HEROES FOR HIRE! Appreciation

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Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #8 Apr 1973
"Crescendo!" Part 1 of 2.
Robots disguised as humans are attacking Luke Cage from all sides.

And, the culprit behind it all

--Doctor Doom--will shock the Hero for Hire to his very core.

Script by Steve Englehart, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Billy Graham.

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Heroes for Hire #10 Apr 1998
Misalliances!
Heroes for Hire takes on several temps to help them abduct a scientist from Silver Sable and her Wild Pack.



Script by John Ostrander, pencils by Pascual Ferry, inks by Jaime Mendoza

[Michael Watkins]

I like how they incorporated Misty and Colleen. They had their own thing but were still on good terms with Luke and Danny.

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Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #9 May 1973
"Where Angels Fear to Tread!" Part 2 of 2.
Luke Cage travels overseas


to come face-to-face with the nefarious ruler of Latveria, Doctor Doom!

Script by Steve Englehart, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Billy Graham.

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I had high hopes that they were going to add Jessica Drew as the White Tiger's replacement, after the Madripoor storyline. Sadly, it became the last arc of the book, so, fat chance of that happening.

Peace

That would have been terrific to me.

[Michael Watkins]

I wonder if Shang Chi would have stuck around, as well. they weren't just losing White Tiger. Thena also had one foot out the door.

[Hypestyle]

i wish the 90s H4H reboot had continued, alas. Oh well.

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Heroes for Hire #11 May 1998
Misalliances! The Conclusion
After the Heroes are defeated and captured by Silver Sable's Wild Pack,

Cage makes his move.


Script by John Ostrander, pencils by Scott Kolins, inks by Dan Panosian

[Nomads1]

I wonder if Shang Chi would have stuck around, as well. they weren't just losing White Tiger. Thena also had one foot out the door.

Nah, I don't think so. I had the impression that they still had a story to tell with Thena. Besides, she was the team's real powerhouse. If they were going to replace her, I doubt it'd be with Shang-Chi. But that wouldn't have prevented Shang-Chi from joining anyway, if that's what Ostrander wanted. I just feel he'd be redundant in a team with Iron Fist. He'd probably just be an occasional member.

Peace

[Michael Watkins]

Nah, I don't think so. I had the impression that they still had a story to tell with Thena. Besides, she was the team's real powerhouse. If they were going to replace her, I doubt it'd be with Shang-Chi. But that wouldn't have prevented Shang-Chi from joining anyway, if that's what Ostrander wanted. I just feel he'd be redundant in a team with Iron Fist. He'd probably just be an occasional member.

Peace

My preference would have been Monica Rambeau. She knew Black Knight, Hercules, and She-Hulk.

[Nomads1]

My preference would have been Monica Rambeau. She knew Black Knight, Hercules, and She-Hulk.

Love her (always have), but that, IMHO, would be too much Avengers in H4H. I think Thena was a curve ball that gave the whole thing a different flavour (hope I'm not mixing too much my metaphores).

Peace

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Imagine Marvel Studios surprising everybody with a revelation that after the MCU Eternals make their debut in the cinemas the NetFlix Marvel characters of Carl Lucas and Danny Rand will graduate to the cinema's and be one of the members of the MCU Heroes for Hire movie come 2022, alongside the MCU Thena!

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Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #10 Jun 1973
"The Lucky and the Dead!"
Tired of being attacked by thugs since the Frank Jenks episode, Luke Cage decides to visit his widow to find out what she could tell him as to why people keep attacking him.
She tells Luke that her late husband was never well liked and figured it might have something to do with his safety deposit box that she has yet to close.

Going to the bank, they find that it's being robbed by masked robbers. Luke makes short work of them and turns them over to the police.
Searching Frank's safety deposit box, the only clue they find is a match book of a Spanish restaurant.
However, upon investigation Luke finds that it's been burned to the ground. His lead turning out to be a dead-end, Luke decides to see what else he can find.

Meanwhile in another part of the city, illegal casino operator Señor Suerte, remarks over his recent luck in silencing Frank Jenks over exposing his illegal gambling ring.
Having worked in the shadows, Suerte decides that he wants to reveal his identity to others, and so he puts on a specialized costume.

Calling himself Señor Suerte/Muerte, Suerte has a roulette wheel built into the chest of his costume which randomly charges one of his hands with a lethal electrical jolt,
powerful enough to burn a normal man into a charred husk. Suerte decides to go out and give his enemies the chance to either live or die.

While back at Noah Burnstein's clinic, Phil Fox comes around once again looking for an interview on Noah.
When left unattended in Noah's office, Phil spots Noah's experiment log and decides to snatch it up for review later, and leaves when Claire returns with Luke Cage.
While Señor Suerte learns that Luke Cage was poking around the burned down Spanish restaurant, he sends men to eliminate Cage.
Returning to the Gem theater, Luke is warned by Bertha that there are men up in his office, and so he gets the drop on them.
Easily defeating the thugs, Luke faces Señor Suerte/Muerte one-on-one, however when Luke strikes Suerte's electrified hand he is jolted with enough electricity to knock himself out.
Suerte then takes Luke to a water passage down near the harbor. Chaining Luke to the wall, Señor Suerte/Muerte leaves Luke there to drown when the passage fills up with water.

Script by Steve Englehart, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Billy Graham.

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Heroes for Hire #12 Jun 1998
Rising Evil
Jim Hammond leads the Heroes for Hire into the Master's trap;

though not officially stated, Thena appears to have joined the Heroes for Hire.


Script by John Ostrander, pencils by Pascual Ferry, inks by Jaime Mendoza

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Oh man I loved the 90s team, It brought together all the heroes that were in limbo after Onslaught.

Antman, Hercules and Black Knight got some great time to shine.

Ferrys art was amazing.

Yeah, the art by Ferry was indeed amazing no idea what he does nowadays though.