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Marvel Masterworks: Luke Cage #2
Marvel Masterworks: Luke Cage, Power Man, Vol. 2
Collects Power Man (1974) #17-31.
Marvel's bulletproof man is back! The Marvel Masterworks proudly present the evolution of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire into his new identity: Power Man! It's a series of iconic Cage classics featuring the debut of Cottonmouth, Cage's evolving relationship with Claire Temple, and action galore! Cage goes toe to toe with Iron Man, battles the villainous Power Man for the right to the name, and hits the road to uncover the secrets of Security City. Also featuring the debut of Bill Foster as Giant-Man...and the one and only Piranha Jones! With stories and art by comic book greats - Wein, Isabella, McGregor, Tuska, Wilson, Pérez and more - these are the stories that defined the Marvel and Netflix icon for an entire generation of fans!
Marvel's bulletproof man is back! The Marvel Masterworks proudly present the evolution of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire into his new identity: Power Man! It's a series of iconic Cage classics featuring the debut of Cottonmouth, Cage's evolving relationship with Claire Temple, and action galore! Cage goes toe to toe with Iron Man, battles the villainous Power Man for the right to the name, and hits the road to uncover the secrets of Security City. Also featuring the debut of Bill Foster as Giant-Man...and the one and only Piranha Jones! With stories and art by comic book greats - Wein, Isabella, McGregor, Tuska, Wilson, Pérez and more - these are the stories that defined the Marvel and Netflix icon for an entire generation of fans!
291 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2017
9 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Len Wein
1,598 books155 followersLen Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 18, 2024
Power Man #17-20 - Luke Cage is now Power Man. And while this is a pretty big change, it’s still the same old Luke Cage and he’s still a Hero for Hire. Len Wein and George Tuska usher in this new era for Luke and Iron Man even shows up to help to kickoff the festivities. Tony Isabella assists with the wrapping up of the initial arc
Power Man #21-23 - Isabella and Ron Wilson then offer up a one-shot that pits the new Power Man against the original Power Man, who had fought the Avengers on numerous occasions. Then this creative team throws a rematch with Stiletto and Discus at Luke before our hero and his friend, D.W. Head west in search of Luke depart love. And this journey brings the pair into confrontation with Gideon Mace, a nutcase in so many different ways, but just another gimmicky two-bit villain.
Power Man #24-25 - This volume opens with a 2-part tale that is all over the place. With half written by Isabella, and half written by Bill Mantlo it doesn’t feel very stable, and the art, half by Tuska and the other by Wilson doesn’t really help. These are issues in transition and it shows. It is also wrapping up a story arc about Luke traveling to the west coast that started in the previous volume. Still, we are introduced to the new Goliath (#3 after Hank Pym and Clint Barton both vacated the identity), so there’s that at least. This one is Bill Foster, Hank Pym’s lab assistant from early issues of the Avengers.
Power Man #26 - An inventory tale inspired by the Night Stalker made-TV-film. It’s from Steve Englehart and Tuska, so it’s got some legs. Not the greatest story, but it’s fun.
Power Man #27 - Story by Mantlo and early work from the legendary George Pérez. Despite being so early in his career, Perez’s style is screaming through. The story never really grabbed me, but the payoff at the end is poignant and worth it.
Power Man #29 - Wait, what happened to #28? Hang on a tick, let’s just take a deep breath and relax. So, issue #28 ended in a cliffhanger, that needed to be resolved in the next issue. But the dreaded deadline doom prevented that from being published as #29. So we get another inventory fill-in issue from Mantlo and Tuska instead. It’s from Mantlo and Tuska and features … Mr. Fish as the new villain. Which is unfortunate as the new villain in the issue that should have been here is … Piranha. What’s up with the fish themed villains? In any case, I suggest reading this one before #28, just to keep the cliffhangers at the end of #28 & #30 intact with their resolutions. Nope, not confusing at all.
Power Man #28, 30-31 - New adversaries, Cockroach and Piranha, want to put an end to Power Man. Luke Cage doesn’t really like that idea. It’s all complicated by a chemical company shipping toxic gas through the heart of Manhattan. Don McGregor adds his talent writing this mini-epic with art from Tuska, Rich Buckler, and Sal Buscema.
