Ever since hitting the net during the NBA finals, the trailer for Marvel’s Black Panther film, the first predominantly black entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has become a phenomenon.
For fans desperate for real diversity in the superhero genre, Creed helmer Ryan Coogler’s upcoming tentpole, set for a timely release during 2018’s Black History Month, seems almost too good to be true. But outside of launching a thousand memes, the source material still remains a mystery to new fans.
Enter Fantom Comics. The Dupont Circle shop has long been an inclusionary beacon in the often polarizing world of comics retailers. As part of a series of Black Panther programming, on Saturday night Fantom Comics presented “Move or You Will Be Moved,” named for a line of dialogue uttered in Captain America: Civil War by Black Panther’s head of security, Ayo (Florence Kasumba). The event was a hybrid fashion show/marketplace in the image of the fictional nation Wakanda, where the film will primarily be set.
One of the many charismatic and passionate figures in Fantom’s local comics loving community, Jabari Sellars, a former high school teacher, has led several book club events about Black Panther, so putting together this fashion show was the logical next step.
“Where’s all the Black Panther merchandise? We’re less than a year out and we don’t have any Happy Meal toys or anything we can just get on hand,” Sellars asked, introducing the concept to the crowd. “So with that came this idea of what about an Afro-futuristic showcase of what it means to be great? Of what it means to be in Wakanda.”
Black Panther, created by Marvel architects Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, first appeared in Fantastic Four #52 and was the first black superhero. Throughout the years, he’s been written by such innovators as Don McGregor in the ’70s to Christopher Priest in the ’90s, both of whom contributed a great deal to Panther’s foundational mythology.
In the mid 2000s, House Party director Reggie Hudlin collaborated with John Romita Jr. for “Who Is The Black Panther?”, a well regarded story arc that brought the character back to prominence. Recently, comics outsiders like Ta-Nehisi Coates (who’s made a few appearances at Fantom) and Roxane Gay have led the charge making the character as relevant to the comics world as Coogler and Chadwick Boseman (who plays T’Challa, the king of Wakanda, in the MCU) are to the silver screen.
As with other Fantom events, the show was at once inspiring and surprisingly chill. At its core, it was a smart excuse to get a great group of people together to mingle and talk comics while a well-curated mix played over the store’s speakers. The store served liquor for the night including a signature Black Panther shot that mixed black vodka and ginger ale.
For those looking to get their feet wet with the source material, a variety of comics were on display, featuring classic work and enthusiastic recommendations from Sellars, who was happy to point inquisitive minds in the right direction.
Before the fashion show began, local merchants sold their wares. Random customers popping into the store were pleasantly surprised to find non-comics related gifts for friends.
“We’re really excited to support local small businesses, because that’s what we’re all about here,” Fantom general manager Jacob Shapiro said of the marketplace. “At a comic shop, almost everything we sell, you can get online.” So to thank local customers who come to this brick-and-mortar shop, Shapiro wants “to pay it forward and support other small businesses.”
One of Sellars’ students, Umbrella Malik, presented a gorgeous painting of the Wakandan hero, the unveiling of which served as the perfect preamble to the fashion show. Once it began, “Legend Has It” by Run The Jewels, the theme music from the film’s trailer, rattled out of the speakers while models sashayed down the aisles in their self designed garb.
Trae, a young man dressed as a his interpretation of a Wakandan citizen, described his look as “40 percent Kunta, 40 percent Kanye and 20 percent me.”
On the other end of the spectrum, Mercedes, a local cosplayer and DJ, showed off her take on The X-Men’s Ororo Munroe, better known as Storm. Though she won’t be appearing in the upcoming film, thanks to that quadrant of the Marvel Universe’s film rights being retained by Fox, Ororo was once Black Panther’s wife. Mercedes did an amazing job mixing the recognizable iconography of Storm, most notably her hair and signature tiara, with a more formal look based on Wakandan royalty.
It was fascinating to see so many people expressing what it is about the Black Panther mythology that entices them on a surface level, but something Sellars said best boils down why the character is so important in 2017.
“As much as it is this dope comic book hero with dope claws, this speaks to the idea of what it would be like if there were a world in which Africans were not subjected to slavery. What happens if we weren’t conquered? What happens if we were allowed to simply be?”
Hopefully, Coogler’s film explores this. When it opens in February, Shapiro and the team are working to organize private screenings of the film for their fervent community. But in the interim, they’ll be hosting more themed events like this one, with more book clubs exploring the source material and more opportunities to showcase black excellence.
