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Essential Luke Cage, Power Man #2
Essential Luke Cage, Power Man, Vol. 2
Luke Cage wraps up his early solo career against the likes of Zzzax, Chemistro and Gideon Mace - then launches a new era with Iron Fist, forming one of Marvel's oddest and most enduring partnerships! This work features guest-starring of the X-Men and the Daughters of the Dragon.
576 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1978
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62 people want to read
About the author
Marv Wolfman
2,301 books304 followersMarvin A. "Marv" Wolfman is an award-winning American comic book writer. He is best known for lengthy runs on The Tomb of Dracula, creating Blade for Marvel Comics, and The New Teen Titans for DC Comics.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 30, 2021
Carl Lucas, a juvenile delinquent, straightened himself out and was trying to become a respectable citizen when he was framed for heroin possession. An unruly prisoner, he eventually ended up at Seagate Prison, where he volunteered for medical experiments conducted by Dr. Noah Burstein. A brutal guard with a grudge against Lucas sabotaged the experiment, but instead of killing Lucas, it gave him great strength and bulletproof skin. Escaping, Lucas fled to New York City, where he assumed the name Luke Cage and became a “hero for hire.”
Luke Cage (he picked up the moniker “Power Man” around issue #17) was Marvel Comics’ first black superhero to have his own title. He was heavily inspired by the “blaxploitation” movie trend of the early 1970s, as well as reports of unethical medical experimentation on black people and prisoners. His stories were set in a grittier, more “street-level” version of New York City than most other Marvel offerings of the time. In particular, his office above a repertory movie theatre near Times Square and 42nd Street lent itself to a noirish private eye vibe.
This volume covers issues #28-49 and Annual #1. By this time, the title had no black creators working on it, and the focus had shifted toward more supervillains than realistic street criminals.
We open with Luke being hired by a chemical company to look into the theft of route plans for dangerous toxins they’re shipping through New York. This leads our hero into conflict with low-class shotgun fanatic “Cockroach” Hamilton and noveau riche crime boss “Piranha” Jones. Luke is just as disgusted with his employer’s callousness as the criminals’ ruthlessness, and he punches the man, making the chemical company executive and lawyer Grassy Moss his enemies (not actually resolved in this volume.)
The story also introduces police detective Quentin Chase, who is not totally sold on Luke Cage’s type of crimefighting, or his name being obviously an alias, but comes to trust his motives, and becomes a supporting character long-term.
While racism is a running theme in the series, the next villain, Wildfire, is the only one in this volume who’s about racism. He’s a disgruntled middle-aged man who feels that the world and the culture are changing in ways that make him lesser. In particular, a black family has moved into a nice house in his formerly all-white neighborhood. So he builds a flamethrower, puts on a flamboyant costume, and tries to frighten the intruders out. Much to Luke’s disgust, most of the neighbors are on Wildfire’s side, at least passively. It ends in tragedy, even beyond what the villain can stomach.
The next few issues are about Spear and Mangler, brothers who are after Dr. Burstein for initially unspecified crimes. It turns out the doctor’s experiments hadn’t always produced successful results, and the fact that he and Dr. Claire Temple (Luke’s love interest at this point) run a storefront clinic for poor people doesn’t make up for that.
Then it’s time for the return of Chemistro! Or so it initially seems. In fact, after disintegrating his own leg in a fit of idiocy, Curtis Carr decided to go straight in prison, and is keeping his nose clean on parole (but as an ex-con can’t even afford a decent prothesis.) He was extorted into giving the plans for his transmutation gun to another criminal, who then attacked Power Man.
This turns out to be a turf war between two crime lords. The Baron (a fellow who likes dressing up himself and minions as knights with high-tech versions of medieval weapons) was having Chemistro attack Luke Cage as part of a false flag operation to turn the hero’s attention to the other boss, Big Brother, master of computers, whose primary sidekick is the grinning Cheshire Cat. Luke eventually defeats both crime bosses.