Power Man #21-23 - Isabella and Ron Wilson then offer up a one-shot that pits the new Power Man against the original Power Man, who had fought the Avengers on numerous occasions. Then this creative team throws a rematch with Stiletto and Discus at Luke before our hero and his friend, D.W. Head west in search of Luke depart love. And this journey brings the pair into confrontation with Gideon Mace, a nutcase in so many different ways, but just another gimmicky two-bit villain.
Power Man #24-25 - This volume opens with a 2-part tale that is all over the place. With half written by Isabella, and half written by Bill Mantlo it doesn’t feel very stable, and the art, half by Tuska and the other by Wilson doesn’t really help. These are issues in transition and it shows. It is also wrapping up a story arc about Luke traveling to the west coast that started in the previous volume. Still, we are introduced to the new Goliath (#3 after Hank Pym and Clint Barton both vacated the identity), so there’s that at least. This one is Bill Foster, Hank Pym’s lab assistant from early issues of the Avengers.
Power Man #26 - An inventory tale inspired by the Night Stalker made-TV-film. It’s from Steve Englehart and Tuska, so it’s got some legs. Not the greatest story, but it’s fun.
Power Man #27 - Story by Mantlo and early work from the legendary George Pérez. Despite being so early in his career, Perez’s style is screaming through. The story never really grabbed me, but the payoff at the end is poignant and worth it.
Power Man #29 - Wait, what happened to #28? Hang on a tick, let’s just take a deep breath and relax. So, issue #28 ended in a cliffhanger, that needed to be resolved in the next issue. But the dreaded deadline doom prevented that from being published as #29. So we get another inventory fill-in issue from Mantlo and Tuska instead. It’s from Mantlo and Tuska and features … Mr. Fish as the new villain. Which is unfortunate as the new villain in the issue that should have been here is … Piranha. What’s up with the fish themed villains? In any case, I suggest reading this one before #28, just to keep the cliffhangers at the end of #28 & #30 intact with their resolutions. Nope, not confusing at all.
Power Man #28, 30-31 - New adversaries, Cockroach and Piranha, want to put an end to Power Man. Luke Cage doesn’t really like that idea. It’s all complicated by a chemical company shipping toxic gas through the heart of Manhattan. Don McGregor adds his talent writing this mini-epic with art from Tuska, Rich Buckler, and Sal Buscema.
June 12, 2022
Some of the issues within this collection (17-23) were in the Epic Collection I reviewed called Retribution.
The rest of the stories were tight, darker and more about corruption and power while Cage tries to do the right thing. Like Peter Parker, he is broke and about to lose his home and office, his friend DW has found a woman, and a new Detective is following him and trying to get into his past.
We meet a few new villains" Mr. Fish, Cockroach Hamilton, Pirahna Jones, and run into the Circus of Crime with Ringleader, Princess Python, Strong Man, the Gabbano Brothers, and Live Wire.
Another good group of stories. Although this didn't include his stint with the Defenders, it is a fairly complete story.
Fighting Black Goliath was also cool. I always like that character and was sorry about his storyline. Also that he was Luke's girl's ex-husband was kind of a nice twist in the MCU. (although the pairing of superheroes and their woman is kind of a complicated thing anyway (Black Widow, Tigra, The Wasp, etc)
Worth reading. Finding the complete Marvel Masterworks or Epic collection is the hard part. Marvel is terrible at keeping anything in print. (In fact they are horrible at it and are losing money because they let second hand dealers charge twice and three times what they could be making for each collection--it is a shame.)
The rest of the stories were tight, darker and more about corruption and power while Cage tries to do the right thing. Like Peter Parker, he is broke and about to lose his home and office, his friend DW has found a woman, and a new Detective is following him and trying to get into his past.
We meet a few new villains" Mr. Fish, Cockroach Hamilton, Pirahna Jones, and run into the Circus of Crime with Ringleader, Princess Python, Strong Man, the Gabbano Brothers, and Live Wire.
Another good group of stories. Although this didn't include his stint with the Defenders, it is a fairly complete story.
