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Power Man
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Power Man

385 appearances · Bronze Age · 1972–2026 · 15 key issues
Who is Power Man?

A mercenary who gained superhuman strength through ionic energy treatment while serving Baron Heinrich Zemo and the Enchantress, Erik Josten operated as a super-powered villain before eventually joining the Thunderbolts, where he took the identity Atlas and gained size-changing abilities alongside his ionic powers.

Few Bronze Age debuts have proven as enduringly magnetic as Power Man, who first burst onto the Marvel scene in Iron Man #46 in 1972, brought to life by Gary Friedrich and George Tuska. Over more than five decades of publication, this street-level titan has carved out a remarkable niche, headlining Power Man, the beloved Power Man and Iron Fist, and Daredevil while sharing pages with some of Marvel's finest — Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Captain America, and more. With 15 key-issue appearances flagging him as a serious collector's quarry and nearly 200 catalog appearances spanning 1972 all the way to 2026, Power Man is no footnote — he's a fixture of Marvel's toughest, most grounded corner of the universe, and absolutely worth your attention.

Identity

Real name. Erik Josten

Powers. Ionic energy empowerment: superhuman strength/durability/stamina; as Atlas, can grow to giant size (Pym Particles + ionic body) and increase strength with size.

Teams & affiliations
Avengers
★ First appearance
The Avengers #15
Apr 1965

Trivia

  • Power Man was never conceived as a standalone identity from the start — the title grew out of the original 'Hero for Hire' concept, with the book itself rebranding the character as Power Man before the series ultimately evolved into the team-up title Power Man and Iron Fist.youtube.com
  • Marvel treated the Power Man name as little more than a temporary marketing identity, and Luke Cage eventually reclaimed his original name in the early 1990s when the solo series was relaunched under the stripped-down title Cage.youtube.com
  • The Power Man and Iron Fist partnership has one of the roughest origin stories in Marvel team-up history — Cage and Danny Rand's first encounter was violent enough to send Cage crashing through walls and a collapsing building, making it one of the least friendly introductions in the entire bromance canon.youtube.com

Top series

Covers through the years — 1972–2023

Iron Man #46 1972
Iron Man #46
Spider-Woman #13 1979
Spider-Woman #13
Power Man #66 1980
Power Man #66
G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #37 1985
G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero #37
Daredevil: Marked for Death #[nn] 1990
Daredevil: Marked for Death #[nn]
The Punisher #60 1992
The Punisher #60
Code of Honor #2 1997
Code of Honor #2
Deadpool #34 1999
Deadpool #34
Essential Luke Cage, Power Man #1 2005
Essential Luke Cage, Power Man #1
Spider-Man Visionaries: Roger Stern #1 2007
Spider-Man Visionaries: Roger Stern #1
Iron Age #1 2011
Iron Age #1
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection #1 2015
Power Man & Iron Fist Epic Collection #1
Marvel Masterworks: Howard the Duck #1 2020
Marvel Masterworks: Howard the Duck #1
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #25 2023
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man #25

Appearances (1–150 of 385, oldest first)

Tales of Suspense (1959)
#88
Fantastic! (1967)
#88
Iron Man (1968)
#46
Fantastic Four (1961)
Marvel Triple Action (1972)
#16
The Defenders (1972)
Captain Marvel (1968)
#35
Marvel Tales (1966)
#55
Thor (1966)
Marvel Two-in-One (1974)
Black Goliath (1976)
#1
Marvel Treasury Edition (1974)
#12
Comic Reader (1973)
The Complete Fantastic Four (1977)
#1
Spider-Woman (1978)
Godzilla (1977)
#21
The Incredible Hulk (1968)
The X-Men (1963)
Battlestar Galactica (1979)
#6
Tarzan (1977)
#27
Daredevil (1964)
Hulk Comic (1979)
Hulk (1979)
Année Zéro (1979)
#5
L'Inattendu (1975)
Captain Britain (1980)
Incredible Hulk Weekly (1979)
#53
Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976)
The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976)
Gamma la bombe qui a créé Hulk (1979)
#15
Spécial Strange (1975)
The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964)
#15
Rom (1979)
Marvel Superhelden (1981)
#10
Marvel Graphic Novel (1982)
Marvel Super Hero Contest of Champions (1982)
The Marvel No-Prize Book (1983)
#1
Marvel Team-Up (1972)
The Daredevils (1982)
#5
Top BD (1983)
#2
Marvel Fanfare (1982)
Titans (1976)
U.S. 1 (1983)
#5
G.I. Joe, a Real American Hero (1982)
Strange Spécial Origines (1981)
Camelot 3000 (1983)
#4
The Transformers (1984)
Secret Wars II (1985)
Captain America (1968)
Web of Spider-Man (1985)
#6
West Coast Avengers (1985)
The Vision and the Scarlet Witch (1985)
#8
Marvel Age Annual (1985)
#2