Power Man and Iron Fist

Power Man and Iron Fist
Power Man and Iron Fist, 50th issue cover
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Publication date(s)	1972
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 an American comic book series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the superheroes Power Man and Iron Fist.

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

Eventually, Power Man's sales became unsustainable. Marvel decided to combine his series with 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 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 penned the initial stories pairing the characters, but was soon forced to turn the series over to Jo Duffy 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 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."