T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2024

[Emperorjones]

The hate in this thread was there was after his horrid interviews.
And ill agree to disagree on why the hype was there since its likely a combination, including all the build up for a solo following the biggest Marvel event in a long time which saw Panther play a huge part. Im sure Coates name did grab some readers outside the comics spectrum but that effect is overblown as proven by the last two celebrity writer hires

I agree with you for the most part, except when you lump Coates, Ridley, and Ewing in as "celebrities" as if they are all the same, and they are not. Roxane Gay comes closer to having a name in liberal literary circles than Ridley or Ewing (and that's despite Ridley's award-winning Hollywood career). The nature of the celebrity wasn't the same for Coates, Ridley, and Ewing. Coates was on another level-especially when he came onto the book. Coates was the literary liberal/progressive scribe of the Obama years, he was becoming the go-to voice due to his political writings, and he even testified about reparations before Congress. Coates appealed to a larger audience than Ridley or Ewing. Even though Ridley had worked on award winning Hollywood projects he was not well known, and Ewing is known more in comics circles than outside of them (from what I gather).

[king of hybrids]

I can't see her series ending with T'challa back on the throne because there is just so much continuity behind that , that couldn't be tied up in 1 issue based on all the other stuff going on in this comic. Folosade was adamant about T'challa being OUT. Also as i understand it reinstating T'challa to the throne would mean the treaty with Atlantis was broken, and that could be messy. It'll be interesting to see how they spin this.

I’m playing catch-up on the weeks post so sorry if this is already addressed, but I’m pretty sure that Atlantis got blasted by a Russian controlled Hulk a month or two after Ridley’s run ended, the Atlantians broke back up into Stone Age tribes and Namor was exiled and consigned to a maximum security prison at the end of Aaron’s avengers run especially as his involvement with thr Krakoan books mysteriously ended more or less the second Franklin got retconned.

The treaty amounts to nothing beyond a monument to Folasade’s ignorance to Namor’s track record as a king.

[Dariel81]

Civil war hype \MCU HYPE.
BP getting another ongoing .
Coates had nothing to do with the Hype

It’s not revisionist history I mean Ezyo could’ve been announced as the writer and the hype would’ve
Been the same …

[skyvolt2000]

I agree with you for the most part, except when you lump Coates, Ridley, and Ewing in as "celebrities" as if they are all the same, and they are not. Roxane Gay comes closer to having a name in liberal literary circles than Ridley or Ewing (and that's despite Ridley's award-winning Hollywood career). The nature of the celebrity wasn't the same for Coates, Ridley, and Ewing. Coates was on another level-especially when he came onto the book. Coates was the literary liberal/progressive scribe of the Obama years, he was becoming the go-to voice due to his political writings, and he even testified about reparations before Congress. Coates appealed to a larger audience than Ridley or Ewing. Even though Ridley had worked on award winning Hollywood projects he was not well known, and Ewing is known more in comics circles than outside of them (from what I gather).

I think the word celebrity is more of everyday folks knowing who these people are. Now we can take Dr. Ewing off that list and focus on the other two.

Coates is everything you said. He is also a NAME that ensures whatever book he does has a place on the shelf at a store or school or library even if no one reads it.

Ridley had already comic book success with American Way at DC/Wildstorm. So you had someone who has done a black lead book that folks liked or know of. So his name can get a book a place in some stores, schools and libraries.

Same with Nic Stone, Gene Yung, Jason Reynolds, Lamar Giles, Far Sector's writer who I am blacking out on her name and Kami Garcia. You are going to get sales for whatever book they do from school and libraries based on their literacy success.

The issues happen when you start reading the books as we saw with Coates (more second series than first) and Ridley. So if you are Marvel and only care about brownie points in certain segments you get the mess we have seen the past 9 years.

When folks say Marvel doesn't do enough with black characters. Guess who gets point to as proof of that not being true. The last 3 runs. When in reality Marvel has ALWAYS done more with black characters than DC. It's just now other companies are tossing out more black lead (or co-cast) books than both and not dealing with toxic fan entitlement.

House of Slaughter has done more with it's gay black male lead than DC has with Aqualad and X-Office with Prodigy. Heck Al Ewing's We only Find them When they are Dead did more with it's gay black male lead. Both of them found time to be in bed with their lovers.
Monarch in it's six issues did with the black lead than X-Men have with Synch.
Tom Taylor did more in Seven Secrets than Bat Office had with Duke Thomas and Luke Fox.

[Tofali]

correct me if i'm wrong but I think john ridley was an oscar winner before he started writing comic books

[Klaue's Mixtape]

Civil war hype \MCU HYPE.
BP getting another ongoing .
Coates had nothing to do with the Hype

It’s not revisionist history I mean Ezyo could’ve been announced as the writer and the hype would’ve
Been the same …

This was in 2015
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/23/b...or-marvel.html

“He has the baddest costume in comics and is a dude who is smarter and better than everyone,” said Axel Alonso, the editor in chief of Marvel. The character not only adds to the diversity of Marvel’s comics; he will do it for their films too: Black Panther is set to make his big-screen debut next year in “Captain America: Civil War,” followed by a solo feature in 2018.

At first glance, it may seem odd for Mr. Coates to write a mainstream superhero comic. He has been lauded for his book “Between the World and Me,” a passionate letter to his son on being black in America. But he does not see anything odd about it. “I don’t experience the stuff I write about as weighty,” he said. “I feel a strong need to express something. The writing usually lifts the weight. I expect to be doing the same thing for Marvel.”

