The Weekly Planet - The Weirdest Luke Cage Adventure - Caravan Of Garbage

Episode Date: October 6, 2016

Welcome to episode four and the final in this season of Caravan of Garbage, the show where we delve into the past to uncover some of the hidden forgotten gems. A comic! A movie! A game! Who knows? Not even us. This week, Luke Cage's first comic book adventure into the wider Marvel Universe! It's a bloody good one.Video Edition ► https://goo.gl/6Fo6eDAmazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/2VljkKuPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/mrsundaymoviesMr Sunday Movies YouTube Channel: https://goo.gl/lB90W2The Weekly Planet YouTube Channel: https://goo.gl/1ZQFGHFind our T-Shirts here: https://goo.gl/q6gE9C Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Register today at sunrisechallenge.ca. That's sunrisechallenge.ca. This series of Caravan of Garbage is brought to you by Loot Crate. I mean Loot Crate, but I say Loot Crate. Just regular Loot Crate. It's a subscription box of geeky items for cool dudes. Like me. And me.

You can't see me, but trust me, I'm cool. Anyway, go to lootcrate.com slash weeklyplanet for $3 off any box. That's right. How many items, Mason? Six to eight. I say six to eight, and they agree with me. I'm with it. All right. Welcome everybody to the Weekly Planet's Caravan of Garbage

where we sort through the pop culture detritus of the past to find some hidden gems, but probably not. Who's to say? I don't know, we might be talking about a movie or a comic book or a TV show. Who is to say? Who is to say? I'm to say this don't know we're talking about a movie or a comic book or a tv show who is to say who's to say i'm to say this week i tell you what yeah so big year for luke cage series series on net series on netflix it's going to be in the defenders that's right he's got a new uh retro themed limited series called cage exclamation mark on the comic books yeah so what i thought i would do is i would go back in time not really but I would look at a thing from back in time.

I was going to say, we should not do this and just time travel. We have the technology, don't we? That's something for another day. Tell you what, this week I've started reading 1972's Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. Right. It's pretty great, let me tell you. Is this the first era of Luke Cage comics? Yes, it is.

This is pre-Jessica Jones is this is this is pre jessica jones yep this is pre being in the avengers this is pre power man and iron fist this is right this is the headband tiara era yes it is yes it is this is love it this is a man he's not as he's not as complicated a man he's uh he's a detective he's a strong man yep he's a man he's a man with a lot of principles like he's sure he's he Yep. He's a man with a lot of principles. Sure. He's a man with a lot of principles, but still asks for money for doing a good thing. Well, see, that's the thing,

because I'm going to talk about... So, first few issues, you know, he's chasing down a thug. He's chasing down thugs in alleys. He's working his way through the Harlem underworld. This is off his own bat. He's like, this is what I'm doing. Yeah, exactly.

He set up a detective agency on the top of a weird movie theater that only plays westerns nice it's in harlem it's pretty it's pretty great but um the issues i want to talk about are issues eight and nine where he sort of dives headlong into the weirdness that is the marvel universe right and it sort of opens up he's he's mad not mad it just starts and he's just great what do you mean he No, he's angry. Oh, he's angry. Oh, wow. He's smashing up his desk

because, you know what? Being a hero for hire is not paying the bills. Oh, no. I mean, primarily because he gets in there. Maybe he could have sold that desk instead of smashing it. Primarily because what he does, he takes the case,

he beats the bad guy, he saves the damsel in distress, and then he's just like, I don't want your money. So ultimately... That's nice of him, I guess. It is nice of him, yeah. But you know what? He's right. It doesn't pay the bills.

That's right. So this time around, he's like, you know what? I'm going to do something that does pay the bills. So a man comes to him, a very fancily dressed gentleman, besuited, mustachioed, and he's like, I've got something for you that'll make you a rich man, Luke Cage. And he's like, all right, fine.

I'll take care of some business. Desk smashing. Professional desk. I've got so many desks. They're clocking up my mansion. But no, he's like, okay, well, look, I'll take care of some smashing up

some hoodlum business. And then I'll talk to you later, whatever. And then he's like, okay, Luke, look, I'll take care of some smashing up some hoodlum business. Right. And then I'll talk to you later, whatever. Yeah, yeah. And then he's like, okay, Luke Cage, I'm going to pay you. My employer has had some industrial secrets stolen from him. And he will pay you $200 a day. Oh, wow. Which is a lot of money in 1972.

