Fire Power Book One by Robert Kirkman and Chris Samnee. Image, 2022. 9781534322073. 448pp. Includes Fire Power Prelude and issues #1-12.
The book opens with Owen Johnson climbing through the snow to find the lost Temple of the Flaming Fist and train there. To be accepted as a student he has to fight Master Wei Lun (who is odd and not at all what you'd expect). Another student, Ling Zan, is the first to show him kindness. They fall in love. And of course Owen makes enemies. There's a room he's not permitted to enter that he's told contains a dragon, and a statue of Master Shaw that may be alive. Everyone is working to rediscover the lost art of the flaming fist.
Owen Johnson is also in search of the truth about his birth parents, which has to do with the Scorched Earth Clan. (While the Temple of the Flaming Fist works to keep the dragon imprisoned and the world safe, the Scorched Earth Clan wants to see the dragon released and watch the world burn.) Early on there's an attack on the temple featuring ninja-like warriors and airships. Plus there's some basketball. Oh, and Owen rediscovers the Flaming Fist technique.
Then the story jumps forward 15 years. Owen is back in the US, married to a badass cop, and the father of two wonderful children. He makes furniture. Everything is peaceful. And then someone from the Temple finds him and tries to get him to come back. He's told Wei Lun is gone and that the Temple is vulnerable to the Scorched Earth clan. Said ninja-like warriors are soon attacking Owen and his family in their home. And Owen finds out that almost everything he has been told is a lie.
I initially dismissed this comic series as an Iron Fist ripoff, and I'm glad to find out I was totally wrong. It's got a light, entertaining tone throughout, and at the heart of it all is Owen's family. He's not hiding anything from his wife, his kids aren't idiots, and they're all in this crazy situation together. And this all moves it along as much as the amazing martial arts fight scenes.
This is a deluxe hardcover edition of the first part of the series, which wraps up with Book Two.
