Black Panther Spinoff Canceled

05/14/2017 10:09 am EDT

Marvel has put an abrupt end to Black Panther and the Crew following the release of the series' second issue on Wednesday.

Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates tells the Verge that the reason for the cancellation is poor sales. While the series has already been canceled, Marvel Comics will continue to publish Black Panther and the Crew through issue six so that Coates and artist Butch Guice can complete their initial story.

Black Panther and the Crew brought together several of Marvel's most popular black characters, including Black Panther, Luke Cage, Storm, Misty Knight, and Manifold for a story dealing with police violence in Harlem.

Inspired by Christopher Priest's The Crew from 2003, Black Panther and the Crew places usually spectacular characters in a more grounded and socially relevant context. However, Coates tells the Verge that Black Panther and the Crew wasn't about making a political statement.

"The Crew was an opportunity to get inside them as black people," Coates said, assuring fans that "the mystery will be solved."

Coates began writing Marvel's Black Panther in 2016. Black Panther #1 sold over 250,000 copies and was the best-selling comic of April 2016. The first season of Black Panther, titled "A Nation Under Our Feet," ran for twelve issues. The second season of Black Panther, "Avengers of the New World," began in Black Panther #13 in April 2017.

Black Panther and the Crew was the second spinoff Marvel launched out of Coates' Black Panther run. The first was Black Panther: World of Wakanda, a series co-written by Coates and rotating guest authors. The stories focus on the supporting cast of Coates' Black Panther with the intent of building out the character's world and mythology. Roxanne Gay contributed to the first five issues and Rembert Browne came on board with April's Black Panther: World of Wakanda #6, along with original The Crew artist Joe Bennet. The series has been missing in action since then, though Marvel never officially stated that it was canceled.

Black Panther and the Crew #3 goes on sale in comic book stores and via digital comic book apps on June 14, 2017.

Black Panther and the Crew #3
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(W) Ta-Nehisi Coates (A) Butch Guice, Mack Chater (CA) John Cassaday

• When the Black Panther makes it known that he too was an associate of Ezra Miller, the late Harlem community pillar and social activist who died in police custody, the case finds new life.

• Was there more to Miller than he let on? Was his activism a front for something larger?

• One thing's for certain: What's happening in Harlem is not new. It stretches back decades. The secret super hero history of the Marvel Universe continues!

Rated T+
In Shops: Jun 14, 2017
SRP: $3.99

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