Previously
This is the part 10 in my continuing insane effort to try to read EVERY MARVEL COMIC EVER PUBLISHED and write about them. You can see previous posts using the tag "complete-marvel-run". This one is all about the Luke Cage.
Luke Cage
First appearance: Hero for Hire #1 (Jun 1972) by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr.
Hero for Hire / Power Man (1972)
Hero for Hire 16 issues.
Power Man 33 issues + 1 annual.
Luke Cage introduced as the first black Marvel hero with his own title. (Black Panther and Falcon had been introduced previously but had not yet starred in their own books.) Carl Lucas is wrongfully convicted after he was framed by his childhood friend over a woman. While in prison, he allows himself to be experimented on by Noah Burstein. An accident in the process gives him bulletproof skin and the chance to break out! He reinvents himself as "Hero for Hire" Luke Cage. His supporting cast include Burstein and Dr Claire Temple, operating a local clinic, and D.W. Griffith, who operates a small movie theatre for his uncle and lets Luke rent a room above the theatre.
A highlight for me in the first run is Luke sneaking into the Baxter Building to borrow a jet to go to Latveria because Doctor Doom hired him and didn't pay the fee lol. During this run he also gets his comeuppance over Willis Stryker, the one who framed him.
After issue #16, Luke takes on the name Power Man and the series is renumbered. There was previously a Marvel villain using the name Power Man and he makes an appearance here to fight it out with Luke over who gets to use the name. This part of the volume has Luke facing a lot more blatant racism than just the usual comic book baddies.
The volume ends with a 3-part story arc where Luke teams up with Iron Fist, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing to defeat a villain called Bushmaster who also underoes the Burstein process.
Power Man and Iron Fist v1 (1978)
76 issues.
Luke Cage and Danny Rand/Iron Fist team up to form Heroes for Hire! Both of their individual titles were struggling, so they got combined into a team. Including this one in the Luke Cage post because Marvel counts these issues under the legacy numbering for Luke Cage.
With the help of Danny's lawyer Jeryn Hogarth, the two of them establish the "Heroes for Hire" business and work together as partners. At the start of this run, Hogarth also helps clear Luke of his criminal history using evidence they gathered from the last story arc vs Bushmaster. Luke legally changes his name to "Lucas Cage".
They take on a variety of mostly street-level clients, occasionally partnering with Misty and Colleen's Nightwing Restorations. At some point Luke helps Danny resolve some outstanding issues with Kun-Lun. Their rogues gallery include guys like Chemistro, Black Mariah, Mr Fish, etc.
This is the longest ongoing series either character has ever had up to present day, but it's not especially notable. Near the end of the volume, Danny is dying of radiation poisoning and is seemingly killed in the last issue.
Cage v1 (1992)
20 issues. Luke Cage moves to Chicago to be a hero for hire again. This was not a good volume, but at least Luke and Danny finally got to see each other again following Danny's death being retconned. Confusing art and storylines. Cage has finally ditched the tiara. Crossovers with Terror Inc and Silver Sable, Infinity Crusade tie-in. Introduces Luke's brother who eventually becomes a villain and dies. Dakota North has a supporting role. Cage fakes his death at the end.
Power Man and Iron Fist v3 (2016)
15 issues + 1 annual. We skipped v2 because Luke wasn't in that one. (I'll explain in the next post!)
Clik here to view.
Luke and Danny get back together (despite Luke constantly telling Jessica they are not back together). They're trying to help Jennie Royce, their old secretary from Heroes for Hire, and all of this gets them dragged into Civil War II and a mystic battle involving Alex Wilder (of Runaways). This is a more fun, lighthearted series with a more colorful and exaggerated art style. Big fan.
The Sweet Christmas Annual involves Luke, Danny, Jessica Drew, and Daimon Helstrom team up to help Santa Claus take down Krampus.
Luke Cage (2017)
10 issues. Changed to legacy numbering after #5, ends with #170.
By Walker (same author as PM/IF v3 above). First half is more consequences of Noah Burstein's bad decisions and his continued to desire to replicate the Power Man process. Second half was like a sidequest involving the Ringmaster. Series ends with a fun story told by Luke's daughter Danielle.
One-shots and Limited Series
- Cage v2 (2002) - 5 issue limited series by Azarello published under the MAX imprint. Not a fan. Too much gratuitious and unnecessary nudity, sex, and swearing. Non-616 storyline.
- Cage Noir (2009) - 5 issue limited series. Alt-universe story set in the 1920s where Cage isn't even really bulletproof. This was fine, better than the MAX one at least.
- New Avengers: Luke Cage (2010) - 3 issue limited series. Luke goes to help an old friend in Philadelphia.
- Avengers Origins: Luke Cage (2012) - One-shot. Recaps LC's origin and adds some more backstory about him joining a bank heist before going H4H.
- Cage v3 (2016) - 4 issue limited series by Genndy Tartakovsky of Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Lab fame. Is about as silly and cartoony as you'd expect, including a rhyming villain named Soos. Basically the exact opposite of v2.
Other Appearances
Cage is a nontrivial role in Jessica Jones' life, so he appears in some of the series covered by the previous post.
He also often appears in ensemble series with street level heroes Danny Rand, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Daredevil, etc. I'll cover a few of those in an upcoming post!
For most of the 2000s, Cage has been an Avenger and later a Thunderbolt, appearing regularly in those ensemble comics.
MCU Comparisons
The Netflix series is generally true to Luke Cage's origins, though the series is much more strongly focused around Harlem and never goes into the Hero for Hire bit.
Among the four main Netflix series, the supporting cast are kind of shuffled around compared to the comics:
- Claire Temple, Luke's original comics love interest, appears first in Daredevil and Jessica Jones before becoming Luke's love interest. Her character is also merged a bit with comics character Linda Carter/Night Nurse
- D.W. Griffith, Luke's white "landlord" in the comics, is nowhere to be found.
- Jeryn Hogarth, the lawyer for Rand corp and Heroes for Hire, is gender-shifted and portrayed by Carrie-Anne Moss as a supporting character in Jessica Jones
- Misty Knight, originally an Iron Fist supporting character, makes her first appearance in Luke Cage instead.
All of the TV series antagonists are from Luke's comics rogues gallery: Diamondback, Cottonmouth, Black Mariah, Bushmaster
Progress Bar
Total issues covered in this post: 190. Every single one a new read for me!
Total number of titles/volumes covered in this post: 11 (counting "Hero for Hire" and "Power Man" separately.)
Total issues covered so far: 4,209 + 190 = 4,399.
Current total (released) according to the reference reading order: 34,811 (+18 from last week.)
Progress: 12.63% (12.09% last post)
I had a math error in the last post which I'm only correcting now.
Up Next
Next week (probably): Iron Fist!