Comics Feature 16 featuring Power Man and Iron Fist Cover by Kerry Gammill

I read the cultish Jo Duffy Power Man and Iron Fist run of the 80s only recently and instantly considered that it was one of those hidden gems of a super hero series and run coming off the 80s.

The concept of joining a character emerging from the Kung-Fu/Ninja craze, for which I had a personal love since his early Claremont and Byrne days, with a pre-hip hop street thug was fun enough in itself but Jo Duffy’s writing translated the concept in one of the best buddy book ever that managed to tactfully tackle a lot of social issues of the day.

Of course, it did help that one of my favorite (80s) artists, a young and yet fully artistically formed Kerry Gammill, drew most of the run. By that time, Gammill was already a fantastic artist, having entered the comic industry by way of the then very active fanzine scene, and an impeccable natural storyteller of the highest level.

And yet, while he stayed on the title for some time, Gammill only drew 3 covers for the series, only one on which he fully inked himself, the others being more or less suitably inked by other artists and the rest of the cover run given to more commercially established artists of the time (such as Bob Layton or Frank Miller).

This cover was drawn for the Comic Feature magazine/pro-zine that was active during the 80s (à la the Comic journal, Comics interview or Amazing Heroes, the kind of great sources of knowledge a young mind avid for more behind the scene anecdotes about the comic industry would crave).

So imagine my joy to see this cover popping up for sale as it is fully pencilled and inked by Gammill who sadly has not always been blessed with the best suited inkers for his beautiful pencils during his career.

The composition is simply effective as having the character bursting through a wall always works :)

I always loved how Gammill paid very close attention to each hero’s mannerisms (with a particular attention to the hands and how to use them to convey information), body language and how they relate to each other spatially (from their height to their weight and body mass). This is evident here.

This is the perfect match for both my love of that series and particular run AND Kerry Gammill from which this is my proud first original cover.

This is the tenth day of my 2023 CAF birthday party.