Netflix drops Luke Cage RIGHT when everything is heating up on TV. New bosses, new heroes, and new looks as we dish.
Small Screen Supes
Speedy Synopses
Gotham 3x02: Mad City: Burn the WItch
After being unceremoniously kidnapped, Bruce lays his cards on the table and makes a deal with the mysterious group behind all of the shady Wayne Enterprises dealings. Unfortunately, the deal involves his "promise" to stop investigating them.
Valerie Vale comes to Jim looking for help in finding Fish Mooney, and they turn to Barbara for information. After an uncomfortable conversation, Valerie heads straight to GCPD with the tip, and a group of cops including Harvey head to Fish's hideout. They capture a few of the escapees—with more than a few casualties—but Fish runs. She later finds Harvey and magics him into helping her find Strange, who's locked up in a cell continuing his creepy science.
Bullock and GCPD track Harvey and Fish to Strange's location; Jim and Penguin and his mob of escapee-hating Gothamites show up soon after. Jim trades Fish's freedom for Harvey's, but clues Penguin into her escape route. Penguin can't kill her, even after everything he's done, and lets her get away with Strange. Valerie shows up at Jim's apartment (again) and calls Jim out on his double dealing. Sexy times (or suggested sexy times) ensue.
Elsewhere in Gotham, a very changed Ivy staggers out of the river and kills a dude for mistreating his plants, and Emo Bruce breaks into Wayne Manor. Oh, and Lee's back in town, which doesn't make things complicated at all. (Mandy C.)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4x02: Meet the New Boss
In LA, Daisy continues trying to worm her way into the life of Mysterious Flaming Man Robbie Reyes by visiting him at his job (a mechanic's shop) and pretending to be a long lost friend. (Dusting off those Skye hacking skills, I see.) Robbie's not having any of it, and the two battle it out, with Daisy on the losing end. But Robbie's sucked back in when Daisy tells him of the strange criminal activity in the area that seems to all lead back to a place called Momentum Energy Labs.
Unsurprisingly, Momentum Energy Labs (MEL) is the place which "created" the ghostly woman from last week's episode. She's not alone, and a bunch of her colleagues seem to be in the same vaguely corporeal, insanity-causing predicaments. There's more than meets the eye to the situation, of course, and also mention of a strange book that will surely be explained further ... eventually. What's unexpected, however, is the fact that Reyes seems to have a connection to the whole thing. He shows up to MEL in the nick of time to kill one of the ghost people, but leaves Mac and Fitz—who showed up after investigating on their end—to deal with an imminent reactor meltdown. Thankfully, Daisy shows up in the nick of time and no one (else) dies. Later, Reyes comes to Daisy with the admission of his involvement.
Back at base, the New Director is finally revealed, and he's all Business. He charms Coulson into giving some VIPs a tour of the base, and is then charming and witty and totally fake throughout the whole thing. However, when May's infection gets worse and she, basically, goes insane, Director Mace reveals a different side: he's also a super powerful Inhuman willing to do basically whatever it takes to bring S.H.I.E.L.D. back into the light. (Mandy C.)
Luke Cage 1x01: Moment of Truth
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Following the events of Jessica Jones, we find Luke Cage in Harlem staying under the radar and working two jobs to try to pay the rent. By day he sweeps the floors and washes rags in Pop’s Barber Shop, and at night Cage can be found washing dishes in a club called Harlem’s Paradise. The club is run by Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, who is making a name for himself in the criminal underworld.
One night while filling in for a bartender, Cage meets an intriguing, beautiful woman, and the two have instant chemistry. While they flirt, Cottonmouth’s cousin Mariah, a city councilwoman with a special project in Harlem, expresses her doubts about a weapons deal Cottonmouth set up for that very night. The missing bartender turns out to be a thief that found out about the deal and wants the money for himself, but the deal and the heist all go terribly wrong.
As Cottonmouth tracks down his money and the traitor, Cage is on the streets when he notices his landlady being harassed by thugs in a shakedown. After he easily takes care of them, his landlady offers to pay him for protection—but he declines, saying he’s not a hero for hire. (Kelly)
Luke Cage 1x02: Code of the Streets
After saving his landlady from a shakedown, Luke is feeling a bit more sure of himself than before. Several talks with Pop finally convince him to stop running, and to embrace who he is. During one of these chats we find out that Pop used to be quite the OG back in the day, running with Chico's dad and Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes himself. After a stint of ten years in the slammer he got his act together and stayed put in Harlem to try and make a difference.
Cottonmouth is still hunting Chico. Luke finds him first, at Pop's request, and Chico comes back, tail dragging and $500K in his backpack. Just before he arrived Detective Misty Knight and her partner (let's call him Officer Potato, because seriously? This guy is the worst.) do some recon at Pop's but get nowhere. Luke strolls out, bright as day, and to Misty's credit it doesn't even throw her off her game.
Pop asks Luke to speak to Cottonmouth face-to-face, presumably to try and get him his money without Chico getting killed, but it all falls apart when Turk (remember him? from Daredevil?) discovers Chico and promptly tattles to Cottonmouth's goons tryin' to get that sweet reward money. Turk gets stiffed, and the goons go after Chico.
