The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
droar's review
4.0
Such potential to tell a great boots on the ground kind of super hero story, I'm bummed they've already axed this series. I like the detective shenanigans and the time jumping (though I found it occasionally visually confusing). The title is a bit misleading as Black Panther only shows up about halfway through (I assume they were trying to cash in on movie interest or that B.P. was going to play a much bigger role in future stories), Misty & Ezra are absolutely the center points for the plot. The only issue I had is Good stuff overall, I wish there was going to be more.
Spoiler
with the underlying super criminal activity in the unrest in Harlem. It feels like the whole point of the story is with issues of police violence, especially against black people, gentrification, and protesting when government resource abandon the people. To have these issues be supported by hydra feels like it blunts the issues. I dunno it just gave me a vaguely ick feeling, but I still liked the story in generalnovelistdienne's review
2.0
2.8
This should have been Mistry Knight and the Crew but I understand the double meaning of using Black Panther instead. Not my favorite storyline but then again I'm new to reading Marvel comics in general (I'm starting with the Black Panther series to dip my toes in even though I already know things based on characters more than plot when it comes to Marvel) so I barely know the evil organization Hydra.
This should have been Mistry Knight and the Crew but I understand the double meaning of using Black Panther instead. Not my favorite storyline but then again I'm new to reading Marvel comics in general (I'm starting with the Black Panther series to dip my toes in even though I already know things based on characters more than plot when it comes to Marvel) so I barely know the evil organization Hydra.
joshgauthier's review
4.0
3.5 stars maybe?
Coates's comics always feel balanced between politics and story, and "We Are the Streets" is an instance where it feels like that balance leaned a little heavily on the themes at the expense of storytelling. Simultaneously, there were bits of writing throughout this volume that felt as though they could have been smoothed out just a bit.
However, Coates and the rest of the team here have created a successful and engaging comic. The shifting perspectives work really well to deliver the story from a team perspective in a way that I don't think I've seen very often.
Despite some of the ongoing flaws, it's been quite interesting to see Coates developing this piece of the Marvel universe through (I think we're at three?) interconnected series and characters. There's room for improvement, but I'm happy to keep returning to stories of Black Panther and the rest of the Crew.
Coates's comics always feel balanced between politics and story, and "We Are the Streets" is an instance where it feels like that balance leaned a little heavily on the themes at the expense of storytelling. Simultaneously, there were bits of writing throughout this volume that felt as though they could have been smoothed out just a bit.
However, Coates and the rest of the team here have created a successful and engaging comic. The shifting perspectives work really well to deliver the story from a team perspective in a way that I don't think I've seen very often.
Despite some of the ongoing flaws, it's been quite interesting to see Coates developing this piece of the Marvel universe through (I think we're at three?) interconnected series and characters. There's room for improvement, but I'm happy to keep returning to stories of Black Panther and the rest of the Crew.
iselenris's review
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
i loved this with everything in me
rosasparks's review
3.0
Rounding up to 3. This series was canceled so there isn't a lot to really judge on because it never found its footing.
ericawrites's review
3.0
These six issues would've been an interesting set up for a new series, but...Marvel cancelled it.
vrcreads's review
5.0
I LOVED THIS. An all-black superhero team? Misty Knight and Storm together? A dream! The storyline was interesting, and the illustrations were vibrant and fit well into the story. Coates did a fantastic job with this, and I'm so sad that Marvel decided to cancel the series after issue #6. Wish there could be more!!
trike's review
1.0
Here we have a masterclass in how not to do a comic. Or tell a story. Jesus, this is bad on every level.
First of all, the title is Black Panther and the Crew, yet Black Panther is barely in this book. He doesn’t even show up until the last panel of the second chapter/issue. Then he and Storm check out new condos in Harlem, taking out their anger about gentrification on the real estate agent for some reason. The guy didn’t build the building, guys, and by the fucking way, you’re both African, so why are you upset about yuppies in Harlem? Isn’t there a genocide happening right next to Wakanda?
Which brings us to the core problem with this book: it tries to retcon the Marvel universe while also laying the blame for gentrification and police brutality at the feet of Hydra. That both amps up the problem while defanging the real-world issues of rich white people pushing out poor black people. We have crooked cops and militarized robot police enforcing rules designed to benefit landowners, but the message has to fight its way out of a clunky story.
The main character here is really Misty Knight, who I normally love, but here she’s just dumb and angry. Misty is tough and smart and competent, not a pinball to be batted around. Luke Cage shows up, too, in a scene taken straight from the TV show when Hydra blows up his house. He doesn’t seem very mad about that. In better books, Luke would kick eight kinds of ass for doing that. Here he just kind of shrugs.
