Issue(s): Power Man & Iron Fist #56, Power Man & Iron Fist #57
Cover Date: Apr-Jun 79
Title: "The Scarab's sting!" / "Pharaohs on Broadway!"
Credits:
Mary Jo Duffy - Writer
Trevor Von Eeden - Penciler
Frank Springer - Inker

Review/plot:
Mary Jo Duffy becomes the regular writer for the series. She's been an assistant editor for a while, and has done some fill in work, but this is her first regular series. Aside from the brief attempts at creating a line of female comics in 1972 (which consisted mostly of the girlfriends of the Marvel writers), I believe she is the first female writer at Marvel. Certainly the first with any longevity on a regular series.

The plot for this issue starts along the lines of the previous few, with the Heroes for Hire getting a fairly mundane job. This time they are supposed to guard a museum exhibit. The people who hired them are running a scam, however, having replaced the exhibit's artifacts with replicas and intending to blame the duo. One of the men turns out to be the Living Monolith, though.

Luckily, the X-Men are home. Cyclops is still sort-of dating Colleen and Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler are walking the streets of New York with Colleen and Misty...

...when they see the Heroes For Hire building destroyed by the Monolith. Cyclops, worried about the fact that his brother may be in trouble if the Monolith is active, wants to go directly after the Monolith, but Misty makes them look for Danny and Luke instead. Cyclops agrees, but sends Storm off to follow the Monolith. In fact, the Monolith has figured out how to transform without doing anything to Havok. The Heroes For Hire manage to track down the artifact that the Monolith was using to power himself...

...while the X-Men keep him distracted.

There's better character development in these issues as well, focusing on the different backgrounds that Luke and Danny come from. Luke has misgivings about Danny's wealth and declines an offer from Danny to share it with him. Luke also has doubts about the nature of the jobs the Heroes For Hire are accepting; it's certainly a far cry from the cases he took when working in Times Square.

Danny is also providing Luke with some martial arts training.

And there's a funny scene where Luke finally gets the soda he's always wanted (from McGregor's soda machine gag in the Power Man series), but doesn't even realize it.

Also in this issue, Jeryn Hogarth hands over the reins to a Jennie Royce.

Overall, this is an improvement from the previous issues. The reaction in the letter column for #58 is extremely positive, citing the character moments especially, with two readers suggesting it was better than the Claremont/Byrne issues. If the art was better, i could almost see why, but Von Eeden's art is fine but nothing great. It's still not great. The X-Men aren't used particularly well and the writing is a bit stiff, but it's an improvement.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 2 - first Jennie Royce

Chronological Placement Considerations: This takes place after the X-Men return from Japan & Canada but before Uncanny X-Men #122, where this fight is mentioned.

References:

• This arc starts up with a friendly rematch fight between Power Man and Iron Fist. Their first fight was in Power Man #48.
  
• Comparing their different lives and fortunes, Luke references his time spent at Seagate Prison, as seen in Hero For Hire #1.
  
• Power Man references Professor Abdul's "little spree up Fifth Avenue a few months back", a reference to Marvel Team-Up #69-70.
  
• Iron Fist met Havok during the absurdity that was Defenders #62-65. Havok apparently told Fist all about his relationship with the Living Monolith and the events of Marvel Team-Up #69-70.
  
• Misty Knight and Colleen Wing have been out of the country since Uncanny X-Men #117.
  
• Briefly thought to be dead, when he shows up again Iron Fist gets hugs from both his girlfriend Misty and from Colleen. Colleen has previously been kind of cold to Danny since the mind-meld in Iron Fist #6, but here she refers to him as her "old mind-mate".

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Fnord,you might want to note that this is Jennie Royce's first appearance,since she plays the key role in the current Supersoul Stone storyline in Power Man and Iron Fist.

Added a scan and a historical significance note. Thanks.

Nice entertaining street scene with Misty, Colleen, Scott, Ororo, and Kurt out of costume. No X-Men downtime-scene collection will be complete without it.