T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2021

[Username taken]

Cutting T'Challa's suit isn't nothing new and never required some special weapon or power. It's been getting cut up and tore up since '98.

The guy was justified, all of them are justifiable angry at him. He had them abandon their old lives, their friends and families for a mission. For all we know they've been undercover for nearly as long as he's been king more than enough time to set roots and build new lives like the one spy with her family just to be told that they need to leave and return to Wakanda. I'd be more upset if they acted like robots and went along with it without question.

True but these guys knew the assignment.

Obviously, it's not easy to just abandon their lives but in that kind of work, there's always the possibility of a recall.

I can understand them being upset, it's the way it was expressed that's a problem for me.

And isn't the suit vibranium? If it is, then it shouldn't be sliced that easily.

[Username taken]

TBH, my biggest issue is another mystery comic shit.

I want to learn about the villain soon.

Mystery comics rarely pay off. you come up with all these theories... hunter this, syan that, maybe its jakarra, malakai, ect ect.

Then the reveal comes and it is a whimper. THe longer you delay the mystery, the bigger the payoff has to be.

Exactly.

Maybe it will end up being Omolola or something underwhelming like that...

[chief12d]

TBH, my biggest issue is another mystery comic shit.

I want to learn about the villain soon.

Mystery comics rarely pay off. you come up with all these theories... hunter this, syan that, maybe its jakarra, malakai, ect ect.

Then the reveal comes and it is a whimper. THe longer you delay the mystery, the bigger the payoff has to be.


So far everyting is "fine." not wowed, not concerned. Just average, waiting to be either blown away or disappointed. I will say, with the amount of sass.... I am not optimistic about the X-men in this book at all.

Yea we’re gonna need to get some kind of info on these guys by issue 4. The solicits seem to be saying we will but those are just solicits. Mysteries are hard to pull off in any story, comics even more so because of the monthly format that makes the plot feel a lot slower than it actually is. There needs to be a big payoff for sure.

But overall I agree with you, the book has been fine. Not great but certainly not bad. That’s all I needed so I won’t be too nitpicky. Ridley is trying to distinguish his take from the last few years while keeping some of the elements introduced as of late. I think he’s done well for the most part. T’Challa’s voice has been solid. The action has been well choreographed. The mystery (to me at least) is engaging. The designs are dope and the narrative is raising some great questions about who T’Challa is and his place in the MU. Even got some non-cringy political commentary, which is rare for modern comics.

That next issue is gonna be full of disrespect though, no doubt. If this is how T’Challa’s agents are talking to him depending on how they approach his ex-wife things could get nasty, especially if the X-Men uncover his ulterior motives. Seems like they’ll be coming to blows though so I can only hope Ridley makes up for it by having T’Challa put down some mutants. He had T’Challa tolerate disrespect from Kimura just to save her life later so ideally he’ll take a similar approach on Mars.

Honestly my issue is the agent he likely has on Krakoa. If the last few agents are any indication, Gentle/whoever the spy is may actually not be onboard with going back home. There’s even a chance they’ve already told the X-Men what Wakanda’s been up to. I’d like to think Marvel wouldn’t use Black Panther’s #200 to punk him out to the X-Men but whenever Storm is involved writers can’t seem to help themselves. I’ll expect mediocrity until proven otherwise.

[Vordan]

TBH, my biggest issue is another mystery comic shit.

I want to learn about the villain soon.

Mystery comics rarely pay off. you come up with all these theories... hunter this, syan that, maybe its jakarra, malakai, ect ect.

Then the reveal comes and it is a whimper. THe longer you delay the mystery, the bigger the payoff has to be.


So far everyting is "fine." not wowed, not concerned. Just average, waiting to be either blown away or disappointed. I will say, with the amount of sass.... I am not optimistic about the X-men in this book at all.

Telling us who it is but making it a question of “why” and “how” might have been a more effective approach I agree. Depends on who the ringleader is revealed to be.

[Frontier]

What's the common consensus on Don McGregor's Black Panther work?

[chief12d]

Telling us who it is but making it a question of “why” and “how” might have been a more effective approach I agree. Depends on who the ringleader is revealed to be.