We knew it was coming but that didn't make it any easier to watch. Zip and Shades ride out to Pop's and Zip decides to go full Scarface on the barbershop. Luke saves a young man by draping his body over him and playing dead, but Pops isn't so lucky, and Chico is alive, but barely. Shades clearly doesn't approve, and neither does Cottonmouth. What is it with crime lords and stupid lackeys? Zip should've known that there was history between Pop and Cottonmouth, but he's an idiot, so that gets him thrown off the rooftop by the boss.
Mariah Dillard is still shady AF, deluding herself into believing that she's on the right side of everything. She gets the rest of her money, but Luke sees her taking Chico's backpack into her house so you know THAT is going to get INTERESTING. (Amanda R.)
Hero of the Week: Luke Cage, Luke Cage
Sweet Christmas! (Kelly)
Villain of the Week: Jeff - New Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
There's definitely something villainous about him, if purely from a smarmy standpoint. (Mandy C.)
Honorable mention: Cottonmouth, Luke Cage
Ab-tastic!
Luke Cage's abs are so ab-tastic that they are IN THE CREDITS Y'ALL. (Kelly)
Pull List
Top Titles
Kim & Kim #3 by Magdalene Visaggio, with art by Eva Cabrera
YOU GUYS. I have been waiting all summer to gush about Kim & Kim! Issue #3 just came out so there's still time to catch up and, trust me, you WANT to read this comic. Best girlfriends who are also intergalactic bounty hunters? Yes please.
The Kims are broke and need a bounty that pays FAST. So of course they decide to go after the biggest bounty in the 'verse. At this point in their story they're trying to help said bounty escape the crime boss/trafficker that's after him. They've gone in search of the elusive Lady of Babylon, only to discover...robot gorillas. On top of being hilarious this book also hits the mark with gender identity and sexuality in a way that feels very natural, a way that doesn't diminish the struggles faced with self-discovery. Consider me a superfan! (Amanda R.)
Josie and The Pussycats #1 by Marguerite Bennett and Cameron Deordio, with art by Audrey Mok
I had Josie and The Pussycats Underoos as a kid. I named my pet dog Josie. So yeah, I was ALWAYS going to pick up this title, but seeing that Marguerite Bennett (Red Sonja, A-Force) is one of the authors was a cherry on the sundae!
Josie is trying her best to make it as a solo artist in Riverdale, but it's really....not working out. She and her roommate Melody (the girls here are aged up a bit more than Archie & The Gang) become friends with a gorgeous veterinarian named Valerie, who just so happens to have an amazing set of pipes. They get her on board for a charity music show, and the band is born! Well, after a couple of hiccups and some misunderstandings of course. The girls feel familiar but modernized; for instance, instead of being a one-dimensional ditz, Melody is easily distracted (and boy-crazy, which I LOVE). Alexandra is as villainous as ever, bitter because of something in her past BFF-dom with Josie. I'm sure there will be overlapping with the other Archie titles (Jughead is part of one scene's background in this issue), which you're all already reading anyways, right? Obvs you need to be reading this too! (Amanda R.)
Frostbite #1, by Josh Williamson, with at by Jason Shawn Alexander
DC is bringing all its talent to the forefront and Josh Williamson is easily my new favorite creator this year. Not only is he killing it on The Flash but he’s over at Vertigo with his new title, Frostbite, a story of the next ice age and a killer disease that turns the water in our cells into ice (ouch). In issue 1, we get to know the land without heat as well as Keaton, the human trafficker tasked with getting the scientist with a potential cure to a lab on Alcatraz. For those of us who love strong female leads and post-apocalyptic worlds, this one is definitely cracking the ice. (Christy)
Pick of the Week: Jonesy Vol. 1, written by Sam Humphries and art by Caitlin Rose Boyle
The first trade paperback of Jonesy from Boom! Studios is out now, and you better pick up more than one copy so you can lend them all out to your friends. This adorable series introduces us to the title character, Jonesy, a high schooler who spends her time making zines and watching anime.
But not only is Jonesy someone you want to be BFF with (seriously), she also has a secret ability: she can make people fall in love with just about anything or anyone—except herself. Facing her nemesis and a suspicious school principal, can she keep her power a secret? And what about her own secret crush? (Kelly)
As Seen in the Daily Planet
News
Chris Hemsworth is sharing his guns in preparation for Thor: Ragnarok.
Fans of The Tick rejoice - Amazon has decided to move forward with the full season.
Greg Rucka has confirmed what we all already knew: Wonder Woman is bi-sexual.
Bill Nunn, Spiderman's Daily Bugle Editor, passed away last week.
Superheroes are the most popular Halloween costumes this year (sorry, princesses).
Team Arrow is looking pretty snazzy.
Comic creators aren't afraid of killing off Avengers (RIP Bruce Banner!) but it's a different story with screenwriters.
The Doctor Strange shout-out in The Winter Soldier has been explained.
Margarat Atwood dipped her toes in comics with Angel-Catbird and lived to share 13 things she learned.
The CW has announced the yellow-livered villain in their four-part crossover.
The showrunners of S.H.E.I.L.D. share why Ghostrider's addition is important to the diversity of the show.
The Justice Society of America looks FIERCE in their first photo together.
Trailers
Superhero Fight Club 2.0 (WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE):
Our first look at Supergirl and Superman teaming up:
Did you marathon Luke Cage this weekend? Waiting not-so-patiently for the CW to start back next week? We want to hear all your thoughts in the comments below!