Heroes For Hire
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Heroes for Hire is a superhero team in the Marvel Comics universe. It was originally formed by Iron Fist and Power Man, but has gone on to form a new incarnation with more heroes. It was recently reformed for a new eponymous series without the inclusion of either of the original members.
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[edit] Hero for Hire
The origin of the Heroes for Hire concept started with Luke Cage's solo series titled Luke Cage, Hero for Hire. As a "hero for hire," Cage tried to merge the usually pro bono world of superheroics with the bill-paying practicality of private investigation. Although the title changed to Luke Cage, Power Man in issue #17, Cage continued with his for-hire activities.
[edit] Power Man and Iron Fist
His own series cancelled due to low sales, Iron Fist joined the cast of Luke Cage, Power Man in a three-parter in #48–50. The comic's name changed to Power Man and Iron Fist from #50 upwards. The two formed a new Heroes for Hire, Inc, founded by attorney Jeryn Hogarth and staffed by administrative wunderkind Jennie Royce. Iron Fist supporting cast characters Colleen Wing and Misty Knight often appeared also, although never becoming official members. This partnership lasted until series final issue #125, with Cage blamed for the apparent death of Iron Fist.
[edit] Heroes for Hire (1996)
In 1996, as a consequence of the Onslaught and Heroes Reborn storylines, the Marvel Universe suffered a power vacuum after the Fantastic Four and Avengers were presumed killed. Following up on the status of the Oracle corporation that Namor had set up in the pages of Namor, Jim Hammond (the Golden Age Human Torch) and Danny Rand decided to set up a new Heroes For Hire organization. Iron Fist recruited Luke Cage for this. Heroes For Hire debuted in 1997, with a core team consisting of Fist, Cage, and an assortment of hangers-on: Black Knight (Dane Whitman), a new White Tiger, Hercules, She-Hulk, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), the original Human Torch, and even Deadpool were included in the cast of the book, though much of the cast rotated in a Defenders-like manner, hired for missions as necessary. Heroes For Hire was written by John Ostrander and illustrated by Pasqual Ferry. It lasted for 19 issues before it was cancelled.
[edit] Heroes for Hire (2006)
A new Heroes for Hire series was developed as a spin-off of 2006's Civil War storyline. The book is written by the team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, with art by Billy Tucci. The team roster for the book is Colleen Wing, Misty Knight, the new Tarantula, Shang Chi, Humbug, Orka, Black Cat and Paladin, the latter two joining for money. They serve as enforcers for the SHRA and after Goliath's death, are going to take on Captain America.
After learning Captain America's location from a Pixiu, the team (minus Orka and Tarantula) track him down. While Misty and the team just want to talk and find a peaceful solution, they are betrayed by their teammate, Paladin. Paladin disabled the team with knock-out gas and attempted to capture Captain America, however Shang-Chi was able to hold his breath long enough (thanks to special training) to knock out Paladin and switch Cap and Paladin's costumes so that S.H.I.E.L.D. took Paladin into custody instead of Captain America. Shortly thereafter, Captain America and the Heroes For Hire parted ways, and the anti-regs abandoned their now compromised base. Meanwhile, the Heroes For Hire discovered a black-market operation that surgically implanted superhumans with Skrull organs that would endow those who had the operation with Skrull-shapeshifting abilities. Several of these hybrid Skrull-villains busted Misty Knight's old foe Ricadonna from prison. Ricadonna destroyed the Heroes' headquarters by sending an explosive package, and put hits out on the entire team. Most notable of these were Insecticide (the hitman sent to kill Humbug — Humbug neutralized him with help from his pet killer bees), Shadow Stalker (an old foe of Shang Chi sent to kill him--Shang Chi quickly humilated him), and the gang of ninjas that attacked Tarantula when she was with her father. After they murdered her father, Tarantula killed the entire gang herself. The team splits up in search of Ricadonna — while Misty Knight and Colleen Wing try to shake up the Toddler for information, Humbug uses his flies to discover Ricadonna's base--and also that she has somehow gained superpowers.
