Friday Funnies: Now with Racism!

From Chris Sims' invaluable Invincible Super-Blog comes the single greatest comic book story of the 1970s. It's the ninth issue of Luke Cage, Hero for Hire (currently in print thanks to Marvel's "Essential" series). Cage (the namesake of actor Nicholas Cage, who was born "Nicholas Coppola"), gets into a bit of a pickle with Dr. Doom.

In the previous issue, Luke had been hired by a shady character to take down a few guys who stole his boss's "company secrets," and as these things so often do, they naturally turned out to be robots created by Dr. Doom who escaped to America after fleeing his decidedly nonrobocentric regime. So why bother with getting Luke Cage for the job? Well, according to von Doom, the robots have disguised themselves as black men, none of whom live in Latveria, and therefore he--and I quote--"needed a black, and I needed to hire him. Enter: Luke Cage."

Sims' blog contains the summary of the story and some choice experts. Bookmark it when you're done if you're a comic fan with a sense of humor.

(Hat tip: Josh Elder.)

Comments

[SamB]

The picture isn't loading

[Lamar]

I am outraged and offended on behalf of all crazy persons.

[J sub D]

Racism. If you look hard enough, you can find in anywhere and everywhere.

[Ken]

The real outrage here is Luke Cage lasting longer than 10 seconds with either the Thing or Dr. Doom. If I remember my Marvel Universe comics then the Thing can press 85 tons over his head, while Cage can press something like 10 tons. Dr. Doom of course has defeated entire teams of super-hero's. The blog rightly blasts the stupidity of such a storyline. This comic pulls off a double punch: racist stereotypes PLUS affirmative action...

[de stijl]

Ken,

You're overlooking the fact that the cat has streetsmarts and style. In spades, my friend!

That shit count's for a whole hell of a lot, my brother.

[Victor Von Doom, PhD.]

BAH! Doom cares not for arbitrary factors such as race, sex, or class! Once doom destroys Richards and his accursed Fantastic Fools, all humanity will bow before the might of Doom!

[Shem]

Ken-But when you get between The Hero For Hire and his money, his strength increases 1000-fold. In fact, he doesn't actually have powers unless he's being paid.

I wonder if I get my No-Prize now.

[The Accursed Reed Richards]

Doom! Don't call yourself a Ph.D! You and I both know you were kicked out of Technological Genius Grad School for summoning demons to write your dissertation.

[Victor Von Doom, PhD.]

Doom! Don't call yourself a Ph.D! You and I both know you were kicked out of Technological Genius Grad School for summoning demons to write your dissertation.

YOU DARE??? Doom was going to grant you the sweet release of a slow, agonizing death, but just for that indignity Doom will destroy you by....

LAUNCHING THE BAXTER BUILDING INTO THE SUN!

Oh wait... Doom has done that....

Just wait Richards, Doom will think of something! Why don't you and that drunkard Tony Stark go and torment your fellow do-gooders or something and stop pestering Doom?

[A. Subject]

On behalf of the Latverian Institute of Technology, the school which issued Dr. Victor Von Doom his doctorate, I can assure you Americans that it was not just an honorary title. Dr. Von Doom's brilliance is matched only by his integrity and kindness.

As for rumors that we were somehow forced to give our beloved Monarch his degree, this is simply unfounded. He never, as some people have suggested, harmed members of my family. As soon as they are released from his castle, I'm sure they will tell you this.

[jf]

Cool site, David, I'll add it to my bookmarks.

Another you may enjoy is Comics Make No Sense, which totally rips on old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby Fantastic Four.

[T. Stark]

I may be drunk, Sir but at least you'd never catch me dressing in a silly costume and fighting a racist stereotype.

Now if you'll excush me, I've got to put on my armor and go fight the Mandarin.

[duncan]

Well, according to von Doom, the robots have disguised themselves as black men, none of whom live in Latveria, and therefore he--and I quote--"needed a black, and I needed to hire him. Enter: Luke Cage."

Dr. Doom is head of the Republican party?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[The Accursed Reed Richards]

For the love of God, Tony, show some self-control! Not in front of Doom!

[Jake Boone]

So what I want to know is: what is the current state of the libertarian movement in Latveria? I imagine a moonbat Libertarian Party candidate or two wouldn't look nearly as wacky in Latveria, judging from the competition. Heck, even having blue skin probably wouldn't be that much of a hurdle to surmount...

[Akira MacKenzie]

Reason Hit & Run presents Twisted Toyfare Theater!

[kevrob]

Here's what I loved about LC:HFH: Wrongly convicted, Carl Lucas volunteered as a subject for medical experimentation, hoping to shave time off his sentence. As these sorts of things do in the comics, they went Horribly Wrong, Lucas wound up with superpowers, on the outside and on the lam. "Luke Cage" was an alias, and he continued to use it after clearing his name.

