So, who are Cloak and Dagger? Well, you know the Runaways? Cloak and Dagger were the original Runaways, in a sense. A pair of teenagers who fled rough lives. Cloak was once Tyrone "Ty" Johnson, an African-American youth from Boston. Dagger was once Tandy Bowen, a ballet dancer from upper-class roots from Shaker Heights, Ohio. They came to New York, only to run into trouble. They ended up being test subjects for an experimental new drug being developed for the Mob.
The drug ended up giving them strange new powers. Johnson's body was transformed into a living portal into a dimension of endless darkness, and Bowen became a generator of light, which she can throw in the form of small dagger-like projectiles that can paralyze and kill people, and even cure drug addiction. Their new powers came with a caveat, however. Cloak's darkness had a hunger for people's "light", whatever that meant. Dagger's body could only hold so much light before becoming overcharged. Dagger's light powers could relieve Cloak's hunger, as well as keep her from overloading. As a result, the two of them were basically stuck together.
Over the past three decades, Cloak and Dagger have had mini-series, their own series, and many guest appearances in other titles. They've also gone through many a crazy change in their careers, with Cloak losing his powers for a while, Dagger going blind for a while, and even the two of them recently getting their powers switched. Despite this, Cloak and Dagger have maintained a presence in the MU, so much so, they have appeared in cartoons, and are getting a live-action TV series.
The cover is actually pretty neat, it has that Eisner Spirit-esque feel to it, thanks to the words on the buildings. There is one thing about the cover that does bother me, though...but it's not the cover's fault. It's the title of the comic itself. Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. The title does come off as a bit overly long. And why mention that Peter Parker is Spider-Man here? At the time, he was the only active Spider-Man. This was many years before Miguel O'Hara and Miles Morales came into existence, and shared the Spider-Man identity with Peter.
"Cloak and Dagger"
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciller: Ed Hannigan
Inker: Al Milgrom (The issue mistakenly credits Jim Mooney)
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editor: Tom DeFalco
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
The story begins with Spider-Man swinging through the city.
He hears a cry for help, and decides to investigate it. He finds a man, who is terrified for his life. Spidey jokes that if the man needs change, he himself is a bit short. The man explains that money's not his problem.
The man's problem is drugs. You see, the man used to be a pharmacist, but he fell into some bad debt. However, he was offered some debt relief by some people performing experiments. What they needed was for him to procure some substances that were...not exactly liked by the law, let's just say. He pleads with Spidey to take him to the District Attorney so he can confess. Spidey's Spider-Sense goes into overdrive, and the man's pursuers make themselves known.
The man, Simon Marshall, tries to flee. Spider-Man tries to protect him, but Cloak traps him in his...well, cloak. The cloak contains an endless dimension of darkness that Spidey can't seem to find a way out of. Worse, it somehow weakens his Spider-Sense. Marshall flees for his life, but Dagger, using some acrobatics, manages to catch up to him. Marshall pleads for his life, even saying he's going to turn himself in, and even apologizes to her. Dagger is hearing none of it.
Her light daggers cause a shock to Marshall's system, and the dying man falls into a pigeon cage. Spider-Man is able to escape Cloak by punching him in his still-solid jaw. Spider-Man discovers Marshall's body, and Dagger states that she did kill him. Yeah, in their early appearances, Cloak and Dagger had no issue using lethal force, especially against people involved in the drug industry.
Spider-Man is furious with them, stating that they had no right to execute Marshall, but Cloak and Dagger thinks otherwise, and Dagger throws her light daggers at Spidey. However, unlike Marshall, Spidey is in better shape, and has spider-like speed and agility.
However, Dagger can mentally control her light projectiles, and as a result, they can follow Spidey around. Spidey is able to neutralize two of them by making them hit a water tower, but he's still got two after him.
Spidey gets ambushed by Cloak, who immobilizes him long enough for Dagger's light daggers to hit him. Spidey's body is wracked by pain, but he sees the two superpowered Punishers. He tries to leap at them, but Cloak wraps Dagger in his namesake, and they vanish. The Webhead is left curled up on the roof in pain, and he is found by a couple of cops.
The cops find the deceased Simon Marshall and want Spidey to come in for questioning. They've been looking for Marshall for some time, and the Wall-Crawler takes his leave, still feeling the effects of Dagger's light projectiles. He's actually so messed up by them, he had to take the subway home.
The next day, Peter Parker goes to the Daily Bugle to find out more information about Simon Marshall, hoping to learn more about Cloak and Dagger. Peter learns that Marshall was developing some new drugs, so new that medical journals didn't know about them. The police discovered him working out of Ellis Island. When they launched a raid on the place, they found bodies.
