Power Man and Iron Fist, Vol. 1: The Boys are Back in Town by David F. Walker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Good book! Funny, some punching, and a few different storytelling styles. It’s not a life-changing book (yet), but
A) I’d venture the guess that life-changing isn’t the book’s goal and
B) Oftentimes, books that are designed to be life-changing are not, and when they don’t succeed in that way, they’re kinda sucky otherwise.
Which isn’t to say it’s without substance. It’s got a nice, cheeky sort of way of talking about race and perceptions of culture that rings true but isn’t banging you over the head with the idea. No spoilees, so I’ll leave it there. But trust me, you’ll like it.
Also, I was hovering over the 1-star rating of this book because I was like, “When the sweet Christmas is Luke Cage gonna say Sweet Christmas!?”
And then he did. And the best part is, it’s written in such a way that you’re like, “Oh, THAT’S why he’d say something like Sweet Christmas instead of a legitimate swear.” It adds an entire, extra, funny element to the book. Really cool. It’s like fan service that’ll make fans happy, but will also be funny and enjoyable for someone who knows nothing about Luke Cage.
Also, the relationship between Cage and Jessica Jones is pretty cool. It feels very real, and Jessica Jones gives him shit, but she’s not like Adrian from the Rocky movies where it’s like she’s trying to stop Luke Cage from superheroing all the time. She’s like, “You know you want to team up with Danny, so why don’t you just team up with Danny already? Get over yourself.” She’s declared as “the boss” in the household, but she’s not bossy, and Luke Cage isn’t resentful about it. It’s the way their house runs, and it seems to work for them. It’s cool.
And maybe that’s the thing with this book. It does a lot of stuff right, but it does a lot of stuff right in an understated way. It doesn’t set up these examples of good people and then slap you across the face with the lessons. It’s not about monologue-ing. It sets up these good characters, puts them out there for you to adopt or not, has a comic book punching and kicking story, and then you leave feeling like you had a good time and saw some interesting character stuff going on too. Maybe this book deserves a little more credit than I gave it initially. Almost certainly. It’s not like any of that happens by accident.
Pick it up and see for yourself. I won’t guarantee that you’ll take a life lesson out of it, but I will guarantee a good time. And hey, you might just pick up a life lesson too.