Power Man and Iron Fist comics

Originally uploaded by kms007

Power Man and Iron Fist was probably one of Marvel’s most underrated titles back in the late ’70s – mid-80’s. The series featured a salt-n-pepper super-hero team, comprised of street-wise Lucas Cage aka Power Man and his philosophical kung-fu partner Iron Fist. Both Power Man and Iron Fist had their own comic series. Luke Cage, Power Man was Marvel’s attempt to capitalize on the Blacksploitation craze, while Iron Fist was created around the height of the martial arts craze during the 70’s. Iron Fist lasted 15 issues before it received the axe.

Chris Claremont and John Byrne (those X-Men guys) were responsible for teaming Cage with the ‘Fist. With issue #50, the moniker “Power Man and Iron Fist” stuck, and the series lasted for an impressive 75 issue run. The last 10 or so issues of the series was written by Jim Owsley (now Christopher Priest) and drawn by M.D. Bright, and represent the highlight of the book, aside from the Jo Duffy / Kerry Gammill and Chris Clarement / John Byrne runs the series had.

I scored the last 25 issues from a gentleman on eBay. It was one of those freak auctions I happened to chance upon. Anyway, I’m pleased at punch with receiving these books in excellent condition and look forward to taking a lazy Sunday afternoon to read them…

-Krishna

Any chance you could add fuel to the fire and digg up the PCW.net relaunch? Danka!

Apparently, the word is getting around about pcweenies.net, and I would like to acknowledge a few of the sites that have helped me spread the news. In no particular order, they are:

Typical Mac User Podcast – I’ve known the show’s host, Victor Cajiao, as an online friend for a few years, and watched both his website and podcast grow. If you’re a Mac user, whether an old hat or new to the platform, you really owe it to yourself to give Victor’s podcast a listen. Show updates are twice a week. The Sunday show is hosted on Talkshoe, and gets a rather sizeable turnout each week. Give the Typical Mac User Podcast a listen, and tell Victor that Bob sent you.

Fleen – spearheaded by Gary Tyrell and his hand-picked crew of writers – Fleen offers fresh insight and commentary on the latest happenings within the webcomics world. Fleen is part of my daily web visits. Check out Fleen’s sidebar dubbed “A Good Start” – you’ll find some fantastic webcomics to check out. Maybe one day both PCW and Uncubed will grace that very list.  (A cartoonist can dream, can’t he?)

Be sure to stop by tomorrow, when the PCW take on the Queen of England.

Seriously.

-Krishna 

Everyone has their favorite artists. Here are a few (of the several) that I wanted to share with you this evening:

Cedric Hohnstadt – his work screams professional (because he is!) – there’s a certain energy to his drawings that I really admire. Great line of action and character poses! Cedric also blogs on life as a freelance illustrator – which I find to be most insightful.

Stephen Silver – it’s one of my dreams to take his online art class. One dream that I hope to make a reality at some point in the near future. At the very least, I want to own a few of his books (but alas, the links to order his books is sadly broken). Stephen captures people from real life and makes them come alive in his drawings.

Mike Manley - Remember Darkhawk? That’s where I first heard of Mr. Manley – who happened to pencil the series back in its heyday. In his blog, Mike chronicles his life as an artist, sharing not only his current sequential arts work, but his fine art studies as a Painting major. Some phenomenal stuff!

Every time I check out Cedric, Stephen and Mike’s blog – I feel doubly inspired to pick up my pencil and give it another go. You guys rock!

 -Krishna

More power to this guy!

-Krishna

Originally uploaded by kms007

Power Man and Iron Fist was a great comic back in its heyday. Don’t believe me? Well look no further than the latest Marvel Essentials – featuring the first 24 issues of the series (#50 – 72, 74, 75). What happened to issue #73 you ask? That particular issue featured ROM, Spaceknight – a character Marvel does not own.

The highlight of this Essentials volume for me are the Jo Duffy / Kerry Gammill issues. Jo Duffy really understood what made this duo unique, and fleshed out the book with a terrific supporting cast. A few of the regulars included Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Bob Diamond (one of the Sons of the Tiger), and D.W. Griffith. Duffy’s scripts were fun, tight, and still hold up very well some 30 years after the fact.

Nobody can draw Power Man and Iron Fist better than Kerry Gammill. Nobody. My only wish was that Gammill drew more covers for the series. Bob Layton drew a few really nice ones for the book, along with Frank Miller – but in my opinion, Gammill deserved more covers.

Anyway, now that this book has finally arrived, everyone can check out the magic that was PM/IF. Give it a read and tell me if I’m not wrong.

Iron Fist is doing much better these days – in his own book dubbed The Immortal Iron Fist. This is easily one of the best books Marvel’s putting out – and as an Iron Fist fan from back in the day, I’m one happy camper.

-Krishna

Have you ever wanted to know more about putting together a website for your webcomic?

In this week’s Gigcast, hosts JT Shea and Scott rope me in to discuss comic content management systems. The show is now available for download. If you’re a webcartoonist who opts to forgo your own custom layout or Wordpress / Comicpress combo – let me know what you’re using instead.

-Krishna

Here are a few plugs to tide you over until tomorrow’s toon:

Pearls Before Swine – I got a real kick out of the Jimi Hendrix references in the 1/20 strip. Nice!

Good Ship Chronicles – the sci-fi, space dark comedy is back to regular Monday, Wednesday, and Friday updates. Check it!

Freelance Switch - tons of great, great information, advice and tips on surviving and thriving in the freelance world. The Freelance Switch podcast is one of the most entertaining, laid back and informative shows I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. Many of the items discussed could easily pertain to webcartoonists making a go of their strip as a business.

Okay, back to ‘tooning for me.

-Krishna

PC Weenies reader Ernesto Alonzo Vasquez from  Galicia, Spain, was gracious enough to translate Friday’s PC Weenies toon into Spanish. Ernesto wrote:

Hi Krishna.

Thank you very much for your daily work (sometimes Pcweenies are the first smile of the day), and congratulations for your new born baby.

Thank YOU, Ernesto!

-Krishna

Since other people have already started blogging about it, I can finally let the cat out of the bag. Over the last two months I’ve been working hand-in-hand with the folks at Microsoft on a series of educational comic strips focusing on secure coding, as part of their new campaign, HelloSecureWorld. You’ll have to install Silverlight, which comes in both Mac and Windows flavors, in order to explore the entire site and see the comics.

Once you’re in, you can watch the intro, or go directly to the main interface. Click on “The Strip”, and you should be able to see the 12 comics I drew.

Enjoy!

-Krishna