"Remember you asked me how we know if we're the good guys in all this? This is how we know. We do good guy #$%@."-Luke Cage
The Superhero Civil War is over. Steve Rogers has stepped down as Captain America and has been shot and killed. Without a leader in place after Cap died, most of the people fighting against the Superhero Registration Act signed up and accepted their loss. Even though the war was over to some, Luke Cage made it abundantly clear that the war was over when he said it was over. With the help of Wolverine, Iron Fist, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and Ronin, Luke Cage leads a team of renegade Avengers to continue helping people and being heroes the way they feel is the right way.
Of all the Avengers stories, this is easily a personal favorite. It isn't because of the action (even though the fight sequences are really fun). It's the dialog between the group that makes this such an amazing read. After witnessing people that they all used to call friends turn on them and try to lock them all up, a lot of them are on edge. Luke barely trusts anyone other than his wife at this point (that trust is tested later), but this was the team he fought with before the Civil War, so he got out of his comfort zone and lead this team in Cap's absence.
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The trust for his team is tested almost immediately when Spider-Woman gets word that Captain America is still alive and they break into a S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier to get him out of there. Unfortunately this was a trap set up by Iron Man. Tony Stark fed Ms. Marvel false info in an effort to get Luke's team together and arrest them for violating the Superhuman Registration Act. While the team does escape thanks to Dr. Strange, they were shaken to the core. Tony Stark and his team of former friends would go as far as lying about Steve Rogers being alive to arrest his former friends. To make matters worse, a former old school Avengers comes into play to make Luke question things even more.
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This book is a very fun and well written read. Not only is this a great starting point for new readers, it's also hilarious. Spider-Man's jokes are great as well as Wolverine's random banter during a fight. After Luke pretty much tells Tony Stark and his goons where to shove their registration paper work (New Avengers 22), Luke Cage shows during this series the making of a leader. It's the beginning of Luke Cage becoming a major player and also one of the better Avenger teams.
