Who is Luke Cage, you ask? Well, the character was inspired by the popularity of Blaxploitation films, first appearing in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). In fact, Cage is a pioneer. He is the first black character in comics to be the protagonist of his own comic book series. Born Carl Lucas from Harlem, NYC, Luke Cage was a gang member framed and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. He was sent to Seagate Prison, where he was the favorite target of a racist guard.
One day, a Dr. Noah Burstein recruits Cage for an experiment to create a super-soldier. The racist guard, Albert "Billy Bob" Rackham, sabotaged the experiment in an attempt to kill him. However, it did not go as planned. It ended up giving Luke Cage superhuman strength and steel-hard skin, able to deflect bullets. He escaped, went back to New York, took up the name "Luke Cage" (I believe at some point in the comics, he would legally change his name), and the rest is history.
In the 40+ years since, Cage would be a regular presence in the Marvel Universe over the years. He had encounters with various heroes and join various hero teams, like the Fantastic Four, the Defenders, and a couple incarnations of the Heroes for Hire. The character underwent a resurgence thanks to Brian Michael Bendis, and has become an Avenger, lead an incarnation of the Thunderbolts, and even has become a husband to Jessica Jones, and the father of a little girl named Danielle Cage, who has a future counterpart that has taken up the mantle of Captain America. Cage has really gone up in the world.
He's become so popular that he even got his own Netflix spinoff after appearing in the Jessica Jones series (IT BROKE NETFLIX), is going to be a part of the Defenders Netflix series, and he's also got a new Power Man/Iron Fist series going.
So with all that out of the way, let's take a look at Cage #1, the start of his 1990s series.
The cover is pretty neat. Front and center is Luke Cage with his "new look" for the time, symbolically tearing up the classic yellow shirt and chain belt he wore as his costume. Around him are various people who are part of the cast for the new title, including Dakota North, a private investigator.
Interestingly, the cover of the trade paperback Second Chances, where I got this issue from, uses this cover as its cover, albeit the coloring is altered. The trade cover has a recolored version, puts more color on the supporting cast. It looks pretty, but at the same time, I like the original coloring because it draws the eye to Cage himself and puts him front and center.
"The Drowning Man"
Writer: Marc McLaurin
Penciler: Dwayne Turner
Inker: Christopher Ivy
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Colorist: Mike Thomas
Editor: Kelly Corvese
Editor-In-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The issue begins with a woman recapping Luke Cage's origins and history up to this point, including his empowering, his days as a Hero for Hire alongside Iron Fist to his being framed for Iron Fist's murder (Yeah, he got better from that). The woman is revealed to be Dakota North, who was hired by a newspaper to find Luke Cage.
She talks to three people in the room, and an intercom. The three people are Jeryn Hogarth, who is the paper's lawyer and a friend of Cage's from the Heroes for Hire days, reporter Analisa Medina, and photographer Micky Hamilton, who covered wars. It's presumed he may have worked with Frank West at some point.
You know, in the first close-up of Micky Hamilton, is it just me, or does he look like a young Danny Glover a little bit? Anyway, the head of the paper is one Mr. Drewston. Much like Charlie, he talks to them through an intercom. Drewston thinks covering Cage's adventures could help sell papers, much like the Bugle's coverage of Spider-Man. Hamilton reveals that his sources have told him that Cage has started a new "Heroes for Hire" right in Chicago. All they have to do is find some trouble, and he'll be there.
Hamilton's prediction is right on the money, as Cage has gotten himself into a...bit of a scuffle in the form of a good ol' fashioned barfight.
Someone tries to shoot him, but bullets tend not to agree with steel-hard skin. However, someone has brought a new weapon to the fight, an electrified chain.
A van crashes into the bar, and Cage ends up preoccupied with protecting the bystanders, and the narration goes into how Cage always used to have someone's back in these situations, usually Iron Fist. One could protect bystanders, while the other could concentrate on the villain. Cage bursts in after it, and gets into a brawl with the men inside. The driver is a flamboyant man called Hardcore.
I have to admit, I kind of like Hardcore. He's flamboyant, has a cool weapon, and is fond of quoting people. He's also from the Caribbean, particularly St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Anyway, Hardcore lets another man take the wheel, and attacks cage with his chain weapon, which he explains is a modified manriki.
Despite Cage's super strength and toughness, Hardcore is able to thrash him, while quoting Tao in the process. Yeah, as I said, Hardcore has a fondness for quoting people, and based on who he quotes, he has a fondness for poetry. I think it's a neat quirk. I also like that he tells people who he's quoting. I think it's a nice bit of character, showing that he's well-read and a bit of a cocky snob about it.
Some of the men try to get away, but Cage stops them with the help of a manhole cover. He finds him swarmed by reporters, but he just wants to get his paycheck. Jeryn Hogarth pushes his way through the crowd, and tells Cage he now represents the Chicago Spectator, and the paper wants to make a deal with him. Back at the Spectator offices on Tuesday afternoon, Analisa expresses her reluctance with the paper's associating with Cage as she feels he's a loose cannon. Micky is more optimistic, feeling that Cage will bring some great attention. Analisa hopes no one gets killed as a result of this.
In Oakdale, Hardcore has a bazooka. He uses it to blow up the estate of a man named Angelopoulos, who insists on being called Angel. He quotes the Greek playwright Euripides during the action. It's part of a plan for Angel to fake his death.
Back at the paper, Hogarth, Micky, Analisa, and Dakota North brief Cage on Elio Angelopoulos III. A former strike-breaker, he eventually became head of the arms company Angelco Enterprises, one of the biggest companies in America. He's also a gun collector who is tied to the Maggia, the Marvel Universe's version of the Mafia.