I genuinely liked the idea that a superpowered adventurer would set up shop as the equivalent of a P.I., and make his living in the spandex racket. Luke didn't have family or close friends to protect. If anyone found out who he really was, his main problem was winding up back in prison. The series was a weird combination of Captain America and Shaft, with some of the trappings of the hardboiled detective genre. I never really cared for the Power Man/Iron Fist team. IF was right out of the chopsocky movies that were played in the grindhouse where Luke had his HFH office. both books were sagging in sales and so Marvel combined them. i would have preferred a split book, on the order of the old Tales To Astonish, but those had fallen out of favor, especially when the page count was down to a mere 17 new pages. (Sheesh!)

The inherent capitalism of the feature, spiced with frequent pro bono work, should appeal to Reason readers.

If there are any Blue Skins in the Latverian LP, they are probably Kree up to no good.

Kevin

[Akira MacKenzie]

Heck, even having blue skin probably wouldn't be that much of a hurdle to surmount...

Nightcrawler is a libertarian?

[Akira MacKenzie]

Of course, this can't be any worse than the ham-handed attempts of Hanna Barbara to add racial diversity to the Justice League back in the 70s: Remember Apache Chief? Black Vulcan? The Wonder Twins?

Ok, that last one doesn't count.

[kevrob]

Akira:

Apache Chief was "cloned" and inserted into the modern JLA as "Manitou Raven." Black Vulcan was DC and HB deciding that they didn't want to pay Tony Isabella and Trever Von Eden royalties by using their already-created character, Black Lightning. The only TV love BL ever got was Sinbad playing him on Saturday Night Live.

Jan and Zayna showed up, much changed, in Justice League Task Force. And, yeah, they were aliens, so they don't count.

Kevin
(waiting for that Gleek v. Gorilla Grodd one-shot...)

Kevin

[Jon H]

Bah! All men are equal... ALL WORMS BENEATH THE RELENTLESS GRINDING HEEL OF DOOM!

[Jake Boone]

Didn't they also have a samurai guy who'd turn his lower body into a whirlwind or something? Or am I imagining that?

[Jon H]

Sweet Christmas, I wish that scene were reenacted in Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

[Akira MacKenzie]

Apache Chief was "cloned" and inserted into the modern JLA as "Manitou Raven." Black Vulcan was DC and HB deciding that they didn't want to pay Tony Isabella and Trever Von Eden royalties by using their already-created character, Black Lightning. The only TV love BL ever got was Sinbad playing him on Saturday Night Live.

Let's not forget Apache Chief and Black Vulcan's cartoon resurrection on Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law:

"Pure electricity... In my pants!"

[Super-Volt]

Remember Apache Chief? Black Vulcan?

That's Super-Volt! You don't call Aqua-Man Whitefish, do you?

[Ken]

I think it just as impossible that Doom would skip out and not pay Cage. Doom was a man of honor, despite throwing the Baxter Building into space and all...
I think the FF comic should have been read by the neocons. In FF 200 (I think) the FF dethroned Doom and set up a guy who could shoot a laser out of one eye. They left and then later found out that this government they had put in place was MUCH worse than the dictator they replaced...

[Benjamin J. Grimm]

IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!

Ah, cripes, never mind....

[Zevatron]

I love you Wikipedia. I love you so much.

"Cage was a groundbreaking but controversial hero. He was Marvel's entry into the 1970s blaxploitation trend and sported a stereotypically streetwise tongue, including the catch phrase "Sweet Christmas!" Later revivals, which portrayed him as thuggish, were also criticized. Still, some portrayals of Cage are popular with black comic book fans."
Luke Cage

As far as DC goes:
"Like other ethnic characters added within the last few years of the show, he was seen as somewhat stereotypical."
Apache Chief
Black Vulcan
El Dorado
Samurai

[Stevo Darkly]

And then there is ... Minoriteam!!!

[coal train]

you want racist????

[Zevatron]

Adult Swim I love you. I love you so much.

[Xanthippas]

Oh Lord, that was too good. I love comics so much.

[Jon H]

Ken wrote "I think it just as impossible that Doom would skip out and not pay Cage. Doom was a man of honor, despite throwing the Baxter Building into space and all..."

But there's a crucial problem making this impossible.

Doom's limitless pride in his nation would require that he pay Cage in Latverian currency.

Cage, on the other hand, would never accept money from some no-account backwater cracker kingdom - he'd hold out for the real thing, with dead US Presidents on them.

[Eric the .5b]

Doom's limitless pride in his nation would require that he pay Cage in Latverian currency.

I'm pretty sure he'd be willing to pay in gold.

[wayne]

Enter.......... Chuck Norris

Doom's name is now pronounced, Doomed.

[Racist Frankenstein]

And then there is ... Minoriteam!!!

Rrrrraaaarrrggghhh! Racist Frankenstein don't see what fuss is all about!

[Sexonius]

Unbeknownst to most, Doctor Doom's degree was actually in Women's Studies. Little known fact.