Power Man and Iron Fist #121 Review

Issue Review
Power Man and Iron Fist #121

Direct Market Release Date: September 16, 1985

Credits

Title: Heroes... and Other Strange Cats...!
Script: Jim Owsley
Pencils: Mark Bright
Inks: Jerry Acerno
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Coloring: Janet Jackson
Editor: Dennis O'Neil
Editor in Chief: Jim Shooter

Summary

Twelve year old Bobby Wright spends his days with the scientists at Project Pegasus, after having been infected with an alien spore that has granted him incredible powers. While invisible, Wright overhears several doctors discussing his condition, admitting that he has only three months to live. The child makes his presence known, and gets upset that the doctors have been lying to him, telling him that he will recover. He turns himself into his alter ego, a fully grown man named Captain Hero, and leaves the compound.

In New York City, the Falcon arrives at the empty lot where the Heroes for Hire skyscraper once stood, and informs Power Man and Iron Fist that Bobby Wright went missing. Before they can act, the Beyonder appears, and teleports the heroes to his new Atlantic Ocean base, where he reveals his wall of television monitors that keep an eye on earth's four billion inhabitants.

The Beyonder then teleports the heroes back to New York. Alarmed by what he was shown, the Falcon decides to head to SHIELD to enlist their help in stopping the Beyonder. Iron Fist finds the Beyonder intriguing, and goes along with the Falcon to speak on the Beyonder's behalf. The Beyonder, delayed because of an airplane emergency that required his help, rejoins Luke Cage, who is left to keep the Beyonder busy while Iron Fist and the Falcon talk to SHIELD. Cage takes the Beyonder for some soul food. Noticing that his white skin color puts him in the minority in Cage's part of town, he alters his pigmentation to appear as a black man. After ordering his meal speaking in jive talk, several customers take offence and attack the Beyonder, forcing Cage to rescue him. Bobby Wright arrives at the diner as Captain Hero, looking for Iron Fist. The Beyonder helps Bobby with his desires and teleports him to Iron Fist's location.

Meanwhile, SHIELD determines that the Beyonder's North Atlantic base is a threat that needs to be eliminated. Iron Fist is against the idea, but travels with the strike team to make sure that the base is empty. Captain Hero, teleported by the Beyonder, materializes on the Beyonder's headquarters while SHIELD rigs it with explosives. Iron Fist discovers that SHIELD lied to Bobby about his illness and that they are not being honest with the Beyonder as to why Cage is keeping him occupied, and begins to use non-lethal force to prevent the SHIELD agents from planting the explosives.

Up on the Helicarrier, a SHIELD agent sees Iron Fist's rebellion and launches a missile strike to take him out An upset Fury berates the agent for his rash actions, as those missiles will set off the explosives and blow up the entire platform, not just Iron Fist. Captain Hero leaps into action and intercepts every missile except one. Iron Fist realizes that the only chance of saving both the Beyonder's base and the invading SHIELD agents is to sacrifice himself by striking the missile head on and strikes the missile at the last possible moment. It explodes, but Iron Fist, along with everyone else on the platform, remain are suddenly safe in protected spheres, thanks to the Beyonder's unexpected intervention.

The Beyonder scolds everyone for fearing what they don't understand. Showing them the futility of their fearful response, the Beyonder demonstrates how he can just rebuild his base with a mere thought. Knowing that humanity will only attempt to destroy it again, the Beyonder wipes th from existence and disappears, wondering if there is anything he can do to help and understand the inhabitants of earth.

Quotes

The Beyonder: Each of those screens monitors twenty-five separate people, six thou\sand screens high, twenty six thousand rows wide... one hundred sixty million monitor screens, covering twenty-five people each.
The Falcon: Four billion people.. on camera..
The Beyonder: Exactly. Isn't it great?
Iron Fist: Amazing!
The Falcon: Dangerous
Luke Cage: I'm hungry!

The Falcon: He's got to be stopped.
Iron Fist: Stopped? Stopped from what? Why is it so that whenever we find that which we do not understand we choose to attack and destroy it? The Beyonder has done us no harm!
The Falcon: Get REAL, Iron Fist. You know as well as the next guy how even the most benevolent power can be perverted for EVIL.

The Beyonder: Check it blood. Slide me a piece o' the porgie on the down fry side, greens 'em beans 'em walking Johnny to the rocks. Cool?
Translation caption: May I have the fish please?
Waiter: Uh... sure...
Waiter (thinking): What'd he say...?
Restaurant patron #1: Yo man, think you funny?
Restaurant patron #2: WE don't think you so funny.
Restaurant patron #1: Nobody jerks us around in our own place!
The Beyonder: Yo! Why you comin' out your neck?! Me an' Cuz just greasin' down! What's up with this gangster action?!
Translation caption: Is.. Is there something wrong...?

SHIELD Agent: All right, Iron Fist -- Come out or we'll come in after ya!
SHIELD Agent: Y'know... all of a sudden, I get the feeling that was the wrong thing to say...

Caption: The missile will take HIS life, of that he is certain. Yet, perhaps the lives of others may be spared... through the power of the Iron Fist. Daniel Rand, perhaps for the last time, concentrates his chi on his tightly clenched fist... making it like unto a THING OF IRON.

Commentary

Power Man and Iron Fist #121 is a very good crossover, written by James Owsley. Knowledge of Owsley's African American heritage helps lessen the awkwardness of the scene where the Beyonder assumes that black people speak in jive talk, and orders a "piece o' the porgie". Had this been written by a Caucasian writer, I think a few people may have had some problem with it.

Mark Bright's unpublished and fully inked cover was up for sale on eBay in 2004, and depicts a different design for the Beyonder. When asked about the depiction of the Beyonder as a long haired blonde, Mark Bright responded by saying, "The Beyonder was redesigned after the sketch for the unpublished cover was approved. At that point we decided upon a cover that would better feature his new look... the character was constantly being rethought by the editorial staff".

On the topic of last minute changes by the editorial staff, it appears that no one told Dennis O'Neil that a particular scene was being cut from Secret Wars II #6. On page 4, Iron Fist states that the Beyonder did "suddenly puck us from K'un Lun and deposit us here on earth", and O'Neil's editor's note makes reference to this happening in Secret Wars II #6. For whatever reason, this was not depicted in that issue, and I could not find any book from this era where this may have been show to occur.

Up next...

Secret Wars II continues in Secret Wars II #7!