MARVEL TEAM-UP #64

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and the DAUGHTERS of the DRAGON!
”IF DEATH BE MY DESTINY…”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Iron Fist lays near death in Colleen Wing’s apartment, though his physical body is in perfect condition. Meanwhile, prowling in search of Iron Fist to finish him off, Steel Serpent recalls his origin: as Davos, the son of Lei Kung the Thunderer, he was one of two men who dueled for the right to challenge Shou-Lao the Undying. He was beaten by his challenger, Wendell Rand-K’ai, but secretly went after Shou-Lao and was defeated. Davos was exiled from K’un L’un on the same day Wendell, having passed on his chance with Shou-Lao, left for reasons of his own.

As he nears Colleen’s apartment, Steel Serpent is attacked by Spider-Man and then Collen and Misty Knight. He flees into a nearby park, where Iron Fist confronts him. The power of the Iron Fist begins to consume Steel Serpent, and Iron Fist gets the better of him, taking back his chi as Steel Serpent explodes.

Iron Fist and Misty share a kiss and the heroes head home, while in K’un L’un, Lei Kung mourns the death of his son.

Continuity Notes: In the opening pages, Iron Fist is tended to by a doctor named Alice, supplied by Jeryn Hogarth. I hadn't mentioned it before, but it seems all of Hogarth's employees are beautiful young women.

Misty recalls her first meeting with Iron Fist in MARVEL PREMIERE #21 and her argument with him in IRON FIST #13. In the same scene, the two finally admit their love for one another.

Spider-Man gives Misty a quick recap of the previous issue’s events.

We learn that Yu-Ti is a title, not a name, making “The August Personage of Jade” some sort of… sub-title? At any rate, the previous Yu-Ti was Wendell Rand’s father, Tuan.

Yu-Ti unmasks himself on the final page and comforts Lei Kung over the loss of his son, as Claremont severely dials back his villainousness, perhaps realizing that turn was going a bit too far.

Spider-Man's recognizing Misty, which originally came up in the previous issue, is paid off here when he finally asks her why she seems familiar. She tells him that he saved her from muggers a few Christmases ago. I’m unsure if this was officially an appearance by Misty Claremont is calling back to, or if he's retroactively making a nondescript woman into Misty. There's no footnote to go check the issue, in any case.

My Thoughts: As an Iron Fist story, this is fine. The Living Weapon’s tale is finally tied up, all loose ends accounted for (other than Misty’s betrayal of Bushmaster, which, while not exactly crying out for resolution, will in fact be addressed as well before long).

But this isn't an Iron Fist story, at least not according to the masthead. This is a Spider-Man/Daughters of the Dragon story, and neither of those parties comes out of the book particularly well. First we have Spider-Man, who Claremont writes as a buffoon for some reason. He's easily bested -- twice -- by Steel Serpent and he screws up Colleen’s and Misty’s attack on the villain as well.

The first issue is clearly evident in the artwork, so there's no mistaking the intentions of both writer and artist there. However, the bit about fouling up the womens’ attack looks like a miscommunication between writer and artist. Byrne draws Colleen hitting Steel Serpent once with her sword (in its sheath to avoid killing him). Then she raises the weapon for another blow and Spider-Man, clinging to a wall several yards above, shoots a webline down to snag the sword. To me, this looks pretty clearly as if Byrne’s intention is for Spider-Man to mistake Colleen’s attack for a killing strike, which he's actively trying to stop.

But for some reason Claremont scripts the scene as a well-meaning Spider-Man trying to help by webbing Steel Serpent but missing and hitting Colleen’s sword by mistake. Which makes him come off looking like a clumsy dope. Granted, in both these possible scenarios he messes up, but in the former he at least accomplishes what he's trying to do. In Claremont’s version he's just inept.

(Yes, I'm very protective of my wall-crawler; have you noticed that yet?)

The Daughters of the Dragon, so named mockingly by Steel Serpent when they fail to stop him, come off perhaps a little better, looking far more competent than Spider-Man in their actions, but they barely warrant a page of fight-time with Steel Serpent before he runs off, fights Spider-Man some more, then battles Iron Fist.

So -- it's an Iron Fist story. Nothing wrong with that. It just should've been advertised as one. As we'll see over the next two installments, there was no rule preventing MARVEL TEAM-UP from tossing the same guest-star's name on the masthead two months in a row.