“Power Man and Iron Fist” gets hit by Marvel’s wide swinging axe. Read on for our review of the final issue of this wonderfully fun series but be warned, there will be some spoilers.
Written by David Walker
Illustrated by Sanford Greene
Colored by Lee Loughridge
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MAGIC? Well, it believes in Luke and Danny…with a vengeance! With everything they’ve worked for on the line, Power Man and Iron Fist are going to settle the score, once and for all!
All good things must come to an end and, with comicsm that end feels like it often comes too soon. This week we say goodbye to “Power Man and Iron Fist,” one of Marvel’s very best ongoings. This issue doesn’t provide closure on this team but it does close out this story and leaves the duo in a place that reinforces their bond as well as their bond with their community. It’s an action packed finale that doesn’t leave out its heart.
“Power Man and Iron Fist” #15 picks up where the last issue left off as we’re back in the final showdown between Luke, Danny and Alex Wilder, now possessed by Chadoe. Chadoe, as it is explained, is the embodiment of a nightmare and can only exist if he inhabits someone else’s body. Alex Wilder, already a troublemaker in his own ways, proves to be perfect for this. He’s headed to one last fight with the Heroes For Hire as Jennie tries to not get taken to Hell and Mr. Fish tries to exact some revenge all of his own.
“Power Man and Iron Fist” #15 feels like it was in a tough place. It had to wrap up this Alex Wilder arc while giving us some kind of finality to the series and because of this it does feel just a little rushed in the last few pages. With that said though, I think Walker and Greene did exactly what they needed to do in a short space to make this feel over and done. Wilder’s plans are foiled and when the community comes together to rebuild this area and the Heroes For Hire office, my heart swelled like The Grinch. It’s so truly on message for this series and these heroes and that’s exactly what always feels missing from Luke and Danny solo adventures. When they are together, they’re facing huge threats but there’s always something more personal about it because they’re frequently fighting for the marginalized and the ignored. That’s a big part of why “Power Man and Iron Fist” #15 works so well. There’s magic and demons but this really ends up being a story about a community often ignored by the “big name” heroes, coming together to protect each other. It’s a message this issue hits home and it’s a huge reason I loved this series so much.
Walker’s script even until the end was full of an intoxicating sense of humor. His Danny and Luke read like old friends who know each other too well. There’s a great banter between the two that you don’t really see in any other comic series featuring them or even on the television series. Walker understands these characters inside and out and even in the darkest of moments, there’s levity and it’s that that makes “Power Man and Iron Fist” feel like a quintessential Marvel comic. This feels like something from the past and that’s a great thing.
Sanford Greene, for one last time, brings his incredibly unique style to this street level story. His pages are full of varied body types, lots of big expression and a true attention to detail. With “Power Man and Iron Fist” #15, there is a lot of action and with that can come mistakes or awkwardness in the art. Greene avoids that entirely. He’s able to create these huge action moments that really highlight Luke’s strength and Danny’s kung fu abilities. The chaos and destruction that follows this fight is really quite staggering because Greene doesn’t hold anything back. This was always a huge threat to this neighborhood and it is through Greene’s art that we really see just how devastating Alex Wilder’s plans were.
Continued belowSo often superhero comics at Marvel and DC don’t feel connected. The art and writing can often times feel like separate entities instead of one cohesive unit. That wasn’t the case with “Power Man and Iron Fist” as even in this last issue you can see Greene and Walker bouncing off each other’s work fabulously. It’s hard to write fights with dialogue and even harder to make that funny. Greene is able to take the humor in the script and infuse it into the action he’s drawing with Luke and Danny’s reactions to each other and what’s happening around them. When Lee Loughridge enters the picture with his dynamic coloring, it brings everything together in terms of the tone being set. “Power Man and Iron Fist” is a street level series but instead of going with heavy blacks and shadows, Loughridge kind of approaches this with a 70’s film look. This doesn’t look like it necessary takes place in 2017 as far as the colors go and it’s a great callback to each of these characters’ roots in that decade. Loughridge provides the right bright pops in Luke’s shirt, the magical moments and the background. It gives Greene’s art an extra layer that truly brings the series a look all of its own.
I will miss “Power Man and Iron Fist” so much. It was a constant bright spot in my pull and was exactly the kind of story these characters needed. With things moving more towards the Netflix series, I don’t know when we’ll get something like this featuring these characters again but we’ll have always have the trades to re-read.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – All journeys come to an end. This is a fitting ending if a little bit rushed.
