Issue(s): Cloak and Dagger #1
Cover Date: Jul 85
Title: "Sinners all!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Rick Leonardi - Penciler
Terry Austin - Inker
Carl Potts - Editor

Review/plot:
Cloak and Dagger get an ongoing series with the same creative team as their mini-series. It's interesting seeing Rick Leonardi and Terry Austin, who together have a style that seems really suited for the fantasy genre, drawing grim and gritty urban environments.

This issue's external plot involves Cloak and Dagger breaking up a child prostitution ring.

Their involvement also exposes some corruption with the police force, which comes to the attention of Detective Brigid O'Reilly.

The adult bookstore is in Times Square, and there's a narration box saying, "City officials keep threatening to renovate it and, by gentrification, force the sleaze-shops out." It did eventually happen! "Should it ever, people like this will just go elsewhere to find their fantasies fulfilled." That seems to be true.

But the real theme that's being introduced here is the seemingly uneven relationship between Cloak and Dagger. While attacking the adult bookstore that displays the adolescent strippers, Dagger is much more hesitant about punishing the customers, while Cloak points out that if it wasn't for them there wouldn't be a need for the business.

And when they get back to the church they use as a hideout, Father Delgado accuses Cloak of having a "hold" on Dagger, and accuses Cloak of enjoying what he's become while Dagger thinks they are freaks and would like to return to a normal life.

The conversation causes Cloak to flip out and he starts terrorizing Father Delgado's parishioners until Dagger uses her light to save them.

That causes a rift and she decides to take Delgado up on his offer to take her to the address that he found for her mother.

Cloak's powers have been consolidated to tap into the same Darkforce energy as Darkstar, Blackout, Shroud, and others. But Cloak's usage, as shown here, plagues his victims with visions of their worst nightmares.

This issue nicely establishes Cloak & Dagger's environment and their vigilante nature. It's a little surprising to see a rift being developed between them - and Cloak going out of control - in issue #1, but it does make it clear that this series is going to be less about C&D fighting street crime (which i suppose is covered well enough by the likes of Daredevil and Spider-Man) and more about their internal conflicts.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• There's a flashback to Cloak & Dagger's origin, originally shown in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64.
  
• Father Delgado learned about Tandy's mother in the Cloak and Dagger #4 (first series).

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Dialogue on the "cheap dream" page was changed before publication. When this issue was previewed in Marvel Age, it read:

Cloak:We are CLOAK and DAGGER!
Dagger:And you are DISGUSTING!

This issue came in for some severe criticism from first amendment-minded critics due to the depiction of all the porno folks as evil villains, as well as saying that Leonardi didn't draw the girls convincingly young enough to look underage.