Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther is a human drama about power
http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/4/11360078/black-panther-marvel-comics-ta-nehisi-coates-brian-stelfreezeIn the first pages of Marvel’s Black Panther #1, penned by author and Atlantic correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates, we see a country at war. The subjects of the fictional African nation of Wakanda are in open revolt against T’Challa, their king and the Black Panther himself. “Death to tyrants!” one cries. We have yet to learn the full circumstances around the uprising, but such is their rage that, on that very first page, T’Challa has already been struck down. It’s a stunning image, rendered beautifully by artist Brian Stelfreeze. As the symbol of Wakanda itself, the Black Panther embodies the country’s power and heritage. Now, he’s embroiled in a bloody conflict with his own people.
With that explosive opening scene, this new series (along with a central role in next month’s Captain America: Civil War) sets the stage for Black Panther’s breakout moment. As the first black superhero in mainstream comics, the character has long been a paragon of black excellence in the medium. He’s the ruler of a technologically-advanced African kingdom, unsullied by colonial rule. As one of the smartest and most formidable superheroes in the Marvel Universe, T’Challa has a solid fanbase, but he has never enjoyed the same name recognition as Marvel icons like Spider-Man or the X-Men.
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Coates’ own task while helming his series is to dig even deeper. The series, called "A Nation Under Our Feet," pulls its title from Steven Hahn’s Pulitzer-prize winning book of the same name. That text tackled the under-examined political power of African-Americans from the end of the Civil War on through Reconstruction and the Great Migration. "Steven Hahn is, ultimately, telling a human story — perhaps the oldest human story," says Coates. "In the case of his book the people happen to be called black. That's the specific story. But it always extracts to some larger theme. And I am engaged in that theme in this book."
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Artwork slays too. Take my money! xo
= new reply since forum marked as read
The folks at my local comic book store say it should be in April 6 or 7.
From March 31 NY Times story: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/movies/ta-nehisi-coates-helps-a-new-panther-leave-its-print.html
When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first dreamed up the Black Panther for Marvel, he was at the top of his game. Descended from a long line of kings, the Panther, a.k.a. T’Challa, had protected his country from everyone from neighboring tribes to alien shape-shifters. In recent times, however, Wakanda had taken it on the chin — flooded by Namor the Sub-Mariner and ravaged by a team of supervillains.
When Mr. Coates’s book opens, this latest version of the Panther is still reeling from these defeats. “As we get deeper into the book, there’s this whole question: Is T’Challa actually a good king?,” Mr. Coates said, speaking by telephone from his home in Paris. Throughout his history, the author noted, the Panther has spent much more time hanging out with guys like Iron Man and Captain America than handling affairs of state. “I’m not sure he actually likes being king,” Mr. Coates said. “This dude is showing up in New York all the time. It’s like, he always had something else to do besides being king. And there’s a bigger question,” Mr. Coates continued. “Wakanda’s the most advanced country in the world, with a really educated population. Why would they even accept a monarchy?”
Although race is an issue in the comic — “race is always there,” Mr. Coates said — it won’t be at the forefront early on. “The book is probably much more concerned with gender than it is with race,” he said. In the first issue, Mr. Coates created a plotline about the Dora Milaje, an elite, all-female cadre of personal bodyguards who first appeared in 1998. They were enlisted to protect the king and serve as “wives in training.” “I always thought there was something creepy about it,” he said. “Women who were taken from various tribes who may become the Panther’s wives? They don’t actually have sex with him, they’re just scantily clad and are always just sort of around him? It defied all logic of what I knew about men, of what a man would be like in an absolute monarchy.” His first impulse, he said, was to eliminate the Dora Milaje altogether. But instead of cutting them out, Mr. Coates positions them as perhaps the embattled Wakanda’s last, best hope for salvation.
Illustrating the book is the longtime comic artist Brian Stelfreeze, who was offered the job in September. Someone really good was going to write the series, he recalled being told, but he wouldn’t learn who until he signed on. “When they dropped the name on me,” Mr. Stelfreeze said, “it blew my brains out.”
A cover:
I found this one on Amazon, but I don't think this is the correct 'version'.
teen-age girl friendly 
I'm going to send my niece for a copy - hopefully, I won't have to ask her for it.
Just go in, grab em and keep it moving.
If you're looking to keep reading the series, you may want to ask them whether they offer a subscription service (they order the books you request specifically held for you), and what it takes to enroll. Most places are looking for all the customers they can get so, don't be intimidated and get what you want.
I'd like to think they'd be all "Starrystruck" when you walk in, anyway. 
You can Subscribe through Marvel, or even get the comic digitally but I prefer physical copies and not being subject to having my books beaten up in the mail.
to getting a stack of Walking Dead.
