I haven't had a chance to do much toy photography lately, but I do have a day off at home with my daughter tomorrow and we're planning on playing all day, so we'll get some great shots of the Marvel Legends figs as well as all the cool new toys that the girls got for X-mas. Chloe just got a Barbie Castle, so that should be fun...sort of a 'Hall of Justice' theme is running through my head....
I must admit, I don't know all that much about Luke Cage. I only own a couple of his comics, and haven't really read that many over the years. What I do know is that he's one bad mutha. You can tell that much from the chains alone. I also know that he was partnered with Iron Fist (a martial arts master) for some time. Together they battled the underworld as 'Heroes for Hire'. This was in the 70's, so that explains the open collared yellow shirt and boots. Power Man is sculpted with his left hand open so he can deliver a karate chop or bitch slap when appropriate - everybody was Kung Fu fightin'!
I did a little research, and found some interesting tidbits of info on Power Man. Luke Cage started his career (and his comic book) solo. He was only the second African-American character to star in his own eponymous comic book. (The first one was a western called Lobo.) The first issue of his comic was called Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, and he actually didn't take the name Power Man until later. Since at the time there was already a Marvel villain called Power Man, he had to go kick that guy's ass for the right to use the name.
Luke was a bad-ass in his younger days, and ended up in prison. He volunteered for an experimental procedure while incarcerated which gave him super strength, diamond-hard skin and enhanced endurance. First thing he did with these powers was to bust out of jail. He was wrongly imprisoned anyway, after taking the fall for someone else, so he went straight to that dude and beat the living snot out of him and cleared his name. From then on, he went into the Hero for Hire biz, and beat up bad guys to pay the rent. At one time, he was hired by J. Jonah Jameson to capture Spider-Man, but the two became friends instead. He also chased after Dr. Doom to collect on a debt, thus making friends with the Fantastic Four in the process. They even let him join for a while. He's also been an Avenger, a Defender, and as I said before, a long-time partner of Iron Fist. At that point, his comic was fittingly retitled Power Man and Iron Fist.
I haven't decided on any particular role for Luke Cage to play in my toy photography yet, but he does look great riding a horse (or a tauntaun). He looks pretty mean, and his poses are full of potential. I mostly bought him because he was cheap and he looks cool. I feel I need to have a more multicultural selection of toys. Let's call it my 'Affirmative Action Figure' collection. I need to work on getting some female figures as well - the She-Hulk and Phoenix are high on my list of wants. Next up, however, is Sasquatch. He's already bought and paid for, and on his way in the mail. Since Sas' is one of my all-time favorite Marvel characters, you know that his entry is going to be a long one....
The next few posts are likely to contain all different types of subjects, so you'll have to bear with me. It's been a busy holiday season, and there's a lot of stuff to talk about with very little time to sit down and write. In any case, I hope everyone had a good Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Ramadan or Solstice or whatever, and have a great New Year in 2010!
May the Force be with you...
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