Writer: David F. Walker / Artist: Guillermo Sanna / Marvel Comics
Fam, why we let Luke Cage just drive by his damn self on the open All-American road? Fresh off the traumatic experience that was New Orleans and learning more about his origin, Luke just needs to clear his head and get himself centered before returning home to the fam. This shit lookin’ a lot like the beginning of the Odyssey though because he ain’t coming home anytime soon. Your boy just trying to get some of these blue skies and here come highway patrol…
Folks said Cage couldn’t go back home…
The book is good and evokes a specific frustration. Ya know, racism. Walker does not tiptoe around the prospect of racial profiling, micro and macro-aggressions or threat perception with this issue. Damn subtlety. Walker also does a great job of running Luke’s internal monologue in contrast to the action and creating a dissonance for our hero as we see the threat grow around him. Luke is confident and reassured of good people, which is why he is so easily caught off guard.
The prospect of Luke is a good one and I’m curious to see where this book goes, but the initial pledge still doesn’t hit as hard as the first arc of the story, so here’s to seeing where the surprises and turns come in. Sanna comes through on the art for this book (and possibly arc) and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. The style doesn’t inspire as an extension of the story, leaving the book, on the whole, to feel more pedestrian than it normally would. Essentially, it’s really tough to follow Blake II who was flawless on the opening issues.
Luke back in a new arc facing this typical Black man in America problems. There’s something even more sinister at work (maybe more is the wrong word) of course. However, Walker pulls no punches on the commentary of what someone that looks like Cage projects to some Americans. Here’s to seeing next injustice we see Cage navigate through.
Reading Luke Cage? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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