Not having had a paying gig for a while, Luke Cage is willing to accept Jack Smith of Shanks Armored Couriers’ offer of a retainer to protect a gold shipment from the criminal Goldbug. It’s a setup: Jack Smith is himself Goldbug, planning to kill Power Man and blame him for the upcoming robbery. The matter is complicated by Luke mistaking rookie speedster superhero Thunderbolt for Goldbug’s accomplice.
Before the case can be fully resolved, recurring annoyance Oliver P. Sneagle of the Internal Revenue Service finally delivers an ultimatum. Luke Cage must come into the IRS office to explain why he hasn’t been paying taxes, or face prosecution. Since Luke in fact has no identification or records under his assumed name (easier to get away with back in the 1970s), and Carl Lucas is an escaped convict (and everyone who knows he’s innocent is presumed dead), he can’t comply.
So Power Man flees to Chicago under the name Mark Lucas, intending to lie low. But on the train there, he meets his old enemy Gideon Mace, former U.S. Army colonel who had become something of a right-wing terrorist. Mace mistakenly believes that Power Man is on to his latest scheme to blackmail Chicago with a cobalt bomb, and his attempts to kill the hero create an opportunity for Power Man to thwart him.
There’s a brief interlude involving the electrical monster Zzzax, then it’s time for another change in the status quo. The Blaxploitation fad had run its course, and sales were dipping. Someone at Marvel had the bright idea of teaming Luke Cage up with another character born of movie fads, Iron Fist, who’d been created at the height of the kung fu craze. So new villain Bushmaster was introduced. He’d kidnapped Drs. Burstein and Temple, and obtained evidence of Carl Lucas’ innocence. If Luke wanted these things back, he’d have to kill Iron Fist’s girlfriend Misty Knight.
In the mighty Marvel manner, that meant our heroes first had a knock-down drag-out battle, then teamed up to take down Bushmaster. His name cleared, Luke Cage teamed up with his new best friend in Power Man & Iron Fist, but that’s the next volume.
Also somewhere in this narrative are an inventory story (a pre-prepared self-contained story to be inserted if a deadline was missed) about mutated mobster Mr. Fish; and the annual, which has Luke go to Japan to fight weapons manufacturer Moses Magnum (who decided to call himself Magnum Force apparently because that sounded more supervillain.)
Some of this material is…dated. There are times when it’s clear that the creators are white men who are trying to be down with the brothers, and Quentin Chase is meant to be the “good cop” to offset some more racist officers. (But I notice he doesn’t live in the city he polices, but out in a nice suburb.)
But there’s solid superhero action in here, several memorable villains (I especially like Cheshire Cat’s design) and Luke’s running feud with the soda machine in the theater lobby is prime comedy. And sometimes the cultural references that date the material are more interesting than grating. (Orange Julius!) There’s also meta-commentary every so often given the films the Gem plays and how they contrast with Luke’s brand of hard-luck heroism.
I recommend this to Luke Cage fans who want to explore his roots, even if that’s sometimes a little uncomfortable.
Luke Cage (he picked up the moniker “Power Man” around issue #17) was Marvel Comics’ first black superhero to have his own title. He was heavily inspired by the “blaxploitation” movie trend of the early 1970s, as well as reports of unethical medical experimentation on black people and prisoners. His stories were set in a grittier, more “street-level” version of New York City than most other Marvel offerings of the time. In particular, his office above a repertory movie theatre near Times Square and 42nd Street lent itself to a noirish private eye vibe.
This volume covers issues #28-49 and Annual #1. By this time, the title had no black creators working on it, and the focus had shifted toward more supervillains than realistic street criminals.
We open with Luke being hired by a chemical company to look into the theft of route plans for dangerous toxins they’re shipping through New York. This leads our hero into conflict with low-class shotgun fanatic “Cockroach” Hamilton and noveau riche crime boss “Piranha” Jones. Luke is just as disgusted with his employer’s callousness as the criminals’ ruthlessness, and he punches the man, making the chemical company executive and lawyer Grassy Moss his enemies (not actually resolved in this volume.)
The story also introduces police detective Quentin Chase, who is not totally sold on Luke Cage’s type of crimefighting, or his name being obviously an alias, but comes to trust his motives, and becomes a supporting character long-term.
