Black Panther & The Crew: We Are The Streets

Black Panther & The Crew #1-6

by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Yona Harvey (Contributor), Jackson Guice (Illustrator)

Collects Black Panther And The Crew #1-6.

Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Misty Knight and Manifold band together to take on a dangerous wave of street-level threats in a new series by co-writers Ta-Nehisi Coates (New York Times best-selling author of Between the World and Me and Marvel's Black Panther) and Yona Harvey (Black Panther: World of Wakanda), and legendary artist Butch Guice! The death of a Harlem activist kicks off a mystery that will reveal surprising new secrets about the Marvel Universe's past - and set the stage for a huge story in the near future! Fear, hate and violence loom, but don't worry, The Crew's got this: They are the streets.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2017

About the author

Ta-Nehisi Coates is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Between the World and Me, a finalist for the National Book Award. A MacArthur "Genius Grant" fellow, Coates has received the National Magazine Award, the Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, and the George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story "The Case for Reparations." He lives in New York with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Check out BP Rinehart's review of this comic, which he says is the best thing Coates has done in comics thus far, and I agree. This one sparkles with the right balance of action and ideas. The title is wrong, in that this is less about Black Panther and more about a group of African-American and African heroes that get involved in a murder case of a friend, a sixties activist in Harlem who dies in custody. Misty Knight, Storm, Luke Cage, Black Panther, and Manifold all work together on the case. Each issue is devoted to one of the main characters. Speaks to the power of corporate politics that cares about business interests vs. people. And then it is cancelled. I'll sign a petition to get it back going again. This is how to do comics, Coates!

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

First of all, that title is misleading - if anything the troubled Harlem streets depicted here belong to plainclothes NYPD officer Misty Knight and veteran X-Men weather goddess Ororo 'Storm' Munroe. This coolly capable duo actually carry the book more than co-stars Luke Cage (though he does have an explosive entrance), Manifold (who doesn't even appear until late in the story) and Black Panther (I sort of suspect he was given top billing more for marketing reasons - his role here doesn't amount to much). I did not care much for the storyline or jumpy narrative - or the dearth of scenes featuring Black Panther in action - so the inspired assembling of this quintet seemed like a missed opportunity.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe this is the same writer as the ongoing Black Panther title. This was actually good. It's not overwritten like Black Panther, nor is it filled with enough text to be considered prose. Jackson Guice's art blends perfectly with the story. It's got a little of that gritty look to it, similar to Steve Epting.

Ezra, an aging activist in Harlem dies while in police custody. Each issue starts with a flashback to Ezra's time with the OG Crew in the 60's and how they protected Harlem. It's written from the voice of a different member of what will become the new Crew as they come onto the scene during the investigation into Ezra's death. The one bad part of the story is the pacing felt off in the last issue as the series was cancelled with issue 6 and the rest of the story had to be crammed into one issue.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

In general I'm not much for graphic novels and/or comic books. I didn't know the backstories of the superheroes. Other than Storm and Black Panther, the rest of the superheroes were new to me. And I liked how the story brought them all in. Revolution!! A story that brings in current themes on civil rights and weds them to the past both in the Marvel verse and in terms of civil right in America. This was an enjoyable respite from reality without totally disengaging from reality. The robots Americops is so on point. Faceless automatons who readers can identify as cops because of the archaic hats they wear. In general, good stuff.

4 Stars

Read on a kindle (Fire HD)

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only meant to read one or two issues of this tonight with the intention of finishing it in my lunch break at work tomorrow but, once I'd started, I couldn't stop reading.

When I first saw this book advertised, I was a little unsure about it. To put this in perspective, I've lived and breathed the Marvel Universe since 1982; I know the place pretty damned well; and the five members of this new team seemed to have absolutely nothing in common apart from their skin colour. I was concerned this would be a diversity own-goal, setting the cause of equality in mainstream comics back a step rather than progressing it.

I needn't have worried. Ta-Nehisi Coates brought these characters together in a believable, intelligent way (with just a touch of the ret-con in Storm's case, but I'll let that go as she's always had a smidge of the undefinable about her) that was as entertaining as all get out.

As the issues progressed, it became clearer and clearer to me that this was damned good comics and I am absolutely gutted that this great little book had its wings clipped by the cancellation beast after just TWO issues!

I mean, seriously: who looks at a book's sales figures after just TWO ISSUES and says 'nope, this ain't gonna find an audience; cut it'. A flarking idiot is who... and it's REALLY difficult in this case not to suspect them of being a racist idiot.

