@winter_kills: Man,you really,really know your stuff man.That's great!I been told by many Cage fans that the Heroes for Hire 90's series was the best Cage written to date.I haven't read it so I can't comment.I been reading the 90's solo Cage seroes which consist of 20 issues.I'm 8 right now and it's been pretty solid,nothing overwhelming great but solid.I enjoy seeing Dakota North so taht's also a bonus.I can't to finish the rest.I do think it's pretty cool that Luke viewed Black Panther as an inspiration.I also fond it intesting that you said Luke would have eventually helped people even without being paid.I agree with you on that.I heard that the reason he became a hero for hire was because he couldn't fona job elseword due to his criminal record.Is that true?If so it'd make a ton of sense.
Thanks bro! Just from years of reading, and as I've said I love the street-level characters, DD obviously, Danny, Luke & Moon Knight, to name a few. Yeah, it's true that when Luke started out as a hero for hire, he did it because he couldn't find a job elsewhere. He was framed for drugs and facing a pretty much life sentence by his "friend" Willis Stryker. Luke's real name is Carl Lucas btw, and while in prison he volunteered for Dr. Burstein's experiments to grant better immunity, but a guard that had a grudge against Lucas sabotaged the machinery, making it become too effective, granting him his steel-hard skin. Lucas struck the guard, not knowing his strength had been enhanced, and thought he would have a murder charge on him if he died(which he didn't), and Luke in frustration pounded on the wall, and noticed it breaking, and punched his way outside til he had freedom. Guards shot at him and Lucas fell into the water, and they thought he was dead, b even Luke was surprised he survived the fall and the shots, seeing the bullets didn't penetrate but just made indentions in his skin. Afterwards he went on the run, laying low, changed his name to Luke Cage(from his last name Lucas, Cage from what he felt he'd been held in for so many years), and did try find work, but without any background he couldn't. It was at a diner that he was trying to find employment in vain that he encountered an armed robber and stopped him, and with strength and near-invulnerability, that's when he decided he could make a job out of it as a "Hero for Hire", and at the same time work to clear his name. So that's really Luke's original motivation for being a Hero for Hire, IMO, it should only apply to his early days before his name was cleared, he was trying to make a living on the streets but really did help people, as well, knowing what life on the other side of the tracks was like. Around the time he first encountered Iron Fist, he learned Bushmaster was behind the whole drug operation that he was framed for, and Bushmaster tried to blackmail him with tapes that proved his innocence. But Luke got help from Iron Fist, Misty and Coleen, who helped him stop Bushmaster and get the tapes, which cleared him. Luke wanted a new start after that, and legally changed his name to Luke Cage. Afterwards he & Danny became fast friends & partners in the "heroes for hire", but of course Danny was as far from materialism as you could get, so he really helped Luke in his new life. A lot of the Power Man and Iron Fist issues actually have some dialogue about how the business wasn't doing well, because some clients they couldn't charge at all because things were so difficult for the client, and Luke and Danny couldn't help but sympathize. In Power Man and Iron Fist I kind of saw them more as like super-powered "private eyes", ended up being called in to the weird street-level things that slipped through the cracks so to speak, underneath the notice of the Avengers dealing with huge threats- though Luke and Danny, ironically, would deal with some big threats in their own right, which is why I'm glad in later years they both earned a place in the Avengers. I love how Luke would be portrayed later, in Alias and later New Avengers, and even his appearances in DD, Bendis did a lot to show that Luke was a good guy, not some materialistic hero for hire motivated only by money- a common misconception made by bad writing, not the good writing I mentioned above. I like how Luke was portrayed sort of as a superhuman bodyguard, how he came into contact with Matt and how his relationship with Jessica grew, and eventually becoming a family man. When he initially joined the New Avengers was a great moment, Cap recruited him because he saw the good in Luke, and Luke even said it would be nice for his little girl to be able to say her daddy was once an Avenger. As an Avenger, Luke didn't get paid, he helped people for the right reasons, and believed in what the Avengers stood for, and after Civil War I loved how he led the underground Avengers team, he fought for the right reasons, and for the rights of his fellow heroes, helped people to truly help people. The same way with Thunderbolts, when he made his version of the team he did it with the idea of rehabilitating the members, realizing that some of them might have the potential to be heroes, and he wanted to give them the chance at redemption he had. Another thing that I think made him set out as a hero for hire was his admiration of Black Panther, strangely. He had a poster of Black Panther in his cell, and admired T'Challa greatly because he was a self-made man, a hero, a scientist, a ruler of his own nation, and he was a truly free man in every sense of the word, and I think initially in his hero for hire days Luke used that as a starting point to make a new life and try to be a self-made man, but true heroism and unselfish motivations came into play, through his adventures and later his friendship & partnership with Danny, his relationship with Jessica, and being an Avenger, he became a true hero then a hero for the right reasons. IMO, I think this is how Luke should be portrayed, when written right, and the show has the potential to get it right off the bat. I hope this helps maybe explain Luke's motivations and character, it's definitely gone through some evolution over the years; he really needs an updated origin that's true to the original but reflects the more straight-forward heroic sensibilities we now know him to have.
I agree totally with other Cage fans, the 90s Heroes for Hire series was a great portrayal of Luke. He was tough but canny and street-smart, Heroes for Hire was being paid by Oracle Inc. so they could have income and funding to help people without charging, and just great characterization IMO, like the panel that showed why Luke said his famous line "Sweet Christmas", he was raised by his grandmother in Harlem and taught not to cuss; it showed he was a product of his environment and unlike the awful Cage Max, he didn't have to have a potty-mouth and cuss like a sailor to prove he was tough and meant business. And it had Luke and Danny working with other heroes, like She-Hulk(who Luke briefly dated, which was fun), Ant-Man(Scott Lang) & Black Knight. I really recommend it, I would love it if Luke was portrayed this way more often. The 90s Cage series, I agree, I loved it as a kid, but I was coming off the Power Man & Iron Fist high lol, so of course I loved it, but as an adult you can give a better critique, so I agree it isn't spectacular, but it is solid, and I think Luke was characterized pretty well, we had a cool villain in Hardcore who was a legitimate threat(they need to bring him back, I swear), temporary return of Bushmaster, more on the process that gave Luke his powers and his life and family before he was sent to prison. Plus, as you said Dakota North was a bonus. I hope she is introduced in the show, I loved how she was handled in this Cage series and DD.
@winter_kills: Yeah man I with you I never really liked Luke's introduction, origins and motives, they felt cheap, gimmicky and stereotypical. But over time the character has gotten somewhat better, he still irks my nerves at times lol, but he has very much improved. The most series I've enjoyed him in, was Iron Fist, Luke was cool in that title.
Yeah, Luke was really handled well in Immortal Iron Fist, I agree. The friendship with Danny and the witty banter between them was great, plus brief moments of Luke fighting HYDRA guys with Misty & Coleen was too cool. IMO, Bendis is the one that really redefined Luke & made him modern and relatable. I also recommend the 90s Heroes for Hire series, showing Luke as a hero for the right reasons.
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