nightmare called a Monstroid soared out of the Central Park sky and tried to take Azir’s life… and Khumbala Bey was nowhere to be found.

Azir would have died that afternoon, Iron First--had you not saved her. And, by saving her, shamed Khumbala Bey beyond redemption.

He would kill you for that now.

The Plot: At the Halwan embassy, Iron Fist is attacked by Princess Azir’s disgraced ex-bodyguard, Khumbala Bey. Their fight stops when Azir orders Bey to leave Iron Fist alone. She expresses her hope to see the Living Weapon again, then he departs the embassy with Lt. Rafael Scarfe. The duo drives to the Wing residence, where they find Professor Wing roughed up and hallucinating, babbling that Colleen is in danger.

Iron Fist and Scarfe travel to the office shared by Colleen and Misty, where they find two men posing as police abducting her. Fist and Scarfe pursue the kidnappers into a blind alley, where they run into Angar the Screamer, whose screams create vivid illusions. Iron Fist battles several illusory foes and unmasks the last one as Khumbala Bey. This allows him to break from Angar’s altered reality, but by the time he and Scarfe recover their senses, the kidnappers and Collen are gone.

Iron Fist prepares to kill Angar, but Scarfe stops him and reveals a clue: Angar’s ID card from Stark International.

MARVEL PREMIERE #24

You are Iron Fist, and in a moment, you will be fighting for your life.

You are calm now as you face your opponent and assume the cat stance. Your breathing is easy, your muscles loose, untense, your mind and body honed to a near-killing edge. Every sense -- every particle of your being -- is alive, aware… waiting…

You are ready -- almost eager -- for battle. And this is right -- for are you not the Living Weapon? And is it not a weapon’s purpose to be used?

Strange thoughts these… Alien questions. The answers had always come so easily enough in K’un-Lun.

Not so on Earth. And the more you question, the more confused you become…

Enough of this foolishness! Today is not the time for questions. Today is for battle!

”SUMMERKILL!”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: Pat Broderick | Inker: Vinnie Colletta
Colorist: Phil Rache | Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Iron Fist spars with Colleen Wing, then leaves to take a walk. Meanwhile, a group of terrorists infiltrates a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and activates a robot called the Monstroid, sending it to kill Princess Azir of Halwan.

Later, Danny Rand stumbles across a softball game in Central Park between the NYPD and the staff of Marvel Comics. Danny joins Marvel’s team as the game proceeds, with Princess Azir incognito among the crowd of observers. The Monstroid arrives to kill Azir, taking out all the police in the process. Danny changes to Iron Fist and challenges the robot, ultimately defeating it.

Elsewhere, the leader of the terrorists is reprimanded by his employer, Master Khan, who makes plans to either enslave or kill Iron Fist.

Continuity Notes: According to a footnote, the Monstroid first appeared in MARVEL TEAM-UP #5.

MARVEL PREMIERE #23

Your name is Iron Fist, and for the first time in many weeks, the night air is quiet and filled with peace. No vendettas haunt your dreams, no old wrongs cry out for vengeance…

No killer cults -- and no ninjas -- seek your life…

Tonight, there is only you. And the girl, Colleen Wing, one of the few… friends you have in this strange, pulsing vibrant, frantic… alien city -- New York. A city you used to call home.

And now must call “home” again.

If you live that long.

”THE NAME IS… WARHAWK”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: Pat Broderick | Inker: Bob McLeod
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: Michele Wolfman | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: As Danny Rand and Colleen Wing stroll through Riverside Park, a sniper opens fire, killing all the civilians nearby except a small boy. Danny rescues the child then runs across the street after the sniper. Colleen follows and both come face-to-face with a metal-skinned mercenary named Warhawk. Warhawk defeats Danny and kidnaps Colleen.

Danny awakens and, after a brief flashback to K’un L’un, changes to Iron Fist and tracks Warhawk t a waterfront warehouse. Warhawk, suffering from PTSD, believes Colleen is his Vietnamese wife, and fights Iron Fist to defend her. Iron Fist is victorious in the end, knocking Warhawk into the river. But when Iron Fist attempts to rescue the drowning vet, Warhawk chooses death over capture and allows himself to be washed away.

