Power Man and Iron Fist

Power Man and Iron Fist

Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
Genre Superhero
Main character(s) Power Man and Iron Fist

Power Man and Iron Fist (originally Luke Cage, Hero for Hire then Luke Cage, Power Man) was a Marvel comic book featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist.

Contents

Publication history

Hero For Hire/Power Man

Originally the series had debuted as Hero For Hire #1, though it became Power Man from #17 onwards. The cover logo included Luke's name, so from #1–16 the cover logo read Luke Cage, Hero For Hire and from #17 onwards Luke Cage, Power Man. Luke's name was not part of the official series title, although it was part of the cover logo.

Eventually, however, Power Man's sales became unsustainable. At that time, the decision was made to combine his series with that of another Marvel hero whose series had just been cancelled. Iron Fist, whose solo series had run for 15 issues (the dangling "Steel Serpent" storyline was wrapped up in Marvel Team-Up), combined with Cage's title, taking his supporting cast, including Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, with him.

Power Man/Iron Fist

Iron Fist joined the cast of Power Man in a three-parter in #48–50. Power Man's name changed to Power Man and Iron Fist with #50. Again, there was a discrepancy between the cover logo and the indicia. The cover logo was titled "Power Man and Iron Fist", but the indicia did not reflect this change until #67.

Cage and Fist, who separately might have remained somewhat trivial, combined to create a memorable pair who, arguably, were approaching the A-list of Marvel properties. In crossovers like Secret Wars II, they were as much involved as many of the A-listers, and group shots often included them alongside people of such magnitude as Daredevil and Spider-Man. The Power Man/Iron Fist property could be compared to properties like Doctor Strange or Nova, who have had repeated attempts at ongoing series, a few of whom have been long-lasting and have had an impact on the Marvel Universe.

After Chris Claremont handled the merging story, the title was written by Marvel staffers Ed Hannigan and Mary Jo Duffy. A young Kurt Busiek had one of his first regular assignments with the title between issues #90 and #100, and the last stories were written by Christopher Priest (under his birth name James Owsley), another Marvel staffer. The series ultimately concluded with #125 as part of a wave of cancellations intended to clear space for the New Universe line. The conclusion killed off the character of Iron Fist, leaving Luke Cage once more a solo operative.

Attempted revivals

Since the conclusion of the series in the 1980s, a few attempts have been made to revive the properties of Iron Fist and Power Man. John Byrne resurrected the Iron Fist character in the pages of Namor around #20–25, bringing him in as a supporting character for that title. At about the same time, Power Man was given a new shot at an ongoing series, simply dubbed Cage. Neither was wildly successful. Namor was cancelled at #62 (though Iron Fist had fallen into disuse long before that, when Byrne had left the title), and Cage was cancelled after 20 issues.

In 1996, as a consequence of the Heroes Reborn storyline, the main Marvel Universe suffered a power vacuum after the Fantastic Four and Avengers were presumed killed. A new Heroes For Hire, written by John Ostrander and illustrated by Pasqual Ferry, was formed by Cage and Rand along with many other characters made equal members of the team. It lasted for 19 issues before it was cancelled.

In the 2000s, there have been a couple more revival attempts with Iron Fist and Power Man, but with the two characters separate. Iron Fist was featured in a limited series, and in 2006 was revealed to be filling in for Daredevil and recently was awarded a new successful ongoing series titled The Immortal Iron Fist by Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker. Cage has been a supporting or core character in books often written by Brian Michael Bendis, such as Alias, The Pulse and New Avengers (in which Cage is the team's leader). A new Heroes for Hire series was developed in 2006 as a spin-off of the Daughters of the Dragon limited series and draws upon the aftermath of the Civil War storyline. This new team line-up does not include Luke Cage or Danny Rand, however both men are on the new lineup of the New Avengers in the post-Civil-War world.

Power Man and Iron Fist would return as a five-issue limited series in 2011, spinning-off from the "Shadowland" storyline, which introduced a new Power Man, Victor Alvarez. It was written by one of the character's creators Fred Van Lente, with art by Wellinton Alves.[1][2][3]

Reprints

There are currently three Marvel "Essential" tradepaper backs that have reprints of issues of the original Power Man and Iron Fist series. Essential Luke Cage, Power Man Volume 2, features Power Man #48-49, Essential Iron Fist Volume 1 features Power Man #48-49 and Power Man and Iron Fist #50. Essential Power Man and Iron Fist reprint Power Man and Iron Fist #50-72 & 74-75; issue #73, which features a story where Power Man and Iron Fist meet Rom the Spaceknight, was omitted from the collection due to the fact Marvel does not hold the rights to the Rom character.

Creators

Hero for Hire

Writers

Artists

Power Man

Writers

Artists

Power Man/Iron Fist

Writers

Artists

Collected Editions

References

  1. ^ Richards, Dave (July 22, 2010). "CCI EXCLUSIVE: Van Lente's New "Power Man & Iron Fist"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=27368. Retrieved September 25, 2011. 
  2. ^ Ching, Albert (July 23, 2010). "SDCC 2010: POWER MAN & IRON FIST: Reunited For The 1st Time". Newsarama. http://www.newsarama.com/comics/power-man-iron-fist-100723.html. Retrieved September 25, 2011. 
  3. ^ Richards, Dave (December 15, 2010). "Van Lente Buddies Up With "Power Man & Iron Fist"". Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=29901. Retrieved September 25, 2011. 

External links