Yea the reveal is gonna make or break this arc because on its own merit this is B- story for me. Omolola is just about the worst option, I’m hoping Ridley’s just sending false flags with her character. She’s worth a lot more as a jaded ally than a double agent whose betrayal was broadcasted.

Hunter would probably be the most compelling, and I say this as someone who doesn’t care for his character. It’d make headlines, it’d be a throwback for the many longtime fans that do like the character, and it’d be a great way to keep the focus on T’Challa with a personal villain. Achebe would have a similar but lesser effect. An OC could work though there’s the problem of keeping them interesting once the crutch of the mystery is gone.

But the longer we wait the more time there is for fan speculation and expectation to grow. Rarely do writers stick the landing when the mystery is dragged out.

[Huntsman Spider]

Yea the reveal is gonna make or break this arc because on its own merit this is B- story for me. Omolola is just about the worst option, I’m hoping Ridley’s just sending false flags with her character. She’s worth a lot more as a jaded ally than a double agent whose betrayal was broadcasted.

Hunter would probably be the most compelling, and I say this as someone who doesn’t care for his character. It’d make headlines, it’d be a throwback for the many longtime fans that do like the character, and it’d be a great way to keep the focus on T’Challa with a personal villain. Achebe would have a similar but lesser effect. An OC could work though there’s the problem of keeping them interesting once the crutch of the mystery is gone.

But the longer we wait the more time there is for fan speculation and expectation to grow. Rarely do writers stick the landing when the mystery is dragged out.

Yeah, just look at what happened in Spider-Man --- twice or thrice, even --- with the original Hobgoblin from the 1980s, the Clone Saga in the 1990s, and then just recently with Kindred through Nick Spencer's just-concluded ASM run.

[Marvell2100]

What's just as important as the reveal is the motive. Who did it and why. Everything else is fine, T'Challais handling his business and not needing someone else to save him. He's not taking punches just for the sake of being hit and no one is looking to Wakanda into chaos with yet another story about inner turmoil.

Ridley is writing this like a movie and although the action hasn't been heavy, there's been enough to keep me intrigued.

[Marvell2100]

Yeah, just look at what happened in Spider-Man --- twice or thrice, even --- with the original Hobgoblin from the 1980s, the Clone Saga in the 1990s, and then just recently with Kindred through Nick Spencer's just-concluded ASM run.

The Hobgoblin story had a great first ending until someone decided to keep messing with it until it was screwed it over.

They should have just left it being Ned Leeds.

[Klaue's Mixtape]

Los Angeles Times
@latimes
.
@EmansReviews
, creator of the #RecastTChalla campaign, explains why it's important to preserve the legacy of Chadwick Boseman's 'Black Panther' character.
https://twitter.com/latimes/status/1475957681613520896

[Ezyo1000]

Yea we’re gonna need to get some kind of info on these guys by issue 4. The solicits seem to be saying we will but those are just solicits. Mysteries are hard to pull off in any story, comics even more so because of the monthly format that makes the plot feel a lot slower than it actually is. There needs to be a big payoff for sure.

But overall I agree with you, the book has been fine. Not great but certainly not bad. That’s all I needed so I won’t be too nitpicky. Ridley is trying to distinguish his take from the last few years while keeping some of the elements introduced as of late. I think he’s done well for the most part. T’Challa’s voice has been solid. The action has been well choreographed. The mystery (to me at least) is engaging. The designs are dope and the narrative is raising some great questions about who T’Challa is and his place in the MU. Even got some non-cringy political commentary, which is rare for modern comics.

That next issue is gonna be full of disrespect though, no doubt. If this is how T’Challa’s agents are talking to him depending on how they approach his ex-wife things could get nasty, especially if the X-Men uncover his ulterior motives. Seems like they’ll be coming to blows though so I can only hope Ridley makes up for it by having T’Challa put down some mutants. He had T’Challa tolerate disrespect from Kimura just to save her life later so ideally he’ll take a similar approach on Mars.