Continuity Notes: We're told via footnote that Iron Fist was unable to kill Harold Meachum in issue 18, and that he turned down immortality in K’un L’un in #16.

MARVEL PREMIERE #22

You are Iron Fist -- and, far beneath the streets of New York, you face the ultimate test of your martial arts prowess.

If you fail, you must then accept the fact that for you, at least…

”DEATH IS A NINJA”
Writer: Tony Isabella | Artist: Arvell Jones | Inker: A. Bradford
Letterer: Karen Mantlo | Colorist: George Roussos | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Iron Fist and the ninja duel, but their fight is interrupted first by the Cultists of Kara-Kai, then by the NYPD. In the chaos, Shaya and Ushus escape. The ninja then confesses to Harold Meachum’s murder and grabs Iron Fist, teleporting them both to another dimension, where the ninja seemingly kills Iron Fist.

His foe vanquished, the ninja soliloquizes his origin: He was once a samurai in feudal Japan who was drummed out of the service. Adopted by the devious Master Khan, the ninja discovered the Book of Many Things, later to be known as the Sacred Volume of Kali. The ninja used the book to invade K’un L’un for Master Khan, but was defeated by Lei Kung the Thunderer. Yu-Ti then mystically imprisoned the ninja in the book.

The book was eventually stolen from K’un L’un and the ninja used it to possess its holder. It spent time with the Cult of Kara-Kai, but was lost and later found by Professor Wing. The ninja, sensing Wing could free him from the book, safeguarded his new keeper until Iron Fist came into his life, ultimately leading to the book’s destruction and the ninja’s freedom.

His monologue over, the ninja is startled by the reappearance of Iron Fist. The Living Weapon fights and defeats the ninja, his enemy’s demise returning him to the real world. There, Colleen and Professor Wing tell Iron Fist he's been cleared for Harold Meachum’s murder.

MARVEL PREMIERE #21

”DAUGHTERS OF THE DEATH GODDESS”
Writer: Tony Isabella | Artist: Arvell Jones | Inker: Vince Colletta
Colorist: Stan Goldberg | Letterer: Joe Rosen | Editor: Len Wein

You are Iron Fist -- and in the wake of your passing you have left Batroc the Leaper’s once-proud brigade battered, broken and defeated in the halls of the Meachum Towers.

Though you are now far from those halls, your deeds have precipitated a somewhat loud argument between the master of savate and those who hired him to destroy you.

The Plot: Batroc argues with Ward and Joy Meachum over payment for his attack on Iron Fist, then departs Meachum Towers in a huff.

Meanwhile, Iron Fist returns to Professor Wing’s office to find the place ransacked and the professor and Colleen missing. While there, Iron Fist is attacked by a woman named Misty Knight. Iron Fist defeats her and follows a vision of the ninja underground to a hidden temple of Kali, the Hindi goddess of death.

In the shrine, the leaders of the Cult of Kara-Kai -- two women named Shaya and Ushas, together known as the Living Goddesses -- have the Wings captive. They order their cultists to kill Iron Fist. In the ensuing chaos, the Wings are freed and Professor Wing transforms into the ninja. The ninja’s sacred book is destroyed, which separates the ninja from Professor Wing. Thus freed, the ninja prepares to kill Iron Fist.

Continuity Notes: Ward Meachum’s inner monologue reveals that he knows Iron Fist didn't kill his brother, but he's playing along with Joy’s mistaken belief that was the case in order to use her for his own purpose.

MARVEL PREMIERE #20

”BATROC AND OTHER ASSASSINS”
Introducing: Writer: Tony Isabella | Artist: Arvell Jones | Inker: Dan Green
Colorist: John Drake | Letterer: Ray Holloway |Editor: Roy Thomas

You are Iron Fist -- and this is the second time in as many days that you have faced the killers of the Cult of Kara-Kai!

Their methods have grown less subtle. But a spinning whip kick deprives your attackers of both breath and ceremonial dagger.

And while you prepare to meet his fellows, you momentarily wonder what kind of fanatics would go to these lengths -- risk so much bloodshed -- for a book.

