Cover Versions: Power Man and Iron Fist

Power Man and Iron Fist #50 changed Luke Cage's solo series into an ongoing team-up with Danny Rand. From that point on, the cover art often appeared symmetrical, giving equal weight to both characters. A handful of examples appear below.

	Cover art for Power Man and Iron Fist #101 pictures Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, recurring characters in the series.
	The cover of #104 is a powerful example of imperfect symmetry.

Gun-Shy

Although the current incarnation of the Defenders has few ties to previous versions of the non-team, former member Daimon Hellstrom made a surprise guest appearance in Defenders #5 (November 2017). The issue established that Hellstrom dated Jessica Jones before she became involved with Luke Cage. Based on Hellstrom's hissing reaction to the couple, he's still sore about the breakup with Jones.

One a separate note, the cover nameplate stands out as one of the most creative in Defenders history—with a bullet shooting through the word Defenders, drawing contrast to Luke Cage's bulletproof skin.

Round Up the Defenders

This ad for Booking.com appears on the back cover of Defenders #4 (and other comics with a publication date of October 2017). The scene of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Daredevil vacationing at Big Mountain Ranch is reminiscent of Nighthawk's ranch—home to an earlier version of the non-team.

The Defenders logo at the bottom of the ad, interestingly, comes from a previous run of the Defenders (Volume 4) rather than the current series (Volume 5).

In Name Only

While repurposing the original nameplate, the latest team billed as the Defenders is decidedly dissimilar to the original non-team.

Starring the characters from the new TV mini-series, the comic book features super-powered couple Jessica Jones and Luke Cage (Power Man), as well as Cage's longtime crimefighting partner Iron Fist and informal ally Daredevil.

An in-story interview with Luke Cage at the end of Defenders #1 (August 2017) noted how he had been a member of a few super-teams, including the Defenders. Within the interview, Cage responded that most super-groups are more or less families—including the Defenders. It is unclear if the hero meant the Defenders in general or, more specifically, the latest version of the team. As of #2, the current combination of Defenders have been too busy battling the underworld to stop and discuss a group name.

Air Mail

Beginning with New Defenders #137, the series changed the name of the letters column from Defenders Dialogue (as it appeared through #136) to Air Mail.

Incorporating Angel into the new Air Mail heading jazzed up the letters page and drew attention to the high-flying hero, who played more or less a supporting role within the series.

This design also harked back to early issues of the X-Men (#4-13, #15-22), which pictured Angel flying alongside the nameplate on the cover.

The Color of the Defenders

The Essential Defenders collections of classic stories from the 1970s use a yellow-with-red nameplate treatment on the cover of each volume.

Yet numerous variations appeared on the covers of the actual issues.

Here's a look at just some of the ways colorists treated the Defenders nameplate during the original series.

Cover Title Treatments

The gold-plated nameplate of Defenders #50 set the tone for that landmark issue, with the heroes moving from behind the title treatment to the front. Several later issues further incorporated the title into the cover scenes.

On a subtle level, of course, numerous issues show a cover element partially overlapping the title, but without drawing the title into the action.