My usual definition of noir involves can I picture Humphrey Bogart playing one or more roles in the movie version. After reading Luke Cage: Noir, I may need to amend that definition slightly.
The basic plot: Luke Cage is released from prison (for a crime he did not commit) after allegedly agreeing to undergo a series of medical experiments. He arrives back in New York City and must decide how to put the pieces of his life back together and what to do with all of the tomorrows to come. (This overview may sound familiar to readers of the modern day Hero for Hire.) Cage is hired by a Randall Banticoff to investigate the murder of his young wife. Before addressing the whodunit aspect of the situation, the first part of the mystery is: why was a white woman found dead in Harlem, of all places? The second: why was she killed? Then, maybe, we can address identifying the culprit.
Benson and Glass re-imagine the modern day super-hero Luke Cage as a man inhabiting New York City in the 1920s. They successfully use this tableau to view and comment upon racial non-equality of the period, and how prohibition caused much social upheaval than simply whether or not one could buy a drink legally.
Perhaps my only quibble with the work is that the limited use of existing Marvel Universe characters redefined in a new environment seemed to actually distract from the material, rather than instilling a bit of fun in it as did Gaimans Marvel 1602. Then again, from a marketing standpoint, this move was probably a necessity I, for one, probably would have passed by this work on the shelf had the tie-in to Luke Cage not caught my eye.
Kudos must also go to Shawn Martinbrough, for successfully capturing the spirit of Harlem in the 1920s and of Film Noir in his wonderful illustrations.
P.S. In truth, I could imagine Bogart in this movie. Ill let others decide which role(s) might best utilize his talents, and we can then compare notes.
RATING: 5 stars.
The basic plot: Luke Cage is released from prison (for a crime he did not commit) after allegedly agreeing to undergo a series of medical experiments. He arrives back in New York City and must decide how to put the pieces of his life back together and what to do with all of the tomorrows to come. (This overview may sound familiar to readers of the modern day Hero for Hire.) Cage is hired by a Randall Banticoff to investigate the murder of his young wife. Before addressing the whodunit aspect of the situation, the first part of the mystery is: why was a white woman found dead in Harlem, of all places? The second: why was she killed? Then, maybe, we can address identifying the culprit.
Benson and Glass re-imagine the modern day super-hero Luke Cage as a man inhabiting New York City in the 1920s. They successfully use this tableau to view and comment upon racial non-equality of the period, and how prohibition caused much social upheaval than simply whether or not one could buy a drink legally.
Perhaps my only quibble with the work is that the limited use of existing Marvel Universe characters redefined in a new environment seemed to actually distract from the material, rather than instilling a bit of fun in it as did Gaimans Marvel 1602. Then again, from a marketing standpoint, this move was probably a necessity I, for one, probably would have passed by this work on the shelf had the tie-in to Luke Cage not caught my eye.
Kudos must also go to Shawn Martinbrough, for successfully capturing the spirit of Harlem in the 1920s and of Film Noir in his wonderful illustrations.
P.S. In truth, I could imagine Bogart in this movie. Ill let others decide which role(s) might best utilize his talents, and we can then compare notes.
RATING: 5 stars.
