48 Years Ago Today, Two Street-Level Heroes Created Marvel’s Best Superhero Business

It was 48 years ago today that a pair of Marvel Comics street-level heroes found a way to monetize their heroics by creating one of the most famous superhero businesses of all time. Up until 1977, Luke Cage was the lead in his own solo series titled Power Man. This series lasted for 49 issues and featured a supporting cast that included fellow superhero Iron Fist. Meanwhile, Iron Fist starred in the series Marvel Premiere before getting his own solo series that only lasted for 15 issues. With both titles in danger of cancellation, Marvel teamed them up in the retitled Power Man and Iron Fist #50. This revitalized both characters.

This also led to their most popular team, which was actually a business meant to make them money for their superhero activities. In Power Man and Iron Fist #54 by Ed Hannigan and Lee Elias, the two street-level heroes formed Heroes for Hire for the first time.

Heroes for Hire Was Made to Profit From Superpowers

Power Man and Iron Fist #54 opened with Power Man and Iron Fist stopping some thieves and saving a police officer’s life. After this, Luke Cage was complaining about not cleaning up the streets and not making any money, even with a “Hero for Hire” business card. The man he was complaining to was Jeryn Hogarth, a brilliant lawyer and businessman who was an old friend of Iron Fist’s dad. He then stepped up and said that Cage just needed help promoting the business. As Jeryn put together the business plan, Danny Rand gave up his control of Rand-Meachum, Inc. to Joy Meachum and chose to join his friend’s new business endeavor.

That was when a company that put Heroes for Hire on a retainer had a villain attempt to rob them. Power Man and Iron Fist showed up and beat a villain who called himself the Incinerator and stopped him. After stopping the villain, they learned of others involved in the robbery and cracked the case. This ended with Iron Fist learning the good news that he was part of the business too, and the new cards had both Power Man and Iron Fist on them, with the name Heroes for Hire.

The business was run ethically as well. Power Man and Iron Fist still helped the little people on the streets free of charge, but they made money by hiring themselves out to major corporations to keep them safe. They were also hired to protect things like ancient artifacts and exhibits, and to track down corporate villains. That said, while there was a chance they could end up representing someone crooked, they had a strict rule to only help people on the up and up and not take any jobs involving extralegal activities.

On top of Power Man and Iron Fist, the company also included secretary Jennie Royce and their business representative, Jeryn Hogarth. They also worked regularly with the private investigator agency of Nightwing Restorations, which was Colleen Wing and Misty Knight’s detective agency. Heroes for Hire ended when a doppelgänger replaced Iron Fist, and after Super Skrull killed the doppelgänger, Cage was blamed for the murder and had to go on the run again.

Heroes for Hire Have Moved Beyond Only Power Man and Iron Fist

Heroes for Hire reformed in 2006 during the “Civil War” storyline, and they served as enforcers for the Superhuman Registration Act. This was interesting because Luke Cage was on the anti-registration side, and the team had nothing to do with him at all. However, the team that formed this group included Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, Tarantula, Shang-Chi, Humbug, Orka, Black Cat, and Paladin. Both Black Cat and Paladin only joined to get paid. The team was then captured and tortured during “World War Hulk,” where they finally fractured and broke up.

This then led to the return of Iron Fist during the “Shadowland” storyline in 2010. However, this team wasn’t on the right side from the start since a mind-controlled Misty Knight formed it and used a rotating group of heroes. These members included Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, Punisher, Black Widow, Paladin, Falcon, Silver Sable, and Elektra. When the mind control ended, Misty Knight rebuilt it from the ground up to earn the respect of the superhero community, including Spider-Man.

However, around the same time, Luke Cage and Iron Fist reunited, and Cage allowed a young hero named Victor Alvarez to use the name Power Man. Iron Fist and the new Power Man created a Heroes for Hire group and even brought in Ava Ayala, the new White Tiger, to join them as well.

In a more controversial moment, Deadpool decided to start his own Heroes for Hire team, but this didn’t last long before Luke Cage sent a cease-and-desist letter, claiming he held the rights to the name. After this, the originals finally returned, with Luke Cage and Iron Fist reforming Heroes for Hire, with a new headquarters in Harlem. This all ended when Danny gave up his role as Iron Fist and Luke Cage won the mayoral race in New York City, which made it illegal for him to act as a superhero at the time.

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