Mayor Luke Cage has assembled a team despite the Anti-Vigilante Act. However, Alistaire Smythe sent giant Spider-Slayers to City Hall! Find out what happens next in Luke Cage: Gang War #3 by Marvel Comics!

LUKE CAGE: GANG WAR #3

Writer: Rodney Barnes  
Artist: Ramon F. Bachs  
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse  
Letterer: Travis Lanham  
Editor: Ellie Pyle  
Publisher: Marvel Comics  
Cover Price: $3.99  
Release Date: January 10th, 2023 

Previously in Luke Cage: When Wilson Fisk was mayor, he passed the Anti-Vigilante Act, making hero activity illegal in New York. Luke Cage opposed him and won the election but could not eliminate the law. On top of that, New York has plunged into an all-out Gang War! In secret, Luke Cage donned a mask and teamed up with Danny Rand, Jessica Jones, Cloak and Dagger. During their last mission, they cornered Alistaire Smythe, but he blew up his lab rather than be captured. Now Alistaire’s giant Spider-Slayers have surrounded City Hall!

Luke Cage: Gang War #3 starts with a brief backstory of Alistaire, his hatred towards Spider-Man, and how he plans to take over New York. Meanwhile, Luke Cage is fighting a Spider-Slayer and is quickly backed up by police. He calls in his team and tells them to fight despite their technically illegal activities. Alistaire sends in a seemingly endless supply of robots to combat them, but Danny Rand has an idea. He has a robot armor suit Rand Corporation bought and tells Luke Cage to wear it. Now, with his Cage Buster mech suit, the heroes may turn the tide of the fight.

When I think of street-level stories, I think about the humanization of characters as they settle down to street-level crime and ethics. Luke Cage: Gang War #3 teeters on the verge of moral ethics involving the anti-vigilante acts but then provides results in PA is very swinging, and people are considered with asking for help. There is minimal characterization of the heroes, and the villain doesn’t even get a chance to react. For this comic to work for me, I would have liked the heroes to struggle more about participating in the fight. Or I wanted the cops to have a more significant scene where they try to arrest the mayor and his friends rather than being convinced so quickly to help. At the very least, though, with a substantial cast of the characters, the comic was interesting to look at. While I don’t think it is the best work I’ve seen so far, I could always tell what was happening with just an initial glance. Good work by the creative team here.

Luke Cage: Gang War #3 starts off by trying to hit specific required story beats quickly. While I can’t fault the creative team for trying to align the comic with the more significant Gang War event, this book didn’t do enough for me to keep my interest. However, there is still a lot of potential, but I’m hesitant to say if the creative team has the space to pull a story like this off. With that in mind, Luke Cage: Gang War #3 is a 3.5 out of five stars. If you like street-level action, this book is a good choice; otherwise, I think there are more vital stories covering the Gang War event.

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Luke Cage: Gang War #1

67%

67%

Guilty

Luke Cage: Gang War #3 is action-packed but lacks the emotional depth to make the fight worth it.

• Writing

  6
• Art

  7
• Coloring

  7
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