Marvel Comics is all set to bring Black Panther to their cinematic world this May, in the upcoming blockbuster Captain America: Civil War. With an impending solo film, starring Chadwick Boesman as T’Challa/Black Panther, slated for a 2018 release, the folks over at Marvel are doing what they can to keep the King of Wakanda fresh in the minds of fans around the world. In keeping with that, Marvel will bring back Black Panther’s comic series, and it will be written by none other than New York Times bestseller Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The 11-issue series will release in April, and will coincide with the release of Civil War. “In my work for The Atlantic I have, for some time, been asking a particular question: Can a society part with, and triumph over, the very plunder that made it possible? In Black Panther there is a simpler question: Can a good man be a king, and would an advanced society tolerate a monarch?” Coates wrote in The Atlantic.
Transitioning from journalist to comic book writer has presented some new challenges to Coates and his skill set.
It’s a very backwards, in my mind, process. It’s not the process of writing journalism. I’ve had to totally rethink certain things. If I wanted to introduce somebody, say a villain, in a scene or even T’Challa in a scene, that’s tough to do.
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Before I even thought of the words I had to think of what actually happened in the scene, what was going on, what is T’Challa doing, where T’Challa is, and then you can put the words in afterwards. Comic books work on action, comic books work on violence, and people punching people and that sounds like the obvious thing, but it’s not something I immediately thought about when I started.
This series will be the first comic appearance of Black Panther since 2011. Black Panther first appeared back in 1966, this year will mark the 50th anniversary of the character.
Check out excerpts from “Black Panther #1” above.
