''Power Man and Iron Fist'' (originally ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' then ''Luke Cage, Power Man'') was an

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

series published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

, featuring the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

Power Man Power Man may refer to: * Luke Cage, a Marvel Comics superhero, originally called Power Man * Erik Josten, a Marvel supervillain later known as Smuggler, Goliath and Atlas * Victor Alvarez, the current Power Man introduced in the mini-series ''Sh ...

and Iron Fist.

Publication history

''Hero for Hire''/''Power Man''

The series debuted as ''Hero for Hire'' #1, and became ''Power Man'' from #17 onwards. The cover logo included

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. in 1972, he was the first Af ...

's name, so from #1–16 the cover logo read ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' and from #17 onwards ''Luke Cage, Power Man''. The series was initially written by Luke Cage's co-creator Archie Goodwin, pencilled by George Tuska, and inked by

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...

''Power Man and Iron Fist''

When ''Power Man''s sales became unsustainable, Marvel added Iron Fist, another once popular superhero who could no longer support his own series, in order to save both characters from full cancellation. Iron Fist joined the cast of ''Power Man'' in a three-part

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

in #48–50. The series title changed to ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' with #50, though the indicia did not reflect this change until #67. ''Iron Fist'' writer

Chris Claremont Christopher S. Claremont (; born November 25, 1950) is an English-born American comic book writer and novelist. Claremont is best known for his 16-year stint on ''Uncanny X-Men'' from 1975 to 1991, far longer than that of any other writer,Clarem ...

penned the initial stories pairing the characters, but was soon forced to turn the series over to

Jo Duffy Mary Jo Duffy (born February 9, 1954) is an American comic book editor and writer, known for her work for Marvel Comics in the 1980s and DC Comics and Image Comics in the 1990s. Biography A native of the New York City area, Duffy attended Welles ...

due to his unmanageable workload. Duffy's run was noted for its lighthearted, humorous, character-driven tone, and had relatively few fight scenes. A young

Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...

had his first regular assignment with the title, writing it from issue #90 to #100. He emulated the lighthearted humor of Duffy's run, not knowing that Duffy had been taken off ''Power Man and Iron Fist'' precisely because the editorial staff disapproved of her lighthearted tongue-in-cheek approach to the series. Goodwin then returned to the series, but had difficulty keeping up with the work, and his brief second run was littered with issues by fill-in writers, including two by Busiek. Jim Owsley, another Marvel staffer, took over as regular writer. The series concluded with the death of Iron Fist in #125, a controversial story. Owsley later commented, "Fist’s death was senseless and shocking and completely unforeseen. It took the readers’ heads clean off. And, to this day, people are mad about it. Forgetting, it seems, that (a) you were supposed to be mad, that death is senseless and Fist’s death was supposed to be senseless, or that (b) this is a comic book."

''Power Man and Iron Fist'' revivals

''Power Man and Iron Fist'' returned 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. It returned again in 2016, with Luke Cage replacing Alvarez.

Creators

Writers

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #50-53 (April 1978 - October 1978), #76 (December 1981) *

Ed Hannigan Edward Hannigan (born August 6, 1951) is an Americans, American comics artist, writer, and editor for both Marvel Comics and DC Comics. Career Ed Hannigan's first credited comics story was published in Marvel Comics' Brand licensing, licensed ' ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #53-55 (October 1978 - February 1979) * Mary Jo Duffy - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #56–75, 77–84 (April 1979 – November 1981, January 1982–August 1982) *

Bob Layton Bob Layton (born September 25, 1953) is an American comic book artist, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work on Marvel Comics titles such as ''Iron Man (comic book), Iron Man'' and ''Hercules (Marvel Comics), Hercules'', and for co-fo ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #67 (February 1981) * Steven Grant - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #69, 91, 101 (May 1981, March 1983, January 1984) * Mike W. Barr - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #76 (December 1981) *

Dennis O'Neil Dennis "Denny" Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until h ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #85–89 (September 1982–January 1983) *

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #90, 92–100, 102, 105 (February 1983, April 1983–December 1983, May 1984) * Archie Goodwin - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #103–104, 108 (February 1984–April 1984, August 1984) * Alan Rowlands - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #106–107, 109 (June 1984–July 1984, September 1984) * Jim Owsley - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #108, 111–125 (August 1984, November 1984–September 1986) *

Tony Isabella Jenny Blake Isabella (born December 22, 1951), who writes under the names Tony Isabella and Jenny Blake, is an Americans, American comic book writer, editor, actor, artist and critic. She is the creator of Marvel Comics superhero Bill Foster (com ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #110 (October 1984)

Artists

* Kerry Gammill - ''Power Man'' #67-68, 70–72, 74–75, 77–79, 84 (February 1981–April 1981, June 1981–August 1981, October 1981–November 1981, January 1982–March 1982, August 1982) * Alan Weiss - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #69 (May 1981) *

Greg LaRocque Greg LaRocque (born February 24, 1954) is an American comics artist best known for his work on the ''Legion of Super-Heroes'' and ''The Flash''. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, LaRocque worked as an assistant teacher at the Professional I ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #73, 91, 102–104, 106, 108–113 (September 1981, March 1983, February 1984–April 1984, August 1984–January 1985) * Frank Miller - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #76 (December 1981) * Rudy Nebres - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #76 (December 1981) *

Denys Cowan Denys Cowan (; born January 30, 1961) is an American comics artist, television producer, media executive and one of the co-founders of Milestone Media. Early life Denys Cowan was first inspired by superheroes as a child from reruns of the 1950s T ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #80–83, 86–90, 92–93 (April 1982–July 1982, October 1982–February 1983, April 1983–May 1983) *

Keith Pollard Keith Pollard (; born January 20, 1950) is an American comic book artist. Originally from the Detroit area, Pollard is best known for his simultaneous work on the Marvel Comics titles ''The Amazing Spider-Man'', ''Fantastic Four'', and ''Thor'' ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #85 (September 1982) *

Ernie Chan Ernesto Chan (July 27, 1940 – May 16, 2012), born and sometimes credited as Ernie Chua, was a Filipinos, Filipino-Americans, American comics artist, known for work published by Marvel Comics and DC Comics, including many Marvel issues of series ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #94–100 (June 1983–December 1983) * Geof Isherwood - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #101, 107 (January 1984, July 1984) * Richard Howell - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #105 (May 1984) * Steve Geiger - ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #114 (February 1985) *

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #114 (February 1985) *

Mark Bright Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former Association football, footballer. Born to a The Gambia, Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early a ...

- ''Power Man/Iron Fist'' #115–125 (March 1985–September 1986)

Collected editions

References

External links

Daughters of the Dragon: Heroes For Hire supporting characters
{{Luke Cage Comics by Archie Goodwin (comics) Comics by Don McGregor Comics by Kurt Busiek Comics by Len Wein Comics by Marv Wolfman Comics by Steve Englehart Comics set in New York City Marvel Comics superhero teams Team-up comics Luke Cage Iron Fist (comics)