A friend of mine just asked on FB, Do any of the superheroes combat structural oppression? I'm watching Daredevil and I'm so bored with the constant fisticuffs with street hoodlums. Blood, crunch, centreing his narcissistic saviour complex "pain", bla bla bla. Why doesn't he fight corporations, or protect political prisoners with that bloody law firm?
Can't wait to send her this! Thanks, Starry Messenger 
Luckily a few years old and some nice developments since. So I think in the world of the imaginary, at least we're making some headway.
I don't know if you've caught the unusual but amazing super hero Jessica Jones on Netflix but her friend Luke Cage is getting his own show. Here's a clip!
And talk about a seriously diverse cast of heroes, the Wachowski Bros' incredible mind-bendingly awesome Netflix series, Sense8! My neices were able to hang out a little bit with the cast here at San Diego ComicCon last year. There's the Asian Indian, African, Korean, Gay, Lesbian and Trans characters from all over the world, and of course caucasions from Germany, Iceland and Chicago. It's so heady.
I'm am so hoping for both series to continue though I'm thrilled Luke Cage is coming.
Lastly, I read the other day Idris Elba -I CAN'T FREAKIN' BELIEVE IT - has been cast as the lead in Stephen King's Dark Tower. OMG!
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Of course, there's going to be "that" group of fans that will complain about the possible casting of Idris Elba as Roland Deschain, simply because the character originally was a white protagonist. Ignorant fanboy hatred aside, the casting of Elba for the lead role in Stephen King's answer to Lord Of The Rings, by way of Clint Eastwood western, is absolutely inspired. Not only can he play the badass with a gun in his hand and a quick word for his opponents, but he definitely can carry the more stoic qualities of Roland's character. More importantly, seeing Elba's Roland facing down against Matthew McConaughey's Man In Black is such a tasty proposition that we'd line up outside of Sony's offices, just to hear them announce their casting officially. http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Dark-Tower-May-Have-Found-Its-Roland-He-Perfect-99217.html
King is a fan of the choice, and says he’s looking forward to seeing Elba bring Roland to life. “I love it. I think he’s a terrific actor, one of the best working in the business now,” the author says. But he admits he had a different actor in mind when he started writing the books 46 years ago – almost three years before Elba was even born.
The author, who raves about Elba’s recent work in the child-soldier drama Beasts of No Nation, says he hopes fans of the books have no problem accepting a man of color as Roland. “For me the character is still the character. It’s almost a Sergio Leone character, like ‘the man with no name,’” King says. “He can be white or black, it makes no difference to me. I think it opens all kind of exciting possibilities for the backstory.” http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/29/dark-tower-rises-stephen-king-idris-elba-and-matthew-mcconaughey/2
I knew about the new Luke Cage series, can't wait. I loved him in JJ. I did not know about Sense8 or Dark Tower, so I will add them to my line-up!
Each story and how the characters interact with each other so far apart is well fleshed out.
The Dark Tower series was a joy to read - all except I think the last book, I haven't read - and it's wonderful colorplates and ink drawings, just like our childrens books of old with illustrations by NC Wyeth. I don't know how they're going to make a movie, the story is so huge. But I know Marvel took it on in comic form. It's been an incredible offering by King who, I remember, in the preface of the first book asked us, his "constant reader," to basically bear with him because he didn't know what he was doing It was such an honest intro to me and, almost 30 years later, I think the series has got to be his magnum opus.
Black Panther #1 (Regular and Alt cover).
Just picked them up today on my lunch break.
Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention....Coates was very open and honest in the interview and I gained a much better understanding of the author and his process because of this interview. The interview left me wanting to hear more, to be honest....
NPR Link
From NPR's All Things Considered:
After he won a National Book Award, and one of the MacArthur Foundation's so-called genius grants, no one anticipated Ta-Nehisi Coates' next move.
"What's the good of getting a MacArthur genius grant if you can't go and write a comic book for Marvel?" Coates told NPR's Audie Cornish. "I don't know. There are things that people consider to be genius, and then there are things that deep in my heart I've always believed to be genius."
That's right — a comic book. Marvel's Black Panther follows an African king named T'Challa with superhuman strength and intellect, who presides over the fictional nation of Wakanda. The first issue is out Wednesday with illustrations by artist Brian Stelfreeze.
"When I was a young person, my introduction frankly into the world of literature and the beauty of words and the beauty of language, occurred through three things," Coates says. "It occurred through the magic of hip-hop, it occurred through the magic of Dungeons and Dragons, and it occurred through the magic of Marvel comic books, so I feel back at home."
Black Panther was launched in 1966, just a few months before the Black Panther political party came on the scene. But over the years, T'Challa has pretty much played second fiddle to the likes of Daredevil and Captain America. And his storylines often revolve around divided loyalties.
Much more and an 8 min interview at the link: http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/04/06/473224606/a-reluctant-king-ta-nehisi-coates-takes-on-marvels-black-panther
