Luke Cage has been having quite a year. Following his live-action debut in last year's Jessica Jones series, the hero of Harlem is going solo and starring in his own Netflix series. And even as Luke Cage introduces the hero to a wider audience, Luke has also been playing a major role in Marvel's comic book universe lately.

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Luke Cage: Avenger

Power Man and Iron Fist Epic Collection: Heroes for Hire

Luke Cage Noir

Thunderbolts: Cage

Power Man and Iron Fist Vol. 1: The Boys Are Back in Town

If the Netflix series has you hungry for more Luke Cage, we're here to help. We've selected five essential graphic novels that any fan of the character should read. These books cover everything from Luke's origin to his classic team-ups with Iron Fist to his modern adventures as an Avenger and Thunderbolt.This recently released trade paperback offers a healthy sampling of Luke's career as an Avenger, and serves as a solid starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the character and his role in the Marvel U. The reprint of Avengers Origins: Luke Cage #1 is especially helpful in that sense. It provides a modernized take on Luke's origin story and features many of the key players from the TV series.However, the highlights of this trade are New Avengers #22 and #49, two key chapters of Brian Michael Bendis' run. Bendis was essential in revamping Luke for a modern audience, first through the mature readers series Alias and then through the character's recurring role in New Avengers. These two issues allowed Bendis to shine a spotlight specifically on Luke. New Avengers #22 focuses on the divide between Luke and his wife, Jessica Jones, as the former is swept up into the events of Civil War. Issue #49 serves as a loose sequel to that issue, digging deeper into Luke's troubled past during the events of Dark Reign. It's no coincidence that both of these issues rank among the best of Bendis' massive Avengers saga.As much as we love Luke Cage as a solo character, nothing beats seeing Luke team up with eternal BFF Danny Rand to punch evildoers and keep the streets of New York safe for the common man. And to see where that partnership started, you need to go back to the beginning, when writer Chris Claremont first paired Power Man and Iron Fist together to form the Heroes for Hire. As it turns out, the X-Men franchise isn't the only one Claremont profoundly reshaped in the '70s.This massive paperback collects Claremont's Power Man run from the late '70s, where he brought Iron Fist into the fold (following a critically adored but low-selling run on an Iron Fist solo comic). It even offers readers another chance to see the iconic partnership between Claremont and artist John Byrne. The quality of these stories does vary a bit (especially after Claremont had to leave the series to focus on his X-Men responsibilities), but these issues still serve as crucial building blocks in the histories of both characters and forged a partnership that thrives even now.As the name suggests, the Marvel Noir line offered alternate takes on a number of familiar characters, all with a heavy film noir slant. That means hard-boiled detective heroes, mysterious dames and enough shadows to make Dracula want to turn on a light. Everyone from the X-Men to Spider-Man to Iron Man wound up getting the Marvel Noir treatment, but Luke Cage Noir (from writers Mike Benson and Adam Glass and artist Shawn Martinbrough) wound up rising to the top of the pack.It doesn't hurt that Luke's origin story lends itself so well to the noir treatment in the first place. This mini-series revisited Luke's origin and his early days as the defender of Harlem, with the biggest wrinkle being that the story takes place during the height of Prohibition. The story makes excellent use of the setting and time period, whether it's the distinctive 1920's lingo or the various struggles facing an African American detective trying to solve the murder of a wealthy white woman. If you want a short, cheap and stylish Luke Cage adventure, you'll be hard-pressed to do better than Luke Cage Noir.Since joining the ranks of the Avengers in 2005, Luke Cage has experienced an uneasy evolution from loner and Hero for Hire to full-blown team player. During that same period, the Thunderbolts went through a significant evolution of their own. Perhaps its fitting that the two collided when Marvel revamped Thunderbolts in the aftermath of the Dark Reign storyline. With Norman Osborn revealed for the maniac he is and the old Thunderbolts team shut down, Luke was called upon to form a new Thunderbolts team. If the Thudnerbolts became Marvel's answer to the Suicide Squad, then Luke Cage was the team's Amanda Waller and Rick Flag rolled into one.The new direction worked, thanks in no small part to the creative fusion between writer Jeff Parker and artist Kev Walker. Parker showed a strong handle on the many clashing personalities in the series, from reluctant leader Luke to the jealous Songbird to the battle-scarred U.S. Agent to forsaken minion of Cyttorak, the Juggernaut. Calling this team dysfunctional would be a major understatement. Meanwhile, Walker's art style ensured that the franchise has rarely looked this good. Parker and Walker's Thunderbolts rivals the original Kurt Busiek/Mark Bagley run and Warren Ellis/Mike Deodato's revamp as the franchise's best.If you crave a good Luke Cage comic, you need look no further than the current Power Man and Iron Fist comic (written by David F. Walker and drawn by Sanford Greene). After a period where it seemed like both heroes were struggling to find their respective places in the Marvel Universe, Walker and Greene reminded readers that Luke and Danny are never better than when they're hero-ing for hire.Much of this series' appeal comes from the fact that it lovingly embraces the sillier sides of both characters and their world. It doesn't shy away from Luke's blaxploitation roots or characters like Black Mariah that many writers would just as soon forget. Instead, Walker and Greene find a happy medium between the classic, colorful Heroes for Hire stories and the more modern, grounded interpretations of Luke and Danny. The dynamic between the two is key, with Walker casting Luke as the irritated family man who replaces curse words with "fiddle faddle" and Danny as the hyperactive kid brother determined to drag Luke into new adventures. It feels good to see these partners back patrolling the streets of the Marvel Universe.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter , or Kicksplode on MyIGN