Jim Calafiore

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

After his run on Black Panther came to an end, Christopher Priest began a short-lived ongoing called The Crew, a team book that included one-time Black Panther Kasper Cole (now the White Tiger) among its members. I wasn't super into Kasper part of Priest's Black Panther run, but The Crew was included in the Christopher Priest Black Panther: The Complete Collection volumes, which you can read for free on Hoopla, so I figured why not read it? (I'd already read the issues from the main title collected here, #50-56 & 59-62, so I did not reread them.)

It was kind of worth reading, kind of not. Certainly it wasn't worth it for Kasper, who continues to spin his wheels as a character, arguing with his girlfriend and expectant mother of his child, chasing promotion so he can afford to support his mother and girlfriend. The ongoing thing about his dad wasn't picked up at all, and by the end of these seven issues, Cole isn't really anywhere we haven't already seen him.

The other three members of the "Crew" (never called that in the story) are James "Rhodey" Rhodes, the one-time Iron Man and War Machine; Junta, a superpowered information broker whose mom is a robot who I think appeared in one issue of Black Panther vol. 3; and Josiah X, the son of a black man who was experimented on during World War II in an attempt to create super-soldier serum. The first few issues look at each man in turn; the "team" really only kind of comes together with issue #7, when of course the title was cancelled. Junta probably could have become fun with time, but the real standouts here are Rhodes and Josiah.Rhodes I don't think I have ever actually read a comic about before, but I liked what Priest did with him here; a man who use to be on top but has found himself at the bottom trying to climb his way back up using his sense of justice as a guide. I don't know how the character is in actual Iron Man comics, but I would read more stories about him if they were like this.

Josiah X (called "Justice" in behind-the-scenes information but not in the actual book) is a really interesting character, a black Muslim community organizer who dons Captain America iconography. Can such a man reconcile the contradictions that led to his own existence? How can he wear the emblem of the country that treated him and his father so disposably? Priest and artist Joe Bennett do their best work with Josiah, and unfortunately only scratch the surface of the character. I gather he hasn't really appeared since, but I am curious to pick up the Captain America: The Truth miniseries where his father originally appeared.

As I've alluded to, it's a bit of a slow burn, which was probably a mistake for a book that bundled together a bunch of has-been and also-ran characters; I cannot imagine it sold well at all. I enjoyed it well enough, but by the end of seven issues, I wasn't convinced we needed seven issues to see the Crew take down some pretty ordinary gangsters. A decent read, but not really for Black Panther–related reasons. I gather the Crew returns during Ta-Nehisi Coates's run, but not with this line-up.… (mere)

This is the final collection of Christopher Priest's run on Black Panther. It collects the graphic novel Black Panther: Black and White as well as issues 50-56 and 59-62 (issues 57 and 58 aren't really part of this storyline and are included in Volume 3), and The Crew 1-7. Surprisingly, T'Challa is not the primary character in this book. Beginning with Black and White, T'Challa is missing, presumed dead. Given that this is the comic book world, any given character stays dead an even shorter period of time than a soap opera character. Anyway, the story focuses on Kevin "Kasper" Cole, an NYC cop who has acquired Panther's uniform and found it useful to wear under his clothes for its bullet-proof properties. When a drug bust goes south and Kasper gets suspended, he thinks someone on the force tipped off the drug gang. Naturally, he decides that the best way to find out is to impersonate the Black Panther as he investigates. This draws the attention of Hunter, the White Wolf and T'Challa's frequent nemesis, not to mention T'Challa himself eventually. When this story concludes and moves on to the regular Black Panther issues, Kasper is still pretty much our lead. He's still trying to bring down the 66 Bridges gang. Moving on to The Crew, we have Kasper, Rhodey, Junta, and Josiah X. This also ties in with bringing down 66 Bridges. There is a resolution at the end, but a few unanswered questions still remain.

Kasper was a good cop in a city full of bad cops, but at home he was a total jerk to his pregnant girlfriend (whom he commonly referred to as his annoying girlfriend) and mother. Yeah, it had to be frustrating being in a small apartment with the two of them, since they never really got along well together, but he was a terrible boyfriend and son. All there is to it. Since I wasn't a big fan of Kasper, I didn't enjoy this as much as the rest of the Black Panther series. I wanted more, well, Black Panther. There was an all-too-short cameo from Queen Divine Justice that I loved. I was also happy to see Everett Ross return, if only for the familiar face. I liked the origin of Josiah X from The Crew and would have enjoyed more about him. Unfortunately, the title was canceled after the final issue in this book, so there is no more Crew.* The completist in me is glad I read this and obviously fans of Christopher Priest and his writing are going to enjoy it. Had T'Challa been a bigger part of it, perhaps I would have enjoyed it more too.

*Not this iteration anyway. Ta-Nehisi Coates, the writer of the current Black Panther series, is coming out with a new version later this year.… (mere)