The man is power, the fist is iron, the heroes are hired, and your Major Spoilers review of Power Man and Iron Fist #5 awaits!
POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #5
Writer: David Walker
Artist: Flaviano Armentaro
Colorist: John Rauch
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Power Man and Iron Fist: After the former Heroes for Hire Office Manager, Jennie Royce, got her hands on the Supersoul Stone, a reluctant Luke Cage, formerly known as Power Man, temporarily reformed a partnership with Danny Rand, also know as Iron Fist, to take her down. Now, they’ve decided it’s time to officially put the old band back together permanently.
THIS FIDDLE-FADDLE WORKS
Throughout this story, we get various accounts from witnesses calling into the ‘Yo, Jimbo Show’ as they recall a recent scuffle between Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Manslaughter Marsdale and of course, everyone seems to have a different interpretation of how everything went down. David Walker once again provides us with a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is truly reminiscent of the original Heroes for Hire stories. I don’t usually like to use the word “fun” when describing media as it’s such a subjective term, but I can’t help but say that this really was a fun read. Walker continues to excel when it comes to portraying the dynamic between Danny and Luke, whether they’re taking down baddies in the streets or bickering with one another in their garage.
The humor is always on point and there’s just the right amount of action to ensure that there’s never a dull moment. I think it was a great choice by Walker to use Manslaughter Marsdale in this issue. His obscurity not only helps the story work as a fun-filled one-shot but it also further establishes Walker’s appreciation for some of the lesser known characters of the Marvel Universe as we’ve also seen him pull Black Mariah and Arthur Nagan out from hiatus. The issue itself is a one-and-done so we get an ending that wraps everything up and even Jessica Jones, much to her husband Luke’s surprise, is happy to see Power Man and Iron Fist back together.
A DIFFERENT STYLE
Credited with the art in this book is Flaviano Armentaro, an artist I have no prior experience with. Armentaro does a great job capturing the essence of what we got in the first arc from Sanford Greene but Greene’s work was slightly more stylized in a way that was evocative of Kerry Gammill in the 1970s. That’s not to say that Armentaro’s art doesn’t do the story justice, but I think he had a tough act to follow. I will say that Armentaro does a much better job with the facial expressions and all the action sequences look great. However, I found some of the inks to be a little too dark in scenes that didn’t quite call for it. It makes sense when characters are in a dark radio studio but not as much when they’re fighting in the streets in broad daylight.
John Rauch does the colors and I really enjoyed his use of cool pinks and purples, which contrast nicely with the warm reds and yellows when it’s time for the Heroes for Hire and Marsdale to play fisticuffs. All in all, the art works well for this story but it isn’t quite up to par with what we’ve gotten previously.
BOTTOM LINE: BUCKLE UP INTO THE POWER-FIST MOBILE
This book is a simple one-shot, bridging the gap between the first arc and next month’s Civil War II tie-in issue. Everything about this issue works and while the past five issues have all felt rather self-contained, I think Walker has built up the Heroes for Hire enough where we’re ready to see the team reintroduced to the rest of the Marvel Universe for Civil War II. I just hope that once the crossover is done, Walker is able to recapture the lightning in a bottle he’s given us so far.
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Jon Arvedon is a Graphic Design graduate who somehow became a Health Insurance Analyst, yet wishes to be a crime-fighting vigilante if not for his strict 8:30 PM bedtime. Born and raised on the not-so-mean streets of Central Massachusetts, he instead uses his time consuming and sharing all aspects of nerd culture on the web and social media as avoNERD.