{"id":31941,"date":"2025-02-03T17:02:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T17:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=31941"},"modified":"2025-02-03T17:02:14","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T17:02:14","slug":"luke-cage-epic-collection-volume-2-the-fire-this-time-1975-1977","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/02\/03\/luke-cage-epic-collection-volume-2-the-fire-this-time-1975-1977\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke Cage Epic Collection volume 2: The Fire This Time (1975-1977)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Tony Isabella<\/strong>, Don McGregor<\/strong>, Marv Wolfman<\/strong>, Chris Claremont<\/strong>, Bill Mantlo<\/strong>, Steve Englehart<\/strong>, George P\u00e9rez<\/strong>, Ed Hannigan<\/strong>, Roger Slifer<\/strong>, George Tuska<\/strong>, Lee Elias<\/strong>, Ron Wilson<\/strong>, Rich Buckler<\/strong>, Arvell Jones<\/strong>, Sal Buscema<\/strong>, Frank Robbins<\/strong>, Marie Severin<\/strong>, Bob Brown<\/strong>, Vince Colletta<\/strong>, Dave Hunt<\/strong>, Al McWilliams<\/strong>, Keith Pollard<\/strong>, the Crusty Bunkers<\/strong>, Frank Springer<\/strong>, Joe Giella<\/strong>, Frank Giacoia<\/strong>, Aubrey Bradford<\/strong>, Jim Mooney<\/strong>, Klaus Janson<\/strong>, Tom Palmer<\/strong>, Alex Ni\u00f1o<\/strong>, Bob Smith<\/strong> & various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-1-3029-5506-9 (TPB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

This book includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> produced in less enlightened times. This book also includes Discriminatory Content<\/strong> used for dramatic effect.<\/em><\/p>\n

As is so often the case, it takes bold creative types and radically changing economics to really promote lasting change. In America, with declining comics sales at a time of enhanced social awareness and rising Black Consciousness, cash – if not cashing in – was probably the trigger for \u201cthe Next Step\u201d in the evolution of superheroes.<\/p>\n

In the early 1970s, contemporary \u201cBlacksploitation\u201d films and novels fired up commercial interests throughout the USA and in that atmosphere of outlandish dialogue, daft outfits and barely concealed – but completely justified – outrage, an angry black man with a shady past and apparently dubious morals debuted as Luke Cage, Hero for Hire<\/strong> in the summer of 1972.<\/p>\n

A year later the Black Panther<\/strong> finally got his own series in Jungle Action<\/strong> #5 and Blade: Vampire Hunter<\/strong> debuted in Tomb of Dracula<\/strong> #10.<\/p>\n

Cage\u2019s origin was typically bombastic: Lucas<\/em>, a hard-case inmate at brutal Seagate Prison, always claimed to have been framed and his inflexible, uncompromising attitude made mortal enemies of the racist guards Rackham<\/em> and Quirt<\/em> whilst alienating the rest of the prison population like out-&-out bad-guys Shades<\/em> and Comanche<\/em>…<\/p>\n

The premiere was written by Archie Goodwin and illustrated by George Tuska & Billy Graham (with some initial assistance from Roy Thomas & John Romita) detailing how a new warden promised to reform the hell-hole into a proper, legal penal institution. New prison doctor Noah Burstein<\/em> then convinced Lucas to participate in a radical experiment in exchange for a parole hearing, having heard the desperate con\u2019s tale of woe…<\/p>\n

Lucas had grown up in Harlem, a tough kid who\u2019d managed to stay honest even when his best friend Willis Stryker<\/em> had not. They remained friends despite walking different paths – at least until a woman came between them. To get rid of his romantic rival, Stryker planted drugs and had Lucas shipped off to jail. While he was there his girl Reva<\/em> – who had never given up on him – was killed by bullets meant for Stryker.<\/p>\n

With nothing left to lose Lucas underwent Burstein\u2019s process – an experiment in cell-regeneration – but Rackham sabotaged it, hoping to kill the con before he could expose the illegal treatment of convicts. It all went haywire and something incredible happened. Lucas, now incredibly strong and pain-resistant, punched his way out of the lab and then through the prison walls, only to be killed in hail of gunfire. His body plunged over a cliff and was never recovered. Months later, a vagrant prowling the streets of New York City stumbled into a robbery. Almost casually downing the felon, he accepted a cash reward from the grateful victim, and consequently had a bright idea\u2026<\/p>\n

