BLACK PANTHER #1 TA-NEHISI COATES, BRIAN STELFREEZE AND LAURA MARTIN MARVEL COMICS

Marvel has done a lot of cool things lately, but perhaps the coolest is the relaunch of Black

Panther and the choice of its creative team.

With issue one appearing just ahead of the character’s muchanticipated appearance in the movie Captain America: Civil

War, this new book is a lot deeper than the movie is expected to be.

It’s written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the high-profile American who writes about politics and culture for The Atlantic and last year won a National Book Award for Between The World and Me.

With beautiful art by Brian Stelfreeze, this book is itself extremely clever. The Black Panther is, once again, T’Challa, king of mineral rich, high-tech African nation Wakanda.

But in this book Coates asks: what kind of king can you be when you’re running around being a superhero with the Avengers? And why would his people accept an absolute monarchy?

It’s an entertaining book that’s worth picking up for its intelligent storytelling.