Luke Cage, Hero for Hire

Luke Cage is a wrongly imprisoned man who gained superhuman strength and unbreakable skin after a prison experiment gone wrong. Freed and striking out on his own in New York City, he hired out his powers as a Hero for Hire, becoming Marvel's first Black superhero to headline his own series.

Few Marvel characters embody the gritty, street-level energy of the Bronze Age quite like Luke Cage, Hero for Hire — a figure who stepped onto the scene in 1972, courtesy of Archie Goodwin and George Tuska, in the pages of Hero for Hire. Across nearly five decades of Marvel history, this character has kept remarkable company, sharing adventures with heavyweights like Hawkeye, Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, and Matt Murdock, as well as appearing in the pages of Black Panther — a roster that speaks to a presence woven deep into the Marvel universe. With at least one key collector-significant issue to their name and appearances stretching all the way to 2021, this is a character whose Bronze Age roots have proven genuinely durable. If you're building out your Marvel catalog with figures who carry real historical weight, this is one worth tracking down.