Honestly my issue is the agent he likely has on Krakoa. If the last few agents are any indication, Gentle/whoever the spy is may actually not be onboard with going back home. There’s even a chance they’ve already told the X-Men what Wakanda’s been up to. I’d like to think Marvel wouldn’t use Black Panther’s #200 to punk him out to the X-Men but whenever Storm is involved writers can’t seem to help themselves. I’ll expect mediocrity until proven otherwise.

Seriously I don't think Ridley knows how much Goodwill he could gain by having T'Challa not only not get punked by Storm and the x men, but actually lays down the law and tells them what's up. We havent seen T'Challa do that in a long time.

As for the mystery, it needs to not be an OC. At this point it should be someone fans are familiar with. Hunter would be the best option. But an OC I feel won't hot as hard because we have no connection to them. Just like with jhails death, no one gave a isht because he was introduced and killed within a few pages. We need someone established, and someone who can match T'Challa in a fight or atleast not get mopped by him, but the reason has to be good. I don't like where the solicts are going with it, but if done right it could be really good

[DigiCom]

What's the common consensus on Don McGregor's Black Panther work?

Verbose and overwritten, but some nice world-building. He has an annoying tendency to beat the ever-loving isht out of his main character,

The Hobgoblin story had a great first ending until someone decided to keep messing with it until it was screwed it over.

They should have just left it being Ned Leeds.

It's actually a bit more complex than that. The original writer left before revealing Hobby's ID. His replacement came up with a different idea, but due to friction with his editor (who is the one who forced the Leeds reveal) was fired before he could tell HIS story. The original writer came back 10 years later and told his story.

And the editor who ended up revealing it as Leeds? James Owsley. (Not his finest hour)

There's a decent recent video about it on Youtube:

[Spiderfan001]

Spoilers for the new timeless issue that dropped.Huge implications for Panther and Spider-man

spoilers:

In the future MJ and Storm take up the mantles of Spider-man and Black Panther "The Brave honor the sacrifices of those in their hearts" If they kill/coma Peter or Panther again I might be done w/ comics I do like Spider-man(Peter) and Panther team ups though so some hope ig

end of spoilers

[skyvolt2000]

Verbose and overwritten, but some nice world-building. He has an annoying tendency to beat the ever-loving isht out of his main character,



It's actually a bit more complex than that. The original writer left before revealing Hobby's ID. His replacement came up with a different idea, but due to friction with his editor (who is the one who forced the Leeds reveal) was fired before he could tell HIS story. The original writer came back 10 years later and told his story.

And the editor who ended up revealing it as Leeds? James Owsley. (Not his finest hour)

There's a decent recent video about it on Youtube:

To be fair to James Owsley- at that time it was do it or be fired by Jim Shooter or whoever was in charge at the time. Because that was the same James Owsley that did NOT want to kill Ironfist in the last issue of Powerman & Ironfist-that was SUPPOSE to lead to more stuff for Like Cage instead of 6 years of limbo.

[DigiCom]

To be fair to James Owsley- at that time it was do it or be fired by Jim Shooter or whoever was in charge at the time. Because that was the same James Owsley that did NOT want to kill Ironfist in the last issue of Powerman & Ironfist-that was SUPPOSE to lead to more stuff for Like Cage instead of 6 years of limbo.

This is where things get complicated.

The writer Owsley fired from the book? Tom DeFalco, who was the editor when Roger Stern (creator of Hobgoblin) was on the book & became EiC of Marvel two months later....

So this is the breakdown:

Riger Stern created Hobby while DeFalco edited him. He had an idea who the villain was.
Stern quits (to write Avengers) and DeFalco takes over the book. Since writers can't edit themselves (a Jim Shooter directive) Owsley started as editor. Tom didn't like Roger's plan, so he started writing the book with a second candidtae in mind.
DeFalco & Owsley don't get along, and (depending on who you talk to) there was either major miscommunication or active malice, leading to Owsley taking over the books for an arc, and revealing Leeds as the Hobgoblin (who was neither Stern nor DeFalco's actual choice).
DeFalco becomes EiC. Owsley leaves Marvel (these two facts may or may not be related).
Years later, Stern is allowed to tell the story he planned all along.

It's truly a mess, and nobody is entirely innocent.