I'm going to write about Luke Cage this week in my column. I've got enough material to write six columns. So I don't need any help.
But I want to ask your opinion. I want to know if there's some opinion, some viewpoint, some idea that YOU think I should address in a national column. (I'm looking at you, Randy!)
Let me know what you think won't be addressed by other people. I'll see what I can fly by my editor.
Replies
Obviously Luke was a very street level character but he still run afoul of his own set of villains that the rest of the Marvel universe didn't encounter. One interesting recent observation is that Luke's world runs under the radar of the rest of the MCU. I wouldn't say his rogues are lame (well, okay some of them are) but that they are uniquely his villains.
Another opinion of mine is that Luke's inconsistent power levels are due to the idea that Burstein's experiment has never stopped changing his physiology. This is why he has a hard time smashing down a door in one comic but can lift a bus in another.
Going from memory, at least in his first series I think Luke's opponents were street-level like him. They were interested in more-narrow objectives. Selling drugs in Luke's area, taking over crime in Luke's area, etc. I don't remember any who wanted to take over the city, let alone the world.
His first encounter with Spider-Man was interesting, he was basically a hired mercenary at that point that JJJ sent after the wall crawler.
To respond to Cap's request, I think these are things that will be addressed by others:
- Luke Cage's Blaxploitation roots - in my opinion, Cage is clearly inspired by the movie Shaft (debuted July 1971, Hero For Hire #1 hit the stands March 1972)
- Luke's somewhat lame rogues gallery (sorry Randy)
- Luke's title avoiding cancellation by bringing in Iron Fist as co-headliner with #50 in 1978
What I think could be addressed that won't be by others:
- The story of artist Billy Graham. A lot of creators came and went on Luke's book, but Graham was the only one to work on all of the first 17 issues. He sometimes inked, sometimes pencilled, and for #13-15 did both. He also did the covers for issues #3-16. Steve Englehart wrote #5-16 and said Graham "helped me plot, so that by the end it was pretty much a co-production". Graham was one of the few African-Americans who worked in comics; he aspired to be the Black Jack Kirby, and he worked at Marvel from 1972-1976. I think his role in the creation and development of Luke Cage is an untold story.
- The transition of the title from Luke Cage, Hero For Hire (#1-16) to Luke Cage, Power Man. The first 16 issues were much grittier in general than the rest of the Marvel Universe. I agree with what Randy said about Luke's world running under the radar of the rest of the MCU - even the other street level guys like DD and Spidey. Luke was not really a super-hero at first. He was almost but not quite a detective, though he could have been; I again agree with Randy that Marvel probably wanted to avoid doing a DC-esque detective book (and may have wanted to avoid echoing the Shaft movie as well). He was something of a watered down Shaft as Marvel couldn't do an R-rated comic in the 1970's, but his book was definitely a PG-rated one, sometimes verging close to R-rated, when the rest of the line was mostly G-rated. Archie Goodwin wrote the first four issues and they were quite good. Steve Englehart wrote #5-16 and while the quality was uneven in his run, I got the sense he wanted to do right by Luke. The book was often chaotically violent and didn't shy away from addressing racism and other strong themes in those first 16 issues. With issue #17, the title changed from "Luke Cage, Hero for Hire" to "Luke Cage, Power Man" and it becomes much more like a typical Marvel book - Luke interacts with other Marvel characters, most of his foes are now costumed super-villains, he has brief stints with the Defenders and the Fantastic Four.
I read the first issue of Cage! yesterday. I loved it. It was total blaxploitation, but that's how Luke Cage was originally perceived. I love the art and the story. It was like taking a look at a documentary from the 1970's.
I read the second issue of this book last night. I thought it was lots of fun, even if it's really kooky. The art is really funky, and I love the ink work by Stephan DeStefano. I don't see nearly enough of his work anymore. The trippy scenes would be an eye-roller by many other art teams, but with this team, each one is a masterpiece worthy of a frame. Fun issue!