The first issue of Black Panther, a Marvel series written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, was released last month. Marvel Comics.
The stakes are high for Marvel and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates to do Black Panther well. The character appears this month in the blockbuster “Captain America: Civil War,” a prelude to the film he’ll headline in 2018. And last month, Coates released the first issue of a new Black Panther comic series.
When it was first reported last September that Coates would script a 12-issue arc of the Black Panther, some commentators suggested that he might be an “odd” fit.
The implication was that a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient and winner of the National Book Award was participating in a genre and medium beneath his talents. But they might be surprised to learn discussions of racism in superhero comics is a long – albeit often troubled – tradition. They also might not recognize the extent of Coates’ literary undertaking. He is tasked not only with appealing to comics readers but also with attracting new fans to the genre. This would be a daunting prospect, no matter the property. But the Black Panther character poses a very specific set of challenges.
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A white superhero film failing has not caused studios to shy away from superhero films with white protagonists. The failure of a superhero film starring a woman or person of color, however, can set back the development of diverse superhero films for some time. Many people would probably rejoice in anything that stops the superhero franchise juggernaut. But the last few years have brought increased attention to the real struggles for women and people of color to break into the comics and film industries.
Unfortunately, when it comes to underrepresented populations, the success or failure of these texts always ends up being about more than the specific text in itself. It becomes a referendum on whether or not stories about people who are not straight, white men are valuable, and whether or not people who tell such stories should be given the resources to do so.
I’m at a weird crossover point between being super happy that Coates is doing this, and utterly bored of superhero nonsense. I saw “Civil War” the other day and managed to be utterly bored by the entire thing. I suppose if it teaches “don’t trust governments or politics” to a few people, it’ll be a bunch of explosions well-spent, but “duh” comes to mind. It’s a dirty trick to play on Coates that they’re giving him his shot now that the field is awash in stupid and played out.
If the point is to show that hey black people can also be violent monarchist oligarchs, well, mission accomplished. I do think Black Panther was one of the more interesting characters in the movie but that’s simply because he’s among a crowd of other really uninteresting characters (most of whom lean on established back-story of interesting explosions to justify their actions) I do wish that Black Panther had drawn blood with those claws of his, which he used all over the place to gouge runnels in painted surfaces, but otherwise accomplished damn little with.
I don’t for the life of me see why people are so excited about what is, charitably, bad entertainment. You say Coates’ challenge is attracting new viewers to the genre. It’s a flyblown corpse! Reanimate it!
Marcus:
I expect that’s going to be me, when I finally get around to seeing it. As for Coates doing the series, I’m very happy about that, and I think this has little to do with Civil War, and everything to do with Black Panther getting his own movie in ‘018.
And, honestly, it’s utterly massive that Coates is doing this. It should not be a big deal that a black writer is doing the writing for a black character, but it is a big. freaking. deal.
Hollywood is still the home of eternal whiteness, but at least Marvel is making an attempt at diversity. That’s more than most can say.
Hollywood is still the home of eternal whiteness, but at least Marvel is making an attempt at diversity. That’s more than most can say.
Yup! The more the merrier!
I was surprised and disappointed that Coates chose to have Panther’s origin story be monarchist. Guardian warrior and son of the king? Come to think of it, the whole “superhero” thing is profoundly antidemocratic .. Which, some people would say is the point of “Civil War” but, ugh, really there’s just a minimal framework on which to hang a lot of explosions.
The more I think about it, I hated the movie. Not to pop any spoilers but they sort of set it up like it’s going to be deep rifts over the various avengers’ political beliefs but then they completely moot that point at the end and it’s just a bad guy doing bad stuff. “Oh look, deus ex machina explanation for all bad things You can put your brain back on hold now.”
Marcus:
Why? Again, I think this is an example of more diverse views. Coates is not ignoring Panther’s origins, and there are plenty of examples of monarchism in Africa.
sez marcus ranum:
“I was surprised and disappointed that Coates chose to have Panther’s origin story be monarchist. Guardian warrior and son of the king?”
When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Black Panther character in 1966, they defined him as the latest in a long line of proud rulers of an advanced, never-conquered African kingdom. So it’s not that Coates chose to go there; rather, it’s that Coates chose not to mess with the character’s established backstory.
@cubist#6 and Caine#5:
Thanks for explaining that.
It seems to me that monarchy is inherently authoritarian. I’d expect Coates to have an issue with authoritarian political systems. Of course it’s possible he doesn’t.
And maybe he does, and Black Panther will grow out of his monarchist-authoritarian leanings because hey learning curve.
+++
I’m rather excited for the concept of this, though I’m not a superhero genre fan by far. I do enjoy some of the movies, and I’ve seen some of the terrible ones, but I will be waiting for the Black Panther movie simply because of the concept. Just like I will watch any women-led superhero movie on principle. If I can suffer through the terrible man-led superhero movies, I think it will be a lot more enjoyable to suffer through those led by people of colour or women, because it will still be different, even if only superficially.
So go Black Panther and go Coates!
Marcus:
Why, because he’s black? I’d like to know where, on this planet, there’s a political system that isn’t authoritarian. I might want to move there. I’m not sure what you’re envisioning here, but if you or anyone else kind of expected Coates to completely dispense with Black Panther’s canon, in favour of some big, bad ass black dude swinging in from some jungle somewhere, maybe you ought to think about that. Hard.
Coates is a very thoughtful, mindful writer, who knows plenty about authoritarianism and racism. If anyone can mature Black Panther’s character and story, it would be Coates. I also expect that if anyone can make it delightfully subversive, it would be Coates. That said, no matter what Coates does with his series, when it comes time for the movie, it all might well be ignored anyway.
rq:
Yeah, I’m with you. One of the reasons I’m so excited about Suicide Squad? Adam Beach. Someone finally cast an Indian. It’s the worst, least exciting character, but hey, look -- there’s an NDN on the big screen, in a comic book flick! People just don’t understand how fucking huge that is -- representation is everything. NDNs all over the place are geeking out over that. Adam Beach is geeking out over it.
An interview with Mr.Coates which is probably of interest: http://www.vice.com/read/ta-nehisi-coates-talks-about-black-panther-and-writing-from-a-black-experience