The Plot: Iron Fist fights off agents of the Cult of Kara-Kai before they can kill Professor Wing. When the fight concludes, Iron Fist leaves for Meachum Tower to make peace with Joy Meachum. But she wants nothing to do with his overture and calls her Uncle Ward into the room. Ward summons Batroc the Leaper, who attacks Iron Fist and finds their skills matched. To gain the upper hand, Batroc summons his Brigade, a couple dozen fighters, into the room.

The ninja appears to aid Iron Fist against the brigade. Together they win, and immediatley afterward Iron Fist confronts the ninja about his murder of Harold Meachum. The ninja uses a mystical cloud to teleport Iron Fist and himself out of the Meachum building, then teleports away. He reappears elsewhere before Professor Wing’s ancient book, and then metamorphoses into Wing himself.

Continuity Notes: A week has passed since last issue and Iron Fist has accepted a Professor Wing’s offer to become his research assistant and bodyguard. It's noted that the Kara-Kai cultists have attacked Wing forty-five times in the nine years since he unearthed the book which holds the secret of K’un L’un’s destruction. We also learn that Wing has kept all these assassination attempts secret from his daughter, Colleen.

MARVEL PREMIERE #19

”DEATH-CULT!”
Writer: Doug Moench | Artist: Larry Hama | Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Jan Brunner | Letterer: Ray Holloway | Editor: Roy Thomas

Vengeance was yours, Iron Fist -- as certain as the power you wield and yet you have refused it!

But Harold Meachum is dead, slain by one whose motive was invisible -- unlike your former glaring lust for vengeance!

The Plot: Iron Fist leaves the Meachum Building to be greeted outside by a woman named Colleen Wing. She invites him to join her for a cab ride to Columbia University to meet her father. Meanwhile, Harold Meachum’s daughter, Joy, calls her Uncle Ward to enlist his aid in gaining vengeance on Iron Fist.

Outside Columbia, two assassins attempt to kill Iron Fist and Colleen, but Iron Fist sends them packing before Colleen even notices their presence. Within the school, Iron Fist meets Colleen’s father, the university’s Professor of Oriental Studies. Professor Wing explains that he has studied K’un L’un and knows of Iron Fist’s past. He urges Iron Fist to make peace with the Meachums. Iron Fist calls Joy, who asks to meet him at a Times Square arcade.

But Joy has her uncle send assassins to greet Iron Fist instead. As he fights off the first wave, a second group waits in the shadows, but they're defeated by the mystery ninja. Once all the killers are down, the ninja departs, but not before handing Iron Fist a newspaper which declares him to be a suspect in the slaying of Harold Meachum.

MARVEL PREMIERE #18

”LAIR OF SHATTERED VENGEANCE!”
Scripter: Doug Moench | Penciller: Larry Hama | Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Petra Goldberg | Letterer: Artie Simek | Editor & Series Originator: Roy Thomas

You stand poised in shock, instinctively assuming the defensive cat stance, and you listen as your bizarre opponent speaks to you…

And you watch in awe as his weapon pulses with an aura of coruscating force.

The Plot: Iron Fist duels Triple-Iron and defeats him thanks to a clue provided by the mystery ninja. He makes his way at last into Harold Meachum’s office, to find the older man crippled, missing both his legs. Meachum explains that after knocking Wendell Rand off the cliff, he had wandered the Himalayas aimlessly until he was found by citizens of Katmandu. They nursed Meachum back to health, but his legs were lost to frostbite.

While he recovered, Meachum overheard a visiting monk describe his brief time in K’un L’un on the day it appeared. Thanks to the monk, Meachum learned that young Daniel Rand had made it to K’un L’un, where he was being trained in the martial arts and was expected to someday take up the mantle of Iron Fist. Now paranoid for his life, Meachum returned to the U.S. and set his deathtraps, then waited a decade for Iron Fist to come for him.

With Meachum’s story concluded, Iron Fist departs in pity, unable to follow through with his plan for revenge. Meachum tries to shoot Iron Fist in the back, but the ninja appears to spoil his aim, then kills him and escapes. As Iron Fist stands over Meachum’s corpse, his daughter enters the room and immediately pegs Iron Fist as her father’s killer.

