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Luke Cage Epic Collection #1
Luke Cage Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Retribution
Luke Cage burst onto the comics scene in 1972 as the "Hero for Hire." Equal parts Marvel Method and Blaxploitation boldness, he was a new kind of hero for a new era, the historic first African-American character to headline his own series. Cage's adventures depicted New York City's 1970s grit and the plight of its people with a realism that was gripping in its time, all while incorporating larger-than-life villains including Black Mariah and Doctor Doom. This Epic Collection present page after page of classic Luke Cage adventures: Including his origin, his growing relationship with Clare Temple, the first appearance of Cottonmouth, a battle with Iron Man and a fight to the finish for the name Power Man.
includes: Hero for Hire (1972) #1-16 & Power Man (1974) #17-23
includes: Hero for Hire (1972) #1-16 & Power Man (1974) #17-23
480 pages, Paperback
Published February 2, 2021
18 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Archie Goodwin
977 books70 followersArchie Goodwin was an American comic book writer, editor, and artist. He worked on a number of comic strips in addition to comic books, and is best known for his Warren and Marvel Comics work. For Warren he was chief writer and editor of landmark horror anthology titles Creepy and Eerie, and for Marvel he set up the creator-owned Epic Comics as well as adapting Star Wars into both comics and newspaper strips. He is regularly cited as the "best-loved comic book editor, ever."
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 9, 2021
Luke Cage. Originally just a Hero for Hire that became the “all-new, all-different” Power Man. First conceived and developed in the era that gave American popular culture the black-exploitation wave in cinema, Luke Cage was another attempt to cash in on the popular culture trend-of-the-day. This same mentality at Marvel also gave us the likes of Master of Kung Fu Shang-Chi, Iron Fist the Living Weapon and The Sons of the Tiger (although these were riding the similar popular culture wave of martial arts films). Luke Cage instead took to the streets and offered, in many ways, Marvel’s first attempt at tough-street-level action. There’s a lot of pandering to the expectations of blackploitation but Luke Cage still shines through as a remarkable and interesting character, with lots of potential. I do wish this volume had included Luke Cage’s appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #123 and his first meeting with the non-team from Defenders #17-19, just to round off his early appearances, but it’s nice to have these issues collected in beautiful color instead of merely in black & white in the pages of Essential Luke Cage, Power Man, Vol. 1. Eagerly looking forward to volume two.
February 9, 2021
A collection of the first 23 original issues of Luke Cage. From his first appearance to his name change to Power Man, this is a collection of classic issues that any Luke Cage fan, old or new, should read. It makes me wish he had his own ongoing series today!
May 5, 2024
I'm really surprised as to how much I enjoyed this epic. I was ready for some generic stories with boring villains-of-the-month type of characters, but it's far from that. Cool character development, great setting, and some clever plots! Yes, it's super stereotypical 70's blaxploitation, but at least it's well done.
The first two issues by Archie Goodwin are super dense. Basically, the whole origin plot for the character gets solved there. Then, the bulk of the volume is written by Steve Englehart, showcasing what he does best: street heroes with down-to-earth stories. And he really commits to this one, going to extremes as having Cage travel all the way to Latveria to claim the 200 bucks that Dr. Doom owes him for a job. The shoddy office/apartment, his friendship with D.W., the romance with Claire, it just works.
But the real heroes of this series are George Tuska and Billy Graham. I love Tuska's storytelling chops, he flows so well with the Marvel style, and I always find him super in sync with the writers. But you add to that Graham's finishings? It's just mindblowing. It's pretty noticeable that Tuska was doing rough layouts, because the art style is pure Graham.
You can tell he was collaborating with Englehart on the stories as his credit evolves inker to the artist along with Tuska. Then he starts doing solo art, receives a co-plotter credit, and ultimately earns a co-scripter credit at the beginning of the credits line.
After Englehart leaves, the series moves to bi-monthly, and the title changes from Hero for Hire to Power Man. I'm guessing this change was an attempt to boost sales by giving it a more classic superhero spin. Then it becomes a mixed bag.
Len Wein takes over with Tuska coming back and it works, especially the Cottonmouth story. But then Tuska leaves, and Ron Wilson comes on board for the last couple of issues of this volume and it just doesn't work as well. There is this disconnect between writer and artist when it looks like the dialog is throwing shade at the art, like a guy pointing a gun and a character saying "Why are you pointing your gun at that?".
The last issues are written by Tony Isabella and he adds some really fun dialog, at least trying to give it more of a personality. The stories are cool, but the art doesn't click the same way as it did after the Tuska/Graham combo.
Overall I really recommend it, I read it continuously, without getting a breather in the middle which is a lot to say!
