New Avengers #47 — Nick Peron

Mar 22

Mar 22 New Avengers #47

Weeks Ago

Luke Cage is attempting to change the diaper of his newborn daughter Dani and what he sees horrifies him, because baby poop is gross. After changing her, he finds himself awkward with her.[2] His wife Jessica begins coaching him on how to handle a baby, change, and form a bond. Luke is uncomfortable with the whole thing and Jess suggests that he tell her a story. She suggests that he tell their daughter the day they first fell in love, which was — incidentally — the first day they met. Luke tries to deny this and instead tells the story about when he fell in love with her.[3]

A Short While Ago….[4]

Back in then, Luke Cage was on his way to Alias Investigations when he spotted a limo blocking the way of an ambulance with its sirens on. Annoyed that this rich asshole is risking lives, Luke lifted the limo out of the way so the ambulance can pass. The man in the back seat then threatens to sue, but cowers when Luke yells at him to get his ass back in the car. As he continues down the street he bumps into Jessica Jones who is surprised to see him. Luke then tells her that he was actually in the neighborhood to hire her for a case.

Once they get to Alias Investigations, Jessica sits down at her desk to hear why he Luke wants to hire her. Cage explains that he needs to find his father, who is actively hiding from him. He explains that his father and brother think that Luke dealt heroin and killed someone. The thing is, Luke was falsely accused of drug dealing and cleared his name. The person he allegedly killed was his friend Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, who is very much alive.[5] However, regardless of these facts, they don’t believe it and think that Luke’s activities as a superhero are an embossment. All Luke wants to do is meet his father face-to-face and tell him the truth. He admits that might accomplish nothing but he at least wants a chance to look his old man in the eye. While explaining all of this, Luke also lets slip that Jessica wasn’t the detective he has gone to as he had little luck with Dakota North and Jessica Drew before coming to her.[6]

Some time later, Luke is teaming up with Daredevil, Iron Fist, and Spider-Man. They are going to take down an operation run by the Yakuza when Luke finally gets a text message from Jessica. She wants to meet because she has got a line on his father. Within moments of this news, Luke joins his comrades in taking down the gang they came to stop.

Later, Jessica Jones arrives at a small home in Atlanta, Georgia. When she knocks at thew door, a woman answers and she claims not to know who James Lucas is. The woman starts to get nervous when Jessica explains that Lucas now goes by the last name Geary now. The woman then becomes agitated when Jessica says she is a private detective hired by James’ son. She tells her she knows nothing and tells Jones to leave before she calls the cops. Jessica quickly explains that she has come because Luke wants to know how his father is doing.

The woman — Joanne — married James just this past year and she tells Jessica that regardless of what Luke wants, his father doesn’t want to speak to him. This all boils down to the death of his other son, James, Jr. His death has left James without a legacy he wants. She explains that James is a stubborn man who will be ready to reconcile with his surviving son on his own time. That’s when Jessica reveals that Luke is with her and he was standing out of view from the doorway. When she reveals this, Luke spots his father walking by behind his new wife. When Luke calls out to his father, James says nothing and walks away. Joanne then tells them that her husband will one day be ready to talk and closes the door.[7]

This deeply upsets Luke and later, when they stop to get ice cream he openly cries. Jessica tries to cheer him up by reminding him this is nothing to a guy who used to run around wearing a metal tiara. This makes Luke laugh and he promises that he’ll never go to Dakota North for help again.

Weeks Ago

When Luke finishes telling this story to his daughter, he sits silently for a moment. When he speaks again, he tells Jessica he hopes they don’t somehow screw up their daughter because of the lives they lead. Jessica says that they will do their best and that it’ll be easy. When Luke questions if they should give up the life, his wife points out that if they stick with it they could show their daughter the world.

