Fire Power vol. 5: Flaming Fist

Vol. 4 left off with a goddamn dragon emerging out of the ruins of the temple of the Flaming Fist, controlled by the long-thought-dead Master Shaw.  They head to China and quickly establish their dominance over the country, sending a message to the rest of the world that they’re not to be trifled with.  Meanwhile, Owen Johnson, his family, and Master Wei have their hands full with fighting off their snake-controlled former comrades.  This may be easier said than done, but it’s something they’ll have to do before they can start recruiting the other surviving martial arts masters of the world and begin the fight back against the potentially insurmountable threat represented by Master Shaw and the dragon.

I was hoping that these new antagonists would help take this series to the next level.  What I got suggests that writer Robert Kirkman and artist Chris Samnee have let this once-promising series fall into a rut.  That’s because much of this volume is given over to recruiting these Masters, only to barely give them any discernible personality to speak of.  One-eyed swordsman Master Shun gets a couple slick action scenes where he can show off his skills, Master Ping gets one, and the rest don’t get any.  All that matters is the collecting of them as the volume immediately kicks off the fight against Master Shaw and his dragon once that happens.

It really feels like Kirkman is trying to get to what he thinks is the “good stuff” without bothing to get us properly invested in these characters.  More worryingly is that the volume’s big moment, where Owen realizes a new move, feels like it was driven by the needs of the story rather than the character’s personal growth.  Samnee does his best to sell all this stuff with his acknowledged skill, and it still feels like he comes up short since he’s given so little character development to work with.  My hope is that the creators will slow down a bit for vol. 6 and give us some time to get to know the cast better now.  As it is, “Fire Power” feels like it’s going from Kirkman’s most promising post “Invincible”/”Walking Dead” series to his most disappointing.