Absolutely. That's like $4,100 million today, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. It's about that, isn't it? And American. Yeah. So it's huge but so he's like okay i'm gonna i've heard there i've heard there in this part of the city

uh use your use your skills kind of track him down and he's like okay and he and he there's a there's a sweet montage where he you know he goes to like uh he goes to a bar he goes to a taxi cab driver he goes to a a newsstand where they're selling the pornos. And he's, you know, tracking them down. Is there a porno stand? Look, it's a newsstand and one of the, it's hard to say because you're over there. Right. But one of the magazines just says sex on it.

That's all I'm saying. Maybe it's Essex Magazine. I might be about the city of Essex. Yeah, absolutely. But then he's like, all right, he finds, he finds his warehouse in Bed-Stuy in,

in New York city. He's like, all right, let's get into this. And he kicks down the door and he's like, okay, this is going to be an easy, it's going to be easy,

easy 200 bucks. You know, he's done this all in like a couple of hours. Do one job, retire. Exactly. Right. And then he gets in there,

but then it turns out these guys are much more resilient than he expected them to be. You're talking bulletproof, punchproof? What are you talking? They're punchproof. He's punching them away at them, and they're taking the punches. So at this point, Cage is like, okay, got to give it 110%. Give it a little bit of the old Luke Cage juice, and he just punches his head right off. But as comic book luck would have it, the one time you go to punch your guy's head right off

turns out to be a robot. Oh, thank God. And he's surprised and they make a run for it. Are they all robots? I guess they're all robots. Well, must be, right? Yeah. So he's like, he's kind of stunned.

Yeah. And instead of giving chase, he's like, the guy who offered me $200 a day, like he kind of, he's kind of ripped me off here. So I'm going to track him down. Right. Right. So he uses some more detective skills. Yeah, he is he's doing it exactly he's doing he's doing

it anyway and so he's like all right i'm going to find out where this guy is and it turns out he's at an embassy of some sort right yeah and there's a there's a fancy there's a fancy state dinner happening so cage busts in on there right he busts in on the, right? He busts in on the fancy... Is he dressed for the occasion? He's wearing an open-fronted yellow blouse. Oh, that's the 70s. And a tiara. Yes, you are. And some wristbands. That's quite...

Yeah, that's delightful. He's a man who loses a lot of yellow blouses, let me tell you. People are stabbing at him and shooting at him, and he's just... But luckily in this... Luckily he's got hundreds. Yeah, he's got hundreds,

and he's got Night Nurse in this series. Right, okay. Who is... Stitching them up. Stitching them up for him, yeah. Anyway, he gets there and and he's got Night Nurse in this series. Right, okay. Who is... Stitching them up. Stitching them up. Okay. Anyway, he gets there and he discovers that this guy's dressed in some sort of, maybe some sort of colonel's uniform of some weird Eastern European military.

Right, right. And he's like, there he is, I'm going to get him. And he leaps on him and then all sorts of guardsmen jump in and they're like, all right, we're going to get this guy. And then all of a sudden, who appears but the head of this weird eastern european country the eastern european country of latveria it's dr doom without the mask no he's got the mask he's got the whole thing he's got the whole wait so the general oh the general's not dr dude he was in the employer that's the employer right this is a doom story this is a doom twist well i

guess that explains the robots yeah right my goodness but see the thing and doom's like come on cage this was gonna happen eventually like you got your powers yeah yeah weird stuff's gonna Well, I guess that explains the robots. Yeah, right? My goodness. But see, the thing, and Doom's like, come on, Cage. This was going to happen eventually. Like, you got your powers. Yeah, yeah. Weird stuff's going to happen eventually. So this is the first time that he's kind of stepped out of his, like he stepped into the wider Marvel universe. Yes, it is, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. That's kind of great. I know, right? It's pretty good. Well, I mean, it's kind of, it's pretty good, but also it turns out Doom's kind of racist. Because he's like, okay, there were these, I built these robots and they stole my secrets and they disguised themselves as African-American guys and they escaped to America. Right.