While racism is a running theme in the series, the next villain, Wildfire, is the only one in this volume who’s about racism. He’s a disgruntled middle-aged man who feels that the world and the culture are changing in ways that make him lesser. In particular, a black family has moved into a nice house in his formerly all-white neighborhood. So he builds a flamethrower, puts on a flamboyant costume, and tries to frighten the intruders out. Much to Luke’s disgust, most of the neighbors are on Wildfire’s side, at least passively. It ends in tragedy, even beyond what the villain can stomach.
The next few issues are about Spear and Mangler, brothers who are after Dr. Burstein for initially unspecified crimes. It turns out the doctor’s experiments hadn’t always produced successful results, and the fact that he and Dr. Claire Temple (Luke’s love interest at this point) run a storefront clinic for poor people doesn’t make up for that.
Then it’s time for the return of Chemistro! Or so it initially seems. In fact, after disintegrating his own leg in a fit of idiocy, Curtis Carr decided to go straight in prison, and is keeping his nose clean on parole (but as an ex-con can’t even afford a decent prothesis.) He was extorted into giving the plans for his transmutation gun to another criminal, who then attacked Power Man.
This turns out to be a turf war between two crime lords. The Baron (a fellow who likes dressing up himself and minions as knights with high-tech versions of medieval weapons) was having Chemistro attack Luke Cage as part of a false flag operation to turn the hero’s attention to the other boss, Big Brother, master of computers, whose primary sidekick is the grinning Cheshire Cat. Luke eventually defeats both crime bosses.
Not having had a paying gig for a while, Luke Cage is willing to accept Jack Smith of Shanks Armored Couriers’ offer of a retainer to protect a gold shipment from the criminal Goldbug. It’s a setup: Jack Smith is himself Goldbug, planning to kill Power Man and blame him for the upcoming robbery. The matter is complicated by Luke mistaking rookie speedster superhero Thunderbolt for Goldbug’s accomplice.
Before the case can be fully resolved, recurring annoyance Oliver P. Sneagle of the Internal Revenue Service finally delivers an ultimatum. Luke Cage must come into the IRS office to explain why he hasn’t been paying taxes, or face prosecution. Since Luke in fact has no identification or records under his assumed name (easier to get away with back in the 1970s), and Carl Lucas is an escaped convict (and everyone who knows he’s innocent is presumed dead), he can’t comply.
So Power Man flees to Chicago under the name Mark Lucas, intending to lie low. But on the train there, he meets his old enemy Gideon Mace, former U.S. Army colonel who had become something of a right-wing terrorist. Mace mistakenly believes that Power Man is on to his latest scheme to blackmail Chicago with a cobalt bomb, and his attempts to kill the hero create an opportunity for Power Man to thwart him.
There’s a brief interlude involving the electrical monster Zzzax, then it’s time for another change in the status quo. The Blaxploitation fad had run its course, and sales were dipping. Someone at Marvel had the bright idea of teaming Luke Cage up with another character born of movie fads, Iron Fist, who’d been created at the height of the kung fu craze. So new villain Bushmaster was introduced. He’d kidnapped Drs. Burstein and Temple, and obtained evidence of Carl Lucas’ innocence. If Luke wanted these things back, he’d have to kill Iron Fist’s girlfriend Misty Knight.
In the mighty Marvel manner, that meant our heroes first had a knock-down drag-out battle, then teamed up to take down Bushmaster. His name cleared, Luke Cage teamed up with his new best friend in Power Man & Iron Fist, but that’s the next volume.
Also somewhere in this narrative are an inventory story (a pre-prepared self-contained story to be inserted if a deadline was missed) about mutated mobster Mr. Fish; and the annual, which has Luke go to Japan to fight weapons manufacturer Moses Magnum (who decided to call himself Magnum Force apparently because that sounded more supervillain.)
Some of this material is…dated. There are times when it’s clear that the creators are white men who are trying to be down with the brothers, and Quentin Chase is meant to be the “good cop” to offset some more racist officers. (But I notice he doesn’t live in the city he polices, but out in a nice suburb.)
