Learned about this one when Marvel sent me a comp copy ...

Luke Cage, Iron Fist & The Heroes For Hire Volume 1 (Trade Paperback)



Written by: James Felder, Jaimie Campo, & John Ostrander with Roger Stern*
Art by: Joe Bennett & Pasqual Ferry with Stephen James & Gabe Alberola

Luke Cage and Danny Rand reunite in team-ups with Spider-Man and...Sabretooth?! And they're just in time to relaunch the expanded Heroes For Hire! A super-villain prison break inspires Iron Fist to fill the void left by the Avengers and Fantastic Four -- but his ex-partner Luke will take some convincing. Hercules and White Tiger are eager recruits, but is the Hulk a joiner? Maybe She-Hulk would be a better fit. A transformed Black Knight rides in, and Luke has his arm twisted by the Master of the World. But will he stay after Power Man battles Iron Fist? The team will face Deviants, Punisher and the Thunderbolts -- there must be a little room left for Ant-Man to help out.

COLLECTING: SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED (1993) #13, MARVEL FANFARE (1996) #6, HEROES FOR HIRE (1997) #1-9.


* Secrets Behind the Comics: Back in 1996, a Marvel editor asked me to write a proposal for an all-new super-team composed of Power Man, Iron Fist, and anyone else left around after the Onslaught story. So, I came up with what I thought was a novel new rationale for a team, and once the proposal was approved. plotted the first issue. (Said editor also wanted the Hulk to somehow be part of it, which is why I included the big Green Guy -- briefly -- in the plot for the first issue.)

Then, as that first issue was being drawn, the editor left staff, and I was told that the Powers-that-Were wanted to turn the book into a revival of Heroes for Hire -- an interesting concept, but not the one outlined in my approved proposal.

Sensing countless rewrites in my future, I backed away from the project.

On my way out the door, I suggested John Ostrander as a possible replacement -- John had, I believe, worked before with incoming editor Marc Bernardo, so I figured that they would be a good fit.

And, indeed, that seems to have been the case.