Written By: David Walker
Artist(s): Sanford Greene & Flaviano
Color Artist: John Rauch
Cover: Sanford Greene
Release Date: 8/17/16
Price: $3.99
Power Man & Iron Fist are officially back together and getting back to their roots. Their journey is a ton of fun and the two characters work so well with one another that each week is filled with great stories.
Plot
A group of vigilantes are seeking out ex-criminals and hunting them down, leaving Luke and Danny to find out what’s going on. Despite Danny being locked up, he’s still trying to help the wrongfully incriminated while Luke does his best to close the case from the outside.
Story
Power Man & Iron Fist has been a really solid comic for Marvel through seven issues and a large part of that is due to the character’s history with one another and the dynamic they have going on that feels like a buddy cop film.
The recent story left the pair split up as Danny went off to jail in the massive fight between the vigilante group, the police and Danny. The story has begin to set itself up as a heist mystery where there is a man on the inside trying to figure out why these former criminals are being targeted again while Luke is on the outside trying to plot a breakout for his friend. The story has been really fun so far and the book has a great tone to it because of Danny and Luke’s relationship and history. It really builds up the weight between these characters and their care for one another; in the previous issue Luke seemed truly heartbroken as his friend was arrested and taken to jail while in this issue readers get to see a man on a mission. It’s almost surprising to watch Luke be so comfortable with breaking the law but it really speaks for the relationship between Danny and Luke.
This book really nails the relationships between characters and David Walker seems to have a great grasp of how to write all of them. This week readers get to see a little more into Luke’s relationship with Jessica and it was some of the issue’s top scenes. Walker just displays he strong relationships they have as a couple and how deep rooted the love between Jessica and Luke really is. Power Man & Iron Fist has kept things pretty lighthearted and fun but it really nails the character dynamics, which comes from solid writing.
Walker even gives readers some quick flashbacks from Danny’s training in K’un Lun, which are really awesome to read. It just adds insight to the character’s mental strength and what he’s been through to give us a more complex view on his personality. The characters are all built up so well in Power Man & Iron Fist that it makes it easy for readers to connect with them and become attached.
Art
The art has been perfectly on point for the first seven issues of this book. Power Man & Iron Fist is about two guys who operate on the streets and handle the lower level community problems. This book gives off that feel through its writing, but also the artwork. In this issue, Sanford Greene, John Rauch and Flaviano all continue to keep up that gritty noir feel. The style of the characters all looks great and fits the tone that the book is going for because the two characters are straightforward and they play up the art with both Danny and Luke’s powers.
The colors are all spot on so far and in this issue Rauch did a fantastic job with the scenes that take place in the safe house Luke is temporarily using. The drawing and color choices come together for a semi-minimalistic style that has a lot of character to it but doesn’t sell readers short on details.
Verdict
Power Man & Iron Fist is something that everyone can get into. The story has been lighthearted so far but has a great tone and style that nails the buddy cop dynamic between the characters. It’s also a great break from the high profile books and the large scale problems or events that get overly complicated. It will be interesting to see how much this book begins to tie in with Civil War II, but it was nice to see the creative team already display how neither Danny nor Luke wants to be a part of it, which hopefully stays true.