Luke Cage #9

Enough spoilers to kill a horse, but it doesn't matter because this comic is 30 years old!

Stop him Johnny! He burst right past me as he came out of the elevator!

This issue starts off with Luke Cage facing off against The Fantastic Four (and Medusa). Mr. Fantastic quickly wraps him up, but not before he manages to get a solid hit in on the one and only Benjamin Grimm (The Thing)! It turns out the Cage just wanted to borrow a rocket from The Fantastic Four, as it seems he has a score to settle with Dr. Doom. Mr. Fantastic agrees to loan him the rocket after a brief chat (he was familiar with Cage's reputation, but he had never met the man before). So Luke gets in the rocket and Mr. Fantastic sets the autopilot for Latveria (Dr. Doom's sovereign nation).

What's this JIVE? Lousy rockets stopped!

Luke finds his craft stopped at the Latverian border, where he is faced with an image of Dr. Doom who assumes that he is the Fantastic Four (because of the ship he was in). He finds his craft quickly lowered to the ground with a tractor beam. He steps out of the ship and is immediatley engulfed in a a heated battle with a bunch of Dr. Doom's lackeys. He was already winning the fight when a group of robots comes along and totally destroys the rest of his opponents! Cage then follows the robots back to a cave where he meets, "THE FACELESS ONE". The Faceless One is an alien who is leading the machine revolt in Latveria. Cage agrees to help them with their plan, but only because it makes it easier for him to get in to Dr. Doom's fortress himself.

You had better take a weapon, Luke Cage.

Don't want it, --an' don't need it, baby.

The robots attempt to blast the main gate down with a LASER BAZOOKA, but it only weakens the door. But Luke is able to punch it down with a single blow (Just like breaking out of Seagate Prison baby!). More gratuitous robot and lackey violence follows, and soon Luke Cage finds himself face to face with Dr. Doom! This is exactly where we find out why Luke came all the way to Latveria.

Where's my money honey?

You mean the money I owed you for tracking down my ROBOTS? You came all the way here for that? A paltry $200!!!!

Cage and Doom begin to argue about the $200. Doom soon tries to forcefully eject Cage from the place. Now we all know that Luke Cage doesn't take nuthin from nobody, so this is where it gets interesting! Cage and Doom exchange a few mighty blows that don't really seem to injure either one of them, all the while Cage berates Doom about his attitude. Dr. Doom eventually sees that he isn't going to have an easy win, so he pulls out the blasters and starts firing. He ends up catching Cage in his iron grip. But Cage has something up his sleeves!

Just like you punched your way out of Seagate Prison -- by smashin' the same place long enough!!

Luke begins pounding Doom in the same spot over and over again, soon he knocks a large hole in Doom's armor and renders him virtually powerless. Apparently all this time anyone could have defeated Doom by simply concentrating on one area, and Doom actually admits that weakness to Luke Cage after he discovers it. It all looks like a happy ending until THE FACELESS ONE shows up!

Murder's a gig I don't take kindly to ...

The Faceless One has a plan of his own. Apparently he used Luke Cage to incapacitate Doom so he could finish him off with a powerful laser. Now Luke Cage doesn't stand around idle while people are getting murdered, especially people who owe him money. Cage attacks the alien who buries him under a pile of rubble and escapes, but not before revealing his true form! Dr. Doom ends up thanking Cage for saving his life, he pays him his money, and Cage leaves the premises. But Dr. Doom doesn't get off easy, as all his robots are attacking the castle in revolt as Luke leaves. But that is none of Luke Cage's business, after all he already has his money.

Thats all fine and dandy, but what kind of cool stuff could I buy from the advertisements in this issue?

I am talking two complete armies made out of molded plastic! Each one of them on their own base. You get Dragoons, Sharpshooters, Cannons, and so much more, and if you are not fully satisfied you can return them for a FULL REFUND!

This has got to be the coolest thing ever! It moves at your command, rattling windows, climbing, diving, and jumping (even while you are far away!). Plus you get a free horror outfit with every order!

You too can be a happy prosperous GRIT salesmen! Grit is the family newspaper that everybody loves. IT SELLS ITSELF! Grit Magazine sells for 20 cents a copy, and YOU keep 7 cents profit on EVERY copy! It simply cannot get any better than that.

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