The first two issues by Archie Goodwin are super dense. Basically, the whole origin plot for the character gets solved there. Then, the bulk of the volume is written by Steve Englehart, showcasing what he does best: street heroes with down-to-earth stories. And he really commits to this one, going to extremes as having Cage travel all the way to Latveria to claim the 200 bucks that Dr. Doom owes him for a job. The shoddy office/apartment, his friendship with D.W., the romance with Claire, it just works.
But the real heroes of this series are George Tuska and Billy Graham. I love Tuska's storytelling chops, he flows so well with the Marvel style, and I always find him super in sync with the writers. But you add to that Graham's finishings? It's just mindblowing. It's pretty noticeable that Tuska was doing rough layouts, because the art style is pure Graham.
You can tell he was collaborating with Englehart on the stories as his credit evolves inker to the artist along with Tuska. Then he starts doing solo art, receives a co-plotter credit, and ultimately earns a co-scripter credit at the beginning of the credits line.
After Englehart leaves, the series moves to bi-monthly, and the title changes from Hero for Hire to Power Man. I'm guessing this change was an attempt to boost sales by giving it a more classic superhero spin. Then it becomes a mixed bag.
Len Wein takes over with Tuska coming back and it works, especially the Cottonmouth story. But then Tuska leaves, and Ron Wilson comes on board for the last couple of issues of this volume and it just doesn't work as well. There is this disconnect between writer and artist when it looks like the dialog is throwing shade at the art, like a guy pointing a gun and a character saying "Why are you pointing your gun at that?".
The last issues are written by Tony Isabella and he adds some really fun dialog, at least trying to give it more of a personality. The stories are cool, but the art doesn't click the same way as it did after the Tuska/Graham combo.
Overall I really recommend it, I read it continuously, without getting a breather in the middle which is a lot to say!
August 2, 2022
I felt some trepidation going into this one. A Black mainstream superhero at the dawn of the Blaxploitation era, in the hands of mostly white creators? It had the potential to be...problematic.
I'm pleased to say it wasn't terrible? And there were some aspects that were downright groundbreaking. I mean, for sure, there are some cringey moments and all-out misses. (The less said about Black Mariah the better.) But it set the tone right from issue one, where it was interesting to see some guards and police officers treated as villains and some prisoners as honorable - a definite reversal from the previous strictures of the Comics Code. There was also some lightly nuanced discussion of the profit motive aspect of the title - it didn't escape me that the first ongoing title starring an African-American hero was one in which the hero in question was explicitly out to make a buck off his powers. Wasn't this the approach that Spider-Man learned to reject in his first appearance? True, that's all very high-minded, but Luke Cage's repeated contention that he needs money to, you know, live is much more realistic. It still had the potential to reinforce unfortunate stereotypes. I was pleased to see the title interrogate this idea, with Luke's innate ideals often getting in the way of his insistence that he's out for number 1. At the same time, Cage underscores that labor is worth getting paid for, to Dr. Doom, of all people (in between disrupting another coup attempt by a weird sphere-head alien).
As far as I can tell, there wound up being only one Black creator on this title during the run reproduced in this collection: penciler and sometimes plotter Billy Graham. His artwork has sharp-edged urgency that suits the gritty Harlem milieu of the 70s, but his writing is a good deal rougher; I can't help but suspect, based on the juggling of the creative team, that he didn't get the editorial support other young writers benefited from. I don't know, it's just a hunch based on *waves vaguely* the history of America.
I'm pleased to say it wasn't terrible? And there were some aspects that were downright groundbreaking. I mean, for sure, there are some cringey moments and all-out misses. (The less said about Black Mariah the better.) But it set the tone right from issue one, where it was interesting to see some guards and police officers treated as villains and some prisoners as honorable - a definite reversal from the previous strictures of the Comics Code. There was also some lightly nuanced discussion of the profit motive aspect of the title - it didn't escape me that the first ongoing title starring an African-American hero was one in which the hero in question was explicitly out to make a buck off his powers. Wasn't this the approach that Spider-Man learned to reject in his first appearance? True, that's all very high-minded, but Luke Cage's repeated contention that he needs money to, you know, live is much more realistic. It still had the potential to reinforce unfortunate stereotypes. I was pleased to see the title interrogate this idea, with Luke's innate ideals often getting in the way of his insistence that he's out for number 1. At the same time, Cage underscores that labor is worth getting paid for, to Dr. Doom, of all people (in between disrupting another coup attempt by a weird sphere-head alien).
As far as I can tell, there wound up being only one Black creator on this title during the run reproduced in this collection: penciler and sometimes plotter Billy Graham. His artwork has sharp-edged urgency that suits the gritty Harlem milieu of the 70s, but his writing is a good deal rougher; I can't help but suspect, based on the juggling of the creative team, that he didn't get the editorial support other young writers benefited from. I don't know, it's just a hunch based on *waves vaguely* the history of America.