I honestly think a new book should always be given at least a year to find its audience, if not more. Only publishing books with a pre-existing audience base is a recipe for ever diminishing returns. It's madness... If Marvel had cancelled books so freely when they were starting up we'd have about a tenth of the beloved icons that bring in the big bucks today, if that.

Excuse me, I have to go beat my head against a brick wall until I forget I care about this stuff...

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Guess why I checked this out?

Nope, it's not because of the upcoming movie.
Nope, it's not because I'm a mad fan of Ta-Nehisi Coates. (cuz I'm not)

It's because Misty Knight

is on the cover.
I frickin' LOVE Misty Knight!
Some of my friends here know how I feel about Netflix's IronFist (HATE!) and Luke Cage (more like Luke Warm) and that I would be thrilled if we could have no more IronFist stories and Cage would only appear in other people's tales and we could have their shows replaced with the Misty Knight and Claire show! That would make me so happy!
No, I had no idea who Misty Knight was before Netflix told me but the moment she walked on screen, Gabe, as he does, got all excited and "But where's her Golden Arm? Tony Stark made it when blah blah blah and stuff and crap," and I just glared at him and told him to shut his trap because I was watching the new love of my life and I didn't want to learn her backstory from him. But because he yammered at me for a thousand years about golden arms made by Stark Industries, I knew who this was on the cover immediately and I was all YOINK! This is mine now, bitches!
And I took it home and read it.
And it's not that great of a story.
Also, the art made me feel stabby.

This is the tale of how an old activist named Ezra posthumously put together a crew in Harlem, a group of high-powered people who must work together to defeat Hydra. Yes. Hydra. The evil gang who still has not gotten a fun and sexy new logo, dammit. You think they're fighting racism and Millennials gentrifying the place up with mayonnaise and social injustice but, nah. It's Hydra because, as we all know, Hydra is really the only evil in the world., though they don't know any of this yet.
Each crew member gets to tell their introduction story, starting with the aforementioned Misty Knight

so you get to meet the crew members and learn that they all sound pretty much the same, just with different accents.
I don't know that I'd care so much about the bland voices had my new love and my old love (like, from back in the 80's) not been present. Because guess who else is in the crew?

In this story, she sounds like Siri, or something. Like the way she talks. She sounds like AI, is what I'm getting at here, not like a goddess who has been through hell a few times and who was an X-Men and who pretty much knows everyone who is anyone across the entire globe...galaxy, actually.
THEY DIDN'T DO STORM RIGHT! is what I'm trying to say and doing a pisspoor job of it.
And you know who else didn't do Storm right?
The artist.
The terrible, terrible artist.
We all know Storm does not stand around like a 98-year-old grandmother who hates children, that is not a look she has.

Only, apparently, it is in this book.
I am so offended.

But, seriously, the art is not good. I mean, it's fine in the detail work. The buildings and trees and stuff look ... fine. But the faces? SO bad! SO inconsistent!
For example, here are three panels of the same guy; three panels that happen within 2 pages. This is all the exact same guy, I swear.

That's our introduction to the dapper real estate agent.


Now he looks like a Benedict Cumberbatch clone...which is...fine. Whatever.

But then, 2 panels later:

WTF? He aged 40 years in the course of 2 panels? And now he has a shadowy upper lip and...what is going on here?
Bad art is what is going on here.

I don't think it's necessary for me to have read the rest of Coate's Black Panther line to appreciate this, especially since T'Challa is only 1/6th of the story. In fact, I don't think I need any backstory to get this, nothing more than what Netflix and Gabe have already fed me. What I did need was better characterization, specifically for Misty and Ororo, and faces that didn't shift from panel to panel.

I'll probably follow this storyline* but I'm not going to be first in line to get the next issue.
*Edit: Nope! Other reviewers are saying this story has been cancelled. I'd like to think it was because of the unpleasant art and the lack of characterization but I suspect it's because whoever is in charge of the comics line is not someone who likes the idea of a black superhero team. He probably said, "You know, African Americans make good sidekicks and co-heroes, but a whole team of non-white people makes it look like we're being racist," or some other ridiculous shit. Poor choice, dude. Really poor choice.

