News

Facebook's abuzz this morning with news that Ta-Nehisi Coates will be writing Marvel's upcoming Black Panther series. Full disclosure: I am unfamiliar, completely, with Coates' writing, but his resume, as described in the linked article, speaks volumes. I've been fairly laudatory in my other sharings of this story on social media, but I'll note that I, as with any announcement like this, have to reserve some judgment until the finished produce has spoken. The Panther is slated to become another of Marvel's big stars with his film debut imminent, so one can imagine that some throttling of creator vision from editorial pressure might seep into the comic. Also, the article makes no mention of an artist, which is, of course, one of the fundamental measures of the success or failure of a comic. Regardless of how good a writer is, he or she is only telling half the story. I'm curious as to the visual aesthetic that will be chosen for the book.

For those interested in sampling Coates' writings, here's his author page at The Atlantic.

And for those interested in reading a brilliant run on Black Panther, check out Christopher Priest and J.G. Jones's run from the early 2000s under the "Marvel Knights" aegis. Amazing comics.