Super-strong, bulletproof, streetwise and honest, Lucas would hide in plain sight while planning revenge on Stryker. Since his only skill was fighting, he became a private paladin. Whilst making allowances for the colourful, often ludicrous dialogue necessitated by the Comics Code\u2019s sanitising of \u201cstreet-talking Jive\u201d Hero For Hire<\/strong> was probably the edgiest series of Marvel\u2019s early years, but even so, after a time the tense action and peripheral interactions with the greater Marvel Universe led to a minor rethink and the title was altered, if not the basic premise. The private detective motif proved a brilliant stratagem in generating stories for a character perceived as a reluctant champion at best and outright anti-hero by nature. It allowed Cage to maintain an outsider\u2019s edginess but also meant that adventure literally walked through his shabby door every issue.<\/p>\n

Cage set up an office over a movie house on 42nd<\/sup> Street and met a young man who became his greatest\/only friend: D.W. Griffith<\/em> – nerd, film geek and plucky white sidekick. Noah Burstein resurfaced, running a rehab clinic on the dirty, deadly streets around Times Square, aided by Dr. Claire Temple<\/em>. Soon she too was an integral part of Luke\u2019s new life…<\/p>\n

This stunning compendium collects Luke Cage Power Man<\/strong> #24-47 and Annual<\/strong> #1: a landmark breakthrough sequence cumulatively spanning April 1975 to October 1977 and opens in full furious flow.<\/p>\n

Following a calamitous clash with many of his oldest enemies, most old business was settled and a partial re-branding of America\u2019s premier black crusader began in issue #17. The mercenary aspect was downplayed (at least on covers) as Luke Cage Power Man<\/strong> got another new start when the constant chaos, cruel carnage and non-stop tension eventually sent romantic interest Dr. Claire Temple scurrying for points distant. In Luke Cage Power Man <\/strong>#23, Cage and D.W. went looking for her. That search culminates here in a 2-issue backdoor pilot for another African American superhero after the seekers find Dr. Temple in The<\/em> Ringmaster<\/em>\u2019s Circus of Crime as seen in #24\u2019s \u2018Among Us Walks\u2026 a Black Goliath! <\/em>(Isabella, Tuska & Hunt)\u2026<\/p>\n

Bill Foster<\/em> was a highly educated black supporting character: a biochemist who worked with scientist-superhero Henry Pym<\/em> (AKA Ant-Man<\/strong>, Giant-Man<\/strong>, Goliath<\/strong> and Yellowjacket<\/strong> over decades of costumed capers). Foster debuted in Avengers<\/strong> #32 (September 1966), before fading from view after Pym eventually regained his temporarily lost size-changing abilities. Carrying on his own size-shifting research, Foster was now trapped as a giant, unable to attain normal size, and Cage discovered he was also Claire\u2019s former husband. When he became stuck at 15 feet tall, she had rushed back to Bill\u2019s colossal side to help find a cure.<\/p>\n

When Luke turned up, passions boiled over, resulting in another classic heroes-clash moment until the mesmeric Ringmaster hypnotised all combatants, intent on using their strength to feather his own three-ring nest. \u2018Crime and Circuses\u2019<\/em> (Isabella, Bill Mantlo, Ron Wilson & Fred Kida) has the good guys helpless until Claire comes to the rescue, before making her choice and returning to New York with Luke. Foster thereafter won his own short series, becoming Marvel\u2019s fourth African American costumed hero under the heavy handed painfully obvious sobriquet Black Goliath<\/strong>\u2026<\/p>\n

Timely spoofing of a popular \u201970\u2019s TV show inspired \u2018The Night Shocker!\u2019<\/em> (Steve Englehart, Tuska & Colletta) as Cage stalks a supposed vampire attacking 42nd<\/sup> Street patrons, after which a touching human drama finds Cage forced to fight a tragically simpleminded super-powered wrestler in \u2018Just a Guy Named \u201cX\u201d!\u2019 <\/em>(by Mantlo, George P\u00e9rez & Al McWilliams, paying tribute to Steve Ditko\u2019s classic yarn from Amazing Spider-Man<\/strong> #38).
\n\"\"
\nA new level of sophistication, social commentary and bizarre villainy began in issue 28 as Don McGregor started a run of macabre crime sagas, opening when Cage meets \u2018The Man Who Killed Jiminy Cricket!\u2019<\/em> (illustrated by Tuska & Vince Colletta). Hired by a chemical company to stop industrial espionage, Luke fails to prevent the murder of his prime suspect and is somehow defeated by feeble but deadly weirdo Cockroach Hamilton<\/em> (and his beloved shotgun \u201cJosh\u201d).<\/p>\n

