"But they're still alive an' that means they got a second chance t'make it, which is more'n a lotta folks get. I think you an' me did all right today, Fist. C'mon, I'll buy ya a pizza."
– Power Man and Iron Fist Vol 1 #109

Luke Cage, born Carl Lucas, is the partner of Iron Fist and the co-founder of Heroes for Hire, Inc. In his teenage years, Luke Cage and his friend Willis Stryker committed various petty crimes as members of a gang known as The Rivals. After continuing this for a few years, Luke Cage eventually left the gang, hoping to instead find reasonable employment to help his family. This was futile however after he was arrested after cops found heroin stolen from another gang in his house, and he was arrested and sent to Seagate Prison; the heroin was planted there by Stryker to get revenge for Cage stealing his girlfriend. While in Seagate Prison, Cage was experimented on, having the Electro-Biochemical System used on him to grant him superpowers. Using these new abilities, Cage escaped prison, took on the alias of "Power Man", and made his way back home to work as a "Hero for Hire". After taking on various jobs, and even temporarily replacing The Thing in the Fantastic Four, Cage would come to meet Iron Fist, and the two would found Heroes for Hire, Inc. to work as mercenaries of justice.

Palettes by tony spector and Kater15 included.