Luke Cage, Iron Fist & The Heroes For Hire, Vol. 2

Heroes for Hire (1997) #10-19

by John Ostrander, Joe Edkin, Pasqual Ferry (Illustrator)

Hey heroes, are you hiring? If so, Deadpool is available! And he could come in handy as Luke Cage and Iron Fist's team takes on Silver Sable and her Wild Pack! But Misty Knight and Colleen Wing are probably a better fi t to help out the short handed H4H - at least until Hercules, Black Knight and She-Hulk return! But they'll be back just in time for betrayal, as the Master of the World makes his move - with devastating effect! White Tiger draws the Heroes into the Siege of Wundagore alongside Quicksilver, but with Man-Beast, Exodus and the High Evolutionary in the mix, who will take the citadel? COLLECTING: HEROES FOR HIRE (1997) 10-19, QUICKSILVER 11-12, HEROES FOR HIRE/QUICKSILVER ANNUAL 1998

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2017

About the author

John Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.

Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).

Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

This volume is a little more uneven than the first, but overall it's still a lot of fun. John Ostrander whips up some genuinely funny moments, and Pascual Ferry's artwork is a treat, and his growth as an artist literally improves from issue to issue. I also have to mention that this includes one of the most ridiculously awesome scenes I can think of in a '90s Marvel comic, in which Iron Fist causes a shark to explode by punching it. That alone is worth the price of admission.

I think what Luke Cage says on the last page of the collection is pretty apt for the series and a fine way to wrap up this review...

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty uneven, sometimes getting very annoying.

Being uneven isn't just a matter of from issue to issue, either. The first couple of issues with an attack on Silver Sable's mercenaries was frustrating, then it got better as they took on multiple factions at Wundagore, but when they were interspersing a Wundagore wrap-up with She-Hulk and Luke Cage going on a date, it was like a roller coaster of varying quality and verisimilitude. So when Namor sells Oracle to Stark Industries and everyone walks off the job, perhaps its for the best.

One thing that was funny is that people are finding Iron Fist to be the weak link in the television Defenders line-up. I have liked Danny as written by Matt Fraction, but he has made some other difficult characters likable. After spending more time with him here, yeah, that Fraction Iron Fist may have been a bit of rehabilitation. Now I suspect he has been annoying all along.

But I was reading it for Luke Cage.

[Kent Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've struggled with claiming favorite writers in comics. Mainly because I don't consider myself a knowledgeable judge of writing. That being said, I think I can say I like Ostrander's writing. And the art by Ferry is superb.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The overall story is pretty solid, although the whimsical narrator of the earlier issues (fired by She-Hulk in a funny scene) is missed. Whoever assembled the Kindle edition screwed up royally however - issue 14 repeats in place of issue 17.

The final arc barely features any of the series regular protagonists and the team is quickly disbanded in the final pages (due to its cancellation), so while it's nice to see a series' end justified in its pages, it's a letdown that we barely got to say goodbye to any of the cast.

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't stupid enough to judge this book by its cover and knew that Deadpool was only a short-term guest star in this book. The writer seems to getting more and more tongue in cheek with this volume, which starkly contrasts with some of the subject matter, and though the ending of the series feels abrupt, at least it had an ending and wasn't just cancelled outright like some books are.

[Dallas Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two and last two issues of this collection are very enjoyable and filled with amazing character cameos that work real well.
All the issues inbetween however just have to do with these characters I have never heard of like The High Evolutionaries (this review was written in 2016), Exodus, and the like. They completely knock out all the Heroes for Hire and have them as useless monkeys for almost the entirety of this rather large book. This is the opposite of what I wanted from a Luke Cage and Iron Fist book. Also if you are looking forward to Deadpool interacting with them in this volume, it is only for a single issue. There was some insanely problematic writing of Luke Cage towards the end, but it is followed by a really nice Luke Cage homage. I constantly wanted to be done with this book, while reading it. :/

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun series of stories set after the end of the first batch of Thunderbolts comics that are a blast to read. I think people who do not enjoy this run come into this book with the wrong expectations. Heroes for Hire at this point feels comparable to other jokier titles in the 616 universe. There are moments with clear tension, but this book feels very much descended from the work of people like Steve Gerber or even John Byrne at his most meta.

[Alex · Rating 1 out of 5]

When Deadpool is in 2 of 12 issues in this collection, but he still makes the cover illustration and headlines the back cover blurb, there are problems. And Iron Fist is just as bad here as the television show is reputed to be.

Heroes for Hire exemplifies the problems of comics in the 90s. Uninspired art with goofy costumes, impossibly physiology, and unnatural poses. The writing is summed up with this quote from Luke Cage, “Don’t hafta make sense. It just is. That’s how we are.” Maybe I’ll be generous and the writers were using this panel to point out that they were aware of how dumb all this is, but they weren’t allowed to deviate from the Axe Cop script.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Someone must want to see any of these characters. Someone, somewhere. But not me.

So many characters but I never wanted to see Exodus fight Man-Beast with Thena on the sidelines. Sorry.

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but also where Ostrander had some trouble juggling story threads.
The big arc with the Master (no, not the guy from Doctor Who) had good action scenes but the resolution is a weak jumble.

Same with the finale on the White Tiger's arc. It gets overshadowed by the crossover but the ending, with White Tiger, has a nice bittersweet thing happening.

The Deadpool story was contrived, but Ostrander was able to write a Deadpool that is funny, without becoming too annoying.

An uneven jumble of a series, but was nice to see so many C-list heroes getting the spotlight.