But there’s solid superhero action in here, several memorable villains (I especially like Cheshire Cat’s design) and Luke’s running feud with the soda machine in the theater lobby is prime comedy. And sometimes the cultural references that date the material are more interesting than grating. (Orange Julius!) There’s also meta-commentary every so often given the films the Gem plays and how they contrast with Luke’s brand of hard-luck heroism.
I recommend this to Luke Cage fans who want to explore his roots, even if that’s sometimes a little uncomfortable.
September 16, 2016
This was...meh. It's a fascinating cultural artifact of Marvel in the 70's, both good and bad. The stores were very issue oriented and urban, and you could feel the grit of 1970's Manhattan in it. It came from the same era as Howard the Duck and showed Marvel's willingness at the time to directly look at social issues. Since this was their Blaxpolitation hero that meant racism, redlining, urban crime and other things that made the book feel...earnestly preachy. No one was terribly good at scripting these things yet for comics. It was clear the authors knew the book was losing audience and were trying to make it more super-hero-y rather than blaxploitation but that just made everything more of a muddle. The three to four issue story arcs that felt padded didn't help.
Right in the middle of everything is a Chris Clairmont story continuing this weird Moses Magnum plotline he had been slipping into various books for years. it increases the inter-connectivity of the marvel universe but I always wonder why Chris was so enamored with it.
The art is all over the map, good in some stories and almost laughingly bad in others. Luke really improved his visuals under Kerry Gammill's pencils in the later Power Man/Iron Fist run. You could make the argument in some issues that the style was deliberately chosen for the gritty venue, but that doesn't fly in most places. The inking is too sparse for the black and white presentation, so this volume was also really hurt by not being in color.
Right in the middle of everything is a Chris Clairmont story continuing this weird Moses Magnum plotline he had been slipping into various books for years. it increases the inter-connectivity of the marvel universe but I always wonder why Chris was so enamored with it.
The art is all over the map, good in some stories and almost laughingly bad in others. Luke really improved his visuals under Kerry Gammill's pencils in the later Power Man/Iron Fist run. You could make the argument in some issues that the style was deliberately chosen for the gritty venue, but that doesn't fly in most places. The inking is too sparse for the black and white presentation, so this volume was also really hurt by not being in color.
November 27, 2015
reprinting in black and white all the Luke Cage comic books from late 1974 to early 1977. The first half dozen or so were written by Don McGregor, and while I'm old enough now to recognize certain sophomoric traits (especially in his character names, and in his holier-than-thou views of trends of the day), but man, it was just as devastating a loss in entertainment value when he was dropped from the book as it was for me when it happened in real time all those years ago. Unlike most writers before and after, McGregor actually had a real sense of who Cage was, what his environment was like, what the people around him were like, and of where he wanted the book to go. Now, there are some fun adventures after McGregor left, but it turned into a typical super-hero book, and that was a shame. Oh, and in the three or four issues written by Chris Claremont, more people die than in all the other issues combined. McGregor only had one character die, a little boy caught in the crossfire of a super hero battle, and he spent a lot of time following that up in Cage's character. One more thing - none of these male writers had much of a sense for women characters, though Claremont at least gave them personalities and the ability to accomplish things.
April 18, 2024
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 #32 - Frank Robbins has never been a favorite of mine, but his art doesn’t taken anything away from the story from McGregor on just how ugly racism came get in the story from which this volume gets its title.
Power Man #33-35 - These next few issues from McGregor and Robbins, with some last minute assists from Marv Wolfman and Marie Severin on the final chapter, are a memorable epic that puts Cage against a pair of brothers who are out to get revenge on one of Cage’s friends. It also picks up some threads left dangling from #32 and illustrates the ramifications of the collateral damage that superhero fights in NYC invariably cause. A hard hitting story that is weakened by silly art. The final issue by Severin does a lot to make up for much of the early chapters, but it can only do so much.
Power Man Annual #1 - Chris Claremont, Lee Elias and Dave Hunt serve up this epic from Luke Cage’s first (and only) double-sized Annual.
Power Man #36 is not included as it reprints the story from Hero for Hire #12 (see Luke Cage Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Retribution for that particular issue). The cover is included though.
