Marvel delays Luke Cage: City on Fire by two months

Update: The upcoming Marvel comic book series Luke Cage: City on Fire has been delayed two months. The three-issue series was originally scheduled to debut on October 27, but the publisher has postponed the launch to December 29.

Marvel has not given a reason for this delay, however, the postponement comes after scheduling issues became apparent when the second issue wasn't on Marvel Comics' November 2021 schedule.

Given Marvel has scheduled a collection of all three issues of Luke Cage: City on Fire for release April 19, it seems the publisher is still confident for the moment the series will now be able to publish monthly once it kicks off on December 29. 

Original story follows...

The steely-skinned superhero Luke Cage returns this fall in a new series that puts him back on the frontlines defending his home neighborhood of Harlem. In Luke Cage: City of Fire, acclaimed comics writer/artist Ho Che Anderson partners with several artists on a three-issue story pitting Cage against New York City mayor Wilson Fisk and a group of vigilantes known as the Regulators.

"In the new series, a shadowy rogue group named the Regulators are terrorizing ordinary citizens in New York City, and Luke Cage is called to action when a Black man in his community is murdered by a crooked police officer," reads Marvel's description of Luke Cage: City of Fire #1. 

"Cage quickly crosses paths with Daredevil, who is determined to bring down the Regulators no matter the cost, but Mayor Fisk is equally determined to use them to tighten his grip on the city. There is unrest in the streets, and it's up to Cage to keep the city from going up in flames."

Luke Cage: City of Fire will be Anderson's first long-form work for Marvel, after making his debut with the company in the recent Marvel's Voices: Legacy #1 anthology. Anderson is best known for his Martin Luther King Jr. biography King, and also authored books such as Scream Queen and Sand and Fury. A superhero comics fan from an early age, Anderson also wrote and drew the 1996 Milestone Media series Wise Son: The White Wolf.

"I can't express how excited I am to be doing a project with Marvel, and about the level of talent they've lined up to work on it with me," says Anderson in the announcement.

2019 Top Cow Talent Hunt runner-up Farid Karami is drawing Luke Cage: City of Fire #1, with Ray-Anthony Height illustrating #2 and then Sean Damien Hill taking on the final issue. Taurin Clarke has drawn the cover for the first issue.

"I have been given the freedom to explore a subject I'm so passionate about through the lens of characters I've loved since I was a kid, and I fully intend to work overtime to make sure the results are worthy of the trust I've been granted," Anderson concludes. "Fortunately, the heavy lifting will be accomplished by my incredible collaborators who'll make me look better than I am!"

Luke Cage: City of Fire #1 (of 3) goes on sale this October. Look for more details on this and other upcoming Marvel releases with the Marvel Comics' October 2021 schedule, expected out later this week.

Luke Cage is one of the Black superheroes who changed the face of comic books - meet 'em all.