Why was Marvel’s Luke Cage comic canceled?

The Luke Cage comic series was recently canceled. Did it deserve to be canned?

It took decades, but Luke Cage became a major character in Marvel Comics. He went from being a stereotype to leader of the Avengers and having his own self-titled Netflix series. The announcement of Cage’s solo book filled me with excitement. I was finally going to see one of my favorite characters in his own book. No silly costumes or gimmicks. Just Cage vs. everyone.

Recently, Marvel announced that five of their books were being canceled. Among them, was Luke Cage. While it’s disappointing, it’s not shocking, either. There are more than a few reasons why the comic book sales were so low.

Bad story

One of the most important parts of a comic book is the story. It’s the thing that keeps people engaged and invested. Issue 1 of Luke Cage started off great, with Luke talking about who he was and why he is the person who gets called when people can’t get help elsewhere. He goes into a house, busts some heads, makes some funny remarks, and saves the day. It was exactly what you’d and want from a Luke Cage book. Then things took a turn.

What starts off as Luke Cage being the protector of his community, ended up with him in New Orleans. It’s understandable that the writer (David F. Walker) would want to take Cage out of his comfort zone. It’s how characters evolve. But there was no build to the story.

We were almost immediately brought to Dr. Noah Busrtein’s funeral (he gave Luke his powers) and we find out that he had experimented on other people and that those experiments left people insane. Dr. Burstein was supposed to be one of the few good things about Luke’s past. It turns out Dr. Burstein is a monster as well. If that’s not bad enough, we find out Dr. Burstein isn’t dead. A very predictable reveal. Now, Luke has to face his feelings for Dr. Burstein and it’s done poorly.

At the end of the arc, nothing is resolved. After everything that happened,  Burstein is still experimenting on people, Luke is confused, and a bunch of people died that no one cared about. Which brings up point number two.

Awful supporting characters

Warhawk is an insane villain who thinks of Luke Cage as his little brother. Cage doesn’t share these feelings. This was meant to be a dynamic that makes the series work. Warhawk and Luke were supposed bicker, but still fight side by side with some witty repartee. A base idea, but it’s the formula that tends to work. Unfortunately, it falls flat here. Their banter wasn’t funny and a lot of the time it was painful to read. Warhawk having difficulties with his sanity wasn’t enough for me to become invested in him. When he almost died I felt relieved that I wouldn’t have to suffer through his terrible dialogue. But, he was brought back from the brink of death and the bad dialogue continued.

Then there are the other test subjects of Dr. Burstein. More kids with super strength and unbreakable skin that went crazy after they were experimented on. Again, we were supposed to feel sorry for them because they went crazy. There was no tragic story. They were introduced and were part of the story. Even after one of them died, I found myself not caring. He was just a nameless dead side character with the same powers as everyone else. Each of the supporting cast seemed to be the same. This made the story and the characters monotonous.

Trying to cruise on the show’s popularity

As I read this comic I couldn’t help but wonder why the story had no real depth. Then, it hit me like a strong unbreakable fist. The creative team was attempting to cruise on the popularity of Luke Cage’s hit Netflix show. Unfortunately, Luke Cage isn’t a character like Wolverine, Spider-Man, or Batman (At least not yet). Because of that, readers didn’t return and the numbers weren’t good enough to keep the comic afloat. It seemed like bringing in Dr. Burstein and Warhawk were supposed to remind people of Netflix’s Luke Cage. If this was the idea, it wasn’t a good one.

Terrible villain

A hero has to have a good villain. What kind of movie would Dark Knight have been without Heath Ledger’s Joker? Luke Cage’s antagonists were forgettable. So much so that I constantly have to go back to my comics to remember their names. But ultimately their names aren’t important because they themselves weren’t either. It was a father trying to cure his son and instead of treating the man working on the cure with respect, he imprisons and threatens him. Then, there’s Dr. Burstein. Had this entire book been about Luke and Dr. Burstein, I’d understand.

I understood vilifying Dr. Burstein and having Luke deal with his feelings. Unfortunately, there were so many antagonists in this arc that it was difficult keeping up with what was going on. I fully expect every antagonist in this series to disappear into obscurity.

Some good news

Tom Brevoort, Marvel’s executive editor, pointed out something very true in a tweet:

"“It is worth pointing out again: Incredible Hulk was cancelled once. X-Men was cancelled once. Thor was cancelled once. Being cancelled is not necessarily the end of the story, nor does it necessarily reflect the value of the work.”"

Next: 50 greatest super heroes in comic book history

Luke Cage has been around for decades and this is not his first solo series. Cage is going to have another solo comic book run in the future. In fact, look for another series was announced as early as 2018. His character is full of potential. With his solo Netflix series being so popular, people will want more of him. You can’t keep this unbreakable character down for long.