Left for dead in one of the most outr\u00e9 cliffhanger situations ever seen, Cage took two issues to escape, as the next issue featured a \u201cdeadline-doom\u201d fill-in tale. Courtesy of Mantlo, Tuska & Colletta, Luke Cage Power Man<\/strong> #29 revealed why \u2018No One Laughs at Mr. Fish!\u2019<\/em> (although the temptation is overwhelming) as he fights a fin-faced mutated mobster robbing shipping trucks for organised crime analogue The Maggia,<\/em> after which the story already in progress resumes in #30 with \u2018Look What They\u2019ve Done to Our Lives, Ma!\u2019 <\/em>(McGregor, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones & Keith Pollard).<\/p>\n

Escaping a deadly deathtrap, Cage hunts down Hamilton, and confronts his erudite, sardonic, steel-fanged boss Piranha Jones<\/em> just after they succeed in stealing a leaking canister of lethal nerve gas. The dread drama concludes in \u2018Over the Years They Murdered the Stars!\u2019<\/em> (Sal Buscema & the inking legion of deadline-busting Crusty Bunkers) as Cage saves his city at risk of his life before serving just deserts to the eerie evildoers\u2026<\/p>\n

Having successfully rebranded himself, the urban privateer makes ends meet whilst seeking a way to stay under police radar and clear his name. The new level of sophisticated, social commentary and bizarre villainy of McGregor\u2019s run led to Cage saving the entire city in true superhero style as #32 opens with the (still unlicensed) PI in leafy suburbs, hired to protect a black family from literally incendiary racist super-villain Wildfire<\/em> in \u2018The Fire This Time!\u2019<\/em> (illustrated by Frank Robbins & Colletta). This self-appointed champion of moral outrage is determined to keep his affluent, decent neighbourhood white, and even Power Man is ultimately unable to prevent a ghastly atrocity from being perpetrated\u2026<\/p>\n

Back in the comfort zone of Times Square once again, Cage is in the way when a costumed manic comes looking for Noah Burnstein, and painfully learns \u2018Sticks and Stone Will Break Your Bones, But Spears Can Kill You!\u2019<\/em> As shady reporters, sleazy lawyers and police detective Quentin Chase<\/em> all circle, looking to uncover the Hero for Hire\u2019s secret past in \u2018Death, Taxes and Springtime Vendettas!\u2019<\/em> (Frank Springer inks), Cage\u2019s attention is distracted from Burstein\u2019s stalker by deranged wrestler The Mangler<\/em>, prompting a savage showdown and near-fatal outcome in \u2018Of Memories, Both Vicious and Haunting!\u2019<\/em> (plotted by Marv Wolfman, dialogued by McGregor and illustrated by Marie Severin, Joe Giella & Frank Giacoia). Here at last, the reasons for the campaign of terror against the doctor are finally, shockingly exposed\u2026
\n\"\"
\nThe 1976 Power Man Annual<\/strong> (#1) follows with \u2018Earthshock!\u2019<\/em> by Chris Claremont, Lee Elias & Hunt calling Cage to Japan as bodyguard to wealthy Samantha Sheridan<\/em>. She\u2019s being targeted by munitions magnate and tectonics-warping maniac Moses Magnum<\/em>, intent on tapping Earth\u2019s magma core, even though the very planet is at risk of destruction. Thankfully, not even his army of mercenaries is enough to stop Cage in full rage\u2026<\/p>\n

Next comes the cover for Power Man<\/strong> #36 (cover-dated October 1976) and another casualty of the \u201cDreaded Deadline Doom\u201d. Although not included here, it reprinted #12 which first debuted the villain featured in #37\u2019s all-new \u2018Chemistro is Back! Deadlier Than Ever!\u2019<\/em> thanks to Wolfman, Wilson & Aubrey Bradford.<\/p>\n

The apparently grudge-bearing recreant attacks Cage at the behest of a mystery mastermind who clarifies his position in follow-up \u2018\u2026Big Brother Wants You\u2026 Dead!\u2019 <\/em>(Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, Bob Brown & Jim Mooney). Minions Cheshire Cat<\/em> and Checkpoint Charlie<\/em> shadow our increasingly frustrated investigator, before repeated inconclusive and inexplicable clashes with Chemistro lead to a bombastic \u2018Battle with the Baron!\u2019<\/em> (Klaus Janson inks) – a rival mastermind hoping to corner the market on crime in NYC. The convoluted clash concludes in \u2018Rush Hour to Limbo!\u2019<\/em> (art by Elias & Giacoia) as one final deathtrap for Cage turns into an explosive last hurrah for Big Brother and his crew\u2026<\/p>\n