April 13, 2024
This was a fun collection to read. I remember seeing Luke Cage comics in the 7-11 as a kid in the early 70s. Back then I was into Doc Savage and Monster magazines and didn't read many comic books except for Spiderman here and there. These Marvel Epic Collections are a terrific chance to go back and read the stuff we missed. Reading this collection you can see how it took several issues to find its footing. Is Cage a private detective, a super hero, or a vigilante? The villains are mostly street criminals who sometimes wear costumes but often don't. His nemesis is an old pal named Willis Stryker aka Diamondback, in the early issues. Later in the series Cage faces another serpent inspired villain named Cottonmouth. By this point in the collection the series hits its stride and the stories deal with repercussions from Cage's time in prison having been framed by his old pal Stryker. As the series progresses, Luke Cage goes from "Hero for Hire" to "Power Man." The name change seemed to be an attempt to bring Cage into the ranks of super hero, fighting super villains, and less reliance on the "blaxploitation" street-smart vibe seen in the first several issues. Not that it ever loses that vibe. Cage also has a girlfriend at this point, Clare Temple, who he has to protect from his enemies. I was surprised at how many people get killed in these stories. As volume 1 comes to a close we still don't have an "arch-nemesis" yet, since a fair amount of bad guys get killed doing bad-guy-shit while fighting Cage. I have the Luke Cage epic collection volume 2 to read next, then a Power Man / Iron Fist team-up epic collection after that.
November 12, 2021
A collection of the first 23 issues of the original Luke Cage comic book series of the seventies, these tell the story of the framed man who survives a scientific experiment in prison which makes his skin incredibly hard. He escapes to New York and attempts to cash in on his new power by assuming the identity of Luke Cage, hero for hire.
While the main character is established well enough, I found this volume something of a slog to get through. It really didn't feel like Marvel had a solid grasp of what they wanted from this series, with a revolving door of writers and artists, creating inconsistency and lack of a cohesive story. Even the title of the series changed, from the unique "Luke Cage, Hero for Hire" to the more generic "Luke Cage, Power Man".
Cage is given a supporting cast, consisting of theater manager D.W., Dr. Burstein (the scientist responsible for his powers), and love interest Dr. Claire Temple, but little of substance is really done with any of them, again likely due to the regular changes in the creative team.
Still, there are some fun stories to be had here and it is worth seeing the origins of the character and how his book developed prior to merging it with Iron Fist. Overall, though, many of the stories and adversaries are forgettable.
While the main character is established well enough, I found this volume something of a slog to get through. It really didn't feel like Marvel had a solid grasp of what they wanted from this series, with a revolving door of writers and artists, creating inconsistency and lack of a cohesive story. Even the title of the series changed, from the unique "Luke Cage, Hero for Hire" to the more generic "Luke Cage, Power Man".
Cage is given a supporting cast, consisting of theater manager D.W., Dr. Burstein (the scientist responsible for his powers), and love interest Dr. Claire Temple, but little of substance is really done with any of them, again likely due to the regular changes in the creative team.
Still, there are some fun stories to be had here and it is worth seeing the origins of the character and how his book developed prior to merging it with Iron Fist. Overall, though, many of the stories and adversaries are forgettable.
December 6, 2024
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, Power Man
Whatever you call him, he is my favorite Marvel Hero and this is where his story began. I'm not going to lie, obviously I am very biased about this, but I loved this book. Despite all the creative flip flopping that was going on, it did manage to be amazingly consistent. Both in writing and in art.
An idea that surely started off as Marvel's take on the blaxspoitation movement of the time comes off as extremely entertaining. Luke Cage is a character that jumps off the page. While there are some moments that brush up against the "angry black man" trope, Luke, in a lot of cases, actually comes off as more adult then half the "angry white men" who were flying around New York. Specifically I am thinking about his interactions with Iron Man late on in this where he comes across as more mature then most hero vs hero fights seen in the pages of Marvel.
The thing, I think, that objectively tanks this series more than anything else is the rogues gallery. Most of them are forgettable, and the one's that aren't are mostly memorable because of how stupid they are. Discus and Stiletto, I'm looking at you. Also Steeplejack. And Gideon Mace, you aren't off the hook either.
Whatever you call him, he is my favorite Marvel Hero and this is where his story began. I'm not going to lie, obviously I am very biased about this, but I loved this book. Despite all the creative flip flopping that was going on, it did manage to be amazingly consistent. Both in writing and in art.
