Let's Talk About Luke Cage

So, I got into some arguments about whether or not Cage is a character who should be around due to his 70s past and if I thought he was blatantly offensive. Let's speak serious. Was he stereotype in the 70s? Sure. But I like those stories. I read them and laugh at the silliness but am generally impressed with the craziness of some of the stories, the big action scenes, and interestingly enough the fact that the character, despite the bad dialogue, genuinely grew as a person. Character development I believe they call it. Now someone said it was blatantly offensive. Some how I don't think Archie Goodwin and George Tsuka(okay, maybe Romita designed the character but Tsuka was the main artist) was blatantly offensive. He was created to cash in on a craze. It happens. Incidentally he became the first superhero comic featuring a black man to sale well and helped black characters get more exposure in comics.

Now, also the costume keeps coming back up. Yellow blouse and tiara offensive? It's a superhero comics. I'm sure they wanted to give him a bright shiny costume but find a way to make him street level. Was it a bad outfit? I've seen much worse. Hell, I never even thought twice about it when I first saw the character in by pre-teens. I like it more then his current outfit. I mean, he looks like a Sean Jean wearing entourage to some gangster rapper. I think the Secret War mini updated look would work.

Now I'm black. I like wearing my OG Dickies and when I'm with certain friends I let the n-word slip out in conversation. Now I don't like sports or care for cars or speak entirely about what particular subjects black people do but I have black family, friends, and I've been in and out of ghettos and projects. I don't know what the big deal is here. I'm sure 70s blaxploitation was popular with black people in the 70s and I hear it referenced in movies and songs of today in positive light. Maybe I should take my Luke Cage stories to my friend Pete who prides himself on "Keeping it Real" and being "Mad N*****ish" and loves his Eazy-E and Prince to get his opinion. Though I imagine he'd be happy with Cage because Cage was all about keeping it real back in the day.