Luke Cage #167 review: Facing Ringmaster and his chain gang
By Alex Widen
Luke Cage is caught in the control of the Ringmaster. Yet can he fight if he doesn’t know who he is?
Luke Cage #167
Writer: David Walker
Artist: Guillermo Sanna
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
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A circus is only fun for someone on the outside or at the center. For those within it can seem like a cage, or prison, depending on who runs it. Maynard Tibolt, the Ringmaster, has long used his flashy clothes and hypnotic gadgets for crime and control. In addition, he’s briefly managed to control some of the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes. His victims have included Spider-Man, Daredevil, Moon Knight, Nick Fury, and his arch-nemesis, the Hulk. Yet now he takes on Luke Cage, the Power Man!
Image by Marvel Comics
Despite his hypnotic powers, Ringmaster always has terrible luck. Most of the time he’s only stopped when superheroes stumble upon him at pure random. Perhaps that’s why Ringmaster took no chances when Luke Cage turned up in the town he’s running. The weary ex-Avenger had only wanted a road trip, yet he wound up in the middle of Ringmaster’s cell ward nightmare. It seems like Ringmaster has taken control of a whole city, focusing on a prison and its occupants.
Image by Marvel Comics
Rather Than Enjoy a Vacation, Luke’s in the Slammer!
Diner waitress Ella Acosta bright Luke Cage to their attention by seeking his help. Her husband, Mr. Acosta, is the captain of the prison guards. Yet she can barely remember him, and her attempt to get Cage’s help got them both captured. As a result, Cage is stuck in a cell as yet another nameless inmate at the biggest prison complex in the city. While many of the prisoners, guards, cops, and citizens around town take well to Ringmaster’s mesmerizing, some people try to resist.
Image by Marvel Comics
Using a series of bells as hypnotic cues, the Ringmaster controls everything from his command station. While Luke Cage’s will hasn’t been broken yet, he’s suffering total amnesia. Therefore, he has no idea of his own powers, and is more vulnerable as a result. The Ringmaster brags from afar about how he’s in control as he systematically breaks Ella Acosta down to make her compliant once more. However, her husband is among the prison’s population, and is getting closer to Cage.
Image by Marvel Comics
Left to his own devices, Luke Cage has fallen into a metaphor for “the system” which is not far from reality. He has no name, just a number. The food he eats is slop, and he’s caught between the apathetic and the sadistic. When Mr. Acosta approaches him, Luke has been so alienated that all he wants to do is be left alone. As much as Ringmaster has tried to brainwash Mr. Acosta, he hasn’t wiped away all of his knowledge. He recognizes Luke Cage and knows a hero is among them!
Image by Marvel Comics
Hence, Never Trust Circus Managers!
Yet the Ringmaster isn’t about to take any chances. After all, most of his schemes have been thwarted by the random appearance of a large green monster. He immediately summons a gang of skin-heads and Neo-Nazis from among the prison populace to be his enforcers. The end result is a riot, where Luke Cage is on the verge of remembering his “unbreakable” prowess. With Ringmaster focusing all of his might on him, the pair are overwhelmed and set to face “the hole!”
Image by Marvel Comics
This is the second time in roughly a year that David Walker has involved a parable of the prison industrial complex in his work on Cage. Last year in Power Man and Iron Fist, it was the the latter who was imprisoned on trumped-up charges. A riot broke out within involving Danny Rand and the super villains he was housed with, and Luke broke into the prison to save him! This time it’s Luke who is stuck behind bars due to the machinations of a super villain and circumstance.
Image by Marvel Comics
While the Ringmaster’s scheme is quite on the nose, the end result is a powerful metaphor. Thru him, Walker is showing how life isn’t always as simple as people in jail “deserving” to be there. Via the plot mechanic of mind control, he’s showcasing how the incarcerated lose their very identities to the metal bars and the control of gangs of guards and other inmates. Finally, he showcases how the guards and some inmates often work in tandem, deliberately or not, to foment oppression.
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet There Are Messages behind the Mind Control!
On a boarder scale, Luke Cage represents a man who has risen above that. He grew up hard on the streets, and was once in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. With no hope of exoneration via legal ways, it was only by a freak accident from Dr. Burstein that he saw salvation. Yet becoming a “hero for hire” didn’t cause him to forget his time as “Carl Lucas.” Luke has gone on to join the Avengers, the Thunderbolts, and become one of his generation’s greatest heroes against all odds and naysayers.
Image by Marvel Comics
Yet with there still being racist elements within the country, there are many who feel people can never escape their pasts. That any blemish on their record should define them forever. An ex-con will always be a con, no matter what. Therefore, without shattering continuity to reset the clock, Walker is using Ringmaster to make Luke Cage face down a culture of institutional racism and oppression once again from within. There’s no doubt he’ll escape, but the suspense is in how.
Image by Marvel Comics
The Ringmaster plays the role of a sadistic villain well. His role is to serve as the mechanic of control. While he may not be a bigot in the pure sense, he’s aware of the power of their hatred to control them. In fact the story makes it clear that many of those who don’t resist his control may be accepting of it. And that the line between the prison guards and the skin-heads may be blurrier than it appears. That said, Ringmaster does get in some patented over-the-top dialogue.
Image by Marvel Comics
The Very opposite of a Road Trip!
Guillermo Sanna and Marcio Menyz continue with art and colors to great effect. The far-out mind control antics of the Ringmaster, complete with hypnotic rings, proved to be fodder for master artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. Hence, Sanna follows suit with some great sequences of Ringmaster utilizing his gimmicks. Menyz’s color work enhances this, as Sanna also does his best with Luke in the prison. Some pages at the end bare some sign of rush, but the cliffhanger makes up for it.
Image by Marvel Comics
Next: See what is probably the worst circus in #166!
The Ringmaster isn’t an easy villain to make the center of an arc. He’s a rather simple rogue with a predictable gimmick, and “evil carnie” is almost as overdone in fiction as “crazy clown.” There’s little doubt that Luke Cage will prevail and feed Maynard his teeth in due course. Yet in a scheme centered around a prison and the politics within, Walker has managed to insert some relevance into an old villain. In conclusion, Walker has made what could have been a routine adventure matter most of all.