Cage! #2 Review and **SPOILERS** - Marvel Monday

Marathon Man

By Genndy Tartakovsky 

Inker: Stephen DeStefano 

Colorists: Bill Wray with Genndy Tartakovsky 

Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles 

Cover: Genndy Tartakovsky and Scott Wills 

Cover Price: $3.99 

On Sale Date: November 23, 2016

**NON SPOILERS AND SCORE AT THE BOTTOM**

Who's the black hero for hire

That Hell’s Kitchen ladies desire?
(Cage!)
You're damn right
Who is the guy
That’s impervious and strong, besides?
(Cage!)
Can ya dig it?
Who's the self-made business-

Man that likes to say “Sweet Christmas!”
(Cage!)
Right on
You see this cat Cage is a bad mother
(Shut your mouth!)
But I'm talkin' about Cage
(Then we can dig it)
He's a complicated man
But no one understands him but his partner

(Iron Fist)

Explain It!

Cage wakes up trapped in a crate, that he rends apart with ease. He’s immediately confronted by two humanoid cat-men—in suits, no less—so Luke jumps off what looks to be a vintage schooner and into the surrounding waters. Despite his belief that cats avoid water, the cat-men follow him and pursue by way of swimming. Diabolical! Cage makes land at some jungle and proceeds to run—and boy, does he run!

He’s beset by a snake that tries to bite his hand, but Cage’s skin is steel-hard and destroys the serpent’s teeth. Then Cage gives it an uppercut that makes its eyes pop out because he can, I suppose. Cage continues to run—the running, I tell you! He takes a little break for a couple of pages, but then—more running! If you wanted to see Luke Cage run, then you are in for a real treat because this issue serves it up by the bowlful. “You know, I really enjoy reading stories where Luke Cage punches the crap out of people and calls them ‘turkeys’ and stuff, but I would really like to see an issue that is almost totally Luke running.” Your wish is granted!

Eventually, Cage makes it to a swampy clearing where he’s gassed by the surrounding foliage and falls into several pages of hallucinations. There are homages to 1960s psychedelic artist Wes Wilson, and a trippsed-out version of the Wizard of Oz which implies that Misty Knight, the very girl that stood him up on the date that led to this crazy caper, is trying to wake him from his reverie. But before he can fully awake, the final page is a weird version of Basil Wolverton’s cover to MAD Magazine #11! (May 1954)

Uh, what the hell did I just read? I don’t necessarily need to see “street level” stories about Luke Cage, but I expect them to be somewhat grounded. This was more like the frantic dream of someone that’s just seen a Blaxploitation marathon on cable television. The art is sort of distended and inconsistent, and the whole thing would probably look better as an animated short. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone that appreciates a gratuitous comic book hallucination scene more than me, but these came across as cheap filler. This book is not a good time, unless you’re some Genndy Tartakovsky freak that can gawk at flat-faced characters for four bucks a pop.

Bits and Pieces:

Only buy this comic if you're a big fan of Genndy Tartakovsky's art, because there isn't much of a story to speak of. And frankly, the art isn't even that great. This is your basic comic book rip-off.

2.5/10