Power Man and Iron Fist

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"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.

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 Dr. 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.

Reprints

There are currently three Marvel "Essential" tradepaper backs that have reprints of issues of the original Powerman and Iron Fist series. Essential Luke Cage, Powerman Volume 2, features Powerman #48-49, Essential Iron Fist Volume 1 features Powerman #48-49 and Powerman and Iron Fist #50. Essential Powerman and Iron Fist reprint Powerman and Iron Fist #50-72 & 74-75, issue #73 which features a story where Powerman 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

* Roy Thomas - "Hero for Hire" #1 (June 1972)
* Archie Goodwin - "Hero for Hire" #1–4 (June 1972–December 1972)
* Steve Englehart - "Hero for Hire" #5–15 (January 1973–November 1973)
* Gerry Conway - "Hero for Hire" #6 (February 1973)
* Billy Graham - "Hero for Hire" #14–15 (October 1973–November 1973)
* Tony Isabella - "Hero for Hire" #15–16, 20–25 (November 1973–December 1973, August 1974–June 1975)

Artists

* John Romita - "Hero for Hire" #1 (June 1972)
* George Tuska - "Hero for Hire" #1–3, 5, 7–12 (June 1972–October 1972, January 1973, March 1973–August 1973); cover art #1–2 (June 1972–August 1972)
* Billy Graham - "Hero for Hire" #4, 6, 13–16 (December 1972, February 1973, September 1973–December 1973); cover art #3–16 (October 1972–December 1973)

"Power Man"

Writers

* Len Wein - "Power Man" #17–19, 21 (February 1974–June 1974, October 1974)
* Tony Isabella - "Power Man" #20–25 (August 1974–June 1975)
* Bill Mantlo - "Power Man" #25, 27, 29, 38–39 (June 1975, October 1975, February 1976, December 1976–January 1977)
* Steve Englehart - "Power Man" #26, 36 (August 1975, October 1976)
* Don McGregor - "Power Man" #28, 30–35 (December 1975, April 1976–September 1976)
* Marv Wolfman - "Power Man" #37, 40–46 (November 1976, February 1977–August 1977)
* Chris Claremont - "Power Man" #47–53 (October 1977–October 1978); "Power Man Annual" #1 (1976)
* Ed Hannigan - "Power Man" #52–55 (August 1978–February 1979)
* Mary Jo Duffy - "Power Man" #56–66 (April 1979–December 1980)

Artists

* George Tuska - "Power Man" #17–20, 24, 26, 29, 36, 47 (February 1974–August 1974, April 1975, August 1975, February 1976, October 1976, October 1977)
* Ron Wilson - "Power Man" #21–23, 25, 37 (October 1974–February 1975, June 1975, November 1976)
* George Pérez - "Power Man" #27–28 (October 1975–December 1975)
* Rich Buckler - "Power Man" #30 (April 1976)
* Frank Robbins - "Power Man" #31–34 (May 1976–August 1976)
* Marie Severin - "Power Man" #35, 60 (September 1976, December 1979)
* Bob Brown - "Power Man" #38–39 (December 1976–January 1977)
* Lee Elias - "Power Man" #40–43, 45–46, 54–55 (February 1977–May 1977, July 1977–August 1977, December 1978–February 1979); "Power Man Annual" #1 (1976)
* Ed Hannigan - "Power Man" #44 (June 1977)
* John Byrne - "Power Man" #48–50 (December 1977–April 1978)
* Mike Zeck - "Power Man" #51–52 (June 1978–August 1978)
* Sal Buscema - "Power Man" #53 (October 1978)
* Trevor Von Eeden - "Power Man" #56–59 (April 1979–October 1979)
* Kerry Gammill - "Power Man" #61–66 (February 1980–December 1980)

"Power Man/Iron Fist"

Writers

* Mary Jo Duffy - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #67–75, 77–84 (February 1981–November 1981, January 1982–August 1982)
* Bob Layton - "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)
* Chris Claremont - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #76 (December 1981)
* Dennis O'Neil - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #85–89 (September 1982–January 1983)
* Kurt Busiek - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #90, 92–100, 105 (February 1983, April 1983–December 1983, May 1984)
* Archie Goodwin - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #102–104, 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 - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #110 (October 1984)

Artists

* Kerry Gammill - "Power Man" #67, 69–72, 74–75, 77–79, 84 (February 1981, April 1981–August 1981, October 1981–November 1981, January 1982–March 1982, August 1982)
* Bob Layton - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #68 (March 1981)
* Greg LaRocque - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #73, 91, 102–104, 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 - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #80–83, 86–90, 92–93 (April 1982–July 1982, October 1982–February 1983, April 1983–May 1983)
* Keith Pollard - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #85 (September 1982)
* Ernie Chan - "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)
* Billy Graham - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #114 (February 1985)
* Mark Bright - "Power Man/Iron Fist" #115–125 (March 1985–September 1986)

External links

* [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/2855/dod.html Daughters of the Dragon: Heroes For Hire supporting characters]