Inked by Tom Palmer, #41 debuts a new vigilante in \u2018Thunderbolt and Goldbug!\u2019<\/em> as a super-swift masked hero makes a name for himself cleaning up low-level scum. Simultaneously, Cage is hired by a courier company to protect a bullion shipment, but when the truck is bombed and the guards die, dazed and furious Cage can\u2019t tell villain from vigilante and takes on the wrong guy\u2026<\/p>\n

Answers, if not conclusions, are forthcoming in \u2018Gold! Gold! Who\u2019s Got the Gold?\u2019<\/em> (Alex Ni\u00f1o inks) as Luke learns who his real friends and foes are, only to be suckered into a trap barely escaped in #43\u2019s \u2018The Death of Luke Cage!\u2019<\/em> In the aftermath, with legal authorities closing in on his fake life, Cage sheds his Power Man persona and flees town. However, even in the teeming masses of Chicago, he can\u2019t escape his past and an old enemy mistakenly assumes he\u2019s been tracked down by the hero he hates most in all the world.<\/p>\n

Wolfman plots and Ed Hannigan scripts for Elias & Palmer as \u2018Murder is the Man Called Mace!\u2019<\/em> sees Luke dragged into the disgraced and dishonoured soldier\u2019s scheme to seize control of America. Despite his best and most violent efforts, Cage is beaten and strapped to a cobalt bomb on \u2018The Day Chicago Died!\u2019<\/em> (Wolfman & Elias). Sadly, after breaking free of the device, it\u2019s lost in the sewer system, prompting a frantic \u2018Chicago Trackdown!\u2019<\/em> before another savage showdown with Mace and his paramilitary madmen culminates in a chilling (Roger Slifer scripted) \u2018Countdown to Catastrophe!\u2019<\/em> as a fame-hungry sniper starts shooting citizens whilst the authorities are preoccupied searching for the missing nuke\u2026
\n\"\"
\nWith atomic armageddon averted at the last moment, this collection – and Cage\u2019s old life – end on a well-conceived final charge. With issue #48, Cage\u2019s comic title would be shared with mystic martial artist Danny Rand<\/em> in the superbly enticing odd couple feature Power Man and Iron Fist<\/strong>, but before that there\u2019s still a \u2018Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight!\u2019<\/em> courtesy of Claremont, Tuska & Bob Smith, as Chicago is attacked by brain-sucking electrical parasite Zzzax!<\/em> Thankfully, our steel-skinned stalwart is more than a match for the mind-stealing megawatt monstrosity\u2026<\/p>\n

With all covers – by Gil Kane, Wilson, Buckler, Dave Cockrum, Marie Severin, Ernie Chan, Jim Starlin, Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, Klaus Janson, Dan Adkins, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott & Pablo Marcos – this street treat is backed up the cover of reprint one-shot Giant-Size Power Man<\/strong> from 1975; House ads and images by Sal Buscema from the Mighty Marvel Bicentennial Calendar<\/strong> (1976) and Wilson & Sinnott\u2019s June 1977 Marvel Comics Memory Album Calendar<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Arguably a little dated now (us in the know prefer the term \u201cretro\u201d), these tales were crucial in breaking down many social barriers across the complacent, intolerant, WASP-flavoured US comics landscape, and their power – if not their initial impact – remains undiminished to this day. These are tales well worth your time and attention.
\n\u00a9 2024 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tony Isabella, Don McGregor, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Bill Mantlo, Steve Englehart, George P\u00e9rez, Ed Hannigan, Roger Slifer, George Tuska, Lee Elias, Ron Wilson, Rich Buckler, Arvell Jones, Sal Buscema, Frank Robbins, Marie Severin, Bob Brown, Vince Colletta, Dave Hunt, Al McWilliams, Keith Pollard, the Crusty Bunkers, Frank Springer, Joe Giella, Frank Giacoia, Aubrey … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Luke Cage Epic Collection volume 2: The Fire This Time (1975-1977)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,222,75,66,79,225,213,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-ant-man","category-crime-comics","category-horror-stories","category-marvel-superheroes","category-mystery","category-iron-fist","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8jb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31947,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31941\/revisions\/31947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}