The King of Wakanda is getting a brand new series with Black Panther #1 from John Ridley and Juan Cabal. The series starts off with the titular hero receiving a desperate message for aid from a Wakandan operative. Ridley told the New York Times it will be a “hybrid espionage-Super Hero thriller” and “love story.”
John Ridley Discusses Black Panther
In discussing what the character meant to him, John Ridley told the Times:
“First of all, Black Panther is just a great character in and of himself, but being a young Black kid growing up, every time you saw a hero that looked like you, even if their background didn’t reflect my lived experience, it was just something that made you feel closer to the wish-fulfillment that is intrinsic to graphic novel writing”
Ridley also added:
“We’re coming out of a summer where we saw Black people fighting for our rights, standing up, fighting in ways that we haven’t had to do in years. And it was really important to me after the year we had where we can have these conversations with Black people and we can use words like love and caring and hope and regret and all these really fundamental emotions that everybody has.”
The current volume of Black Panther ends next week with Black Panther #25. The issue will be the last from Ta-Nehisi Coates, Daniel Acuña, Brian Stelfreeze, and Laura Martin’s acclaimed run. The new #1 drops this August, but you can find out what Marvel has in store for July here.
How excited are you for the new Black Panther #1 from John Ridley and Juan Cabal? Are you sad to see Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run coming to an end? And are you as upset as I still am that Black Panther and Storm divorced? Tell us all about it in the comments below!