Angel did arms deals with some very bad dudes. However, karma can be a vicious lady. He lost a ton of money in Vegas, which got him under the control of the Maggia. His company has gone downhill as a result of this, leading up to deaths and a strike. The paper staff believe that it'll only be a matter of time before the cops tie Angel to the insanity, and he'll try and take any many people as he can with him before the cops get him.
Micky rushes in, saying that Angel is trying to flee to the airstrip. He's got a helicopter ready to go, but they have to move fast. Luke wants to know why the paper wants to hire him to catch the guy. Analisa admits that they want the exclusive on the story of Angel's capture. Their covering his fight earlier caused them to sell out their morning edition, and they figured that covering him more an only help keep sales up. Cage is rather...impressed with Analisa's honesty, and takes the job.
Uh, Luke, you're being awfully creepy in that panel, man. You...may want to step back a bit. In the helicopter, Luke and Micky talk. Micky revealed he was a correspondent in Vietnam, and that he knew Luke's parents. Luke takes that revelation rather well.
Luke angrily reminds Micky that he may have known Luke's parents, but he does NOT know him. Yeesh, what was his problem? I think Micky knowing Luke's parents would've made for some interesting character moments, and allow the reader to learn a little more about Cage's past and family. I don't think that was ever explored in the series. A real shame. They arrive at the airstrip, and Hardcore greets them with a manriki to the rotors.
Is...is Hardcore wearing lipstick in that panel? It's probably a coloring goof, but if not...to each their own, I guess. Although I personally imagined him to be more of the black lipstick type. The manriki somehow makes the helicopter blow up, but Micky and Cage managed to get out of the helicopter just in time. They made a mighty leap, and the ground broke their fall.
Micky realizes that Hardcore was the one who caused the copter's destruction (how did he know that?), Micky tries to convince Cage to back off, saying the paper will still have its story, and they will still pay him. Cage presses on, saying he was paid to do a job, and he's going to get it done.
Something happens to Angel and Hardcore's jeep, the art doesn't really explain. They realize it's Cage. Hardcore tries to run him down, quoting Longfellow. Cage slams into the jeep, causing it to crash, luckily not detonating the explosives in the back. Hardcore is not out of the fight, though. He attacks, trying to choke out Cage with his manriki. He then explains that he has a gift from the Japanese...
Yeah, Hardcore is definitely wearing lipstick. That can't be a coloring error. We saw that in a previous panel.
Anyway, he explains that the nails on one of his hands are diamond-tipped, allowing his nails to cut steel...or steel-hard skin. Can diamond actually cut steel? I did a Google search, and it turns out that synthetic diamonds can cut steel. Kudos to this comic, then. The panel shows he only did this stuff with one hand. I wonder why? Anyway, Hardcore shows that he can hurt Cage with his fancy fingernails. I'm betting Hardcore doesn't have a nail-biting habit because in his case, I bet it's expensive.
Hardcore taunts Cage by calling him Power Man, which he dislikes, and Cage feeds him a fist in response. He then spots Angel trying to flee. However, Micky leaps into the jeep, much to Cage's chagrin. He then gets attacked by Hardcore, who explains he was able to take Cage's blow thanks to his "kinetic Kevlar" vest. He then twirls his explosive manriki, giving Cage a choice: Keep fighting him, or save his friends. It's not much of a choice. No matter what Cage does, Hardcore still can pitch his manriki.
Cage decides to take a third option. He rips some asphalt out of the ground, and Hardcore pitches the manriki. Cage tosses his boulder and intercepts it, causing an explosion.
Meanwhile, Micky punches out Angel, who causes the jeep to accelerate as he falls out of it, and Micky bails out. Cage tried to go after the fleeing Hardcore, but the man throws some capsules at Cage's wounds, quoting Dobson.
Cage grabs a bazooka, and uses it to shoot down Hardcore's plane. The fight continues, and Cage realizes that Hardcore tends to avoid close quarters combat, preferring to use his long-rage weaponry like his various projectiles and manriki.
The explosive-laden jeep barrels towards them, and makes some planes explode, which somehow causes the explosion of Angel's airfield.
Later, Cage is checked out, and he's alright, his jacket helped deflect the worst of Hardcore's abuse. One tough jacket. And he did not get his bulletproof one yet. Analisa is unhappy with how things turned out, saying that Cage's dense-headedness caused things to go to this point. Micky stands up for him, saying he did some good, and Angel was stopped.
Micky then makes a deal with Cage: The Chicago Spectator will advertise and promote his business, and he gives them exclusive coverage of his cases. Cage agrees to the deal.
The next day, in St.Croix, Virgin Islands, A figure grabs a skull a la Hamlet with Yorick's skull, and tells Hardcore that he failed in his mission to take out Angel and get his money. Hardcore argues he hasn't, and gets smacked by a mook, only to somehow get slashed in the back. Hardcore says he'll deal with Angel later, and makes a remark about the "Cage objective", which was not the man's target. He said that that plan required Cage to be broken, but thanks to the Angel incident, Cage is able to get a foothold on things.
Hardcore argues that the bonds he builds can be cut, while casually killing the mook.
Cage #1 is...well, it's alright, but it's not one of Cage's best adventures. What the Chicago Spectator is doing here could be rather unethical for a newspaper. Hardcore is a pretty neat villain, though. It does have a lot of action, and it does set up Cage's new status quo for the time, so it does do its job as a first issue. The art's storytelling is a bit confusing to follow at times. I found myself scratching my head a couple of times, trying to figure out what I was looking at. The comic is good in that "mindless action film" kind of way, but that's about it, really. I would only get this if you find it dirt cheap in the back issue bins, and/or you want to complete your collection of the character's appearances. Or if you're in the mood to read a comic with some action.
Next time, we return to Earth-712, and watch the Squadron Supreme try to fix their world...
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