Now

The Skrull invasion of Earth has been thwarted by its heroes. In Central Park — where the final battle took place — Jessica Jones has learned that the man the Avengers thought was their butler, Edwin Jarvis, was another Skrull infiltrator.[8] The horror sinks in for Jessica as she realizes that she left Dani in the care of “Jarvis” before joining the final battle. She then flies off with Ms. Marvel and Luke following after her. When they arrive at Avengers Tower, they find Jessica crying. She explains to Luke that she left their daughter with “Jarvis” and now both of them are gone![9]

Recurring Characters

Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, James Lucas, Dani Cage, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Iron Fist, Captain America, Thor, Ms. Marvel, Piledriver, Nick Fury, the Hood

Continuity Notes

The cover to this issue pays homage to West Coast Avengers #1.
Jessica chides Luke’s discomfort by reminding him he once fought Doctor Doom. One of Luke’s iconic early adventures was the time he chased after Doom for stiffing him on a bill. See Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #8-9. This initial flashback takes place shortly after the birth of Dani in The Pulse #14. Placing it as happening a few months prior to the “present day” portion of this story.
Luke and Jessica first met during her stint as Knightress and first partnership with Iron Fist, as told in The Pulse #14. Which happened prior to Power Man and Iron Fist #115. This happened roughly six years prior to the events of this story.
Per Official Index to the Marvel Universe: Avengers, the flashback to Luke and Jessica’s first meeting happens between a number of other appearances by Luke. It breaks down like this:
- Luke first going to Jessica (pages 5-8) take place between Iron Fist/Wolverine #4 and Marvel Knights #11.
- Luke teaming up with Daredevil, Spider-Man and Iron Fist to fight the Yakuza is taken from Daredevil (vol. 2) #59.
- Lastly, pages 11-18 where Luke and Jessica go to visit his father take place between Daredevil (vol. 2) #60 and Wonder Man (vol. 3) #5.
- Per the Sliding Timescale, these events happen over the course of “Year” 10 and 11 of the Modern Age. Making Jessica’s search for Luke’s father having happened roughly two years prior and completing about a year and a half prior.
There is quite a bit of Luke Cage lore on display here. The details:
- First of all, the heroin conviction: Luke was framed for drug dealing back in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1. While he spent time on the run from the law he ultimately cleared his name in Power Man and Iron Fist #50.
- Later, Luke was accused of murdering his partner Iron Fist in Power Man and Iron Fist #125. However, it was later revealed that the man he thought he killed was actually a H'ylthri doppelganger. This was revealed in Namor the Sub-Mariner #22-25.
- There is also something else that isn’t mentioned here. The relationship is between Luke and his father James and brother James, Jr. is pretty fucked up. Per Cage #3 and 5, Luke joined a gang when he was younger and one of its members murdered his mother Esther, Luke was blamed for it. In Avengers Origins: Luke Cage #1, we will learn that James, Jr. intercepted letters that Luke sent from prison and kept them from their father.
- What Luke also doesn’t mention here is that his brother was later transformed into Coldfire by the Corporation and died fighting his brother. As seen in Cage #12-14. He and his father actually made peace for a time, but became estranged again following Cage #17.
Luke mentions how he went to Dakota North and tried to hire Jessica Drew before going to Alias Investigations:
- Luke’s first choice of Dakota North was because the two worked very closely together for a time, as seen in Cage #1-20.
- Jessica Drew (aka Spider-Woman) was the next logical choice because Drew had been a private detective since Spider-Woman #21.
Luke will reconnect with his father in Mighty Avengers (vol. 2) #10-12 when it is discovered that James once ran with a group that called themselves the “Mighty Avengers” during his time as a police detective.
We learned that Jarvis was a Skrull in Secret Invasion #1, but Jessica doesn’t find out until the final battle in issue #8 of that series. Skrull Jarvis took the real man’s place prior to New Avengers #1.
What happened to Dani Cage? See next issue, obvies.

Topical References

The rich asshole in the car is depicted as then real estate mogul Donald Trump. This was back before he was the most corrupt lame duck President in United States history. That said, as he is a real world individual, his appearance here should be considered topical. Particularly since that piece of shit is 77 years old as I write this (2024) and will die sooner rather than latter and we’ll all be better for it.
Luke is later depicted as having a “flip” style phone with a small screen, physical buttons, and an visible antenna to pick up signals. Which were very popular around the time this story was published. However, they have fallen out of common use following the advent of smart phones and are slowly becoming obsolete. As such its depiction here should be considered topical.
Luke and Jessica stop at a Dairy Queen after the attempt to communicate with James. This is topical because this is a real world business.