“A Nation Under Our Feet,” the yearlong story line written by Mr. Coates and drawn by Brian Stelfreeze, is inspired by the 2003 book of the same title by Steven Hahn. It will find the hero dealing with a violent uprising in his country set off by a superhuman terrorist group called the People. “It’s going to be a story that repositions the Black Panther in the minds of readers,” Mr. Alonso said. “It really moves him forward.”

[Redjack]

I think the word celebrity is more of everyday folks knowing who these people are. Now we can take Dr. Ewing off that list and focus on the other two.

Coates is everything you said. He is also a NAME that ensures whatever book he does has a place on the shelf at a store or school or library even if no one reads it.

Ridley had already comic book success with American Way at DC/Wildstorm. So you had someone who has done a black lead book that folks liked or know of. So his name can get a book a place in some stores, schools and libraries.

Same with Nic Stone, Gene Yung, Jason Reynolds, Lamar Giles, Far Sector's writer who I am blacking out on her name and Kami Garcia. You are going to get sales for whatever book they do from school and libraries based on their literacy success.

The issues happen when you start reading the books as we saw with Coates (more second series than first) and Ridley. So if you are Marvel and only care about brownie points in certain segments you get the mess we have seen the past 9 years.

When folks say Marvel doesn't do enough with black characters. Guess who gets point to as proof of that not being true. The last 3 runs. When in reality Marvel has ALWAYS done more with black characters than DC. It's just now other companies are tossing out more black lead (or co-cast) books than both and not dealing with toxic fan entitlement.

House of Slaughter has done more with it's gay black male lead than DC has with Aqualad and X-Office with Prodigy. Heck Al Ewing's We only Find them When they are Dead did more with it's gay black male lead. Both of them found time to be in bed with their lovers.
Monarch in it's six issues did with the black lead than X-Men have with Synch.
Tom Taylor did more in Seven Secrets than Bat Office had with Duke Thomas and Luke Fox.

Facts.

Mic drop.

[Emperorjones]

correct me if i'm wrong but I think john ridley was an oscar winner before he started writing comic books

Ridley was writing comics before he won the award. With his resume, his run on Black Panther should've been one of the franchise's best. Alas....

[Tofali]

Ridley was writing comics before he won the award. With his resume, his run on Black Panther should've been one of the franchise's best. Alas....

I was curious he only wrote one and wrote consistently after winning the oscar (still maybe some books are missing from this profile)

https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/peopl...-ridley/comics

[Ekie]

I agree with you for the most part, except when you lump Coates, Ridley, and Ewing in as "celebrities" as if they are all the same, and they are not. Roxane Gay comes closer to having a name in liberal literary circles than Ridley or Ewing (and that's despite Ridley's award-winning Hollywood career). The nature of the celebrity wasn't the same for Coates, Ridley, and Ewing. Coates was on another level-especially when he came onto the book. Coates was the literary liberal/progressive scribe of the Obama years, he was becoming the go-to voice due to his political writings, and he even testified about reparations before Congress. Coates appealed to a larger audience than Ridley or Ewing. Even though Ridley had worked on award winning Hollywood projects he was not well known, and Ewing is known more in comics circles than outside of them (from what I gather).

I'll concede that.

[Emperorjones]

I was curious he only wrote one and wrote consistently after winning the oscar (still maybe some books are missing from this profile)

https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/peopl...-ridley/comics

Looking at Ridley's wikipedia, he wrote several (The Authority, The American Way, Razor's Edge) before winning the Academy Award. Further, he did two comic book inspired novels, and wrote an episode for Static Shock and Justice League. And he created Undercover Brother. He had way more experience in comics than Coates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley

[Tofali]

Looking at Ridley's wikipedia, he wrote several (The Authority, The American Way, Razor's Edge) before winning the Academy Award. Further, he did two comic book inspired novels, and wrote an episode for Static Shock and Justice League. And he created Undercover Brother. He had way more experience in comics than Coates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley

I stand corrected He could have really written the hell out of BP if he wanted to but bygones I guess.

[Ezyo1000]

Looking at Ridley's wikipedia, he wrote several (The Authority, The American Way, Razor's Edge) before winning the Academy Award. Further, he did two comic book inspired novels, and wrote an episode for Static Shock and Justice League. And he created Undercover Brother. He had way more experience in comics than Coates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley

Which is all the more strange why he went scorched earth on T'Challa. Part of me wonders if the comics were gearing up to kill him off to align with the MCU, because it literally makes no sense for him to leave the avengers, have everyone hate him, and just how he was in a downward spiral when Ridley initially seemed like he was going to go for a spy thriller and started T'Challa off fairly well

[BlackClaw]

Which is all the more strange why he went scorched earth on T'Challa. Part of me wonders if the comics were gearing up to kill him off to align with the MCU, because it literally makes no sense for him to leave the avengers, have everyone hate him, and just how he was in a downward spiral when Ridley initially seemed like he was going to go for a spy thriller and started T'Challa off fairly well

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks they probably were until E-Man came in clutch with the recast movement. Coupled with the reveal of T’Junior and Ridleys run going viral for how bad it was, Marvel ultimately decided that killing him in the comics would’ve been an awful idea.

[Ezyo1000]

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks they probably were until E-Man came in clutch with the recast movement. Coupled with the reveal of T’Junior and Ridleys run going viral for how bad it was, Marvel ultimately decided that killing him in the comics would’ve been an awful idea.

I will say E-Man was definitely an MVP during that time. I think had he not campaigned as hard as he did, there could've been a much different outcome.