[B. P. Rinehart · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It was always me vs the world
Until I found it's me vs me
Why, why, why, why?
Why, why, why, why?
Just remember, what happens on Earth stays on Earth!
We gon' put it in reverse..." - DUCKWORTH. by Kendrick Lamar

A lot of Ta-Nehisi Coates coming out lately. I have been putting-off reviewing this book because it makes my heart grieve at its callous, early-cancellation. The handwriting was on the wall: you had the fact of Marvel's president being a Trump supporter and then its VP saying that he "heard" that sellers and vendors were against Marvel Comics' push towards more realistic depictions of NYC (or diversity, as some like to call it), but I still wanted to believe. I stuck with Coates on the main Black Panther series as long as I could, but was just not feeling it. When this book came out I was like, "perfect, him and Yona Harvey are writing the comic book I always wanted to read!" Then the hammer dropped, instead of facing the idea of an all-black superhero team, they cancelled the comic after one issue had been published. This was doubly-brutal because Marvel Comics had done the same thing to this book's predecessor The Crew by Christopher J. Priest. That cancellation contributed to Priest taking decade long hiatus from writing comics until Deathstroke (2016-) Vol. 1: The Professional. I have pretty much scaled down my consumption of Marvel Comics since BP&TC was cancelled and don't see myself buying a whole lot more of their product now. Their competition is too good now for me to take getting disrespected like this.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest, let's talk about this book. Coates & Harvey do an amazing job at setting-up the players that make-up The Crew who are brought together to investigate the mysterious death of a civil rights activist in police custody. Now, this old man was no normal freedom fighter and his death has started an uprising in Harlem. I love the way every character was put together in their own individual comic just like in Preist's The Crew. Coates & Harvey's writing and set-ups were truly centered around what it is to live, simple in the Marvel Universe, but in Harlem. The art by Butch Guice is perfect and his use of color-motifs was an obvious, but good choice.

This book is/was intended as a prequel to Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet. While it was not given that chance, it did show (once again) the true quality and authenticity that comicbooks can have if given that chance to play with the "big-guns." BP&TC was not given that chance, but god imagine if they were!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little story though I felt it must have been canceled out of nowhere with that ending they set up.

So this story is basically revolving around a friend getting killed and bringing together old friends or associates. With that Misty Knight, Storm, Black Panther, and Luke cage all come together. Each issue gives a little more insight to the man who's bringing them all together but also to tie them into one big reveal at the end. It's a murder mystery mixed with some strong political messages.

Good: Enjoyed the teaming up aspect here. It's always nice to see heroes working together and especially some lesser known ones like Misty Knight. I also thought some of the fights were really fun, and each character got to shine for a bit.

Bad: The big reveal felt okay at best though and the ending felt like set up for a team we will never get. I also thought the art sometimes felt rushed.

Overall this was pretty fun. I think a lot more fun than Black panther main story. Ta-Nehisi Coates can have a lot of fun dialogue when he wants to, and this proves he can do better than what he offered in the main BP Line (Though I only read volume 1, maybe it gets better?) Either way this is a 3 out of 5.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvel, you royally screwed the pooch when you canceled this series. To comic readers-this was one of the best books out there and it deserved your support.

Yes, I've been critical of Coates' writing in the past. Whether it is him or his co-writer Yona Harvey, this series give a reader pretty much all you can ask for. Well paced action, relevant social issues, and social problems that have no easy solution (over the years I've seen both sides argue for and against gentrification-yes poor people sometimes want newbies coming into the neighborhood and acknowledge the risks of their being so welcoming).

And, this creative team created new characters about whom I wanted top read more about. I have trouble recalling the last time someone created a NEW character for one of the big companies, and did the work so well that it made me want to come back for more of that character(s).

This is a story about gentrification, racial issues, and where the law fails, and they make if a damn fine read.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

first of all this should be called Misty Knight and the Crew because Black Panther is barely in this. Which is fine because I love Misty, obv.

I like the concepts here (HYDRA IS GENTRIFYING HARLEM) but there was a lot of legwork to set up the whole premise? I know this got canceled but I'm not sure when....oh okay there are no more issues forthcoming, which is A BUMMER because they just finished assembling the titular crew >:(

a note on the art (specifically the colorist)--mostly it was fine but there was an ongoing thing where Storm is semi-incognito and her nickname is "Blue" specifically and explicitly not because of her eyes but rather because of her "blue-black skin" but she was not depicted with especially dark skin? so that was...weird

anyway this was interesting but seriously bummed that it got canceled before this could really go anywhere. THANKS MARVEL.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really about Black Panther, but rather a group of African-American and African heroes that get involved in a murder case in Harlem. A prominent local activist with a history of speaking out against injustice is murdered in his jail cell. Misty Knight looks into it, and in pursuing the case she encounters Storm, Luke Cage, Black Panther, and Manifold, and in the end they work together to resolve the case. Each of these heroes gets an issue to be the POV character in the story, which is an interesting way to handle the narrative. It's a shame that this series was cancelled, because it handles contemporary issues facing African-Americans very well, and it connects these issues with the activism in the past.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was by far the best iteration of the recent Black Panther comics. Shame it was cancelled and forced to wrap up story lines so rapidly, this is the most salient and relevant comic I've ever read. On top of that, it was genuinely interesting. The flashbacks beginning each part worked in parallel with the modern day story to slowly unravel a conspiracy that really drew me in. Despite being rushed to conclusion, this still gets the highest rating from me.

