Suggested Black Panther Reading?

[WheelchairX]

I'm a big Marvel fan and really enjoy a lot of characters and stories. Now, I would say I have a limited knowledge of Black Panther and Wakanda mythos (though better than a casual reader), but I'm a hard core X-Men fan and therefore don't focus on much else.

However, I saw Black Panther at the weekend and I truly LOVED every moment of that film - and it has really encouraged me on to reading some BP. I know of Priest's run and the current Coates run but I was curious in finding what is best to read and in what order, to get the best experience of Black Panther. So, what do you suggest reading?

[Jabare]

EDIt: I'm at work so I can't do this in as much detail as I want, but I'll just keep it simple

Personal favorites
Christoper Priest run (Volume 3) The Client arc is just superb
-arguably the greatest run on the character
Reggie Hudlin's run (specifically the first few arcs, "Who is the Black Panther?" is awesome)
-reads like a summer block buster introduces Shuri and some new things to the mythos


Everyone is going to say read Jungle Action by Don McGregor. I'm not as high on it as some are but its pretty essential to the mythos, plus if you want to see BP bust some KKK heads in the later issues you won't be disappointed.


honorable mentions:
David Liss
-Man without Fear
-The Most Dangerous Man Alive

McDuffie's Fantastic Four
Black Panther: Secret Invasion
Avengers: Red Zone

[gurkle]

The basis for all the essential Black Panther runs, and the movie, is Don McGregor's run, which is collected in the Marvel Epic Collection "Panther's Rage."

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced T'Challa and Wakanda in Fantastic Four, and then he became an Avenger and moved to the States for a while, but McGregor was the writer who gave him his own series and built the world of Wakanda (with artists including Rich Buckler and Billy Graham), created Killmonger and other characters, and gave the comic a political/topical edge.

So start with McGregor and then move on to Priest's run.

(McGregor's run was followed by a run written and drawn by Jack Kirby, but while it's a fun comic it jettisoned everything from McGregor's run, to the point that T'Challa might as well be a different character - something lampshaded in one of Priest's stories.)

[WheelchairX]

The basis for all the essential Black Panther runs, and the movie, is Don McGregor's run, which is collected in the Marvel Epic Collection "Panther's Rage."

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced T'Challa and Wakanda in Fantastic Four, and then he became an Avenger and moved to the States for a while, but McGregor was the writer who gave him his own series and built the world of Wakanda (with artists including Rich Buckler and Billy Graham), created Killmonger and other characters, and gave the comic a political/topical edge.

So start with McGregor and then move on to Priest's run.

(McGregor's run was followed by a run written and drawn by Jack Kirby, but while it's a fun comic it jettisoned everything from McGregor's run, to the point that T'Challa might as well be a different character - something lampshaded in one of Priest's stories.)

Thanks - do you think I should read his introduction in FF #52 (?) or is this not essential ?

[gurkle]

Thanks - do you think I should read his introduction in FF #52 (?) or is this not essential ?

Yes, I think it is, just to get the sense of what a breakthrough character he was.

Luckily the Epic Collection I mentioned includes Fantastic Four 52 & 53 as a prelude to McGregor's run.

[Marvell2100]

Read his intro in FF#52.

I would follow that with:

Priest's Run - collected
Hudlin's Run - collected
Liss' Run - collected
McGregor's Run - collected
Hickman's New Avenger's
Secret Wars

[WheelchairX]

Read his intro in FF#52.

I would follow that with:

Priest's Run - collected
Hudlin's Run - collected
Liss' Run - collected
McGregor's Run - collected
Hickman's New Avenger's
Secret Wars

Yes, I think it is, just to get the sense of what a breakthrough character he was.

Luckily the Epic Collection I mentioned includes Fantastic Four 52 & 53 as a prelude to McGregor's run.

Thank you for this

[gurkle]

I should also warn you that even by the standards of the time, McGregor's Black Panther is very wordy and has tons and tons of narration (no thought balloons, though). I feel it's still enjoyable once you adjust for that, though, and like I said, it is the place where most of T'Challa's world was built, so it helps to read it first to see later runs like Priest's in context.

[WheelchairX]

I should also warn you that even by the standards of the time, McGregor's Black Panther is very wordy and has tons and tons of narration (no thought balloons, though). I feel it's still enjoyable once you adjust for that, though, and like I said, it is the place where most of T'Challa's world was built, so it helps to read it first to see later runs like Priest's in context.

So Bendis is basically McGregor 2.0? - thanks for the heads up.

[Daoud]

2. "Who Is The Black Panther?" by Christopher Priest
-(issues #1-6) of volume 4
-very accessible for new readers
-this reads like a summer block buster, introduces Shuri to the mythos and a few other concepts

"Who is the Black Panther" is by Reginald Hudlin, c'mon Jabare what you doing?

WheelchairX, Hudlin's series is indeed excellent and my favorite run!
You can see its inspiration for much of the current film, such as Wakanda always being more advanced than the rest of the world!


Excelsior!

Daoud

[WheelchairX]

EDIt: I'm at work so I can't do this in as much detail as I want, but I'll just keep it simple

Personal favorites
Christoper Priest run (Volume 3) The Client arc is just superb
-arguably the greatest run on the character
Reggie Hudlin's run (specifically the first few arcs, "Who is the Black Panther?" is awesome)
-reads like a summer block buster introduces Shuri and some new things to the mythos


Everyone is going to say read Jungle Action by Don McGregor. I'm not as high on it as some are but its pretty essential to the mythos, plus if you want to see BP bust some KKK heads in the later issues you won't be disappointed.


honorable mentions:
David Liss
-Man without Fear
-The Most Dangerous Man Alive

McDuffie's Fantastic Four
Black Panther: Secret Invasion
Avengers: Red Zone

Thanks for this - I'll be sure to check some of this out

[WheelchairX]

"Who is the Black Panther" is by Reginald Hudlin, c'mon Jabare what you doing?

WheelchairX, Hudlin's series is indeed excellent and my favorite run!
You can see its inspiration for much of the current film, such as Wakanda always being more advanced than the rest of the world!


Excelsior!

Daoud

Thanks Daoud, if it's as good at portraying Wakanda as the film is then I know it'll be great.