Marvel Premiere #19
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Premiere #19 is the debut issue of Colleen Wing — a Japanese-American samurai-trained martial artist who would become one of Marvel's most enduring street-level heroines and, alongside Misty Knight, one half of the Daughters of the Dragon. Her introduction in the fifth chapter of Iron Fist's run-up anthology expanded the cast of Marvel's Bronze Age martial-arts line beyond a single white male lead, grounding Danny Rand's adventures in a human network of allies with their own cultural weight and fighting credibility. The issue also marks the first appearance of corporate villain Ward Meachum, whose scheming against Iron Fist deepened the series' crime-thriller underpinning and gave the Meachum family subplot meaningful new legs. Taken together, these debuts made #19 the issue where the Iron Fist corner of the Marvel Universe stopped feeling like a one-man showcase and started resembling the interconnected street-level world it would become.
In "Death-Cult!", Iron Fist confronts the lingering shadows of his past when he reunites with Colleen Wing and her father, a man who holds secrets about Danny’s time in K’un-Lun. As he tries to reconcile with Joy Meachum, he’s drawn into a deadly ambush by the Kara-Kai death cult, forcing him to battle both his enemies and his own doubts. With a mysterious ninja offering unexpected aid, the stakes rise in this pivotal early chapter of Iron Fist’s solo journey. Written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Larry Hama, with inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Jan Brunner, and letters by Ray Holloway, the issue features a striking cover by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom.
This exact issue on ebay
CGC 9 ▾ $77.82–$205 4 listings
CGC 7.5 ▾ $75 2 listings
Raw — NM ▾ $45–$132 2 listings
Raw — VF/NM ▾ $79.99–$89.49 2 listings
Raw — VF+ ▾ $39–$49.99 4 listings
Raw — FN/VF ▾ $29.95–$128 4 listings
Raw — FN+ ▾ $27–$53.75 4 listings
Raw — VG ▾ $17.99–$52.25 8 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $3.01–$150 23 listings
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
By the time issue #19 shipped (on-sale August 27, 1974; cover-dated November 1974), Iron Fist's slot in Marvel Premiere had already cycled through Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and Chris Claremont as writers; Doug Moench — Marvel's primary Master of Kung Fu scripter — stepped in for what became his final arc on the character, working with penciller Larry Hama, inker Dick Giordano, and colorist Jan Brunner under editor Roy Thomas. In a 2020 interview, Hama confirmed that the concept of Colleen Wing was handed to him as a fait accompli by the script, and that he based her visual design on two women he knew named Diana, while modeling Professor Lee Wing on the minister at the Buddhist temple where he trained in judo. Hama left Marvel after wrapping this arc, having been offered double his Marvel page rate to draw Wulf the Barbarian at Atlas/Seaboard Comics — one of the many Bronze Age talent migrations sparked by that short-lived competitor. The cover was produced separately by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom, a common division of labor in the era.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First appearance of Colleen Wing (created by writer Doug Moench and penciller Larry Hama), a samurai-trained martial artist who would go on to co-found the Daughters of the Dragon with Misty Knight.
- First appearance of Ward Meachum, Joy Meachum's uncle and a central antagonist in the early Iron Fist saga, who orchestrates assassination attempts against Danny Rand throughout this story.
- First appearance of Professor Lee Wing (Colleen's father) and the Death-Cult of Kara-Kai, the issue's primary villains, whose pursuit of a forbidden book connecting to K'un-Lun drives the plot.
- Story title is 'Death-Cult!'; scripted by Doug Moench with interior art by Larry Hama (pencils) and Dick Giordano (inks); cover by Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom; edited by Roy Thomas.
- The issue contains a house advertisement for Incredible Hulk #181 — the debut of Wolverine — making it a contemporaneous snapshot of one of the most significant weeks in Bronze Age Marvel publishing.
- Colleen Wing's debut here laid the two-issue groundwork for the Daughters of the Dragon: Misty Knight followed in Marvel Premiere #21 (1975), and the duo were first named 'Daughters of the Dragon' in Marvel Team-Up #64 (December 1977).
- Reprinted in full in Marvel's Greatest Creators: Iron Fist – Colleen Wing #1 (July 2019), and collected in both Essential Iron Fist Vol. 1 and the Iron Fist Epic Collection: The Fury of Iron Fist trade paperbacks.
Cast · 10 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Iron Fist meets Colleen Wing and her father who knows all about Danny's stay in K'un-Lun. Iron Fist tries to make amends with Joy Meachum but she leads him into a trap where he has to face members of the Kara-Kai death cult. The mysterious ninja who actually killed Meachum shows up to give Danny a hand.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
Key issues in Marvel Premiere
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.