Black Panther Appreciation 2019

[Jabare]

I like Aarons run, but it's not blowing me away.

His usage of BP and Wakanda is very cool. From a purely BP standpoint it's arguably the best Avengers run. But as an Avengers story it's sort of hit and miss. A lot of his characterization and continuity at times is spotty. The first arc as a whole was sort of a mess. And it's somewhat easy to lose interest in the issues that focus on just one character unless you're really invested in that one character.

Overall it's a fun run that does a lot of things right, but it's uneven and at times all over the place. In hindsight I think he perhaps needed 2 books like Hickman during his Avengers run to cram everything in there.

best Avengers run of the last 8 years. Aaron is juggling a lot but its still easy to follow and very accesible for new readers. Once the second arc kicked off he really did a better job of laying out the ground work and setting up plot points. The whole dead Celestial and 1,000 BC Avengers story was kinda meh, but that all thankfully fell away. The Avengers got a cool new HQ out of it at least.

I also feel like he did a seemless job of aligning the characters with their iconic versions. What Aaron is doing with the vampires, Squadron Supreme, Mephisto, Coulson, Winter Guard, Namor & the Guardians of the Deep. Loving it.

The only serious complaint I've seen thrown at Aaron is She-Hulk and at this point that almost seems company driven.

[Marvell2100]

best Avengers run of the last 8 years. Aaron is juggling a lot but its still easy to follow and very accesible for new readers. Once the second arc kicked off he really did a better job of laying out the ground work and setting up plot points. The whole dead Celestial and 1,000 BC Avengers story was kinda meh, but that all thankfully fell away. The Avengers got a cool new HQ out of it at least.

I also feel like he did a seemless job of aligning the characters with their iconic versions. What Aaron is doing with the vampires, Squadron Supreme, Mephisto, Coulson, Winter Guard, Namor & the Guardians of the Deep. Loving it.

The only serious complaint I've seen thrown at Aaron is She-Hulk and at this point that almost seems company driven.

Yeah, the first arc wasn't that good but after that, he hit his stride even with the one off solo stories.

The War of the Realms tie-in wasn't great imo but Aaron is setting up a lot of good stories and he's using BP in the right way.

[Jabare]

Yeah, the first arc wasn't that good but after that, he hit his stride even with the one off solo stories.

The War of the Realms tie-in wasn't great imo but Aaron is setting up a lot of good stories and he's using BP in the right way.

Honestly, I didn't even read all those War of the Realms tie-ins. I got Strikeforce for Blade and that was it.

[XPac]

best Avengers run of the last 8 years. Aaron is juggling a lot but its still easy to follow and very accesible for new readers. Once the second arc kicked off he really did a better job of laying out the ground work and setting up plot points. The whole dead Celestial and 1,000 BC Avengers story was kinda meh, but that all thankfully fell away. The Avengers got a cool new HQ out of it at least.

I also feel like he did a seemless job of aligning the characters with their iconic versions. What Aaron is doing with the vampires, Squadron Supreme, Mephisto, Coulson, Winter Guard, Namor & the Guardians of the Deep. Loving it.

The only serious complaint I've seen thrown at Aaron is She-Hulk and at this point that almost seems company driven.

I didn't like the first arc. I thought the War of Realms tie-ins were so-so. And some of the One Million BC Avenger one shots sort of killed the momentum of the book for me. So I wouldn't say he completely knocked it out of the ball park even after the first arc.

But I do enjoy the heck out of a lot of his world building. His handling of the vampires, the Squadron, the Winter Guard, etc is a lot of fun. He's using a lot of his previous continuity from Ghost Rider and THor very well (even though that arguably makes it a tad less new reader friendly), and overall it's a fairly deep book while still managing to stay fun unlike HIckman at times. So he's doing a lot more right than wrong.

[Ororo101]

Yeah, the timeline issue is messed up at this point. Although he has a beard, which makes you look older anyway Honestly, I thought he was supposed to be in the future so I'm not sure when that apparently changed.

Whether this is a good story or not, it's really hard to read in a monthly format. I agree it doesn't advance at a very fast pace but, more importantly, I struggle to remember what happened that lead from moment to moment.

I agree with this. Coates’s books are definitely read best in tpbs. As far as yesterday’s issue goes it felt the most “filler” for me out of the whole arc so far. Was not impressed but still picked it up for the cover and so I have the whole collection when it’s finished. Might consider waiting next time though, depending on how it goes. Really thought he’d make it home by the end of this issue at least.

[XPac]

I agree with this. Coates’s books are definitely read best in tpbs. As far as yesterday’s issue goes it felt the most “filler” for me out of the whole arc so far. Was not impressed but still picked it up for the cover and so I have the whole collection when it’s finished. Might consider waiting next time though, depending on how it goes. Really thought he’d make it home by the end of this issue at least.

