#lee wing

[bookoftheironfist]

Check out this awesome fan comic created by writer/illustrator Benji Bajorek in honor of Colleen Wing's 50th anniversary! No hyperbole: if this were canon, I would label it a character-defining landmark issue. Heck, I might go ahead and do so anyway.

Click here to read and download the issue for free.

[yellowocaballero]

It was unearthly. It could never be mistaken for a human object, even beyond CGI or artificial beauty. It wasn’t even alien. It was something beyond their plane, made of magic and history. Of course the locals called it the bridge to the heavens - how could you mistake it for anything else?

“You should have seen me the first time I saw it, Collie,” Dad said. He was craning his head out the window too, pen frantically flying across his notebook. “I cried. Really. Your mother made fun of me for hours. But the beauty! Isn’t it just amazing!”

“Are those buses?” Colleen asked. 

“Ah,” Tulsi sighed. “Here is where we hit traffic. Rush hour to K’un Lun is such a pain.”

Or: Colleen Wing and the Immortal Iron Fist Participate In A Cultural Exchange Program During The Weirdest Spring Break Ever

This one's a 30ker and so it is on a google doc. It is actually, unfortunately, for some reason actually pretty good. I think I might put it on AO3 later in the anthology fic. It could probably stand alone on AO3 but I'm self-conscious about it for a lot of reasons. The story comes from a lot of strange observations I've made about the Iron Fist and Luke Cage, and the way we talk about talking about social issues. There's a lot to say about Iron Fist, more than I think most people realize, and a lot of it isn't good. But sometimes it's interesting to see why something isn't good. And sometimes it's even more interesting to see where, if you looked at it a different way and changed one or two details, it could be very good.

I think when you drill down into it and overturn a few rocks, there's a genuinely really interesting story there. I turned over a few rocks. The story's good but I feel weird about it so we'll see where it lands outside of Tumblr. Thanks.

[nerds-yearbook]

In November 1974, the Marvel Premiere #19 introduced samurai Colleen Wing, Professor Lee Wing, Ward Meachum, and the Cult of Kara -Kai. They were created by Doug Moench, Larry Hamma, and Neal Adams. ("Death-Cult!" Marvel Premiere #19, event)

[johnbyrnedraws]

Iron Fist #2, page 1 by John Byrne &  Frank Chiaramonte & Michele Wolfman. 1975.

[bookoftheironfist]

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of Marvel Premiere #19, featuring the first appearance of Colleen Wing! On this day in 1974, nineteen-year-old Danny Rand emerged from the Meachum office building, shaken and directionless. He has just spared the life of the man he has dreamed of killing for ten years, only to watch him die at the hands of someone else. And he has watched Joy Meachum, believing that Danny murdered her father, embark down the dark path of her own revenge quest (this issue also marks the first appearance of Joy's conniving uncle, Ward). Danny is stranded away from his beloved K'un-Lun, with nowhere to go and no idea what to do next. It's at this point, as he walks alone onto the rainy nighttime street, that a mysterious figure approaches him.

Marvel Premiere #19 by Doug Moench, Larry Hama, Jan Brunner, Dick Giordano, and Ray Holloway

With a screech of brakes that you can almost hear, the story shifts direction as the woman we will come to know as Colleen Wing grabs the wheel. She isn't interested in his revenge quest or the fact that he's just been framed for murder, and she does not take the time to explain anything-- she just tells Danny his outfit is ridiculous and then stops just short of physically dragging him into a cab. She's a woman on a mission, and it works: while Danny has no reason at all to trust her or follow her, he does, obviously stunned into silent compliance by the whole experience. It's a memorable introduction for a character who has made her own powerful sword-slash of a mark on the Marvel Universe in the half-century since this scene first hit stands.

