HEROES FOR HIRE! Appreciation 2019

[Lee Stone]

Luke has to support his child. Makes sense he'd work doing what he does best. Plus, his and Danny's (who never needed the income) goal was always to be reachable to the common man. I'd say it'd be a great idea for Luke and Danny to relocate to, let's say, Chicago, and open a business that does exactly what you suggest. You could have a line-up of:

• Power Man – Luke Cage, CEO and field leader. Super-human strength and steel hard skin.
• Iron Fist – Daniel Rand, CFO and 2nd in command in the field. Martial arts expert and occult consultant. Wielder of the powerful iron fist.
• Spider Woman – Jessica Drew. Head of investigations. Flight, strength and venom blasts.
• Black Cat – Felicia Hardy. Security consultant. Peak human athlete and bad luck powers.
• Machine Man – Surveillance specialist. Walking tank and gadget factory. Flight, strength and versatility.
• Ant Man – Scott Lang. Infiltration specialist. Shrinks and is a highly skilled hacker and engineer.
• Prowler - Hobie Brown. Tech support. Suit filled with gadgets. Rarely takes the field.

I know many may be finding strange that I chose Spi and not Jessica Jones, but I think a great motivator for Luke would be if he became a widower, and had to support and raise his child all by himself. So, I chose the original product (Bendis created Jessica Jones because he was not allowed to use Jessica Drew) as the head of investigations. the H4H would have two big competitors. Silver Sable and her Wild Pack and:
Daughters of the Dragon – Home base: Detroit.

• Misty Knight – Bionic arm.
• Colleen Wing – She-Samurai.
• Diamondback - Rachel Leighton.
• Silhouette – Sil Chord.
• Tarantula - Maria Vasquez.
• Ms Marvel – Sharon Ventura, in human form, but still almost as strong as in her She-Thing form.
• White Tiger – Ava Ayala

Peace

I'd prefer Jessica Drew with Heroes for Hire, too.
I first started reading comics when she was under Dennis O'Neil's urban hero umbrella.
She was moved to Gruenwald just before the end of her series (with a new logo to match), and I suspect that if her title hadn't been cancelled they were gearing up to put her in the Avengers.

I like the use of Machine Man. With cyber security and cyber threats being more topical today, they could use someone that's hands on.

I also like your Daughters of the Dragon idea. Especially using Sharon in her human form.
But my line-up would be:

Misty Knight
Colleen Wing
Dakota North
Jessica Jones
White Tiger
Elsa Bloodstone

[mrjinjin]

it really made no sense for him to give those weapons up. I wonder why the Lady of the Lake bailed on him. and where's the dragon businessman?

The Lady of the Lake bailed on him because he wanted to be with Crystal, who was a married women (to Quicksilver). I don't know what happened to his dragon friend.

[pageturner]

Luke has to support his child. Makes sense he'd work doing what he does best. Plus, his and Danny's (who never needed the income) goal was always to be reachable to the common man. I'd say it'd be a great idea for Luke and Danny to relocate to, let's say, Chicago, and open a business that does exactly what you suggest. You could have a line-up of:

• Power Man – Luke Cage, CEO and field leader. Super-human strength and steel hard skin.
• Iron Fist – Daniel Rand, CFO and 2nd in command in the field. Martial arts expert and occult consultant. Wielder of the powerful iron fist.
• Spider Woman – Jessica Drew. Head of investigations. Flight, strength and venom blasts.
• Black Cat – Felicia Hardy. Security consultant. Peak human athlete and bad luck powers.
• Machine Man – Surveillance specialist. Walking tank and gadget factory. Flight, strength and versatility.
• Ant Man – Scott Lang. Infiltration specialist. Shrinks and is a highly skilled hacker and engineer.
• Prowler - Hobie Brown. Tech support. Suit filled with gadgets. Rarely takes the field.

I know many may be finding strange that I chose Spi and not Jessica Jones, but I think a great motivator for Luke would be if he became a widower, and had to support and raise his child all by himself. So, I chose the original product (Bendis created Jessica Jones because he was not allowed to use Jessica Drew) as the head of investigations. the H4H would have two big competitors. Silver Sable and her Wild Pack and:
Daughters of the Dragon – Home base: Detroit.

• Misty Knight – Bionic arm.
• Colleen Wing – She-Samurai.
• Diamondback - Rachel Leighton.
• Silhouette – Sil Chord.
• Tarantula - Maria Vasquez.
• Ms Marvel – Sharon Ventura, in human form, but still almost as strong as in her She-Thing form.
• White Tiger – Ava Ayala

Peace

The money is not the issue. While Luke is always connected to his neighborhood he is part of a bigger scope.

I don't think you can take Luke from NY but if HFH went bigger and had offices in other cities with other characters operated the offices that could be promising. Of course there would teamups galore but Lang with a team in one city Dane in another Luke and Danny in NY.

