10 Classic "Luke Cage" Comic Aspects That Don't Belong on Netflix

[Midvillian1322]

It seems likely that they'll link the experiment back to the Super Soldier Serum in the TV show, since they've already done so in the comics, years ago. Burstein was was using prisoners as "volunteers" in exchange for time off their sentences. Luke was presumed to have died in an escape attempt but, as I recall, the assumption was that he drowned trying to swim the several miles between the island on which Seagate prison sat and the shoreline, and his body was washed away by the tide.

What I'd like to know is how, if Cage was arrested for trafficking drugs in Harlem, he ended up in a prison off the coast of Georgia.

There are lots of circumstances in real life that could cause that too happen, none of which i recall the comic explaining. He was transfered for...... reasons i assume

[Midvillian1322]

I'm just saying that when I was a kid, I absolutely HATED Luke Cage for all the reasons shown here [and more], which is the only real reason I clicked on this article in the 1st place. A middle-upper class black kid looking for black heroes, and this was all they could come up with? The comic was simply disgusting to my eyes.

Which is why I can look back with humor on all this nonsense today. Absolutely hilarious stuff now.

And because they did the character justice as they went forward. I really enjoy modern Luke Cage but maybe thats just me. Either way the show looks great and im more excited for this then i was for SS or then I am for or Strange. Both of which I was and an pretty excited for.

[kalorama]

But not in 1972. I guar-an-tee that no one was trying to look "disco" in the general world of "hip" 1972. And if they were, Cage's costume wouldn't look remotely disco-influenced, as you pointed out. (Didn't look remotely "hip" either, but that's early-70s Marvel all over)

Recognizable elements of disco music and fashion were, indeed, around in 1972, but they hadn't yet achieved widespread, mainstream exposure.

[simbob4000]

Recognizable elements of disco music and fashion were, indeed, around in 1972, but they hadn't yet achieved widespread, mainstream exposure.

Not really, disco wasn't disco until after Saturday Night Fever, and that doesn't come until the late '70s.

[kalorama]

Not really, disco wasn't disco until after Saturday Night Fever, and that doesn't come until the late '70s.

Which is just another way of saying that disco wasn't widely popular until after Saturday Night Fever, which is basically the same thing I already said.

The music and fashion existed before the movie came out, but they were mostly part of a subculture that the larger population hadn't been exposed to.

[simbob4000]

Which is just another way of saying that disco wasn't widely popular until after Saturday Night Fever, which is basically the same thing I already said.

The music and fashion existed before the movie came out, but they were mostly part of a subculture that the larger population hadn't been exposed to.

No, I'm saying disco looked different before Saturday Night Fever. Disco before that movie wasn't disco as we know it now, the movie changed that scene.

[steve b]

No, I'm saying disco looked different before Saturday Night Fever. Disco before that movie wasn't disco as we know it now, the movie changed that scene.

Lotta truth in that, although "disco" was around before the movie came out in '77. Looking back and in retrospect, I'd say disco pretty much sprang from a non-mainstream black music culture (what didn't? musically speaking) and a kitsch-oriented east coast gay sub-subculture (think Judy Garland) that was really very tiny at the time. Which is why I say that Cage's costume really had no disco influence.

To me, the decade of the "60's" really began with the Beatles in '64 and roughly ended in, say, '74. In '72, underground comix, progressive rock, radical politics, drug use, etc., were still going strong. Disco somewhat signaled an end to all that even while "borrowing" some of the previous elements (especially drug use). Cage, as laughable as his pseudo-Blaxploitation orientation appeared, was actually more an expression of the "60's culture" and seemed extremely exciting to white middle-class me at the time (although I totally get why it would have been discouraging to a middle-class black kid then). Part of that reason was Billy Graham's art and influence. Even with George Tuska's pencils underneath sometimes (pretty dynamic in itself), Graham's art just exploded with energy. Obviously, he's one of the most important black comics artists ever, but I'd say he's pretty significant in his own right, regardless of race.

[kalorama]

Lotta truth in that, although "disco" was around before the movie came out in '77. Looking back and in retrospect, I'd say disco pretty much sprang from a non-mainstream black music culture (what didn't? musically speaking) and a kitsch-oriented east coast gay sub-subculture (think Judy Garland) that was really very tiny at the time. Which is why I say that Cage's costume really had no disco influence.

I don't disagree with any of that. My point is that all of those elements existed in the early-70s, well before SNF was released. They were around but, before the movie, the only people with any real knowledge of them were people who were part of those subcultures. So, while I agree that Cage doesn't actually reflect any disco influence, it's not inconceivable that he could, because it's not inconceivable that--in 1972--the creators behind the character might have been familiar with the elements of the subcultures that coalesced into what we later came to know as disco, whatever they may have been called at the time.

[chamber-music]

The issue here is what is the depiction?

She was a crime boss that was a fat black lady that spoke in slang some time.

So she's a mammy cause she was a fat black lady? That's all it takes?
Cause she wasnt a slave, she wasnt a maid, she wasnt a house keeper, she wasnt from the south from what i remember.

Black Mariah really isn't all that different from Fat Annie from Netflix's the Get Down.

[steve b]

I don't disagree with any of that. My point is that all of those elements existed in the early-70s, well before SNF was released. They were around but, before the movie, the only people with any real knowledge of them were people who were part of those subcultures. So, while I agree that Cage doesn't actually reflect any disco influence, it's not inconceivable that he could, because it's not inconceivable that--in 1972--the creators behind the character might have been familiar with the elements of the subcultures that coalesced into what we later came to know as disco, whatever they may have been called at the time.

I still don't see the influence, but you definitely have a point, especially given the east coast, big city location of most comic creators of the time.

[BCaeser1]

Growing up in a lower middle class African American family, I always enjoyed Luke Cage. For me, he was one of only two black superheroes who wasn't a sidekick. Unlike Black Panther, he was an everyman and was much more relatable than T'Challa.

[MaxMatrix]

Black Mariah really isn't all that different from Fat Annie from Netflix's the Get Down.

IDK Fat Annie is pretty understandable. I don't need a translator app to know what she's saying. She doesn't speak in that classic Hollywood dialect for Black folks aka "Never really been around Brown people but they seem to be idiots so this is how they talk".

[Sighphi]

I'm just saying that when I was a kid, I absolutely HATED Luke Cage for all the reasons shown here [and more], which is the only real reason I clicked on this article in the 1st place. A middle-upper class black kid looking for black heroes, and this was all they could come up with? The comic was simply disgusting to my eyes.

Which is why I can look back with humor on all this nonsense today. Absolutely hilarious stuff now.

They had Black Panther for the upper middle-class folks.
Dont take away the joy from lower class folks.

[simbob4000]

They had Black Panther for the upper middle-class folks.
Dont take away the joy from lower class folks.

No, they should have nothing, nothing.

[Tracer Bullet]

I wouldn't expect any of this because I honestly don't recognize this character as Luke Cage. But I'm most familiar with the 70s/80s version. Sheeeeeooootttt.