Being Twice as Good Didn’t Give ‘Black Panther’ Spin-Off Half the Chance as Worse Marvel Books

How do you get your book canceled after two issues? It sounds like a super nerdy diss that Childish Gambino would spit in a freestyle, but sadly, it’s a reality for Black creatives now that Black Panther and the Crew has been canceled. The comic series is at least partially a result of the recent success Ta-Nehisi Coates has seen from his Black Panther run that depicted the fall of Wakanda. The third book in the Coates era of the Panther franchise, co-written by poet Yona Harvey, has T’Challa teaming up with Misty Knight, Luke Cage, and Storm in Harlem. The conflict walks a clear tightrope between “super” and “human” as the new incarnation of the Crew gets to the bottom of a respected community activist’s death while in police custody. The team struggles to keep the neighborhood from turning into a sociopolitical powder keg while also uncovering the truth behind Ezra Keith’s death. Meanwhile, Coates and Harvey also delve into the secret history of heroes who have defended Harlem long before the Crew.

The short version is that this is an important book, perhaps the most important book Marvel (a publisher that has tried to convey how serious it is about appealing to a savvy, diverse new generation of potential readers) had in its arsenal. Much like the Christopher Priest version over a decade ago, it was a timely, nuanced tale that invoked the demons that hang over black bodies in America and held the potential to awaken the boldness necessary for woke, young readers to conf…