Power Man and Iron Fist

”Freedom!”

Power Man is celebrating the fact that he has just been cleared of all charges pertaining to the time that he served at Seagate Penitentiary. A huge party is thrown for him at the penthouse suite of his lawyer, Jeryn Hogarth. As Luke mingles with guests, he recalls the events that first brought him to Seagate.

Power Man’s origin:
Years ago, a young man named Carl Earl Lucas and a friend named Willis Stryker vied for the affections of a woman named Reva Connors. Willis saw that he was losing Reva to Lukas and so, he planted 2kg of heroin in his apartment and then proceeded to call the cops.

Lucas was sent to Seagate prison in Georgia, where he became the personal whipping boy of a racist prison guard named Albert Rackham. Lukas volunteered to be the guinea pig in a scientific experiment conducted by Dr. Noah Burstein. Burstein’s ambition was to recreate the super-soldier process that had been used by the US government to create Captain America. But Rackham sought to sabotage the experiment and altered the process. Although his body was racked with tremendous pain, Carl survived the process and emerged from the tank with skin as tough as steel. He then punched through a wall and escaped. Soon after, he adopted the pseudonym Luke Cage and began his career as Luke Cage, Hero For Hire.

Luke’s reverie is disturbed when two criminals named Stiletto and Discus burst into the penthouse and begin blasting the room with their weapons. Despite what the courts say, they believe Cage to be a criminal and are sworn to bring him to justice. Power Man and Iron Fist snap into action, but the bulk of their effort is geared towards protecting the party guests from the villains’ attack. One of the guests that Power Man saves is a young model named Harmony Young. Luke will see quite a bit more of her in the future.

Ultimately, their fight carries on outside. Iron Fist chases out onto the roof of the next building, but the snow-covered surface causes Iron Fist to slip. Stiletto begins stepping on Danny’s fingers as the hero hangs on off the side of the building. Power Man comes rocketing over from the other building and smashes into Stiletto knocking them both across the roof. Iron Fist loses his grip, but angles his body so that he crashes through the skylight over a suite containing an interior swimming pool.

While Colleen Wing finishes off Discus, Misty Knight and detective Rafael Scarfe burst into the room where Power Man and Stiletto are fighting. Stiletto fires a bullet that hits Scarfe in the chest. Misty loses control and pulls her firearm, prepared to shoot Stiletto in the face at point blank range. Power Man catches the bullet before it can strike Stiletto and then shows Misty that Scarfe wasn’t killed. Stiletto’s bullet had struck his detective’s badge, preventing it from entering his body. Misty blames herself for how quickly she lost control.

With the two villains no longer a threat, Power Man and the others return to the party.

Apr 1978

Marvel Comics Group

071486021490

50

January

1978

A

Freedom!

Newsstand

1

United States

$0.35

Bronze Age

English

Magazine

2018-07-02 23:14:00

First issue. Story & numbering continued from Power Man #49.

Luke & Claire break up this issue. Luke quickly develops a closer relationship with Harmony Young (introduced this issue).

Cameo appearance by Amanda Sefton and Betsy Wilford when Iron Fist crashes through the pool dome, where Amanda is discussing her dates with Kurt (Wagner, aka Nightcrawler) with Betsy.

~$6.61

2026-02-21

White

2018-07-02 23:14:00