LUKE CAGE 373
and her extended family, including her cousin Ophelia, who travels to America with her:
originally published in Love and Rockets as well as Luba (10 issues, 1998–2000) and
Luba’s Comics and Stories (eight issues, 2000–4), these “post-Palomar” stories have been
collected in a trilogy (Luba in America, 2001; Th e Book of Ofelia, 2005; Th ree Daughters,
2005) as well as a single volume, Luba (2009).
A recent uniform set of trade paperbacks (2007–8) assembles the brothers’ work in
three volumes each, with an additional volume of disconnected work by both brothers
(and Mario). Th e major narratives are also available in a series of large, hardbound vol-
umes, Palomar: Th e Heartbreak Soup Stories (2003) and Locas: Th e Maggie and Hopey
Stories (2004), supplemented by the more recent material collected in Luba (2009)
and Locas II: Maggie, Hopey & Ray (2009). Whether consumed issue-by-issue, or in
these massive collections, Love and Rockets remains essential reading in the history of
contemporary comics.
Selected Bibliography: Hatfi eld, Charles. Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2005; Wolk, Douglas. Reading Comics: How
Graphic Novels Work and What Th ey Mean. New York: Da Capo Press, 2007.
Corey K. Creekmur
LUKE CAGE. Also known as Carl Lucas, Hero for Hire, Power Man, and simply Cage,
Luke Cage debuted in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 published by Marvel Comics in
- Cage was the fi rst African American superhero to be featured in a self-titled
comic book, though the African American We s t e r n hero Lobo had appeared in his
own comic book in 1965. Like many early African American superheroes, Cage was the
product of a white male creative team inspired by pop culture images and narratives.
While Cage’s fi rst issue was written by Archie Goodwyn and drawn by George Tuska,
the character design incorporated signifi cant input by Stan Lee, John Romita, Sr., and
Roy Th omas. His persona was loosely modeled after the Blaxploitation fi lm character
Shaft, a streetwise detective known for his sexual prowess and exemplifi cation of cool.
Cage’s costume—a yellow shirt unbuttoned to his navel, yellow boots, blue pants, a
chain for a belt, and metal head band resembling an upside down tiara—was inspired
by disco. He used the phrase “Sweet Christmas” as a substitute for an expletive. After
his creation, Cage would go through many transformations, often refl ecting diff erent
notions of black culture and identity.
While imprisoned for a crime that he did not commit, Carl Lucas participates in
medical experiments in exchange for early parole. Th e experiments give him steel-
hard skin and superhuman strength; then a lab explosion leaves him missing and
presumed dead. He resurfaces in Harlem using the name “Luke Cage” to cover up his
presumed death and remind himself of his time in prison. He opens a business for
which the book was titled: Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. As a hero for hire, Cage is more
of a mercenary than a true superhero. Beginning with issue #17, Luke Cage, Hero for
Hire became Luke Cage, Power Man, in an explicit reference to the 1970s Black Power
