Overview[]
Background[]
Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1, Jun. 1972
Luke Cage is a minor Marvel Comic superhero who debuted in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1, published in June of 1972. Heavily inspired by the Blaxploitation film genre, he was created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuskin, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr. and eventually adopted the identity of "Power Man" in 1974. By the early 1990s however, he began dropping the alias and simply began referring to himself as Luke Cage. Although not the first black character or superhero ever created; he was the first who was featured as the protagonist and titular character in his own comic book series.
Born as Carl Lucas and growing up in the slums of Harlem; he was a gangster as a juvenile until he decided to reform and eventually joined the NYPD only to be framed for a crime and was convicted. Lucas later volunteered for an experimental medical program for tissue regeneration in an attempt to shorten his sentence only for a racist guard whom he had frequent altercations with; took the opportunity to sabotage the experiment which caused an explosion. Lucas' unexpected survival and burst of superhuman strength caused the same guard to panic and try to gun him down, causing Lucas to discover that he also gained bulletproof skin and fled from further attacks, escaping custody.
Lucas returned to New York and adopted the alias of "Luke Cage" when inadvertently used his abilities to help others and was rewarded, decided to become a "Hero for Hire". He frequently found himself pulled into situations against powered villains and encountered various costumed heroes such as the Fantastic Four and Iron Man; he decided to assume the nom de guerre of "Power Man" to better fit in with his superpowered peers.
Power Man and Iron Fist: Heroes for Hire! Power Man & Iron Fist #50, April 1978
By 1978 however, slumping sales in his comic book had Marvel Comics decide to pair him with another faltering hero with his own waning comic book; Iron Fist and the unexpected team up and fans of this unlikely duo resulted in Marvel consolidating their series into one book, "Power Man & Iron Fist" which allowed them to survive cancellation until 1986.
Cage continued his career as a minor street level superhero and mercenary for several more years; rejoining Iron Fist in an attempt to revive the "Heroes for Hire" comic book in the late 1990s. He subsequently entered a supporting character role in the Jessica Jones' storyline, having an on-and-off relationship with her. After Jones became pregnant with his child, they became a steady couple in 2002. Cage would join the Avengers in 2004 which catapulted him to all new levels of fame and popularity which culminated in eventually marrying Jessica and the birth of his daughter, Danielle Cage in 2006. He has continued to serve as a long standing and highly respected core member of the Avengers ever since.
His recent popularity has resulted in his adaptations in a number of Marvel related TV series including his own titular live action TV series by Netflix in 2016.
Major Plots[]
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Other Versions[]
- Luke Cage (Superhero Squad)
- Luke Cage (Avengers: EMH)
- Luke Cage (Marvel Disc Wars)
