Actually, it’s Luke Cage: Hero For Hire #50 and PM&IF #1. This was the first issue where they co-headlined and got the logo they’d keep for their entire run. At last!
The story involves a re-telling of Luke’s origin…
…at a cocktail party celebrating Luke’s being cleared of all criminal parties. Ten pages of this party. All character development. And John Byrne does a good job at keeping it visually dynamic.
This is the hardest stuff for comic books to do well. It’s a testament to how, when Claremont and Byrne were together in their prime, few could provide better storytelling in this medium.
But in the end, nobody buys comics for formal soirees.
The party is crashed by Stiletto and Discus, the sons of prison guards from Seagate.
While the women Luke dates are often still portrayed as vapid, Misty and Colleen are consistently not hostages or victims, but heroes in this series. And this first issue sets the tone. Even this scene:
In the panel at the top of this post, Luke catches a bullet fired by Misty Knight at point blank range, saving the life of Stiletto. There are a few reasons why this is different from what you expect. First of all, it’s the woman who wants the revenge killing. Second, a hero is capable of this kind of murder: Again, her gun is a few feet from the target’s face, and the villain was already neutralized and presented no threat. That’s cold-blooded.
And it hurts Luke to catch a bullet? Really?
There are also some ties drawn between Luke and Danny’s pasts…
And, in the end, a partnership is born.
This is the first and best issue of the Power Man and Iron Fist series. For the top 10, go here.