Marshall had used many young people as test subjects for his new creations. The test subjects were runaways, whom the Mob would meet and make lofty promises to them before taking them to Ellis Island.
Spidey goes down to Ellis Island, wondering about Cloak and Dagger's connection to the place. He wonders if maybe they were hired by the Mob to silence Marshall, or could they have a connection to the lost runaways. Creating a glider out of webs, Spidey floats down to Ellis Island itself.
This is an aspect of Spidey's webbing we hardly ever see nowadays. I love it when Spidey makes things out of webs. Yeah, it doesn't make a ton of sense, but it's still cool. Peter floats down to the island and starts getting a chill down his spine.
These panels are great. You almost get the feeling that Spidey is being haunted by the ghosts of those who came through the island in an attempt to make a new life for themselves in America, and considering this is the Marvel Universe, which houses heroes like Doctor Strange and Blade, who deal with the supernatural...who's to say there aren't any there? Also, considering how Bill Mantlo got inspired to create Cloak and Dagger, I think this scene may have been a nod to the visit that led to their appearing in his head, almost like he is giving thanks to Ellis Island for inspiration.
Spidey's imagination haunting him comes to an end when he hears a scream. The Wall-Crawler follows it and finds that one of the windows in the buildings is lit up. Parker deduces that Cloak and Dagger must be in the area, and he checks his webshooters. Inside the building, Cloak and Dagger have gotten a group of men all rolled up in one room. One of the men, Joey Tartaglione, realizes that the two vigilantes are one of "the kids". But he states that's impossible, because they're all dead.
From here, we get to learn about Cloak and Dagger's origins. Basically, they were a pair of runaways who were used as test subjects for a new drug developed by Simon Marshall.
Is it just me, or does Marshall look different here than earlier in the comic? I'm not sure, the face feels...off. The mob men notice that two of the runaways, despite being injected with the new drug, manage to escape. Marshall's drug killed all the other runaways, so the Mob consider it a bust. Marshall suggests they wash their hands of the whole thing, as the drug will kill the escaped runaways anyway.
Thing is, earlier in the story, Peter found out from the Bugle's researcher that the cops know about the new drug. Which basically means that when they found the runaways' bodies, they were given autopsies, which is how the cops likely discovered it. Marshall couldn't cover it up. It never occurred to the mob to...you know, destroy the bodies somehow?
Anyway, the two survivors didn't only just live, they were changed. Ty Johnson and Tandy Bowen were transformed into Cloak and Dagger. The comics have wavered back and forth over the years on whether the two were mutants whose powers were activated by the drug, or enhanced humans, but it was recently established that they were humans that were enhanced.
Spider-Man bursts in, screaming that if they had told him why they were doing what they were doing, he would have helped them stop the dealers and bring them to justice. Cloak and Dagger are more interested in getting revenge, and Spider tries to convince them to abandon that mission, as it'll make them no better than the drug dealers that killed their fellow runaways. The three scuffle, which allows one of the bound mob men to free himself with a glass shard. The mob man then ambushes Dagger, knocking her out.
He takes her hostage, and the Mob men try to flee. Spider-Man tries to pursue them, but Cloak teleports ahead. He uses his powers to surround the men in darkness, so thick they can barely see each other. Spider-Man comes out of nowhere, and is able to free Dagger unharmed. The Mob men run for it...into Cloak's...well, cloak. The men panic, but find a light and flee towards it.
However, the light was the moon shining through the window. The men fall through it, five stories they plunge, and they splat on the ground.
Cloak and Dagger, satisfied with what they have done, teleport away, leaving the Web-Head alone in the dark building. The Wall-Crawler is left confused, dazzled, and perhaps...a little frightened.
This was a pretty enjoyable comic. We get a good idea of Cloak and Dagger's motivations and origins, which would get expanded further in future appearances and their first mini-series later on. It's a standard revenge story, and Cloak and Dagger do come off as a bit one-dimensional, but the two characters do get expanded further upon, so it's forgivable. If you're a fan of the characters, this comic is a must-get.
If the upcoming TV show has got you interested in the characters, I recommend picking up the trade paperback Shadows and Light. It collects their early appearances, including this comic, and their first mini-series, which did expand further on their origin. They also encounter the likes of the Kingpin, Silvermane, the Punisher, and even the New Mutants.
Next time, in honor of a certain Marvel movie featuring a certain Thunder God, we'll take a look at an issue of Thor...
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