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From SCIFIPEDIA
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Luke Cage, sometimes called Power Man, is a fictional comic book superhero, owned by Marvel Comics. Luke was created in the 1970s, when “black exploitation” films such as Shaft and Super Fly were popular, and was Marvel’s attempt to cash in on this trend.
Luke possesses superhuman strength, very dense muscle and bone structure, and “steel-hard skin”. Bullets painfully bruise Cage when they hit him, but do not penetrate his skin, and bounce off him. He is also several times heavier than a normal man. Even before he got his powers, Luke was known in Harlem as a skilled fighter with his fists, and still maintains that reputation today.
Luke began his “Hero for Hire” business on his own. He would eventually come across Iron Fist (Danny Rand) and his friends, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, and work for their business, Knightwing Restorations. Leaving there, he and Danny opened up their own Heroes for Hire business. The business lasted for a while, but eventually Cage was back on the streets of Harlem, working solo again. Misty and Colleen now run their own version of the Heroes for Hire business, and appear regularly in the comic book series of that same name.
Before long, Luke would meet and have a romance with Jessica Jones, former superhero turned investigator. After she became pregnant with his child, the two decided they were in love and got married. Luke would become part of the The New Avengers, and, due to the events of the crossover limited series, Civil War, is now part of the “underground” unsanctioned group of Avengers, appearing in the comic book series entitled, New Avengers.
Character Origin
Lucas grows up a petty criminal in Harlem, doing what he needs to do to survive on the streets. Realizing he doesn’t enjoy life on the run, he resists the lure of organized crime, but fails to find a way to make money honestly. Framed for a crime he didn’t commit, he is sent to Seagate Prison, an island prison surrounded by ocean. Lucas’ defiant nature soon makes an enemy of a couple of the corrupt prison guards. He never qualifies for parole because he would never say that he was guilty, instead protesting his innocence to the end.
Luke Cage in his original costume.
When Dr. Noah Burstein, with a grant from Stark Enterprises, gives him a way out, at first Lucas does not want any part of his potentially lethal “cell regeneration” experiment. When he realizes the abuse of the local guards was only going to get worse, and it’s a fight that he can never win in the long term, Lucas volunteers for the experiment for the parole that Dr, Burstein promises him in return for being his “guinea pig”.
While Lucas is locked into the electro-chemical bath that was part of the experiment, his enemy, Guard Rackham, sneaks into the lab and turns the electricity up to full. Trapped inside, Lucas pounds on the metal tank until it seems to come apart in his hands, freeing him. The bath has given him incredible strength and “steel hard skin”. Before he himself realizes it, he uses his new abilities to pound his way out of the prison and escape by plunging into the ocean which surrounds Seagate. The guards who were chasing him, finding his bullet ridden shirt, leave him for dead.
Lucas finds his way back to New York City. Unable to use his real name or produce any documentation, and afraid to use his powers due to the attention it might draw, Lucas finds himself scrounging for work. He doesn't want to go back to his former life of petty crime.
One day, he stops a robbery. The grateful store owner likens his performance to that of a superhero, and gives Lucas a generous cash reward. This gave Lucas the idea that would change his life. Going to a local costume shop, he puts together a superhero costume. He has cards printed, calling himself Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. Luke begins using his superpowers to help those in need and to earn a living as well.
Eventually Luke is able to prove his innocence of the crime that landed him in prison in the first place, and legally changes his name to Luke Cage.
2008, SCI FI. All rights reserved.