[nkp · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fully and openly acknowledge my allegiance to DC but still………… is this it? Is this Marvel? Has Marvel been like this the whole time? The art was great, the characters were fine, the story was quite bad, the message was atrocious. I don’t see the “good cop” narrative as a nuanced analysis of police brutality. I don’t think “the activists are the real bad guys” is at all interesting or subversive. I don’t care about hydra’s grand mission to build fancy apartments in Harlem. I don’t know who thought this would be a good idea. It was not a good idea. My first stinker of the year :/

[Jeff Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series, gone too soon

What a shame. Marvel 86’d Black Panther and The Crew after a measly six issues. Here’s hoping Coates and crew get the chance to bring this team back in the pages of Black Panther.

[Mare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This comic is so good and so infuriating because Marvel promptly cancelled it. I guarantee sales of the trade will shock and astound them after the movie's success. It's a nice introduction to other Black heroes in the Marvel Universe, but doesn't retread anything for the OGs. There have been 8-10 Avenger offshoots consistently for the past 6 years; why can't there be BP, World of Wakanda, and The Crew?? Marvel, you fucked it up. I am hoping that more of this Crew collaboration will surface on TNC's Storm series. I wouldn't be shocked if this gets a reboot as an excuse for a new #1.

[Amy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of team up comic I'm looking for! It's really a shame that Marvel canceled them prematurely, because this could have been AMAZING.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually like detective type stories but this was just okay...I want to see Black Panther...not his alter identity.

[BoNNiE E. LiZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is almost painful to rate because the story suffered in the end from forces beyond its control. The first few issues of this are so outstanding, filled with characters I've loved my whole life who were excellently portrayed, and intriguing, real-world issues set skillfully against a superhero backdrop. The last issue, however, is so incredibly unsatisfying that it really puts a damper on the rest of the story arc, and it's because the series was canceled well before its time. That final issue is clearly a wrap-up that the creators were forced to shoehorn in, but honestly it's so confusing that it's nearly nonsensical. Shout out to the writers and artists for doing what they could with the circumstances they'd been given, but it's just such a shame because this series deserved much better treatment from Marvel.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Butch Guice headline a crew of writers and artists for a look at the mean streets of Marvel's Harlem neighborhood. A well-known political activist dies in police custody, igniting a battle over truth and justice. Misty Knight finds herself drawn into the struggle, as her search for answers unites a new Crew to defend the streets. Storm of the X-Men, the Wakandan king Black Panther, street-wise hero Luke Cage, and the teleporting Avenger known as Manifold each bring something different to the table. As the Crew uncovers a mystery that goes back decades, they must find a way to keep Harlem from imploding. Ta-Nehisi Coates addresses the issues facing people of color today with his intriguing writing. Despite the spot-on exploration of modern injustices, the flashbacks and twisting plot revelations bog the story down. Coates's narrative instead becomes a cameo of "Who's Who?" in the Marvel Universe as opposed to a full-on critique of racial divides in today's America. The art chores from Butch Guice are filled with rough edges, but admirably capture life on the streets of New York. Though his is rarely given costuming to work with, his street clothing is more than expressive enough for the urban feel of the book. Black Panther and the Crew is a nice start towards using pop culture to address social issues, but ultimately becomes lost in the streets of the Marvel Universe than the real world at large.

[Douglass Gaking · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great idea, and Coates did a fine job with it, but Marvel majorly disappointed here. Black Panther does not play much of a role in this. Maybe he was supposed to further down the road, but Marvel kept this to only 6 issues. Misty Knight and Storm are strong, the other characters are decent, and Coates tackles contemporary race issues in America as brilliantly as you would expect him to. Unfortunately, the illustrating is so awful that it is hard to read. Marvel wasn't fully committed to this idea. They should have hired a better artist and tried to develop this further with more issues. This is a big disappointment.

