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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 1 February 2018
Coates hopes ‘Black Panther’ hype transfers to comic book

By JESSE J. HOLLAND ica: Civil War.” The much- bated topic on social me-
Associated Press hyped movie “Black Pan- dia. Coates said he feels
WASHINGTON (AP) — As ther,” starring Chadwick his departure from Twitter is
people gear up for the Boseman as the epony- akin to getting out of a dys-
“Black Panther” movie, Ta- mous superhero, opens on functional relationship.
Nehisi Coates wants them February 16, picking up the “I miss it, but Twitter is
to check out the original adventures of the African that bad girlfriend I had
source, Marvel’s Black Pan- king and superhero. to catch in bed with two
ther comic book, where Coates said he’s seen parts dudes in order to leave,
he’s booting up a massive of next month’s movie that I knew was a bad
outer space adventure for helmed by “Fruitvale Sta- girlfriend before that, that
the king of Wakanda. tion” and “Creed” director I knew I should have left,
The award-winning author Ryan Coogler, and calls so I did and I’m gone and
and journalist, in an inter- the director a “superior I’m glad she’s out of my
view with The Associated filmmaker” and a “once- life,” he said. Coates is also
Press, predicted that the in-a-generation talent.” not interested in talking
Black Panther movie would “Black people have not re- about West. “I wish Cornel
“be the best Marvel film so ally had avatars out there the best. It’s the 25th anni-
far.” “(But) if people want like that they can identify versary of his book, ‘Race
something that they can with, and Panther is the Matters’ and I don’t really
be deeply involved in, if biggest one right now,” want to do anything that
people want something Coates said. “I think what would overshadow the This image provided by Marvel Comics shows the variant cover
that raises questions that Ryan is going to do in terms work that he’s doing. I also of Black Panther #1 written by Ta-Nehisi Coates on sale in May
extend out of the comic of how this is going to look don’t want to do anything 2018 featuring his new storyline “The Intergalactic Empire of
book and into the real is going to blow people to overshadow the work Wakanda.”
world, if people want to away ... It feels like the- I’m doing,” he said.q Associated Press
see some amazing high- matically a natural tie.”
tech (stuff), this is a good Coates wrote his first Black
jumping on point,” said Panther comic book in
Coates, now in his second 2016 but the series is get-
year writing the adven- ting a new start in April
tures one of the first comic with a story line called “The
books heroes of color for Intergalactic Empire of
Marvel. The Black Panther Wakanda,” where T’Challa
is the alter-ego of T’Challa, discovers some of his
the leader of Wakanda, a Wakandan subjects have
technologically-advanced colonized alien planets in
(but make-believe) Afri- his name and created a
can country. A longtime civilization where he’s al-
ally and one-time member most worshipped as a god.
of both the Avengers and “This is not even just about
the Fantastic Four, T’Challa T’Challa being in space or
uses his wealth, inventions, the idea of Wakanda in
and country’s resources space. There have been
to battle against evil from core questions about
both inside and outside kings, responsibly and mo-
his country’s borders while rality that have extended
serving as the head of the throughout the book,” he
government. said. “There have been
The character got a boost core questions especially
as a supporting character this year about the nature
in 2016’s “Captain Amer- of divinity and gods and
this Intergalactic Empire is
an extension of that.”
Coates is best known for his
political and social com-
mentary. He won the Na-
tional Book Award last year
for “Between the World
and Me,” an anguished
meditation on police vio-
lence against blacks. He
also released “We Were
Eight Years in Power,”
which collects his writings
about Obama, last year.
Earlier this month, Coates
deleted his widely followed
Twitter accounted; it fol-
lowed after criticism from
activist Cornel West be-
came a hot and much de-