Victor Alvarez was first introduced as a teenager from the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen in New York City. He is the son of Reina Alvarez and Shades. As a child, he was caught in an explosion caused by the villain Bullseye that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people including his father. Victor survived by somehow using a technique that drew the chi from the dead bodies around him and temporarily granted him superhuman strength and fortitude. Some time later during the Shadowland storyline, Victor took on the name Power Man and began using his abilities to fight crime as a hero for hire, advertising his services on sites like Craigslist. Victor's activities eventually drew the attention of Luke Cage, a member of the Avengers who had once used the Power Man name. Cage and his partner Iron Fist eventually learn that Victor is the son of Shades, a Puerto Rican supervillain that Cage had fought years earlier. Though Victor dislikes both Cage and Iron Fist, he eventually teams up with them to help the other heroes fight the crazed Matt Murdock and his army of Hand ninjas. During the Fear Itself storyline, Power Man ends up teleported onto a station in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with Amadeus Cho, Spider-Girl, Thunderstrike and X-23. They end up fighting a group of samurai Shark Men. Power Man is part of the new class of students when the Avengers Academy moves to the former headquarters of the West Coast Avengers. During the Infinity storyline, Power Man was with Heroes for Hire while they stopped Plunderer's men from stealing robot parts. After Superior Spider-Man stops Plunderer, he called Heroes for Hire mercenaries in front of Power Man. While at a café with Luke Cage, Power Man expresses a desire to attack Spider-Man, Luke is more concerned with the consequences for his family. Power Man then plans to start his own version of the Avengers.
Powers and abilities
As a result of the traumatic explosion during his childhood, Power Man possesses the ability to draw chi energy from those around him and temporarily grant himself superhuman strength and fortitude. When utilizing this power, Victor's skin color changes to a glowing red. This technique is similar to the one that gives Iron Fist his abilities, something the hero commented on during his first encounter with Victor. Victor Alvarez wears a yellow and black body suit with metal embellishments, similar to the look of Luke Cage, the first Power Man.
