B5Erik

So after literally decades of missing this title, I finally got the early issues of Luke Cage - Hero For Hire/Power Man thanks to the Epic Collection TPB.

I had previously purchased about 12 or 15 issues of Power Man and Iron Fist, but had missed out on the Luke Cage solo series (I was pretty young when it came out). I always loved the Power Man and Iron Fist title, but never ran across the early solo issues. I did get the first couple of issues of the 1990's Cage title, but that was pretty disappointing (a very lackluster title, unfortunately).

But the issues in THIS collection - WOW! This is a fun read! The art? A little rough, but pretty good, overall. Sure, it is VERY dated, but the stories hold up well (and were the foundation for the TV series, which I loved).




Honestly, I can't wait for Vol 2 of the Luke Cage Power Man Epic Collection! I just hope it comes out early next year and not later.

B5Erik

I love this cover - and the issue is really good, too!

PhantomStranger

Hero For Hire trades from their 90s run are showing up at Ollies. Even if you don't have an Ollie's nearby, some resellers will post them on eBay.

B5Erik

So, has anyone else read the pre-Power Man and Iron Fist Luke Cage comics?

Honestly, I was pleasantly suprised by how good they are.

DWilson

Archie Goodwin and then Steve Englehart were terrific writers back in the '70s.

Paul_SD

IST has been mostly out of stock on this, so I finally broke down and ordered it from Target in their B2G1 sale, with a couple Bds to fill out the order.

This is a series I laughed and rolled my eyes when I saw it on the spinner rack as a kid. Now, it looks like all kinds of retro fun. Looking forward to it.

movieguru

Only read one or two issues as a kid, but if a bazooka can't hurt him that much, why would falling out of the second or third story window do him much damage when he hits the ground?

B5Erik

Ummmmm....

The explosive force of the bazooka was absorbed and/or deflected by his steel hard skin, but the fall could result in a broken neck? Maybe?

(I wondered the same thing, but forget the logic or the physics of it - it's still a great cover, and a darned good issue. )

DWilson

This gets into a basic problem for old readers. There was a long time when comics (DC Comics in particular) had dialogue balloons on the cover, and they were usually cringe-worthy. Marvel came along in the '60s and dropped the balloons. They had captions and titles, but no dialogue, -and they seemed cooler for it.
And then somewhere along the way, dialogue balloons came back. Look at the cover above, -you don't need that dialogue, the illustration (and the caption) sells the book. Of course some editor didn't think so.

movieguru

I'm not that familiar with his powers so I wasn't sure of the logic behind it. I would have though if his skin was invulnerable, his bones wouldn't get hurt. otherwise the force of the bazooka, which would be a lot more force than falling on pavement, would be more likely to break his bones. I love the cover artwork though. I also like the cheesiness of the dialog. It's funny that he indicates that force of the bazooka knocked him out of the window, yet the villain is firing the bazooka after he is already out the window.

movieguru

I wonder why they did away with the thought balloons, not on the cover so much, but in the interior story pages. it just seemed like one day they went out of style and everyone stopped using them. They seemed to replace thought balloons with those little yellow boxes at the top or bottom of some panels when needed. I guess nowadays, since they are writing stories that are intended to be collected in trade paperbacks and hardcovers they want to stretch out a story over multiple issues and having word or thought balloons in every panel would shorten the length of pages it would take to complete the story.

PhantomStranger

I really love thought balloons on covers, seriously. I despise the style of modern covers, which are little more than glorified pin-up art.