Power Man and Iron Fist

There's no getting around it; Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist. the champion of K'un Lun, is an insensitively conceived character; a white guy who stumbles on an immortal race of Asian people and turns out to be better at their whole existence than them. That's the bedrock any creator has to deal with when crafting his stories. A similar challenge faces the blaxploitation-themed Luke Cage, who became Danny's partner in 1972 in Luke Cage, Hero For Hire, which became Power Man & Iron Fist, in order to save both characters from cancellation. Originally written by Chris Claremont, the book passed to Jo Duffy when he left to focus on the increasingly popular X-Men franchise. Duffy's solution to Iron Fist's problematic backstory? Make him an idiot.

Luke Cage and Danny Rand have never been as high profile as they are right now; with one successful Netflix show in the can and another on the horizon, the Heroes For Hire are hotter than ever. However, things might get a little too hot in November's Power Man and Iron Fist #10 as David Walker and Sanford Greene bring back former Runaway Alex Wilder in a new story titled "Harlem Burns."

Luke Cage, sometimes known as Power Man, was created by Archie Goodwin, John Romita, Sr. and George Tuska, and debuted in his own book, Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, back in 1972. He wasn't Marvel's first black hero --- that was Black Panther --- or its first African American hero --- that was Falcon --- but he was the first black hero to launch in his own book and be given a push as a solo hero. In short, he was the first black hero who was made to be a star, and he was one. We've collected some of the best Luke Cage fan art we could find to celebrate the release of his new Netflix series. A lot of it harkens back to his original 1970s look, but some of it incorporates more recent looks, or takes him in a new direction. If there's one thing that Cage's comics history proves, it's that you can take him in a lot of different directions, but he'll always be unbreakable.

Yesterday we reported on the leaking of Marvel Comics' Marvel Previews free magazine, unveiling their entire post-Civil War II line-up including comics such as The Unstoppable Wasp, Solo, Foolkiller and Prowler. Today, the magazine has officially been released via comic stores and online, confirming even more titles and creative teams, including a Kate Bishop Hawkeye book and the much awaited Gamora solo title from Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman.

At a Marvel panel at C2E2 this past weekend, editor Tom Brevoort was asked about the possibility of female-led books, specifically Kate Bishop or Jessica Jones. His response was to say, "Once [Brian Michael Bendis has] got Civil War II off his back, it’s not impossible that we’d say lets do a Jessica book. ... Definitely something we want to do, that’s more certain than the Kate Bishop book."

Marvel is getting the old band back together. Power Man and Iron Fist are back at it in a new ongoing series for the fan favorite Heroes For Hire duo. The return also falls in line with Marvel’s plan to create individual Netflix shows for the aforementioned heroes, with Power Man, aka Luke Cage, coming up later this year. Writer David Walker and artist Sanford Greene seem to be crafting the newest comic series with the both sets of audiences in mind. Power Man and Iron Fist #1 offers a slow build as readers are reintroduced to the characters and their easy, familiar bond.

Sanford Greene's art is just uncommonly charming, right? That was my first thought when the earliest images were released from the upcoming Power Man and Iron Fist, and seeing this preview has only strengthened that opinion. The new ongoing series, featuring Greene and writer David Walker, will be in stores on February 17th.

One of comics' best known buddy teams, Luke Cage and Danny Rand, will make a comeback early next year courtesy of a new Marvel series from the creative team of David F. Walker and Sanford Greene. Titled Power Man & Iron Fist, the book will be the second new Marvel title by a black writer/artist creative team following the recent announcement of a new Black Panther series by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze.

In this week's installment of the X-Men episode guide, I mentioned that there was a comic from the early '80s where Power Man and Iron Fist, Marvel's mismatched mercenary superheroes, battled against a slightly off-model version of Doctor Who's Daleks. It's one of my favorite old-school oddities, but it occurs to me that some of you might not know about this, and that is a shame. I can't imagine g

Over a lifetime of reading comics, Senior Writer Chris Sims has developed an inexhaustible arsenal of facts and opinions. That's why, each and every week, we turn to you to put his comics culture knowledge to the test as he responds to your reader questions!