Power Man And Iron Fist #1
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1
Capsule Review
Nothing spectacular happens in this issue — old partners Luke Cage and Danny Rand re-team to do a solid for an old friend — but the style and heart brought to this story by creators David F. Walker and Sanford Greene makes it just as much a page-turner as the Avengers fighting space gods for the fate of the earth. The characterization and dialogue is spot-on, with Danny obviously wanting to get his old partnership back together (so much so that he makes some foolish choices), and Luke just as obviously wanting the opposite (but chaffing, just a bit, under a family he possibly feels doesn’t let him risk his neck the way he used to). Our guys chase down a MacGuffin, get in a fight, and of course get sucked into a deeper adventure that promises betrayals and twists to come. Nice to see Luke’s old foe Tombstone playing the heavy. “Heavy” might also describe Greene’s art, which leans (hard) toward caricature … but I like it. Luke’s shoulders are broad as a barn, Tombstone’s mug is a rubbery horror mask, and the toughs in Tombtone’s employ are all flattened noses and gritted teeth. Bonus points for Luke saying, “Christmas!” and for Danny having a box of Master of Kung Fu comics and some Shaw Brothers movies in his storeroom.
Approachability For New Readers
Excellent. Danny and Luke have a history together, but you needn’t know much if anything about that history to enjoy this tale.
Read #2?
Yes!
Sales Rank
Read more about Power Man and Iron Fist at Longbox Graveyard
- Sweet Christmas: A Visual History of Luke Cage
- Luke Cage Gallery
- Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag (Of Coal)
- Iron Fist
- Iron Fist Gallery
Read more capsule reviews of Marvel’s All-New All-Different rolling restart.
Posted on March 16, 2016, in Reviews and tagged All-New All-Different Marvel, David F. Walker, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Marvel Comics, Power Man, Sanford Greene. Bookmark the permalink. 6 Comments.
dangvozden
Kris (not Chris)
markginocchio
miloapama
Dean Compton
Moya
ryanmcswain
I have not gone wrong with any of your recommendations yet, so I’ll give this one a try! PM & IF was a favorite book of mine back in the John Byrne days, so I am an easy sell to boot.
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Hope you like it, John. The art is about as far removed from Byrne as you can imagine, but I think they’ve captured the soul of the characters. As long as this team is on the book I think it will be worth a read. Let me know if this book keeps my streak going for good recommendations!
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I love the “feel” of this book. Its like going in a time machine back to the 70’s/80’s of Marvel BUT staying with a current feel. Definitely a fun read and I’m anxious to see which bad guys Marvel will bring back to fight PM/IF.
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I’m tempted to call this book a “sleeper,” but anything that charts Top Ten in sales for the month can’t really be considered under the radar. Hopefully the readership doesn’t fall off too badly with #2 — I read somewhere that #1 benefitted from quite some number of variant covers. It is one of the better books of this relaunch, and I hope it fares better than one of my other favorites (Hercules), a book with a similar personality and zest for adventure that appears to have shuffled off to Pluto’s realm after a scant five issues. It’s a cold world out there, in funnybook land!
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I did catch one scene from a review at bleedingcool.com where Iron Fist says he’s so involved and attuned to the mystical, that he farts mystical powers.
Cute line.
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Didn’t see that line — it might be from issue #2.
This series does play Danny as comic relief/”Himbo,” but that seems in keeping with his more modern interpretation (and to be fair, the “classic” Iron Fist is a bit of a blank slate).
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