Marvel Folds Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Black Panther & The Crew’ Comic After Just Two Issues

Author cites poor sales; book was offshoot of his Hugo Award–nominated 'Black Panther' series.

May 16, 2017 12:45 pm
'Black Panther & The Crew' Folded After Just Two Issues
The first issue's cover for 'Black Panther & The Crew' (Marvel)

With great writing comes great responsibility. And in the case of Ta-Nehisi Coates, that apparently hasn’t worked out so well, at least for one of his comic book titles.

As The Verge first reported, Marvel decided to shelve Coates’ Black Panther & The Crew after just two issues (there will be an additional four books before it’s killed). Coates told the web publication the decision occurred over lackluster sales.

The title hit comic book stores last month and centers around African-American characters such as the Black Panther, Luke Cage, and Misty Knight, and their fight against police brutality. (Launched last year, Coates is still writing Black Panther for Marvel, which was recently nominated for a Hugo Award.)

The news couldn’t come at a worse time for Marvel, given its recent controversies regarding the injection of diversity into its line. Last month, the publisher’s vp of sales came under fire for saying that the focus on diversity, in part, had hurt the company’s sales.

Also, Marvel had to let go a freelance artist who secretly painted anti-Christian and -semitic views into panels of X-Men Gold.

Black Panther & The Crew was a revival of the 2003 title, The Crew, which also got canceled.

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