The Crew (comics)

The Crew was the name of two short-lived comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Both series involved teams of primarily black superheroes banding together in New York City to fight injustice.

The Crew
Cover to The Crew #6 (Dec. 2003), art by J. H. Williams III.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
Publication dateJuly 2003 - January 2004
April 2017 - Nov. 2017
No. of issues(1st series) 7
(2nd series) 6
Main character(s)
    Creative team
    Created byChristopher Priest (writer)
    Joe Bennett (artist)
    Written byTa-Nehisi Coates
    Penciller(s)Butch Guice

    The first series was published in 2003 and ran seven issues. The series was written by Christopher Priest, and illustrated by Joe Bennett. The second series, a revival known as Black Panther and the Crew, was published in 2017 and ran six issues. It was written by Ta-Nehisi Coates and illustrated by Butch Guice.

    Publication history

    2003 series

    According to writer Christopher Priest's pitch, The Crew was about four hardened heroes who had all lost their families; four men who came together initially out of self-interest, but would soon discover their commonality of loss. The Crew were all in one way or another orphans. These men were intensely dedicated to their respective goals, but each had a hole in their center. The seven stories that were released before the book's cancellation were for the most part introductory pieces, basically breaking down the lives of each member, his personal pain, and the universe he lived in. If the series had continued, it would have highlighted each man's personal evolution to his "state of grace."[1]

    The bulk of the first story arc, Big Trouble In Little Mogadishu, was focused on the origin of Josiah X, son of Isaiah Bradley from Truth: Red, White & Black. Writer Priest intended that Josiah would eventually lead the team.[1][2]

    2017 series

    After the success of his run on Black Panther, Coates launched the spinoff title Black Panther and the Crew, a revival of the 2003 series.[3]

    Coates originally wanted to use the same characters from the 2003 series, but found that a number of them weren't available.[3] After selecting a new Crew, he ultimately added two female members — Misty Knight and Storm. Poet Yona Harvey also contributed to the series (as she did on another short-lived Black Panther spinoff, World of Wakanda). Black Panther and the Crew ran six issues before being canceled due to low sales.[4][5]

    Overview

    2003 series

    The Crew takes place in the No man's land between the streets of the fictional "Little Mogadishu" and those of the fictional exclusive gated community of "Princeton Walk" in Brooklyn, New York. Princeton Walk was developed by multimillion-dollar investments and tax incentives to Grace & Tumbalt, a largely black-owned corporation, who cleaned up a section of Brooklyn and moved the criminal element and the poverty line residents out.[1] Little Mogadishu, or "The Mog," as the locals call it, is a side effect of the gentrification process so that displaced criminal and poverty elements are now concentrated in a war zone outside Princeton Walk's walls.[1]

    Jim Rhodes, formerly War Machine but now down on his luck, came to Little Mogadishu to look into the murder of his estranged sister, and when it became apparent that the police were not going to get any results, he took the matter into his own hands. He delivered the men responsible for his sister's murder to the police in a neatly tied up package for them, coming across the local Muslim preacher Josiah X along the way. However, this was not enough to satisfy Rhodey, and he set his sights on the 66 Bridges leader, Triage. His covert, vigilante action and contact with Josiah put him on Kasper Cole's radar, making Kasper suspicious of what a guy like Rhodey was doing in a place like the Mog. Rhodey hit Little Mogadishu like a force of nature, derailing the secret money train that delivered bribes in bulk to a large number of corrupt officials. This action drew in Junta, who smelled the opportunity to leverage his way back into the spy business if he could get a piece of the action. He found himself drafted into Rhodey's plan along with Kasper Cole and eventually a reluctant Josiah X.

    Together, the Crew blackmailed a long list of corrupt officials to turn in evidence against 66 Bridges and Triage and then went after Triage directly. As Triage was no lightweight, the situation got messy and some of the Crew had to decide between their self-interests and being heroes. For Josiah, the decision to do the right was simple and instant. Junta reluctantly turned Triage into the authorities, blowing his chance to use Triage to get back in with his former bosses. Kasper Cole kept busy saving lives as the White Tiger, sacrificing his chance to get in on the big bust as Kasper Cole and further his police career.

    The Crew apparently did not remain together after this event. Rhodey soon went back to being War Machine, and Josiah was said to have disappeared.

    While many of the characters in The Crew were members of racial minorities in the United States, Priest chose not to center The Crew around race relations:

    So I find myself having to say, more than what The Crew is, what The Crew is not. The Crew is not The Black Avengers. The Crew is not "A Ghetto Book". The Crew is not even remotely about race. Race is never even mentioned in The Crew. It is a complete non-issue.

    — Christopher Priest

    Nonetheless, critics have called Priest's The Crew, "The blackest superhero story that Marvel Comics ever published."[6]

    2017 series

    Black Panther and the Crew takes place in the context of All-New, All-Different Marvel. Following Black Panther's gathering of evidence of outside influences fueling dissent in Wakanda, T'Challa calls on Luke Cage, Misty Knight, Storm, and Eden Fesi. Luke Cage describes the group as "The Crew". The series is set in Harlem and the plot is set into motion by an episode of police brutality.[4]

    Members

    Original Crew

    Black Panther and the Crew

    See also

    Notes
    1. See Digital Priest: The Crew Archived 2011-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
    2. See Marvel Universe: The Crew
    3. Dockterman, Eliana (January 20, 2017). "Ta-Nehisi Coates Is Expanding the Black Panther Universe with The Crew". Time.
    4. Nazaryan, Alexander (May 15, 2017). "Marvel Cancels Ta-Nehisi Coates's Black Panther & The Crew Comic After Two Issues". Time.
    5. Charles Pulliam-Moore (May 14, 2017). "Marvel's Cancelling Black Panther & The Crew, One of Its Most Important Comics Right Now". IO9. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
    6. Narcisse, Evan. "The Blackest Superhero Story That Marvel Comics Ever Published," Gizmodo (8/03/16).

    References
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