Luke Cage (Power Man) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Luke Cage first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Goodwin, George Tuska, Roy Thomas, and John Romita Sr.. He was the first black superhero to be featured as the protagonist and title character of a comic book. Created during the height of the Blaxploitation genre, Luke Cage is an ex-convict imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, who gains the powers of superhuman strength and unbreakable skin after being subjected voluntarily to an experimental procedure. Once freed, Cage becomes a "hero for hire" and teams up with fellow superhero Iron Fist as part of the duo, Power Man and Iron Fist. He later marries the super-powered private investigator Jessica Jones, with whom he has a daughter. In 2005, writer Brian Michael Bendis added Luke Cage to the lineup of the New Avengers, and he has since appeared in various Avengers titles, and became the leader of a group of reformed super-villains called the Thunderbolts.