"Luke Cage Noir" was really, really good.

"Luke Cage Noir" #4 from Marvel Comics

So...
I know this is very strange, but I'm going to do it: I'm not going to tell you anything specific about the last issue of this mini-series. Honestly, I feel that in my past posts I have already said too much. The twists in this last issue are very, very good and to describe why I loved this issue would be to ruin it for all of you.

I have had my copies of "Luke Cage Noir" #1, 2, 3, and 4 on the desk for a few weeks now, pondering the best way to do a retrospective post about the mini-series. The problem is that I've already written so much in my reviews of issue #2 and issue #3 that heaping on more would ruin the surprises that made this series wonderful. I considered doing a historical analysis of portrayals of black superheroes or something but that's really not the point of a review and I already wrote a paper that covered that when I was still in high school. (Plus "Luke Cage Noir"-artist Shawn Martinbrough is talking all over the net about an exhibit at the Studio Museum Harlem about the different incarnations of Luke Cage. It may or may not have already been held... There's nothing about it on their website.)

THE LONG AND SHORTBOX OF IT?
The last issue contains one awful moment of absurd, over-the-top, bloody hyper-violence.
Just to let you know.
BUT:
The last issue has several fantastic twists.
The last issue has many wonderful emotional moments.
The last issue is as good as, if not better than, the others.

The series is entirely wrapped up and thus would probably read equally well as a mini or as a trade. Of course, you can find the individual issues right now and the trade isn't supposed to be out 'till March...

Go. Go buy them.

"Luke Cage Noir" pre-production art by artist Shawn Martinbrough.

UPDATE:

The exhibit I mentioned above eventually did occur and I covered it for the blog here.

More Twenties Action North of 125th Street!

"Luke Cage: Noir" #3 of 4 from Marvel Comics

This issue re-kindled and re-affirmed my love for this series. The 'villains' (such as they are) took a quick backseat to the character-driven story elements. As it should be. (Indeed, the two have been merged as we now see in flashback that all three of the introduced villains were present at the defining moment of Luke's life.) Martinbrough's art continues to be gorgeous, while built on clear and subtle story-telling. And it's badass.

I have been saying for years (and I'm sure I'm not alone; nor am I original in this, goes back to Aristotle I think) that a good work of art should be made up of good parts, a balance between each of those having autonomy and each being merely parts of the whole. A good movie should have scenes that should fly by themselves as good short films and a good comic should have pages that should fly by themselves as good one-pagers. This issue was full of them.

(Check out this great scene in which Luke sets a trap for his childhood-friend turned greedy mob boss out to kill him. Stryker is too late to stop his henchman from striking a match after he sees the literal 'writing on the wall' and the gas-lamp.)

It's also been a great deal of fun for me as a recently minted New Yorker to see all the references to New York City locales and borders. So "downtown" to a black man in the Nineteen-Twenties would of course be "south of 125th street", i.e. below the lowest street in Harlem. The land of the "offay", the white man.

But maybe the best part? The flashbacks are coming together fairly well! Finally! We can now see a chronology of the story. And it's awesome. We now see that the populace of Harlem's belief in Luke Cage's invulnerability may be greatly mistaken... or is it? We still have yet to see Luke take a bullet straight on. (Excepting the first issue's exciting cover, an image not strictly part of the story.)

If you're a Marvel fan, you know what the answer to that question is probably going to be based on the superpowers of the main 616 continuity version of the character running around since 1972, but I'm not sure that in this new NOIR version of the Marvel universe, Mike Benson and Adam Glass might not be going for something different. The fourth issue will tell, I'm sure, and I can't wait! I'm really enjoying this.

The end left a bit to be desired. It looks like we're taking another bit of a left turn, but I thought that about the end of the first issue and enjoyed the second one nonetheless.

THE LONG AND SHORTBOX OF IT?
This series is going from great to excellent before my eyes! Although, I'm saddened at the realization that this may read better as a 'serialized graphic novel' than a mini-series. A minor distinction, yes. But basically it means I may not be able to stop myself from buying it again in hardcover... And the mini-series is a dying breed.

Still, it's worth your money.

Just the story of a certain cat with steel-hard skin and the skirt he lost when he went in the clink on a bum rap.

"Luke Cage Noir" #2 from Marvel Comics

Re-telling the origin of Marvel characters in the new setting of the Depression Era is a fairly novel idea that Marvel is milking for all it's worth. Still, issue #1 of this series impressed me, so I came back for more. It's Harlem in the 1920s, a topic that already interests me because my, perhaps, favorite prose novel of all time is Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man", a brilliant piece of work that takes place in Harlem of the 1950s. There are echoes here of Ellison's essential concept of African-American man as 'invisible' in a social sense.

(Cover of "Luke Cage Noir" #1)

I'm not sure what bloody right Tombstone had appearing in the cliffhanger ending of the first issue and then fairly heavily in this issue as he has nothing to with Luke Cage. But noticing that Tombstone is an albino African-American (a fact often over-looked) and noting that both he and Luke Cage have nearly identical abilities (impenetrable skin, super-strength) I'm almost tempted to say that his inclusion here is inspired. But it isn't.

Actually, I think that giving this 1920s version of Luke Cage a super-villain is the weakest element of this mini-series so far. Everything else, however? I LOVE IT.

The 1920s dialogue by Adam Glass and Mike Benson is delightful and for the most part sits just below the place where it would be over the top and ridiculous. As a result it feels fun while still giving a sense of a real time and place. Shawn Martinbrough's art is atmospheric. Great panels of Luke Cage in an urban environment, every image in the rain is damn gorgeous. The facial expressions show a nearly true range of human emotion. Although I wish the artist and the colorist had been in closer conversation about the flashbacks. Both issues have various flashbacks and both issues have some panels with sepia-tone coloring to make this clear and some panels without. It makes for frustrating reading at times. "What is this? When does this take place? 10 years ago, before Luke Cage was in jail or tomorrow?" Frustrating.

The cliffhanger ending from last month involving Luke Cage, an empty grave, and the mobster Tombstone with a pair of tommy guns as well as a pair of rottweilers didn't really interest me as much as the story of a regular joe in remarkable circumstances who wants to find the girl he loves. Thankfully, that story hasn't been entirely derailed, but it has been a bit submerged. Speaking of submerged... Spilling a rooftop water tank onto bad guys is funny no matter what medium, genre, or decade you do it in. Awesome!

And THIS issue's cliffhanger brings the plot about Luke's dear Josephine back to the fore!

THE LONG AND SHORTBOX OF IT? This is a damn good series with a great character re-placed into a logical location for his origin story to take place. Despite minor problems, this mini-series is fun and cool and will probably make a damn good collection in a few months. You can bet I will be picking up #3 and the final issue, #4!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
So here's my review of a Marvel book. Josh just reviewed Jeff Lemire's "Sweet Tooth", an imprint book, so if it isn't clear yet we're giving you a special point-of-view this week in honor of "Strange Tales" #1! The Marvel Guy goes indie and the Independent Guy takes a look into the Marvel Multiverse and then both of us will together, give you, in the next few days, our thoughts on this unusual moment in which Marvel invites some "Strange" bedfellows into the House of Ideas!