Power Man #37-40 - Another typical Power Man story from this era. Dumb villains, doing dumb things, for dumb reasons. Just dumb. Wolfman, with some scripting help from Mantlo, gives us a story that meanders nonsensically in one direction and then in another. It’s centered around two rival crime bosses vying for control of Manhattan, except neither is at all believable or effective and the whole story ignores the presence of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. So it just feels contrived and silly. Art is serviceably delivered by Wilson, Bob Brown and Elias (who’ll thankfully be sticking around until #46). Not the worst Power Man story arc, but certainly not the best either.
Power Man #41-46 - Wolfman and Elias keep this six-issue arc moving pretty quickly. And there’s a lot happening. Similar to previous four-issue arc, we have Luke facing off against a series of evolving threats. Opening the sequence is Goldbug trying to steal a shipment of gold, this is hampered by the presence of Thunderbolt who eventually gets through to Luke that he’s just rating to help him and not help Goldbug. This leads into Luke deciding to leave town, heading for Chicago, to escape the IRS. But on the way he finds himself entangled with the return of Gideon Mace and his threat to blow up Chicago with a cobalt bomb. It wraps up in wild search through the city for the bomb as Luke runs back and forth into and out of people’s lives saving those he can. It’s a pretty thin wrap up for what is otherwise a pretty good yarn.
Power Man #47 - This one wraps up Luke’s adventures in Chicago, and it’s by Claremont and Tuska. Here the Hulk villain, Zzzax, is on hand to give Luke a really rough time of it. Not one of Power Man’s better adventures.
Power Man #48-49 - From the legendary team of Chris Claremont & John Byrne, coming right off their run on the Iron Fist comic, these issues are a seemless continuation that also wraps up the biggest problem facing Luke Cage. This is excellent stuff that begins to clean away the detritus of dangling story threats and really primes the reader’s anticipation for some excellent stories to come in Essential Power Man and Iron Fist, Vol. 1.
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 #32 - Frank Robbins has never been a favorite of mine, but his art doesn’t taken anything away from the story from McGregor on just how ugly racism came get in the story from which this volume gets its title.
Power Man #33-35 - These next few issues from McGregor and Robbins, with some last minute assists from Marv Wolfman and Marie Severin on the final chapter, are a memorable epic that puts Cage against a pair of brothers who are out to get revenge on one of Cage’s friends. It also picks up some threads left dangling from #32 and illustrates the ramifications of the collateral damage that superhero fights in NYC invariably cause. A hard hitting story that is weakened by silly art. The final issue by Severin does a lot to make up for much of the early chapters, but it can only do so much.
Power Man Annual #1 - Chris Claremont, Lee Elias and Dave Hunt serve up this epic from Luke Cage’s first (and only) double-sized Annual.
Power Man #36 is not included as it reprints the story from Hero for Hire #12 (see Luke Cage Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Retribution for that particular issue). The cover is included though.
Power Man #37-40 - Another typical Power Man story from this era. Dumb villains, doing dumb things, for dumb reasons. Just dumb. Wolfman, with some scripting help from Mantlo, gives us a story that meanders nonsensically in one direction and then in another. It’s centered around two rival crime bosses vying for control of Manhattan, except neither is at all believable or effective and the whole story ignores the presence of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. So it just feels contrived and silly. Art is serviceably delivered by Wilson, Bob Brown and Elias (who’ll thankfully be sticking around until #46). Not the worst Power Man story arc, but certainly not the best either.
Power Man #41-46 - Wolfman and Elias keep this six-issue arc moving pretty quickly. And there’s a lot happening. Similar to previous four-issue arc, we have Luke facing off against a series of evolving threats. Opening the sequence is Goldbug trying to steal a shipment of gold, this is hampered by the presence of Thunderbolt who eventually gets through to Luke that he’s just rating to help him and not help Goldbug. This leads into Luke deciding to leave town, heading for Chicago, to escape the IRS. But on the way he finds himself entangled with the return of Gideon Mace and his threat to blow up Chicago with a cobalt bomb. It wraps up in wild search through the city for the bomb as Luke runs back and forth into and out of people’s lives saving those he can. It’s a pretty thin wrap up for what is otherwise a pretty good yarn.
