MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
WRITER: Ta-Nehisi Coates
PENCILS: Butch Guice
INKS: Scott Hanna
COLORS: Dan Brown
LETTERS: VC's Joe Sabino
COVER: John Cassaday with Laura Martin
VARIANT COVERS: Rich Buckler; Jim Cheung with Jason Keith; John Tyler Christopher; Tom Palmer with Rachelle Rosenberg; Damian Scott with John Rauch
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (June 2017)
Black Panther created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Rated “T+”
“We are the Streets” Part 1 “Double Consciousness”
Although it was only published for seven issues in 2003, the comic book, The Crew, is apparently fondly remembered by some readers (myself among them) and comic book writers. Written by Christopher Priest and drawn by Joe Bennett, The Crew featured four hardened heroes who band together to fight for an impoverished neighborhood.
The Crew is the inspiration for the latest expansion of Marvel Comics' Black Panther line of comic books, Black Panther and The Crew. This new series is written Ta-Nehisi Coates; drawn by Butch Guice (pencils) and Scott Hanna (inks); colored by Dan Brown; and lettered by Joe Sabino.
Black Panther and The Crew #1 (“Double Consciousness”) opens in The Bronx in 1957 with a tale of Ezra Keith and his “crew.” The story moves to present day Harlem for the funeral of Ezra, who was killed while in police custody. Ezra's family has asked Misty Knight to investigate, but Knight is conflicted because of her ties to law enforcement. However, Misty is forced to admit that something is officially wrong and unites with the X-Men's Storm to fight the forces arrayed against her.
Apparently, writer Yona Harvey will script every other issue of this series, which means she will write Black Panther and The Crew #2 with Ta-Nehisi Coates returning for the third issue. I hope Harvey is as good as Coates is on this first issue, and I'm saying that considering that I did not expect much from the first issue. But I'm impressed and look forward to more.
Black Panther and The Crew #1 reads like one of those crime comic books published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint or Image Comics and written by someone like Ed Brubaker or Brian Azzarello. Coates offers a sharply written urban drama that is complicated about complex matters. Black people vs. cops – it is not so clear cut simply because there are so many players and groups of players involved with their own goals and motivations.
I like Butch Guice's pencil art; it is his storytelling that realizes Coates' script as a multi-layered, street-level superhero drama. I have always thought that Guice's talent was underutilized, but here he gets to show the scope of his graphical storytelling abilities. I highly recommend trying at least the first issue of Black Panther and The Crew.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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