Power Man | Magazines and Monsters!

Power Man #54, 1978 “Heroes for Hire!”

Posted on March 15, 2015 by billyd75

In many ways, nothing screams the 1970’s more than Power Man and Iron Fist! A bad street dude with impenetrable skin and a millionaire playboy with an affection for martial arts, the perfect combination, no doubt. You get the martial arts craze, plus the blaxploitation angle as well. Quite an awesome mixture! In another great and timely scenario, we see a one-time villain, the Incinerator! Not to mention a quick glimpse of the awesome Thunderer, from Ku’n L’un! Any fan of the more recent Iron Fist series (Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja), knows that name and place very well.

The story, written by Ed Hannigan, is one that covers a lot of ground. By issues end though, you get a feeling that it’s complete. The penciler is an artist I’ve never even heard of, but Lee Elias does a pretty solid job. Inks by Bob Jenny and Ricardo Villamonte, letters by Jean Simek, and colors by F. Mouly, rounds out the creative team. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the totally awesome cover by Keith Pollard (pencils) and Frank Giacoia (inks)!

Power Man #30, 1975 “Look What They’ve Done to Our Lives, Ma”

Posted on January 17, 2015 by billyd75

You know, whenever I’m feeling kind of down, I can always turn to comic books and/or old school horror/sci-fi movies to brighten up my life. There’s actually one thing that you can add to those two mediums that helps even more, and that is blaxploitation. The movie “Blacula,” and its sequel, are both films that make me laugh, but also movies that scream the 1970’s, with their atmosphere, music, and vernacular. Just a great time for both comics and movies (and T.V.)! Marvel Comic’s answer to that sub-genre, was of course, the Hero for Hire, Luke Cage! This tough, street-wise dude was one bad mamma jamma, and has skin that bullets can’t penetrate!

In this issue, we see Cage fight two of the most off-the-wall villains you’ll ever see, in the Cockroach and Piranha! Both of these crooks posed different problems for Cage, but in the end, he figures out a way to stop both of them. The story was written by one of the best Bronze Age writers, Don McGregor. The art was equally impressive, with Rich Buckler (cover by Rich Buckler and Klaus Janson) and Arv Jones on pencils, and Keith Pollard inking. Petra Goldberg was the colorist, and the letters by Denise Wohl. All of these talented people were on top of their game for sure. The book was edited by none other than ‘Marvelous’ Marv Wolfman!