Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, struggled against The Eel of the Blessed Waters on the beaches of Liu-Shi but nonetheless proved successful this week in IRON FIST #2. In issue #3, due in stores on May 3, the Immortal Weapon takes on both The Rat of 12 Plagues and The Resourceful Snake and the results may not be as pretty for the erstwhile hero. In a recent interview with Marvel.com, writer Ed Brisson spoke about the upcoming bouts:
Marvel.com: As we see briefly at the end of IRON FIST #2, The Rat of 12 Plagues is a creepy looking opponent. Can you take us through how you and series artist Mike Perkins collaborated on his look? Where did the inspiration for the character come from for you in the first place?
Ed Brisson: I always wanted The Rat of 12 Plagues to be, as his name would indicate, a terrifying opponent. Initially, I’d had an idea of the type of place The Rat would live and the personality spun out of that. I’d originally had him as someone who’d lived like a rat, in sewers, but as I went to script, it made more sense that he’d lived his life out in a ghost village. A child who was the sole survivor of a massacre, who had to find a way to survive amongst the dead.
Mike’s the one who really made the character come to life though. I gave him only brief notes on each of the seven and Mike just went to town. The look for Rat of 12 Plagues is 100% Perkins.
Marvel.com: For Danny, what makes The Rat a uniquely dangerous opponent?
Ed Brisson: He’s so deadly because he’s both a Kung Fu master and a living plague. With one touch of his claws, he can infect an opponent with sickness like they’ve never experienced before. Other than his sifu, none have encountered The Rat of 12 Plagues and lived to talk about it.
Marvel.com: What is one feature of Rat that you find particularly exciting or interesting as a writer?
Ed Brisson: He’s a survivor. He may be nasty and disease ridden, but he was left to fend for himself at a young age and managed to overcome the elements, famine and even disease. Not only did he survive disease, he conquered it and learned to use it as a weapon for his own survival. He absorbs the essence of others to feed himself, which makes him necessarily evil. And that sort of evil is a lot of fun to explore.
The next round kicks off in IRON FIST #3 by Ed Brisson and Mike Perkins on May 3.
