Ta-Nehesi Coates’ run on Black Panther comes to an end this June
By Eric Bartsch
Author and writer Ta-Nehesi Coates will finish up his four-year stretch of work on Black Panther this summer.
After four years and 68 issues of books in total, Ta-Nehesi Coates‘ run as the writer of Black Panther comics will cease as spring turns to summer in June. Issue No. 25 will be the author’s “landmark” final issue.
The announcement was made by Marvel at the C2E2 convention in Chicago this past weekend (HT: ComicBook.com). Coates’ last issue promises to wrap up the story he has been writing since he began an initial run four years ago that lasted until 2018.
Coates took over Black Panther in 2016 as part of Marvel’s All-New, All-Different initiative that started at the time. He’s had two discrete runs on the main Panther title: one that lasted 26 issues and another 25. Spinoffs he can add to his credit include Black Panther & The Crew, Black Panther: World of Wakanda, and Rise of the Black Panther.
In his first run on the book, Coates focused on T’Challa in his usual environs, his Kingdom of Wakanda, adjusting to the burdens of leadership. The next run saw T’Challa abducted, ripped away from his homeland and sent into outer space where “The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda” story was told.
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It was there as well that Erik Killmonger returned and bonded with an alien symbiote similar to Venom and Carnage.
Ta-Nehesi Coates is also a national correspondent for The Atlantic and a New York Times bestselling author. Some of his better-known books are the nonfiction works Between the World and Me and The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood.
His work on Black Panther earned so much praise within and outside the comic industry that it’s said to have helped the character transcend comics. It was reading Coates’ Black Panther that swayed Disney CEO Bob Iger, according to Iger’s memoir, to make a movie a priority.
T’Challa showed up on the scene in the MCU and instantly became an impact player, appearing in four blockbuster films — two of them Avengers movies. Black Panther returns for a solo adventure in a sequel to his 2018 film in May of 2022.
Until then, Black Panther No. 25 goes on sale in June of this year. Below is Marvel’s official solicitation:
"Black Panther #25Written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Art by Daniel AcunaTHE FINAL ISSUE OF TA-NEHISI COATES’ LANDMARK RUN!It’s the end of an era for the Black Panther as renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates concludes his Wakandan epic! Over four years, Coates has taken the Black Panther to hell and back and expanded Wakanda into the distant stars. Now, in his final issue, he brings T’Challa full circle, back to the home he left behind…and the crown he has never fully accepted. This is the story of a king who sought to be a hero, a hero who was reduced to a slave, a slave who advanced into legend…and the man who has struggled to hold up an empire in his bare hands. The journey will conclude, but the legend remains. Don’t miss the close of a historic epoch in comic history!On sale June 2020"
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What are some of your favorite moments from Coates’ time writing Black Panther? Are you sad to see him go? What do you hope he does next and what does the future hold for T’Challa? Tell us below and don’t forget to share this article and follow our coverage for more.