An idea that surely started off as Marvel's take on the blaxspoitation movement of the time comes off as extremely entertaining. Luke Cage is a character that jumps off the page. While there are some moments that brush up against the "angry black man" trope, Luke, in a lot of cases, actually comes off as more adult then half the "angry white men" who were flying around New York. Specifically I am thinking about his interactions with Iron Man late on in this where he comes across as more mature then most hero vs hero fights seen in the pages of Marvel.
The thing, I think, that objectively tanks this series more than anything else is the rogues gallery. Most of them are forgettable, and the one's that aren't are mostly memorable because of how stupid they are. Discus and Stiletto, I'm looking at you. Also Steeplejack. And Gideon Mace, you aren't off the hook either.
June 11, 2022
As outdated as all the "jive" talk and seventies references, this Epic Collection: Retribution, is a great bunch of stories about Luke Cage's origins, his famous villains of Cottonmouth and Diamondback and others. These are long before he was cleared of the crime he was accused of.
Although the comics say that he is the first Black Super-hero, anyone in the world of comics knows that Black Panther was the first at least seven years BEFORE Luke Cage. Although it is possible that Luke Cage was the first to have a comic with his name on it that was all his own (unlike Jungle Action in 1972).
I really enjoyed the stories, the Blacksplotation feeling of the comics is a bit hard to take in 2022, but still, if you get a chance--read Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and Luke Cage, Powerman.
Definitely worth it.
Although the comics say that he is the first Black Super-hero, anyone in the world of comics knows that Black Panther was the first at least seven years BEFORE Luke Cage. Although it is possible that Luke Cage was the first to have a comic with his name on it that was all his own (unlike Jungle Action in 1972).
I really enjoyed the stories, the Blacksplotation feeling of the comics is a bit hard to take in 2022, but still, if you get a chance--read Luke Cage, Hero for Hire and Luke Cage, Powerman.
Definitely worth it.
April 16, 2021
There are parts of this collection that are actually pretty good, namely the run by Steve Engelhart with George Tuska and Billy Graham on art. But as a whole it's just not very good. There's little that it does well that you can't find in any other comic from this era. It tries to be this progressive story about a black hero, an innocent convict starting a new life, fighting drug lords and criminals, and it's just... nothing worth mentioning.
But there's a two-part story where Luke Cage faces off against Doctor Doom and that's really fun!
But there's a two-part story where Luke Cage faces off against Doctor Doom and that's really fun!
January 21, 2022
Luke Cage is the Ultimate 70s Superhero!
With a mind towards the "Back Action" films of the 1970s like Shaft and Black Belt Jones, Luke Cage gives readers stylish action and a little camp. After all, it's difficult to take a guy who habitually calls people "sugar" and "darling" too seriously.
The art within is classic comic fare with many dramatic panels worthy of hanging on a wall. The colors and sound effects are the perfect spice to bring it all together for a very entertaining read.
With a mind towards the "Back Action" films of the 1970s like Shaft and Black Belt Jones, Luke Cage gives readers stylish action and a little camp. After all, it's difficult to take a guy who habitually calls people "sugar" and "darling" too seriously.
The art within is classic comic fare with many dramatic panels worthy of hanging on a wall. The colors and sound effects are the perfect spice to bring it all together for a very entertaining read.
June 9, 2022
An important and interesting part of comic’s history with Marvel’s first ongoing title starring a Black hero. It takes a few writers to hit its stride. Art is fairly consistent throughout, but a few of the character designs are kind of gross (Black Mariah and Bertha the ticket lady when she first shows up are the two that spring to mind). Fun to see the Marvel spin on exploitation films, though some of the contents were hampered by the Comic’s Code. Probably worth reading if you are interested in Luke Cage as a character, exploitation cinema, or black history in comics.
September 18, 2023
These Marvel Epic collections are so much fun. Especially when you get the origin and start of a character. As you might imagine Luke Cage, from the early 70's, is blacksploitation to the highest degree. Villains and others get away with calling him all kinds of things you couldn't today, but that's o.k. Luke gives them Honey and Baby and Sweet Christmas right back, with a steel skin trouncing! You can't help but love this down on his luck hero, ready to be hired.
August 30, 2024
Gems include Cage v. Diamondback, Claire Temple debuts, Cage v. Mace, 42nd St Phantom, Black Mariah, knight robots, Cage’s Xmas Carol, Doom’s Renegade Robots 2parter, Sr. Muerte 2parter, Chemistro, & Lionfang, 3part return of Cage’s past, Cage v. Iron Man, Steeplejack, & Cottonmouth, accidental death of Mr. Slick, Cage v. Power Man, return of the warden, & a mother shotguns Cage
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2022
It's a good introduction to the character.
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