Friendships last for years. But partnerships never die. The folks at Fast Co.Create got the first look at a new “Power Man and Iron Fist” series that will hit shelves in early 2016.
The new series will come from the team of David F. Walker, who fans will recognize from the latest “Cyborg” volume and the criminally underrated “Shaft” comic at Dynamite, as well as Sanford Greene whose “Runaways” tie-in for “Secret Wars” just wrapped up.
While there’s no specific plot details regarding where this new series will go, the designs shown off by Design Co.Create are pretty darn spiffy. Greene noted that he wanted to tie in old costume to his new role as a father and husband. I’d say that worked out great if the concept design below is any indication. Iron Fist, meanwhile, looks like he has really great taste in track suits.
The combo of Luke Cage and Iron Fist seems to be a sort of passion project for the team. According to Walker, when Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso asked him to list which characters he would want to work on, Walker made sure to list Luke Cage and Iron Fist as a team. He added, “This was something that I’d wanted to see for years and years. That particular duo, they’re so iconic. As a writer, you love interesting characters, and those two characters are so fun to delve into. They are the ultimate bromantic couple.”
Along with the recent announcement that Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze will be working on the new “Black Panther” title, “Power Man and Iron Fist” seems to be an indication that Marvel is looking to step up its games towards hiring more creators of color. Greene expressed his optimism to Design Co.Create regarding these recent changes, saying “It’s not, ‘Let’s put an African-American artist or writer on this African-American character and that’s our quota.'”
Walker also added some solid insight: “People use the words diversity and representation a lot these days, but it’s important to draw the distinction between diversity and representation being a marketing ploy versus an ideological shift. Saying, ‘This is how I want to live my life, this is how I want to run my business.’ It’s a difficult conversation to have for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons. This particular project has been in development for quite some time and during that time, people were blasting Marvel and DC and other publishers about their lack of diversity and representation, but then you’re sitting there at a convention wanting to go, ‘Hey! Guess what book I’m writing!’ but you can’t. Then a book gets announced, like Black Panther, and there were people who were like, ‘Oh, yeah, Marvel just got those guys to shut all the critics up.’ I’m like—they got a guy who is one of the best writers in the country right now! You can’t broker a deal like that over a weekend, you know? It takes time.”
While a lot of people have been giving Marvel flak for its lack of diverse creators, and more have been accusing it of tokenism, it is refreshing to hear that they’re actively working beyond a superficial level to make sure their artists and writers are as diverse as their fanbase.
Be sure to check out the full breakdown of the upcoming series on Design Co.Create and expect “Power Man and Iron Fist” sometime in early 2016. We’ll be over here, shaking in anticipation at what looks to be a really awesome take on the Heroes for Hire. And keep checking out Multiversity Comics as more news begins to trickle out of New York Comic-Con this weekend.
