Marvel’s Luke Cage isn’t one for flashy uniforms—but his first costume was about as ostentatious as they come. With new responsibilities piling on as mayor of New York, he’s decided to leave that image behind him for good, even if it also means changing the way he approaches crime.
Luke Cage's costume tells the story of his journey with superheroism. In his youth, he found family among a gang called the Rivals, and shortly thereafter wound up in prison undergoing the procedure that gave him his strength and steel-hard skin. It was then that he took the name "Power Man," and donned an outfit to match his bold moniker. The brightly colored ensemble was comprised of a yellow flare collar shirt, bright blue tights, a metal headband with matching wrist cuffs and a heavy chain around his waist. It was raw blaxploitation, evocative of archetypal genre figures like Melvin Van Peebles and Jim Brown (although lacking a handlebar mustache of his own). Cage proved early on that no one was too high up for a Power Man shakedown—like when he traveled all the way to Latveria to collect $200 from Doctor Doom himself.
Devil’s Reign: Omega #1, the latest chapter in the Devil’s Reign event, features three vignettes based on the aftermath of Wilson Fisk’s corrupt mayoral tenure. Rodney Barnes and Guillermo Sanna compose the third of these, “Mayor for Hire”, which focuses on Luke Cage preparing for his first press conference as the new mayor. A reporter informs the audience on the state of affairs since Fisk’s departure; how supporters of his agenda remain vocal while violent crime continues to skyrocket in the city, and how trust in vigilantes is arguably rockier than ever. With all this in mind, Luke considers how he got to this position and takes a trip down memory lane that includes a fond farewell to his debut look. In a splash page, Luke somberly reflects on his journey to superheroism, where his original costume can be seen.
And while Cage has maintained a great amount of that fearlessness, he's also been tempered over the years as different experiences have tested him. He began to see himself as part of a larger tapestry, someone whose abilities could be used for the protection of others and not just personal gain. His marriage to Jessica Jones and the birth of their daughter moved family to the absolute apex of his priorities. When Iron Man threatened to break them apart at the onset of the Registration Act, that gave Luke the last push he needed to move from neutrality all the way to Cap's side of the conflict. He did most of this and more in an assortment of tee shirts and jeans, almost as though he was constantly trying to figure out just how committed he was to the superhero lifestyle.
Now Luke is facing an altogether different challenge. As mayor of an increasingly bloodthirsty city, he will have to decide for himself how much of the old Luke he should maintain. While he's already made moves to reconstruct the public's faith in heroes, like rebranding the Thunderbolts under new leadership, he knows that not every problem can be solved from within a broken system. Luke may never pick up his first costume again, but that doesn't mean Power Man is done for. Rest assured Luke Cage will continue to fervently defend his beliefs and the lives of the innocent no matter what he's wearing.
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Devil's Reign: Omega #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.