The Crew(comics)

The Crew
Cover toThe Crew#6 (Dec. 2003), art byJ. H. Williams III.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date	July2003– January2004 April2017– Nov. 2017
No.of issues	(1st series) 7 (2nd series) 6
Main character(s)	The Crew:Junta,Josiah X,Kasper Cole,War Machine Black Panther and the Crew:Black Panther,Eden Fesi,Luke Cage,Misty Knight,Storm
Creative team
Created by	Christopher Priest(writer) Joe Bennett(artist)
Written by	Ta-Nehisi Coates
Penciller(s)	Butch Guice

The Crewis acomic bookseriespublished byMarvel Comicsfeaturing teams of superheroes primarily of African descent banding together inNew York Cityto fight injustice.

The first series was published in2003and ran for seven issues. The series was written byChristopher Priestand illustrated byJoe Bennett.The second series, a revival known asBlack Panther and the Crew,was published in 2017 and ran for six issues. It was written byTa-Nehisi Coatesand illustrated byButch Guice.

Publication history

2003 series

According to writerChristopher Priest's pitch,The Crewwas about four hardened heroes who had all lost their families and came together initially out of self-interest, but would soon discover their commonality of loss. The Crew consisted of orphans. These men were dedicated to their respective goals, but each had a hole in his center. The seven stories released prior to cancellation were introductory pieces. If the series had continued, it would have highlighted each man's personal evolution.

The firststory arc,Big Trouble In Little Mogadishu,was focused on the origin of Josiah X, son ofIsaiah BradleyfromTruth: Red, White & Black.Writer Priest intended that Josiah would eventually lead the team.

2017 series

After the success of his run onBlack Panther,Coates launched thespin-offtitleBlack Panther and the Crew,a revival of the 2003 series.

Coates originally wanted to use the same characters from the 2003 series, but found that a number of them weren't available.After selecting a new Crew, he ultimately added two female members —Misty KnightandStorm.PoetYona Harveyalso contributed to the series (as she did on another short-livedBlack Pantherspin-off,World of Wakanda).Black Panther and the Crewran six issues before being canceled due to low sales.

Plot

2003 series

The Crewtakes place in theNo man's landbetween the streets of the fictional "Little Mogadishu" and those of the fictional exclusive gated community of "Princeton Walk" inBrooklyn,New York. Princeton Walk was developed by 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.Little Mogadishu 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.

Jim Rhodes, formerlyWar Machine,comes to Little Mogadishu to look into the murder of his estranged sister. He delivers the men responsible for his sister's murder to the police, coming across the local Muslim preacherJosiah Xalong the way. However, this is not enough to satisfy Rhodey, and he sets his sights on the 66 Bridges leader, Triage. His covert, vigilante action and contact with Josiah puts him onKasper Cole's radar, making Kasper suspicious of what a guy like Rhodey is doing in a place like the Mog. Rhodey hits 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 draws in Junta, who wants to leverage his way back into the spy business. He finds himself drafted into Rhodey's plan along with Kasper Cole and eventually a reluctant Josiah X.

Together, the Crew blackmails a long list of corrupt officials to turn in evidence against 66 Bridges and Triage and then goes after Triage directly. As Triage is no lightweight, the situation gets messy and some of the Crew must decide between their self-interests and being heroes. For Josiah, the decision to do the right thing is simple and instant. Junta reluctantly turns Triage into the authorities, blowing his chance to use Triage to get back in with his former Boss es. Kasper Cole keeps 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 inThe Crewwere members of racial minorities, Priest chose not to centerThe Crewaround race:

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

— Christopher Priest

Nonetheless, critics have called Priest'sThe Crew,"The blackest superhero story that Marvel Comics ever published."

2017 series

Black Panther and the Crewtakes place in the context ofAll-New, All-Different Marvel.FollowingBlack Panther's evidence of outside influences fueling dissent inWakanda,T'Challa calls onLuke Cage,Misty Knight,Storm,andEden Fesi.Luke Cage describes the group as "The Crew". The series is set inHarlemand the plot is set into motion by an episode ofpolice brutality.

Characters

Original Crew

• Junta— Daniel "Danny" Vincent, freelance intelligence agent and con man
• Justice— Josiah "Josiah X" Bradley, son ofIsaiah Bradley,the blackCaptain America
• Kasper Cole— Kevin "Kasper" Cole, the White Tiger, is heir-in-waiting to the title ofBlack Panther
• War Machine— Jim Rhodes, formerUnited States Marineand friend ofIron Man

Black Panther and the Crew

• Black Panther— T'Challa, King ofWakanda,member ofThe Avengers
• Eden Fesi— also known as Manifold;aboriginal Australianmutant with the ability to bend time and space, connecting one piece to another and allowing him to teleport
• Luke Cage— Hero for hire
• Misty Knight— formerNYPDofficer, now private investigator with bionic prosthetic arm
• Storm— Ororo Munroe, mutant and member of the X-Men

See also

• Truth: Red, White & Black

References

• The Crewat theGrand Comics Database(2003)
• The Crew(title)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original) (2003)
• The Crew (team)at the Comic Book DB (archived fromthe original) (2003)
• Black Panther and The Crewat theGrand Comics Database(2017)

External links

• The Crewat Marvel
• The Crewby Christopher Priest