[Michael Watkins]

I'd prefer Jessica Drew with Heroes for Hire, too.

i was so excited for her and Shang to stick around; back then (because i had recently read the majority of her original book). but she had 2 issues and then the series ended.

[Nomads1]

I'd prefer Jessica Drew with Heroes for Hire, too.
I first started reading comics when she was under Dennis O'Neil's urban hero umbrella.
She was moved to Gruenwald just before the end of her series (with a new logo to match), and I suspect that if her title hadn't been cancelled they were gearing up to put her in the Avengers.

I like the use of Machine Man. With cyber security and cyber threats being more topical today, they could use someone that's hands on.

I also like your Daughters of the Dragon idea. Especially using Sharon in her human form.
But my line-up would be:

Misty Knight
Colleen Wing
Dakota North
Jessica Jones
White Tiger
Elsa Bloodstone

Ooohhh, loved the Elsa Bloodstone idea. Definitely incorporating her to the team, maybe in the place of Tarantula. She can be the Daughters supernatural consultant.

The money is not the issue. While Luke is always connected to his neighborhood he is part of a bigger scope.

I don't think you can take Luke from NY but if HFH went bigger and had offices in other cities with other characters operated the offices that could be promising. Of course there would teamups galore but Lang with a team in one city Dane in another Luke and Danny in NY.

I see no problem in the H4H being an operation that accepts money from those that can pay. I'd be like in Busiek's Power Company over at DC, They'd support the operation with paying clients (high-paying) and that'd leave them free to do pro-bono work for those really in need. As for moving out of NY, Luke has done so before. In Chicago itself, if I'm not mistaken, over as his 90's Cage series. I frankly don't see Luke sooo attached to Harlem. He goes where the little guy needs him. Plus, anything that puts heroes working on places other than NY, I'm game.

Peace

[Michael Watkins]

don't most heroes recieve payment nowadays? i thought that was part of the Initiative era. the Avengers recieved a stipend.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Luke Cage's First Appearance in 1972!

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Power Man #18 Apr 1974
"Havoc on the High Iron!"
Luke Cage is visiting the grave of Reva Connors because he feels that everyone he gets close to ends up dying in the end.
Claire finds Luke at the grave, and the two decide to stay together no matter what.
On their way back into the city, they happen upon a new costumed criminal named Steeplejack who is
threatening to throw building mogul Maxwell Plumm from a partially constructed building to his death.

Luke saves Plumm from a deadly fall, and in the ensuing battle with Steeplejack, Steeplejack manages to escape.

Luke is told by Plumm that Steeplejack is Jake Mallard, a construction worker whose two brothers fell to their deaths working the girders.
Mallard blamed Plumm for the accident and vowed revenge. Plumm hires Power Man to protect the building that he is defending.
That night, Luke gets into another battle with Steeplejack,

which ends in Steeplejack's death when one of the girders he melted gave way and he fell to his death.

Later that night Luke gets a call from Flea calling for help.

Luke finds Flea dying in an alley. Before he dies, Flea tells Luke that he was poisoned by a criminal named Cotton Mouth.

Story by Len Wein, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Vince Colletta.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

my favorite era will always be John Ostrander's 90s group.

I enjoyed said era.

it felt like a promotion for Luke and Danny

Promotion? How do the comicbook characters Power Man & Iron Fist promote from heroes to...

+ the addition of several underutilized Avengers.

Loved the comicbook character Black Knight with his winged steed Strider...

LOVE the line: Turn the page! Turn the page! Turn the page! QUICK!

wish it were still ongoing.

Wish Heroes for Hire will either be the title of a series or the title of one of the MCU movies post Phase 3!

[Michael Watkins]

I enjoyed said era.


Promotion? How do the comicbook characters Power Man & Iron Fist promote from heroes to...

easy. they were promoted from struggling street level heroes to having a say within a corporate environment. they weren't taking jobs based on the pay. because they didn't have to. even Danny's house looked bigger.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

In that case, I only see it as a promotion for the comicbook character Luke Cage I never saw a billionaire like the comicbook character Danny Rand as a struggling street level hero to having a say within a corporate environment.

[K7P5V]

I enjoyed said era.

Me too. A very underrated series.

Loved the comicbook character Black Knight with his winged steed Strider...

LOVE the line: Turn the page! Turn the page! Turn the page! QUICK!

Nothing against Strider, but I was rather partial towards Valinor.

[Factor]

Marvel just added more issues of Ostrander's run to Marvel Unlimited. I think they have the full run there now.

[Hypestyle]

I'd like to see what could be done with an Old Man Cage mini series. Especially if certain people in his life now are deceased. Could be intriguing.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

I actually prefer Dane with the elf armor and weapons and minus the blood curse.

I like the blood curse because it means to me that the character cannot kill anyone with the sword however he sees fit.