A new era dawns for Marvel Comics first Black Superhero in Black Panther #1.
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When I first covered this story last September, I eagerly awaited this to come to frution, now it’s reality! April 6th BLACK PANTHER #1 arrives digitally and in local comic retailers!
BLACK PANTHER #1 written by national correspondent for The Atlantic, MacArthur Genius, and National Book Award winner Ta-Nehisi Coates (Between the World and Me) and illustrated by living legend Brian Stelfreeze, BLACK PANTHER “A Nation Under Our Feet” is a story about dramatic upheaval in Wakanda and the Black Panther’s struggle to do right by his people as their ruler.
The indomitable will of Wakanda — the famed African nation known for its vast wealth, advanced technology and warrior traditions — has long been reflected in the will of its monarchs, the Black Panthers. But now, the current Black Panther, T’Challa, finds that will tested by a superhuman terrorist group called The People that have sparked a violent uprising among the citizens of Wakanda. T’Challa knows the country must change to survive — the question is: will the Black Panther survive the change?
Exclusively revealing with The Atlantic, Coates proposes a simple question that fueled his script for BLACK PANTHER,-
“Can a good man be a king, and would an advanced society tolerate a monarch? Research is crucial in both cases. The Black Panther I offer pulls from the archives of Marvel and the character’s own long history. But it also pulls from the very real history of society—from the pre-colonial era of Africa, the peasant rebellions that wracked Europe toward the end of the Middle Ages, the American Civil War, the Arab Spring, and the rise of ISIS.”
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“For centuries, Wakanda has been sending would-be conquerors home in body bags. Now, it is about to face its biggest threat — and it comes from within,” says Marvel Comics Editor In Chief, Axel Alonso. “Under Ta-Nehisi’s unflinching gaze, the Black Panther will grapple with a threat that can’t simply be beaten into submission, one that raises questions about life, liberty and honor that are especially relevant today.”
Any long time All Things Geek reader knows about my passions for Geek Culture, greater diversity and inclusivity throughout Pop Culture and my love for Black Panther in particular. Three years ago, I wrote about the deficit of Black Superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) that my son and daughter could look up to in “It’s Time for Black Panther on the Big Screen.” this Comic Book Movie Rennisance is the perfect time to right some wrongs and move the ball forward, as the great Dwyane Mc Duffie, talented writer, creator of Milestone Media and champion of diversity in the comic book industry we love predicted, the forward momentum of the traditionally underrepresented or misrepresented in the comic book industry, goes from ‘invisible to inevitable’.
The snippet of Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa in all his glory in the latest trailer for Captain America Civil War made my heart swell. It reminded me that though progress is at times glacially slow, it is moving forward, as Marc Bernardin so eloquently noted in his Keynote Address at the second annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics –
“I look at the faces of characters like Kamala Khan and Miles Morales and America Chavez and Jaime Reyes and Kamau Kogo and Lunella Lafayette — faces that I never saw in comics when I was a boy, but today, my son can — and I see progress.
It’s still not working the way it’s supposed to work, but it’s getting closer.”
– Marc Bernardin
This small taste of progress has only gotten me hungry for more. My kids and I are excited for the Black Panther’s thoughtful comic rebirth, his cinematic debut in Civil War and even more so, for his stand alone movie release, coincidently, on my birthday, July 6, 2018. To see the character Black Panther given respect that’s long over due, written by, portrayed by and directed by talented Black artisans, given an authentic voice and share that experience with my children? That’s a gift that keeps on giving!
Great, but to be honest? I’d rather see donations to some black collage fund for boys, or funding and programs directed to inner city youth. We tried it once in Detroit, to where black clergy attempted to create all boy schools so that we could get to the kids before the violence and gangs did. It was attacked for being sexist. I dunno. I want to be happy about this, but I’m less worried about the rest of us feeling good then I am those boys in the hood. Not going to do any good if they end up dead… Read more »