But I don't, I didn't have, I don't, there's no black people in Latveria. So I couldn't, there was nobody I could send. So I needed to hire a black. What? To, to, so I hired to hire a black. What? So I hired you to track them down. Okay. Why is that necessary?

It's the 70s, man. I don't know. I guess it is the 70s, sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, right. And so he's like, but don't worry. He's like, don't worry, Luke Cage. You're still my man.

We had someone following you, so they're now tracking those guys. And we know they're in this different weird warehouse, right? So is Doom a bad guy in this? Well, who's to say? He's getting something done. It seems like he's just an honest businessman, doesn't it? Yes. Right?

He's like, all right, cool. And then he goes, let's go to this other abandoned warehouse. I'll track these guys down. I'll get them, right? And so he gets in there and there's some sweet brawls and he just smashes them all to pieces. Love it. I bet that would look great in the video version of this. Well, maybe it's a little bit of animal.

And then he comes back to the hotel and he's like, all right, cool, sorted. I've earned my pay. Yeah. Finally, I've done a job. Like, my heart wasn't in it, but it's a job I did for money. Yep. Let's get paid.

And then a bellhop shows up and he's like, you know, Dr. Doom doesn't pay any money if he doesn't have to. While you were away, he just left. He went on the run. He Donald Trumped you. He decided he didn't want to pay you, so he just took off. And so. And Doom is impossibly rich to pay you, so he just took off. And so... And Doom is impossibly rich, isn't he? Yes, he is.

Like nobody's business. Yeah. Dr. Doom pays no money when he can avoid it. He closed the embassy and departed for our homeland not five minutes ago. So he closed down our entire embassy to avoid paying out. Like a couple of hundred bucks. And so a shirtless luke cage is like that's how you play at doom you motherless son of a witch classic classic

classic g-rated swearing and his mother is a witch that's right good you'll find out how luke cage plays it i'm coming for you doom luke cage is gonna nail it to the wall love it end end of the issue right now we open up issue nine. Right. It's Luke Cage fighting the Fantastic Four. He's broken into the Fantastic Fours. Oh, I have to get information. He's broken in there and he's just...

He's just... Just punching on, mate. Just punching on with all the classic Fantastic Four members. Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, The Thing, Medusa. Where's the Invisible Woman? Who's to say? Who knows? Yeah, that might have been...

They were always having problems, weren't they? Their relationship is rocky at best. Yeah, that's right. So anyway, Reed Richards is having this affair. Medusa the Inhuman? Yes, with the hair. Yeah, yeah. Anyway, so they're just punching on for a bit.

Yeah. Because apparently the thing assumed he was a burglar. That's... Yeah, I know, right? It's problematic. But anyway, he's like, listen i'm here because i'm gonna give some grief to dr doom okay and reed riches is like oh the the dr doom no yeah yeah he's like it's me luke cage and he stiffed me out of some money so what can you do for me this is like mel gibson's payback yes exactly and so reed richards is like

oh yes luke cage i've heard of you you seem like a nice fellow i will give you some sort of rocket ship to take you to latin area which is some money out of my own pocket no you seem like a good bloke yep so and they don't go with him no they don't go with him fair enough this is classic i feel mr fantastic being a dick for no reason starting with the very first moment he gained his powers where he's like you know what i'm mr fantastic that's right this point is like you know what this guy i've heard of a couple of times could very well be horribly killed or tortured or worse by dr doom if i send him over but this will give Doctor Doom some grief for a brief amount of time. And that fills me with joy.

So here you go. Here's a rocket ship of some sort pre-programmed to go to Latveria. And once you've been horribly killed, maimed, tortured, I'm just going to drive past in the fantastic car and give Doctor Doom the finger. How do you like that? I love it. Yeah, it's good, right? So anyway, Cage gets in the ship, flies over to Latveria.

First thing he encounters, gigantic holographic image of Dr. Doom that's like, stay out of my country. Because that's apparently his thing. I don't know. Wait, is that specific to him or is it a recording? It's a recording. Okay. Is it just for black people?