Power Man #47 - This one wraps up Luke’s adventures in Chicago, and it’s by Claremont and Tuska. Here the Hulk villain, Zzzax, is on hand to give Luke a really rough time of it. Not one of Power Man’s better adventures.
Power Man #48-49 - From the legendary team of Chris Claremont & John Byrne, coming right off their run on the Iron Fist comic, these issues are a seemless continuation that also wraps up the biggest problem facing Luke Cage. This is excellent stuff that begins to clean away the detritus of dangling story threats and really primes the reader’s anticipation for some excellent stories to come in Essential Power Man and Iron Fist, Vol. 1.
October 19, 2022
Individually these issues vary some but as a collection I'm going with 4 stars. Luke Cage is a fun and interesting character and I enjoyed this quite a bit.
December 30, 2024
It's a lot of Power Man
August 31, 2014
This book is effortlessly almost one of the most readable of the generic Marvel superhero comic books of the 1970s. I think the way that this was achieved was by paying a lot of attention to the emotional state of Luke Cage, almost more so than the villains he ends up chasing and punching as the issue goes on.
There is a sort of dark humor/readability as Luke deals with a terrible landlord, a terrible soda machine, eclectic friends outside of his New York office, and other little eccentricities in New York. It makes his life more relatable and pathos ridden, even if he also wears a gold headband/shirt combo and punches a lot of D listed supervillains along the way.
The storylines are pretty good, in that they go across multiple issues and are actually personal. Luke's friend Noah Burstein gets attacked, or Luke is part of a mafia type hit, etc. It keeps your sympathy up, because even if you don't like Cage, you probably don't want to see sadistic baddies kill innocent people.
They work in gradual stories about Luke Cage (who is an escaped convict of the wrongly convicted type) working toward exhoneration, eventually meeting Iron Fist and his friends. Seeing as Iron Fist is awesome, and Chris Claremont and John Byrne start doing these stories, they are even better, and great.
This is an underrated character, considering he got cannibalized by the also good "Heroes For Hire" with Iron Fist. BUT ITS GOOD
5/5
There is a sort of dark humor/readability as Luke deals with a terrible landlord, a terrible soda machine, eclectic friends outside of his New York office, and other little eccentricities in New York. It makes his life more relatable and pathos ridden, even if he also wears a gold headband/shirt combo and punches a lot of D listed supervillains along the way.
The storylines are pretty good, in that they go across multiple issues and are actually personal. Luke's friend Noah Burstein gets attacked, or Luke is part of a mafia type hit, etc. It keeps your sympathy up, because even if you don't like Cage, you probably don't want to see sadistic baddies kill innocent people.
They work in gradual stories about Luke Cage (who is an escaped convict of the wrongly convicted type) working toward exhoneration, eventually meeting Iron Fist and his friends. Seeing as Iron Fist is awesome, and Chris Claremont and John Byrne start doing these stories, they are even better, and great.
This is an underrated character, considering he got cannibalized by the also good "Heroes For Hire" with Iron Fist. BUT ITS GOOD
5/5
December 11, 2020
Volume 90: Essential Luke Cage: Power Man (vol 2) Issues 28-32
“Sweet Christmas!”
The Essential Line of Marvel Comics consists of collected reprints in black and white. The end result is more story for your money. This collection is 23 issues (16.99) so I’ll be breaking it down into five four and five issue chunks for easy digestion.
The original stories were printed in 1974-1976, but they totally hold up. The first difference I notice compared to modern comics is the narration. The writer adds so much dimension to the art with his flavor text, adding a depth beyond what you see. For example: "He ignores the fact that his fingers are slippery from the blood coursing from his wrists and wrenches at the chains--wrenches at them savagely--” The other thing I notice is that Cage’s “steel-hard skin” isn’t invulnerability. He dislocates his shoulder, cuts himself on chains trying to escape, and is fearful of death and injury from a rooftop fall. The point is that Cage is resistant to harm, he is not invincible. He is even KOd and subjected to “death traps.” One great one is being chained to the middle of a drawbridge that will tear him apart when it raises for a passing boat.