This issue also introduces Colleen's father, and once in the taxi, Colleen takes a bit of a backseat as he becomes the focus of the story. Professor Lee Wing is an Indiana Jones-style archeologist with an interest in Asian folklore and the mystic city of K'un-Lun, and he has sent his daughter to fetch Danny because he knows who Danny is, knew where he would appear, and needs his help. Colleen herself remains a bit more of a mystery, and fades out of the narrative as Danny talks with Professor Wing and then goes off to try (unsuccessfully) to clear things up with Joy Meachum. Colleen shares very little about herself; she tells Danny that her profession is "irrelevant"-- the revelation of her combat prowess and heroes for hire business with Misty Knight, Nightwing Restorations, is saved for a future issue, and her samurai lineage will not be established for a little while yet. But this first issue marks only the start of her journey toward cementing her presence as an important character within the martial arts side of Marvel, and beyond.

[bookoftheironfist]

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #70 by Mary Jo Duffy, Kerry Gammill, Ben Sean, Ricardo Villamonte, and Jim Novak

Lee Wing remembers.

[bookoftheironfist]

Power Man and Iron Fist vol. 1 #70 by Mary Jo Duffy, Kerry Gammill, Ben Sean, Ricardo Villamonte, and Jim Novak

Toward the end of her introductory series, Marvel Premiere, Colleen is kidnapped by an alliance of supervillains led by the sorcerer Master Khan. Among Khan's pawns is Angar the Screamer, whose voice has the power to induce terrifying, mind-breaking hallucinations in his victims. For months, Colleen is tortured by Angar, before finally being tracked down and rescued by Danny (a long and important story for another post). Colleen's mind heals, and she finds a way to return to normal life. But her father, who was with her when Angar kidnapped her, is not so fortunate. Having also been caught in Angar's mindstorm, and without any of the training or mental fortitude that would allow him to resist its damage, he simply shuts down. In time, he suppresses the memory, and the memory of everything having to do with the incident-- including memories of his daughter.

In this scene, we see Colleen make a very hard choice, and attempt to visit her father. They have always been very close-- her mother died when she was very young, and her father is one of the most important people in her life. She has been tormented by nightmares of her own experiences and is haunted by what happened to her father, and by how powerless she feels to help him. She can't help but try to make him remember. She can't stop herself from visiting him, no matter the pain it causes her, or him.

This is an action-packed issue, largely focused on one of Luke and Danny's Heroes for Hire capers. But as this run does so beautifully, it allows breaks in the action to make way for this quiet story of Colleen and her father, of grief and loss and love that endures in the face of hardship. Colleen's friends have been by her side throughout the ordeal following her kidnapping, caring for her and supporting her, but this is a challenge that she must ultimately face on her own. This scene always makes me cry, and I love this issue for it, and for the conclusion it eventually brings to the long saga of Colleen and Lee Wing that began way back in Marvel Premiere.

[bookoftheironfist]

Hi! Do you know if there’s an in-universe reason why Colleen Wing has red hair? Does she dye it? Is she meant to be mixed-race? Is it a case of artists misinterpreting brown hair as red throughout the years? I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.

    Hi, that's an interesting question! Barring a few minor inconsistencies, Colleen has had red hair ever since her first appearance in Marvel Premiere #19, and though (to my memory) it's never been directly addressed, it seems to be her natural color. You mention the distinction between red and brown hair; the actual color of her hair varies wildly between colorists and yes, it does sometimes trend closer to brown. But this happens to pretty much every comics character, and taken as a whole, Colleen's hair is meant to be seen as red. (As a Daredevil fan as well, I've gotten very used to looking at all sorts of hair colors and going "...Yeah, I guess that's red.")

    I will also point out that people of Asian descent can and do have red hair, and Colleen is 100% Asian (her mother was Japanese; her father's ethnicity has never been specified, but it's my understanding that Wing is a Chinese last name. Regardless, he is unquestionably Asian as well).

    The Colleen-focused Shadowland tie-in gave us what I'm pretty sure is our only glimpse of her mother, Azumi Ozawa, plus Colleen's grandfather, both with black hair:

Shadowland: Daughters of the Shadow #1 by Jason Henderson, Ivan Rodriguez, and Jorge Maese

    ...So we can assume the red hair didn't come from this side of the family. Since we only ever see Colleen's dad with white hair, it seems safe to guess that the redhead genes probably came from him.