[Gamal Hennessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

We Are the Streets is an urban espionage story set in the Marvel Universe that also serves as the pseudo-origin story for a new permutation of a hero group. The story does a good job of blending modern social commentary with classic Marvel villains, but the need to justify the presence of so many characters and the lack of resolution at the end drag the story down to a typical modern Marvel series.

[Vendela · Rating 5 out of 5]

GODDAMNNNNNNNNNN.

[Phil Overeem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panthermania still in effect! Ororo and Misty—cool pairing!

[Sarospice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish Marvel had stuck with this because it really was a great read and an interesting team. Everyone trying to define HOME in the turbulance, looking for somewhere to belong, and how to survive... Brilliant! Maybe this as a NEW DEFENDERS?

[Arlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest, I struggled a little bit to follow the plot here and keep track of who was who. Maybe that's the point though. Gripping read, really well drawn, lots going on.

[Trike · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here we have a masterclass in how not to do a comic. Or tell a story. Jesus, this is bad on every level.

First of all, the title is Black Panther and the Crew, yet Black Panther is barely in this book. He doesn’t even show up until the last panel of the second chapter/issue. Then he and Storm check out new condos in Harlem, taking out their anger about gentrification on the real estate agent for some reason. The guy didn’t build the building, guys, and by the fucking way, you’re both African, so why are you upset about yuppies in Harlem? Isn’t there a genocide happening right next to Wakanda?

Which brings us to the core problem with this book: it tries to retcon the Marvel universe while also laying the blame for gentrification and police brutality at the feet of Hydra. That both amps up the problem while defanging the real-world issues of rich white people pushing out poor black people. We have crooked cops and militarized robot police enforcing rules designed to benefit landowners, but the message has to fight its way out of a clunky story.

The main character here is really Misty Knight, who I normally love, but here she’s just dumb and angry. Misty is tough and smart and competent, not a pinball to be batted around. Luke Cage shows up, too, in a scene taken straight from the TV show when Hydra blows up his house. He doesn’t seem very mad about that. In better books, Luke would kick eight kinds of ass for doing that. Here he just kind of shrugs.

I’m a huge Luke Cage fan. The guy is awesome, not just because he’s tough but because he’s layered and multifaceted. There’s a reason why he resonates with guys my age — yes, even us white guys — and that’s because he crystallized the issues of the 1970s perfectly by essentially personifying them. He’s one of the perfect superheroes-as-metaphor Marvel excels at, and he helped explain a complex world to us when we were kids. Quentin Tarantino says he’s his favorite superhero, and the actor Nicolas Coppola changed his last name to become Nic Cage because he loves him so much. It’s not an accident we’re all essentially the same age.

That’s why it annoys me to see him employed poorly here.

If Coates weren’t African American himself, the charge of racism might stick to this story. Almost all of Marvel’s major black characters are here in Harlem, even when they have no reason to be there. The one exception is Sam Wilson, aka Captain America (née The Falcon), who’s probably fighting aliens or something. It’s just a bunch of ugh.

The art is amazing... ly bad, too. Misty Knight doesn’t look like herself, Storm looks like a 70-year-old grandma fresh from chemotherapy, and it was impossible to follow the through lines of secondary characters because the linework is so inconsistent.

In short, this doesn’t work on any level.

[Phobean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well. I dug "Blue" and Misty Knight hanging out together, trying to solve a mystery. Everyone else is mostly fading from my memory. Interesting premise, and I appreciated the historical bent, especially focused on Harlem and how what was happening there influenced Black freedom fighters (and would-be superheroes) elsewhere. In that way, this collection had its feet on the ground. Structure-wise, what is gained by grand statements and pithy arguments over values and identity, is lost in character development and, well, plot. I can't tell you what ultimately happens, or why, even though I was looking at it with my own eyes. I also don't care. By book's end, I felt like all the dudes and their Big Ideas and inner-circles conflicts could go screw, just let me spend time with Blue and Misty and the woman who owned the diner.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intentionally and unapologetically all-black team of super-powered individuals in the Marvel universe are brought together for unknown reasons, but all signs point to it being related to gentrification in Harlem and the history of revolutionary movements and power imbalances among different demographics.
This is the FUBU of mainstream comicbooks. I love all the characters, and am on the same page as far as the sociopolitical commentary goes (although it's too on-the-nose a lot of the time).

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to like Coates' Black Panther titles, but they are just so awkward, dull and instantly forgettable.

[Theo · Rating 3 out of 5]

These six issues would've been an interesting set up for a new series, but...Marvel cancelled it.