Cage still lives above the Gem theatre and is friends with the owner’s son D.W, who also runs the theatre. It made me nostalgic for the old days before he became a big-time Avenger, but not before he was partners with Iron Fist.
“Sweet Christmas!”
The Essential Line of Marvel Comics consists of collected reprints in black and white. The end result is more story for your money. This collection is 23 issues (16.99) so I’ll be breaking it down into five four and five issue chunks for easy digestion.
The original stories were printed in 1974-1976, but they totally hold up. The first difference I notice compared to modern comics is the narration. The writer adds so much dimension to the art with his flavor text, adding a depth beyond what you see. For example: "He ignores the fact that his fingers are slippery from the blood coursing from his wrists and wrenches at the chains--wrenches at them savagely--” The other thing I notice is that Cage’s “steel-hard skin” isn’t invulnerability. He dislocates his shoulder, cuts himself on chains trying to escape, and is fearful of death and injury from a rooftop fall. The point is that Cage is resistant to harm, he is not invincible. He is even KOd and subjected to “death traps.” One great one is being chained to the middle of a drawbridge that will tear him apart when it raises for a passing boat.
Cage still lives above the Gem theatre and is friends with the owner’s son D.W, who also runs the theatre. It made me nostalgic for the old days before he became a big-time Avenger, but not before he was partners with Iron Fist.
July 6, 2024
This is strictly second tier stuff, even by '70s standards. Sure, it occasionally rises to very good (the Claremont/ Byrne stuff) but for the most part, this is overwritten bravado tinged smacktalk coupled with Don McGregor's at-the-time-interesting political commentary which, in 2010, comes off a bit preachy. Frank Robbins is one of the worst pencilers that has ever graced the pages of comic books. He's like a fourth rate Harvey Kurtzman. The villains are strictly C- and D-list. Mr. Fish? Spear? Cockroach Hamilton and his shotgun Josh, which he refers to it as in nearly every panel that it is shown. This series has it's moments, but this batch of issues isn't anywhere near as entertaining as the first 27, or after the title morphs into Power Man and Iron Fist with Issue 50.
February 9, 2014
Another solid collection. The art and even the layout is sometimes really hit or miss, but I found the stories in general to be fun, weaving short story arcs with a longer overarching story and pulling pieces of his life in where needed.
This book also got pretty violent. There's a number of deaths in this book, including one of the sort I just don't routinely expect from comic books.
But overall, I found this a really enjoyable capstone on Luke Cage's initial solo run, merging nicely at the end into the "Power Man and Iron Fist" era that a great many people remember fondly.
This book also got pretty violent. There's a number of deaths in this book, including one of the sort I just don't routinely expect from comic books.
But overall, I found this a really enjoyable capstone on Luke Cage's initial solo run, merging nicely at the end into the "Power Man and Iron Fist" era that a great many people remember fondly.
January 2, 2009
Reprints Power Man #28-49 & Annual #1. Power Man fights chemical companies, racism, Big Brother, Gideon Mace, and meets his new partner Iron Fist. Power Man was an entertaining comic (I do enjoy Power Man & Iron Fist more). It is fun to see Marvel's take on '70s blaxploitation and how they were beginning to change the character as the times changed. Most of Cage's enemies are no-names, but the characters and plots interweave a little more than many of the other books of the time.
March 6, 2014
Actually rather good, although the 1970's street dialogue is pretty corny. For me what makes the series is the nicely rounded supporting characters which is the life blood of any comic book series, the bad guys are strictly B list which also helps.
March 31, 2024
I'd forgotten how bad some of the Marvel storytelling was in the 70s -- lengthy, preachy, judgemental captions; no effort at having the words and pictures work together; and, of course, those dreaded deadline doom filler stories.
June 3, 2025
very mixed bag. Some incredible stories some incredibly generic stories. At one point it seems like was a different artist every issue for a year. Cage is at its best when a writer sticks around a while and the artist does too.
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