Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1977-10-01 00:03:10 |
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Power Man #47
Issue(s): Power Man #47
Cover Date: Oct 77
Title: "Hot time in the old town tonight!"
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Writer
George Tuska - Penciler
Bob Smith - Inker
Review/plot:
This one basically comes down to "Power Man fights Zzzax".
Nothing wrong with it (except maybe Tuska's art). It's basically Claremont finding his footing on Power Man. Iron Fist's upcoming appearance is touted heavily, but it's not yet revealed that he'll be permanently joining the book.
A letter writer suggested that the new direction for Cage ought to be him traveling the country, out of costume, dealing with non-super level threats, sort of like a combination of the Kung Fu and Fugitive TV shows. That would have been a good idea, i think, if the Iron Fist change wasn't upcoming. So far, the new direction of the Power Man book has just robbed Cage of his supporting cast and setting without really replacing it with anything.
At one point this issue, Luke Cage prevents a train from crashing, and one of the passengers refers to him as "that black buck in the Halloween costume". The guy also assumes that Cage is trying to destroy the train, not save it, so it's possible Claremont was deliberately using racist terminology to show that the guy is an ass, but it's still odd to see such a racially charged word in a comic.
Having been beat badly by Zzzax at one point, Luke only agrees to continue fighting because the lady in danger is "one fine woman".
Quality Rating: C
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References:
- After rescuing the train, Cage says he hasn't felt so rocky since he "took a header down that Japanese glacier", a gratuitous reference to Claremont's only previous work with Luke Cage in Power Man annual #1.
- Zzzax previously appeared in Hulk #166 and Hulk #183.
- Cage says that Reed Richards taught him that water "shorts out" electricity when he was a member of the FF in Fantastic Four #168-170.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
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Comments
Jim Shooter challenged Chris Claremont to create a female character that was completely helpless and useless, and he responded by creating Harmony Young for this title. Not sure why Shooter issued such a weird challenge to begin with...
Supposedly, it was because Claremont's reputation for writing strong female characters had already become a subject of parody by this point.
Nothing so awful as writing female characters that can actual take care of themselves.
*Sarcasm*
Hello order ciali! Do you like comic books too? My favorite is Spider-Man but I really like Captain America too!
I do delete the spammers so best not to start conversations with them. ;-)
You know looking over the idea, I think the idea of "Power Man: traveling superhero for hire" wouldn't have been such a bad idea. Sort of like cap's wandering period, only with Luke Cage kicking some.
Zzzax was a childhood favorite of mine.
Zzzax should buy some zzzox to stop his feet getting cold.
*Zzznort!*
Zzzax feels like a good challenge for Powerman. In a lot of his appearances, Luke's foes seem unable to hurt him, but Zzzax can and there's not much Luke could do to counter him.
And poor Ms. Knox. I hope Zzzax never intended to consumate things with the woman he "loves".
