The Heroes for Hire first appeared in Power Man and Iron Fist #54 in 1978. The team was created by Ed Hannigan and Keith Pollard. The Heroes for Hire is officially a company that offers investigation and protection services. It was created by Luke Cage, aka Power Man, and Daniel Rand, the martial arts warrior named Iron Fist.
The team has taken on a number of forms over the years, both with and without the involvement of Cage and Rand and with a rotating roster of characters, but their commitment to justice, completing the job, and to each other has never wavered.
10 Business Plan
Carl Lucas returned to the familiar streets of Harlem after escaping prison and took the name of Luke Cage. Cage stopped a robbery and the store owner gave him money in gratitude. This gave Cage the idea to create a business to help individuals and still make money.
Cage had some very strong standards when it came to clients. Cage would never take any case that knowingly involved him in criminal activities, he was diligent to do everything he could to protect the people of Harlem and he would not allow his poorer clients to pay him if he knew it would be a hardship to them at that time.
9 Cage And Fist: The Original Team
The villain Bushmaster gathered the proof of Cage’s innocence of the original drug charges against him and was using that information to blackmail him to kidnap detective Misty Knight. This would have brought him into conflict with Knight’s boyfriend Daniel Rand, the Iron Fist but when the pair learned Cage’s situation, they helped him defeat Bushmaster and finally clear his name.
Despite there being vast sociological differences between Cage and Rand, they became the best of friends and partners in Heroes for Hire. Besides themselves, the firm’s only full-time employees were secretary Jennie Royce and legal counsel Jeryn Hogarth.
8 Unique Villains
Based in Harlem, the Heroes for Hire dealt with a number of street-level villains. They fought with frequent Spider-Man villain Hammerhead, Man Mountain Marko and members of the Maggia and more colorful characters like El Aquila, who took on drug dealers and crime lords. The Heroes only opposed him when he robbed the local Property Owners Association. When the association head tried to shoot El Aquila, Cage and Fist left his employ.
They also faced major villains like mutant the Living Monolith, who they encountered while protecting Egyptian artifacts for the Metropolitan Museum. Master Khan had long been a villain that troubled the team. One of his operatives beat the White Tiger near to death and took his Amulets of Power in a bid to seize power in K’un Lun. Khan also framed Luke Cage for the death of Iron Fist, which was a doppelganger.
7 The Oracle Years
Namor had started a company called Oracle, Inc. and had purchased the rights to Heroes for Hire. The original Human Torch, Jim Hammond, and Iron Fist created a new version of the Heroes for Hire with a revolving roster of heroes for specific jobs as needed. These heroes included the Ant-Man, Black Knight, Hercules, Hulk, Luke Cage, and the White Tiger, among others.
Namor lost his company and it was purchased by the combined company of Stark-Fujiwara. The company also acquired heroes for Hire and wanted to exert control over the team’s activities and wanted to fire Scott Lang and Luke Cage for the ex-convict statuses. The entire team quit in protest.
6 The Knight/Wing Team
During the first superhero Civil War, Iron Man went to Misty Knight and Colleen Wing for help tracking down superhumans who had refused to comply with the Superhero Registration Act. They put together a team and Knight made it clear to Stark that she would only go after villains.
When their friend Bill Foster was killed by the Thor clone Ragnarok, Knight and Wing decide they needed to see Captain America. Knight had only intended to talk to Captain America. Paladin betrayed the team and gassed the entire room. Shang-Chi used his martial arts training to hold his breath, knocked Paladin out and changed Paladin’s costume with Captain America’s. Knight’s team let Cap leave and Paladin-Cap was collected by SHIELD.
5 World War Hulk
When the team went to the Savage Land to retrieve Moon Boy, insects changed Humbug, vastly increasing his powers. Back in New York, he killed an alien bug to cover himself, Colleen Wing and Tarantula in its scent so they can infiltrate the crashed stone ship of the Hulk’s Warbound. He then abandons them to offer himself to the Brood as a host. Wing and Tarantula are captured, tortured and marked for death for the murder of the alien. The Earth’s hive turned against Humbug, sterilized the Queen and transformed him.
The team arrived to save them. Shang-Chi killed Humbug and saved Tarantula, leaving with her. Paladin quit and took Moon Boy in for the bounty. Knight tried to console the traumatized Wing and convince her of the continued need for the group but Wing believed that they sold their souls and left.
4 “Are You For Hire, Hero?”
While the New York “street heroes” dealt with Daredevil’s Shadowlands takeover of Hell’s Kitchen, Knight operated Heroes for Hire differently. She sent earpieces to heroes, called herself “Control” and contacted certain heroes for specific jobs. However, instead of money, Knight traded in information, assistance and support this time.
Unknown to everyone, the Puppet Master had Knight in a technologically induced coma and was using special techniques to control her. She broke free and Puppet Master was shot by the Punisher. Knight and Paladin restarted the business and worked hard to reestablish their credibility. Spider-Man helped them take down a human and dinosaur trafficking ring from the Savage Land and a drug ring from Atlantis.
3 “Are You For Hire, Villain?”
The Purple Man spent his time on The Raft making contacts and studying his fellow inmates. Armed with that knowledge, he stole Misty Knight’s Heroes for Hire idea and used villains as operatives with himself as Control. However, there was a rival team of villains involved in these cases to acquire the items that Killgrave wanted. Unknown to everyone, the Control of the second team was Misty Knight. She was running her crew to thwart Killgrave’s efforts and stop him from becoming “larger than the Kingpin.” Her involvement was revealed and her team was less than thrilled to be manipulated by a “white hat”. It was also revealed that the Puppet Master was manipulating Killgrave as revenge for manipulating him against Knight.
2 Avengers Assembled
Luke Cage had taken the New Power Man and White Tiger as interns in his latest Heroes for Hire. After battling the Plunderer, the Superior Spider-Man inferred that the Heroes for Hire were little better than hired thugs. This hit a nerve with White Tiger and she quit the team. Cage lamented that he should be doing better for his daughter and White Tiger took this as a sign and left as well.
They come back together when Thanos’ agent Proxima Midnight unleashed an army on New York. They were joined by Blue Marvel, Blade as “Spider-Hero”, and Spectrum. The heroes defeated Thanos’ advance and became the Mighty Avengers.
1 Deadpool Stole Our Name
After the Secret Wars, Deadpool made his own Heroes for Hire team after fellow mercenary Solo impersonated Deadpool to get a higher pay rate. Deadpool hired Solo and Foolkiller, Madcap, Massacre, Slapstick, Stingray and the Terror. Stingray was a mole for Captain America to keep an eye on these loose cannons.
Deadpool received a “cease and desist” order from Luke Cage and Matt Murdock and changed their name to “Mercs for Money.” The team wore color-coordinated outfits to set them apart for someone who was trying to ruin the real Deadpool’s reputation. It was discovered that the culprit was Madcap. The team eventually found that Deadpool was skimming money off the top of the contracts, so they all quit.