I think comic book writers in general who tend to have long runs (Bendis, Hickman, Coates), often tend to write in a decompressed manner which read better in trade. When you don't have to worry about your run being cancelled in 6 or 12 issues, you can sort of enjoy playing a longer game. It's almost the difference between writing a TV show and a movie. These are guys who are writing stories which potentially span a year or more, which is a far cry from old school comics which were one and done.

[MindofShadow]

I've actually read season 1 and 2 in TPB style

It really doesn't read THAT much better. Especially season 2. It is still a lot of talking and boredom in 12 issues.

His pacing issues aren't just month to month, he has whole issues like the last one where you barely get any information or it is just a repeat of what happened before. Or you get full issues of people having uninteresting conversations (he's especially found of T'challa getting scolded and talked down to)

This seasons "star wars battle" is last seasons "portal opens with monster people." Just repeat plot point over and over with some talking.

Season one was by far his best "storytelling" in that each issue and panel was actually useful for something. That something may be garbage but it was something lol. This last two season feel like multiple pages of padding the story out.

Season 1 should have been 18 issues with Acuna art (so we get a sense of scale, better fights, actually feel like Wakanda is falling apart, breathing room for big battles and resolutions and such). This last two seasons should have been 6-8 issue arcs at this point because that is all the story he's provided.

[Ororo101]

I agree, it started off so strong imo! Really enjoyed all of the development he’s done with Bast as far as characterizing her goes. But ever since T’challa got his memories back it feels like the story has lost its drive all of a sudden. I’m gonna need Coates to pick it up for these next couple issues.

[lemonpeace]

What's the feel on the current Black Panther title? I read the first 2 issues and fell off because I just couldn't get into it but I finally got around to reading it and man, I am really enjoying this story so far. I'm up to issue 7, does it eventually tie into what's going on with everything else Black Panther is doing in the Marvel universe?

[MindofShadow]

does it eventually tie into what's going on with everything else Black Panther is doing in the Marvel universe?

So far, nope lol.

14 issues in, no end in sight.

[Cville]

What's the feel on the current Black Panther title? I read the first 2 issues and fell off because I just couldn't get into it but I finally got around to reading it and man, I am really enjoying this story so far. I'm up to issue 7, does it eventually tie into what's going on with everything else Black Panther is doing in the Marvel universe?

The feel is its overlong, repetitive, boring and a wasted concept we've played around with before. It doesn't connect to anything in the main Marvel storyline thus far. The best it has is art and two or three good cliffhangers at the end of issues. Only one of which was worth anything in the following issue.

[Marvell2100]

What's the feel on the current Black Panther title? I read the first 2 issues and fell off because I just couldn't get into it but I finally got around to reading it and man, I am really enjoying this story so far. I'm up to issue 7, does it eventually tie into what's going on with everything else Black Panther is doing in the Marvel universe?

It reads like an Elseworlds or Vertigo title.

And not in a good way.

[Overhazard]

It reads like an Elseworlds or Vertigo title.

And not in a good way.

So heady and pretentious then, got it.

[Ezyo1000]

I've actually read season 1 and 2 in TPB style

It really doesn't read THAT much better. Especially season 2. It is still a lot of talking and boredom in 12 issues.

His pacing issues aren't just month to month, he has whole issues like the last one where you barely get any information or it is just a repeat of what happened before. Or you get full issues of people having uninteresting conversations (he's especially found of T'challa getting scolded and talked down to)

This seasons "star wars battle" is last seasons "portal opens with monster people." Just repeat plot point over and over with some talking.

Season one was by far his best "storytelling" in that each issue and panel was actually useful for something. That something may be garbage but it was something lol. This last two season feel like multiple pages of padding the story out.

Season 1 should have been 18 issues with Acuna art (so we get a sense of scale, better fights, actually feel like Wakanda is falling apart, breathing room for big battles and resolutions and such). This last two seasons should have been 6-8 issue arcs at this point because that is all the story he's provided.

Yeah I agree with this. Not sure where people think that poor pacing on the writer's end will somehow magically be
fixed in tpb form. The issue is simple. In all 3 seasons Coates has enough actual story and content for about 6-8 issues MAX. He doesn't follow his own continuity, he doesn't follow through with his plot, and he can't even be consistent with his characterizations (seriously season one had mopey pants and he brings it BACK again for in season so 3)

Really It feels like Coates talked a big game claiming in interviews he had 5 years of stories to tell, but when it came time to deliver he realized he does that and so now he has to slow the plot down and repeat the same issues over and over to pad time. And it's doing more harm then good and if anything, tpb will simply highlight how repetitive nthis season has been

[DigiCom]

So heady and pretentious then, got it.

Coates has been pretentious since Day One.