feature: acclaimed journalist and author ta-nehisi coates is penning marvel’s new black panther comic series

In what will come as exciting news for fans of African Marvel Superhero Black Panther (aka T’Challa), acclaimed writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is set to pen the new series of the Black Panther comic – titled, ‘A Nation Under Our Feet’ (with artwork from Brian Stelfreeze). Axel Alonso, editor in chief of Marvel, states: “It’s going to be a story that repositions the Black Panther in the minds of readers… It really moves him forward.” And the story will reportedly center on Black Panther’s fight against a violent uprising in his country by a superhuman terrorist group. The Guardian states: “By calling his one-year story arc ‘A Nation Under Our Feet’, after Steven Hahn’s non-fictional tale of black empowerment, Coates is already signalling that there will be a political bent to his story […] but it’s in keeping with some of the character’s adventures as written by Don McGregor in the 1970s, when King T’Challa took on the Ku Klux Klan. And in the comics canon, T’Challa himself always places affairs of state front and center in his work, whether it be through saving our world with the Avengers or debating the destruction of others for the greater good as part of the secretive Illuminati. As a longtime Marvel fan, Coates is no doubt aware of the moment his presence creates for the company, particularly as he writes a Panther story. “When I was a kid, I knew that superheroes were not exclusively white and male,” he said earlier this year. “And if you have fans who grow up with that, they reach a certain age and they expect you to go to another level. Beyond that, it costs comic books way less than movies to do diverse things.”” The first issue is out in Spring. I can’t wait!

By Alexander Aplerku, AFROPUNK Contributor

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