The Master of the Iron Hand

The Master of the Iron Hand is a fictional martial artist and sensei in comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Staz Johnson and Chuck Dixon and first appeared in Robin #49 (1998).

Fictional character biography

In Robin #49, Robin (Tim Drake) journeys to France seeking martial arts instruction whereupon he joins the dojo of the Master of the Iron Hand. The Iron Master teaches both Robin and a young female student named Dava, who had come to him because she wished to learn his most feared technique, "The Whispering Hand". Dava, small but fast, had realized years earlier that she would need to end fights quickly if she was to be effective and had become a master of "single blow techniques", attacks that could end a fight with a single move. Dava's mastery of these techniques had drawn the attention of Lady Shiva (earlier Dava had used her skills to kill the crew of a ship carrying weapons intended to kill the people of her homeland). Shiva, in her guise as the Tengu, arrives at the Iron Master's dojo seeking Dava. Dava, however, had left upon learning the Whispering Hand technique, and the Iron Master refuses to give away his student's identity or location. Robin, realizing that there was nothing he could do against Shiva, agrees to the Iron Master's request that he face Shiva alone. The Iron Master reveals that the Armless Master, who had been killed by Shiva, is his brother. Shiva recognizes this, stating that the brothers had been legends in the Thai fighting circuits. It is revealed that the Iron Master has no legs and had once been known as the Legless Master, just as his brother had been known as the Armless Master. The Iron Master does battle with Shiva, but is defeated and killed, never revealing Dava's identity or location.