I’m a huge Luke Cage fan. The guy is awesome, not just because he’s tough but because he’s layered and multifaceted. There’s a reason why he resonates with guys my age — yes, even us white guys — and that’s because he crystallized the issues of the 1970s perfectly by essentially personifying them. He’s one of the perfect superheroes-as-metaphor Marvel excels at, and he helped explain a complex world to us when we were kids. Quentin Tarantino says he’s his favorite superhero, and the actor Nicolas Coppola changed his last name to become Nic Cage because he loves him so much. It’s not an accident we’re all essentially the same age.
That’s why it annoys me to see him employed poorly here.
If Coates weren’t African American himself, the charge of racism might stick to this story. Almost all of Marvel’s major black characters are here in Harlem, even when they have no reason to be there. The one exception is Sam Wilson, aka Captain America (née The Falcon), who’s probably fighting aliens or something. It’s just a bunch of ugh.
The art is amazing... ly bad, too. Misty Knight doesn’t look like herself, Storm looks like a 70-year-old grandma fresh from chemotherapy, and it was impossible to follow the through lines of secondary characters because the linework is so inconsistent.
In short, this doesn’t work on any level.
First of all, the title is Black Panther and the Crew, yet Black Panther is barely in this book. He doesn’t even show up until the last panel of the second chapter/issue. Then he and Storm check out new condos in Harlem, taking out their anger about gentrification on the real estate agent for some reason. The guy didn’t build the building, guys, and by the fucking way, you’re both African, so why are you upset about yuppies in Harlem? Isn’t there a genocide happening right next to Wakanda?
Which brings us to the core problem with this book: it tries to retcon the Marvel universe while also laying the blame for gentrification and police brutality at the feet of Hydra. That both amps up the problem while defanging the real-world issues of rich white people pushing out poor black people. We have crooked cops and militarized robot police enforcing rules designed to benefit landowners, but the message has to fight its way out of a clunky story.
The main character here is really Misty Knight, who I normally love, but here she’s just dumb and angry. Misty is tough and smart and competent, not a pinball to be batted around. Luke Cage shows up, too, in a scene taken straight from the TV show when Hydra blows up his house. He doesn’t seem very mad about that. In better books, Luke would kick eight kinds of ass for doing that. Here he just kind of shrugs.
I’m a huge Luke Cage fan. The guy is awesome, not just because he’s tough but because he’s layered and multifaceted. There’s a reason why he resonates with guys my age — yes, even us white guys — and that’s because he crystallized the issues of the 1970s perfectly by essentially personifying them. He’s one of the perfect superheroes-as-metaphor Marvel excels at, and he helped explain a complex world to us when we were kids. Quentin Tarantino says he’s his favorite superhero, and the actor Nicolas Coppola changed his last name to become Nic Cage because he loves him so much. It’s not an accident we’re all essentially the same age.
That’s why it annoys me to see him employed poorly here.
If Coates weren’t African American himself, the charge of racism might stick to this story. Almost all of Marvel’s major black characters are here in Harlem, even when they have no reason to be there. The one exception is Sam Wilson, aka Captain America (née The Falcon), who’s probably fighting aliens or something. It’s just a bunch of ugh.
The art is amazing... ly bad, too. Misty Knight doesn’t look like herself, Storm looks like a 70-year-old grandma fresh from chemotherapy, and it was impossible to follow the through lines of secondary characters because the linework is so inconsistent.
In short, this doesn’t work on any level.
renatasnacks's review
3.0
first of all this should be called Misty Knight and the Crew because Black Panther is barely in this. Which is fine because I love Misty, obv.
I like the concepts here () but there was a lot of legwork to set up the whole premise? I know this got canceled but I'm not sure when....oh okay there are no more issues forthcoming, which is A BUMMER because they just finished assembling the titular crew >:(
a note on the art (specifically the colorist)--mostly it was fine but there was an ongoing thing where Storm is semi-incognito and her nickname is "Blue" specifically and explicitly not because of her eyes but rather because of her "blue-black skin" but she was not depicted with especially dark skin? so that was...weird
anyway this was interesting but seriously bummed that it got canceled before this could really go anywhere. THANKS MARVEL.
I like the concepts here (
Spoiler
HYDRA IS GENTRIFYING HARLEMa note on the art (specifically the colorist)--mostly it was fine but there was an ongoing thing where Storm is semi-incognito and her nickname is "Blue" specifically and explicitly not because of her eyes but rather because of her "blue-black skin" but she was not depicted with especially dark skin? so that was...weird
anyway this was interesting but seriously bummed that it got canceled before this could really go anywhere. THANKS MARVEL.