Where is Marvel's Black Panther ongoing series? That's a question that's been asked since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic which threw a wrench into longtime series writer Ta-Nehisi Coates' planned June finale of the series with Black Panther #25. But it's been especially prevalent this week, as Marvel published a eulogy to the late Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman by Coates in many of its major titles this week.
The pandemic led to the upcoming issues of the Black Panther series to be postponed indefinitely, with the last one being March 25's Black Panther #22. But while all of Marvel's other major titles have resumed publication (some as early as May), Coates' Black Panther remains aloof as the most notable title missing since the onset of the pandemic.
Back on February 29 in what became the last major comic convention (C2E2) before the onset of the pandemic, Marvel announced that Coates would be wrapping up his four-year Black Panther run with a 40-page finale drawn by current series artist Daniel Acuna and the returning Brian Stelfreeze, who drew much of the first year of Coates' run.
"It's the end of an era for the Black Panther as renowned writer Ta-Nehisi Coates concludes his Wakandan epic!" reads the solicitation for the finale as announced in February. "Over four years, Coates has taken the Black Panther to hell and back and expanded Wakanda into the distant stars.
"Now, in his final issue, he brings T'Challa full circle, back to the home he left behind…and the crown he has never fully accepted," the synopsis continues. "This is the story of a king who sought to be a hero, a hero who was reduced to a slave, a slave who advanced into legend…and the man who has struggled to hold up an empire in his bare hands. The journey will conclude, but the legend remains. Don't miss the close of a historic epoch in comic history!"
Newsarama reached out to Marvel for an update on the status of Black Panther #23-#25, but have not received a response.
The publisher has released the schedule for its titles through the end of 2020, and Black Panther #23-#25 is not in those solicitations.
Read our list of the best Black Panther stories of all time - which includes Coates and Stelfreeze's first arc together.
