T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2021

[MindofShadow]

Yea every superhero that gets consistent publication is gonna go through the same story beats. How many times has Steve put down the shield and questioned America? How often does Tony lose his company? Thor being forced to take the throne of Asgard? T'Challa getting constantly deposed is no different than Aquaman going through the same. It's annoying and lazy most of the time unless there's a big twist and it leads somewhere interesting.

But I could understand Huntsman Spider's point about being uncomfortable or outright opposed to superpowered monarchy. If you grow up in a democratic system it can become difficult to justify a system like Wakanda's. But that's where being able to separate the real and the fantastical comes into play as a writer/editor. Your job is to tell fun stories within the established mythos, trying to deconstruct core elements of said mythos removes what made it engaging for audiences in the first place.

Liking Black Panther and telling stories where his unilateral leadership of Wakanda saves the day isn't anymore an endorsement of dictatorship than Tony Stark's control of Stark Industries is an endorsement of big business controlling every aspect of our government. Kingship is a storytelling device designed to streamline stories and appeal to humanity's desire for wish fulfillment. It should be embraced for the character's where that's a huge part of their identity, like T'Challa or the Inhumans.

There ain't nothing comfortable about superhuman dudes running around punching bad guys in NYC either. There ain't nothing comfortable about anything in superhero comics if you force them into "real life." That is why it is fiction.

I honestly don't know how a black panther fan would want the monarchy to end. It is kinda essential to the character and what makes him different.

"BP Fans" are really concerned about Wakandan Citizens for some weird reason. BP fans in generally have a massive connection to a bunch of redshirts.

Thor fans don't give a shit about Asgardians peeps. Black Bolt Fans don't care about some random inhumans. Ditto for namor, aquaman, doom, and other monarch fans.

But, Wakanda has the nicest, most chill, and most heroic king in all super hero fiction and yet they constantly worry about how Y'jobo the villager feels about democracy????