Deadly Hands Of K'un-Lun #1 - Marvel Comics

DEADLY HANDS OF K'UN-LUN No. 1, April 2026

Announced in November 2025 by “Marvel Worldwide” as a five-issue comic book limited series from “one of the creative minds behind the hit video game, Marvel Rivals”, this twenty-five page periodical probably appeared to be a bit of a mess when it finally landed in the hands of its customers some months later. Indeed, the publication’s opening, which contains numerous narrative word boxes in addition to all manner of fantastical fighters talking is genuinely hard to persevere through, as it is often hard to establish just which piece of dialogue (or narration) needs to be viewed next; “Their champion has fallen. The Chamber of Knowledge is ready for you.”

Furthermore, writer Yifan Jiang appears to almost ‘double-down’ on this multiple-voice technique by having the title’s hero, Lin Lie, not only talk to his fellow costumed crime-fighter White Fox whilst they’re battling some giant octopus at a local Seaside Aquarium. But also Pei, the former Iron Fist, via some covert communications network and directly to the readers too. Such a technique debatably makes it really difficult for any perusing bibliophile to focus upon any action taking place, and may well cause a fair few re-reads as well – especially when Ami Han is inexplicably replaced by a giant three-tailed animal which simply barrels the aforementioned eight-tentacled sea monster back into the ocean.

Unfortunately this ‘battle’ to understand just what is actually taking place even continues into this comic’s final act, when the author suddenly seems to throw the likes of Elektra (Daredevil) and White Tiger into the mix upon a Hell’s Kitchen rooftop. Supposedly also drawn to Neon Dragon’s “dark energy”, these street-level super-heroes add even more word-heavy speech balloons to the proceedings, and seem to have little purpose except to distract any onlooker from the momentous confrontation between the current Iron Fist and one of his evil brother’s top minions.

What does work absolute wonders though are Paco Medina’s layouts, which are crammed full of adrenalin-fuelled action and martial art manoeuvres. In fact, the illustrator is clearly at the very top of their game with this book’s pencilling, as they manage to repeatedly provide all the cast members with plenty of animated life – as well as the odd death, such as in the case of the brave yet doomed Fat Cobra.

The regular cover art of "DEADLY HANDS OF K'UN-LUN" #1 by Leinil Francis Yu & Federico Blee