Well, who's to say, right? uh he and kevin say yes this is great yeah right i wasn't expecting who's to i wish i'd read it as a kid like i read as a kid i read a lot of stuff from old stuff from the 70s yeah i wish i'd seen this absolutely i don't even know if we got it here yeah also we went alive no but i mean after yeah yeah exactly right so yeah he busts his way I wish I'd seen this. Absolutely. I don't even know if we got it here. Yeah. Also, we weren't alive. No, but I mean... After. Yeah, after. Yeah, exactly, right? So, yeah, he busts his way through some, like, Latverian guardsmen

who are like, Who's this guy? Reed Richards must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for this dude. And he's like, Shut up. And he beats them all up, which is pretty good. And then more reinforcements show up,

and then all of a sudden... Yeah. More robots. Oh, no. Robments show up, but then all of a sudden, more robots show up. Are they good robots? Well, they help Cage beat back all these bad... Are they the same robots that he destroyed earlier? They're the same family. Okay, right. They're a family.

Right. You know what I mean? I think that's nice. And so the robots help out Cage, and then they're like, we'll bring you to our master, who's an alien, because it's the 70s. Sure. And he was like, I'm fomenting a revolt

against Doctor Doom. We'll bring you to our robot master an alien. An alien, yeah. Exactly. And he's like, I'm going to bloody go and fight Doom

because that will get you in there. And he's like, all right, I'll do it. Sure. I do want my money. And then they smash their way

and they fight their way into Doom's castle Doom's start nice I don't know if to throw two of that in the thing but it's called Doom's start just a fact

just a little fact for you appreciate it which leads to what I think is one of the best comic panels in comic book history which is he busts his way

into the throne room Doom is there and we see quote quote Dr. Doom Victor Von Doom when my men reported a crazy black man in

the fantastic force craft i knew it had to be you quote luke cage where's my money honey and he's like what you mean the money i owed you for tracking down my robots you came here all the way here for that a paltry 200 $200. You are crazy. And then we... There's a fight. Yeah, of course there is. There's something of a fight. And then he handed it over. No, there's a fight.

And it's at this point that we see... We kind of see the strength of character of Luke Cage. Because it's like, it's not the point. Yeah. Like, it's a fight and it's kind of a sermon on... Like, this is what you get when you mess with Luke Cage. Don't be a bad bloke. I'd be here for $10ke I'd be here for $10

I'd be here for $10,000 yeah you don't get anywhere if you let people walk over you you are not gonna walk over me nice and he gets in there and he

hits a weak point and dooms armor and he realizes that that's like that's the weak spot and he just keeps hammering away at him until he breaks the armor

completely well you know he shuts it all down sure yeah and then the faceless one the robot master who's an alien he shows up and he's like you're weak doom i'm gonna i'm gonna kill you now and then luke cage is like he's up no it's not what we're here for either and then he fights him right he fights everybody i thought we all agreed that we're

all doing this for 200 bucks which i'm keeping i thought we all agreed on that he fights him and then he's like get yourself out of here kind of and the faceless one is forced to I thought we all agreed that we're all doing this for 200 bucks, which I'm keeping. I thought we all agreed on that. He fights him. And then he's like, get yourself out of here, kind of. And the faceless one is forced to flee. And Doom is like, look, I respect you now. And he just peels off $200 cash American from his billfold. And he's like... Get yourself a new desk, mate. You did it.

Exactly. That's right. And all was right with the world. Wow. I know, right? What a journey. I would watch the hell out of that movie. Right?

Like Luke Cage's Payback. Yes. I'm glad you brought this this week, Mason. Would you recommend this to people? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Start at the start.

It's got great art. Yep. Great storytelling. Yep. I bloody love it. I think you can get like the first 16 issues for like eight bucks. A paltry 200 US dollars. That's right.

Yeah. Just a fresh 200. Man. it's a nice little throwback yeah man i had a good old time i wish it was worse yeah sure well at least it's entertaining i know right yeah yeah it's not not dull that is for sure anyway i think that wraps up this season of caravan of courage mason caravan of garbage mason i know what this is called you don't need to remind me. Sorry. Look, if you liked any of these, we're happy to come back and do some more.

A little bit down the track. We appreciate you listening. If you hated it, give it to yourself. Give it to yourself. I don't need to hear that. Our egos are very fragile. Why do we even put ourselves out here in the first place? I don't even know. You can find us on the Weekly Planet Podcast every Monday.

You can find me at MrSundayMovies you can find me at WikipediaBrown on Twitter fantastic thanks for listening guys grab that gem you guys we'll see you later

a different time yeah