Imagine if we had Boseman's T'Challa vs. Ejiofor's Achebe.
He's been wasted as Mordo.
With all these changes it might as well have been a different run. Lol.
But no, I read trades all the time. And plenty of times I dont make it through the first "issue" without throwing it aside and forgetting I have it.
There are TV shows where you need to get to episode 4 or 5 for it to get good, but those early episodes usually sell sex and violence to get you through the setups. Coates rejects those ideas, so if his was my first exposure to BP like Hudlin was, I probably wouldn't have made it through that first issue.
A lot of comic runs (and characters, for that matter) would be served better as or with original graphic novels telling complete stories in and of themselves. Come to think of it, if Coates was really serious about Black Panther being "Spider-Man for black kids," he could have taken Mark Millar's approach in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #1-12 and written up an overarching showcase of T'Challa himself, his nation, his supporting cast, his allies and friends in the larger Marvel Universe, and his enemies, who --- like how Millar depicted Spider-Man's classic rogues after years of them being treated as jokes --- would be reemphasized as deadly and challenging foes. That could have definitely worked.
The spider is always on the hunt.
If and I say if Coates were to have a do-over, his story should have been an out-of-continuity story of young T'Challa while T'Chaka was still alive. He could have been learning about what it means to be king and the hard decisions that need to be made. He leaves Wakanda and meets other young heroes(and yes he still meets Storm).
He sees what life is outside of Wakanda and sees the racism and injustices around the world. He could even take part in a BLM event and see police brutality first hand. He could have commented on all of the social ills of the rest of the world that he loves dumping on Wakanda
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The ultimate problem and why that wouldn't work is the simple fact that Coates doesn't like T'Challa or his nation or mythos. He made it abundantly clear. He didn't care to make him some kid's spiderman, he was too busy pushing an agenda. He doesn't like the idea of a powerful Black nation and power Black man leading. Doesn't matter not he has another shot or a 100. The results would be the same. Hell in his interview he wanted to drag put his lost memories for 21 issues.
True. I guess the aspect that was played up a lot more with Priest's run isn't about technological intelligence, but tactical intelligence. McGregor's T'Challa was far more reactive and wasn't typically ten steps ahead/playing chess while everyone else was playing checkers.
I agree that he ended up being fairly passive. Or, more accurately, that the resolutions seemed to depend on others being active. That being said, the idea of having a team isn't entirely new. I think there's some support with characters like Vibraxas. Maybe under Priest, those characters seemed much smaller and much more pawns in a bigger scheme while, under Coates, they seem more like equals?The problem with treating Black Panther like a team is that there is nothing that supports that. The black panther IS Wakanda, it's the nation's protector, it's not a team name, it's an individual. The problem also occurred that Coates was so determined to ensure that "T'Challa's intelligence is presented as him knowing how to use the team to save the day but, over and over again, it demonstrates that he needs to rely on others and not just himself" that he made T'Challa passive, reactive and lacking agency. It where people started commenting that his greatest super power was delegating.
Matt Murdock's cooler twin brother
I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
Thomas More - A Man for All Seasons
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I agree, Mcgregors panther was extremely passive and reacted/ stumbled into situations which was a problem for the king and a warrior of his caliber. You would think he was some second rare warrior by how much and How often he got beat down. Not great.
Yes he had allies but like you said they were More pawns. They worked and functioned under his command. Hudlin they were more asset's than pawns. But they never were equals. Coates shifted completely and made them come off as the heroes while T'Challa was just the guy to happened to be there. Hell when N'Jadaka comes to Wakanda prime Okoye is front and center and T'Challa is off to the side, Okoye takes down Erik and T'Challa takes down Zenzi. Like, who's supposed to be the hero? T'Challa or Okoye because how he is treated you would not think he is THE guy.