MARVEL PREMIERE #17

”CITADEL ON THE EDGE OF VENGEANCE”
Writer: Doug Moench | Artist: Larry Hama | Inker: Dick Giordano
Letterer: Artie Simek | Colorist: Petra Goldberg | Editor: Roy Thomas

You stand before the towering skyscraper, dwarfed by it in size… but not spirit. You have battled -- and defeated -- time, distance, assassins, the berserker called Scythe…

…And now you are ready to confront the man named Harold Meachum, the man who waits within the gleaming steel citadel before you, the man who murdered your father…

…The man who caused you to become Iron Fist --

--And the man whose projected death is the sole reason for your existence as Iron Fist.

The Plot: Iron Fist arrives at Meachum Industries and makes his way upstairs, past multiple deathtraps, armed gunmen, more deathtraps, a wolf, another deathtrap, a katana-wielding janitor, and another deathtrap. He enters Harold Meachum’s office to find a costumed assassin awaiting him.

MARVEL PREMIERE #16

”HEART OF THE DRAGON!”
Writer: Len Wein | Inker: Dick Giordano
Colorist: Glynis Wein | Letterer: L.P. Gregory | Co-Plotter/Editor: Roy Thomas
And introducing the pulse-pounding penciling of Larry Hama!

You are Iron Fist -- and the odors that assault your tender nostrils this night fill you with a growing feeling of revulsion.

You have heard many stories of this strange place called New York -- this city that is hardly more than a memory to you --

-- And, unfortunately, it seems that all the tales are true.

The Plot: In a New York alleyway, Iron Fist is assaulted by a group of thugs out to claim a $10,000 reward on his head. As he fights them, Iron Fist remembers his decade in K’un L’un, where he was trained in the martial arts by Lei Kung the Thunderer. In the present, he defeats the thugs and sends them packing.

Iron Fist’s flashback continues as he recalls challenging a dragon called Shou-Lao the Undying. Upon defeating the creature, Danny Rand was branded with the emblem of a dragon on his chest and then, within Shou-Lao’s cavern, he sank his hands into a smoldering brazier and gained the power of the Iron Fist.

In the present, Iron Fist is attacked by a mercenary named Scythe. During their duel he flashes back to a week ago, after completing his trials. Yu-Ti offered him the fruit of the Tree of Immortality and the chance to live forever in K’un L’un, but Danny chose instead to leave the hidden city -- thus preventing him from ever returning -- in order to return to civilization for vengeance on his father’s killer, Harold Meachum.

In the present, Iron Fist defeats Scythe and learns that the bounty was placed upon him by Meachum himself. Iron Fist heads for Meachum’s skyscraper headquarters for revenge.

MARVEL PREMIERE #15

”THE FURY OF IRON FIST!”
Planned, Plotted, and Polished by--
Roy Thomas, Author/Editor & Gil Kane, Artist
Inker: Dick Giordano | Colorist: Glynis Wein | Letterer: L.P. Gregory

You are Iron Fist. You stand tensely -- too tensely -- aware of their eyes on you: Yu-Ti, the Hooded One, and his four Dragon-Kings…

And, facing you, four others edge closer, searching for an opening -- a moment of weakness -- the careless flickering of an eyelid.

For, this is your day of destiny, Iron Fist. Today you will eat of the fruit of the tree of immortality -- or else drink deep of the elixir of death--!

The Plot: Observed by Yu-Ti, the August Personage of Jade, Iron Fist spars with four men and defeats them all, completing the Challenge of Many. He then flashes back to a day ten years earlier, when he -- young Danny Rand – along with his parents and his father’s business partner, Harold Meachum, searched the Himalayas for the mystical city of K’un L’un. But their quest was cut short when Meachum killed Danny’s father, sending him plummeting into a crevasse. Danny and his mother fled.

Back in the present day, Iron Fist next faces the Challenge of the One, battling an unstoppable masked fighter called Shu-Hu. When Shu-Hu gets him on the ropes, Iron Fist flashes back again and recalls that his mother was mauled to death by wolves just as they discovered K’un L’un. The city’s defenders saved Danny from the wolves and took him in.

The memories spur Iron Fist to victory and he defeats Shu-Hu, which turns out to be a robot. Yu-Ti congratulates Iron Fist on his victory and offers him the choice between immortality or death.