Fighting Black Goliath was also cool. I always like that character and was sorry about his storyline. Also that he was Luke's girl's ex-husband was kind of a nice twist in the MCU. (although the pairing of superheroes and their woman is kind of a complicated thing anyway (Black Widow, Tigra, The Wasp, etc)
Worth reading. Finding the complete Marvel Masterworks or Epic collection is the hard part. Marvel is terrible at keeping anything in print. (In fact they are horrible at it and are losing money because they let second hand dealers charge twice and three times what they could be making for each collection--it is a shame.)
April 15, 2020
This book was hard to get through at the start. It didn't have any interesting hook, only a tired villain of the week vibe where Cage fights Steeplejack and Circus of Crime in some pretty forgettable stories. But by the second half, things really start to get more interesting with some really interesting stories by Don McGregor, Bill Mantlo, and Steve Englehart. With all the writer changes, you would think that the stories meander, and maybe they do a bit as each writer tries to pick up where the others left off. But it works all right.
No really bad art in this volume, and so far I have really like the pairing of artist Tuska with Billy Graham doing the inks. This was the majority of volume one, and this book only features this team for one issue. But that's OK, because Tuska does the majority of the issues. Only they were unfortunately mostly inked by Vince Colletta and his work is not my favorite. My favorite issue of the whole book is issue 30, with art by Rich Buckler and Arvell Jones. There something about the level of detail put into it that make it look really great.
No really bad art in this volume, and so far I have really like the pairing of artist Tuska with Billy Graham doing the inks. This was the majority of volume one, and this book only features this team for one issue. But that's OK, because Tuska does the majority of the issues. Only they were unfortunately mostly inked by Vince Colletta and his work is not my favorite. My favorite issue of the whole book is issue 30, with art by Rich Buckler and Arvell Jones. There something about the level of detail put into it that make it look really great.
June 26, 2018
Bad.Its cheesy as hell, bland and not that interesting. The sad part is is that it isn't so bad it's good like the first volume or intentionally hilarious like the Power Man & Iron Fist comics. It's just bad. You'll get a good laugh at the goofiness but will be bored out of your mind by the end. This makes me appreciate the Netflix show more as it's seems impossible to make something of true quality with these villains and storylinea.
February 1, 2021
Not as good as the first volume and some of the stories are downright corny.
Mr. Fish? Really?
Here's are some of the issues that have stood out in this volume.
#24 guest appearance of Black Goliath
#27 early penciled work by George Perez
#30 penciled art by Sal Buscema and inked by The Crusty Bunkers which is a team of inkers lead by none other than Neal Adams
Mr. Fish? Really?
Here's are some of the issues that have stood out in this volume.
#24 guest appearance of Black Goliath
#27 early penciled work by George Perez
#30 penciled art by Sal Buscema and inked by The Crusty Bunkers which is a team of inkers lead by none other than Neal Adams
August 17, 2019
Almost 4 stars.
January 18, 2020
Issues 17-31 represent a shift for Luke Cage from the Heroes for Hire to the name of Power Man but continuing the same shtick.
The first ten issues in here are really good. We get a crossover with Iron Man, a trip cross-country where Cage runs into an abusive small town in typical 1970s fashion, a meeting with the crime circus that also includes the introduction of Black Goliath, and we also meet Cottonmouth. You also have to love a book where Cage was given the name "Power Man" and someone forgot that a minor villain had the name, so they square off and battle in a movie theater.
The last five issues by Bill Mantlo on fill in and Don Macgregor aren't nearly as good. I don't think they had a great grasp of the character. Piranha Jones and Cockroach Hamilton are good eyes for villains for Cage, but their first appearance doesn't work me.
Overall, this is still pretty decent Bronze Age marvel stuff, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first volume.
The first ten issues in here are really good. We get a crossover with Iron Man, a trip cross-country where Cage runs into an abusive small town in typical 1970s fashion, a meeting with the crime circus that also includes the introduction of Black Goliath, and we also meet Cottonmouth. You also have to love a book where Cage was given the name "Power Man" and someone forgot that a minor villain had the name, so they square off and battle in a movie theater.
The last five issues by Bill Mantlo on fill in and Don Macgregor aren't nearly as good. I don't think they had a great grasp of the character. Piranha Jones and Cockroach Hamilton are good eyes for villains for Cage, but their first appearance doesn't work me.
Overall, this is still pretty decent Bronze Age marvel stuff, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first volume.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews