Coates’ project, then, is to elevate the hero to a higher place in the pantheon. To do it, he and Stelfreeze are delving deep into who the Black Panther is and what he means. The resulting story promises to be less about superhero squabbles, and more about people — particularly African people — navigating something far more universal: power.

"It really isn't enough to have people punching each other and being awesome," Coates tells me. "I'm trying to tackle really basic things, even as I have all the ass-kicking awesomeness that superhero comics are known for. This story we're telling in the first year is very much about the organization of power."

Black Panther has served as an avatar for an empowered black identity since his inception. The character made his fictional debut 50 years ago in 1966’s Fantastic Four #52. Created by legendary duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he was exceptional in a way that challenged conventional notions about Africa and blackness at the time. T’Challa managed to defeat Marvel’s First Family one by one in that single issue, all before revealing himself as the sovereign of a futuristic African society. He was the manifestation of Marvel’s continued willingness to champion unexpected heroes, but his debut was also timely, coinciding with the Civil Rights movement and the political atmosphere surrounding it.

"This story is about the organization of power."

But for a long time, Black Panther was relegated to being a guest star in other heroes’ stories. And when he did show up, his contributions were racialized and limited. "Oddly enough, Black Panther's almost like an analog to Tarzan," says Stelfreeze. "So you expect those types of stories, where it's like, ‘Hey, Tarzan's in the jungle doing jungle things’ or ‘Tarzan's in New York City, kind of doing his thing there.’"

It wasn’t until writer Don McGregor took T’Challa back to Wakanda in 1973’s "Panther’s Rage" that the character gained real depth and humanity. There, he grappled with a faction of Wakandans who wanted him deposed, while also dealing with the backlash caused by his romantic relationship with an outsider. It was complex, thought-provoking work. Subsequent writers like Christopher Priest, Reginald Hudlin, and Jonathan Hickman all expanded on that foundation in the decades that followed.

Coates’ own task while helming his series is to dig even deeper. The series, called "A Nation Under Our Feet," pulls its title from Steven Hahn’s Pulitzer-prize winning book of the same name. That text tackled the under-examined political power of African-Americans from the end of the Civil War on through Reconstruction and the Great Migration. "Steven Hahn is, ultimately, telling a human story — perhaps the oldest human story," says Coates. "In the case of his book the people happen to be called black. That's the specific story. But it always extracts to some larger theme. And I am engaged in that theme in this book."

"What happens to a state when its absolute monarch can no longer secure the safety of their people?"

Coates has reported on the black experience for years; last year, he won a National Book Award for his memoir Between the World and Me, which reflected on life in the midst of white supremacy in America. With Black Panther, he’s attempting to investigate politics and power structures as they’ve evolved in Wakanda, taking a fantastical context and bringing it down to earth.

"A Nation Under Our Feet" aims to unearth the politics of a culture comics haven’t yet fully explored. Wakanda was initially conceived as a utopian nation, but it has suffered crippling indignities in recent years. As Coates recently noted in The Atlantic, the country has been attacked by the likes of Doctor Doom and conquered by Thanos’ armies. As a political figure, the Black Panther’s duty is to keep his people safe. He failed. Coates writes:

"What, then, is the country if it is as vulnerable as all others? And what happens to a state when its absolute monarch can no longer fulfill the base requirement of any government—securing the safety of their people? I tend to think war."