T'Challa: The Black Panther Appreciation 2024

[Holt]

BP’s in the new Marvel game that leaked.

[Emperorjones]

This is what I still don't understand. Writers like Coates shout black excellence until they're blue in the face, but his run was a painful deconstruction that was bolstered by great art and movie hype. I guess maybe he wanted to make his mark, thinking he could do this great deconstructive character study, a seminal run that would be thought fondly of in the future, like Priest, Hudlin, and even McGregor. except he couldn't pull it off. Maybe writing a comic book was harder than he thought, he lost a lot of steam and he let his cynicism get the better of him.

The way I see it is that Coates, and his colleague Roxane Gay (I read her World of Wakanda series as well), made their bones writing about the ills of (American) society, and so it's hard for them to imagine what any utopia looks like (especially a Black utopia) because they've made their money, and gotten their accolades, writing about Black despair and pain. So, they have a fatalistic mindset, and then that's coupled with their (Black) feminist beliefs, which makes them suspicious at best, and openly disparaging at worst, of (straight) Black males. And then you hand them a comic book that's headlined by the premier (straight) Black male hero in comics (and one of the greatest in entertainment), and it almost writes itself what they are going to do.

Coates did struggle though to try to let loose his imagination as his run went on, but he never could break free of his inclinations, and he slipped back into spanking T'Challa while shortchanging Wakanda's rebirth. With Gay, her idea of utopia (naturally) was one without males, however, she chose to do a kind of prequel and then sidequel to Coates's first arc instead of really exploring how the Midnight Angels and the Dora Milaje could turn the Jabari-lands into a paradise. Her story was more focused on Aneka and Ayo's love story, them (and other Doras) disrespecting T'Challa and the royal family, and then them taking the law into their own hands and becoming a law unto themselves (with no accountability). It seemed like Gay had set some things in play for future stories, but that didn't happen. I wonder if she had written a story about the Midnight Angels that took place between Coates arcs and dealt more with them solving a different problem or challenge, if she might not have gotten more issues.

[Pulp Fiction]

BP’s in the new Marvel game that leaked.

Great that where past the point where T’challa is overlooked or regulated to dlc. We can be confident that he’ll feature in marvel ensemble games going forward. Hoping for energy weapons/absorption/enhancing but not holding my breath. At least give him more than the claws

[Marvell2100]

The way I see it is that Coates, and his colleague Roxane Gay (I read her World of Wakanda series as well), made their bones writing about the ills of (American) society, and so it's hard for them to imagine what any utopia looks like (especially a Black utopia) because they've made their money, and gotten their accolades, writing about Black despair and pain. So, they have a fatalistic mindset, and then that's coupled with their (Black) feminist beliefs, which makes them suspicious at best, and openly disparaging at worst, of (straight) Black males. And then you hand them a comic book that's headlined by the premier (straight) Black male hero in comics (and one of the greatest in entertainment), and it almost writes itself what they are going to do.

Coates did struggle though to try to let loose his imagination as his run went on, but he never could break free of his inclinations, and he slipped back into spanking T'Challa while shortchanging Wakanda's rebirth. With Gay, her idea of utopia (naturally) was one without males, however, she chose to do a kind of prequel and then sidequel to Coates's first arc instead of really exploring how the Midnight Angels and the Dora Milaje could turn the Jabari-lands into a paradise. Her story was more focused on Aneka and Ayo's love story, them (and other Doras) disrespecting T'Challa and the royal family, and then them taking the law into their own hands and becoming a law unto themselves (with no accountability). It seemed like Gay had set some things in play for future stories, but that didn't happen. I wonder if she had written a story about the Midnight Angels that took place between Coates arcs and dealt more with them solving a different problem or challenge, if she might not have gotten more issues.

And Marvel let them run with their ideas. Then here comes Ridley, further tarnishing BP's legacy with all the disrespect from just about everyone.

I will say that Eve Ewing at least made T'Challa heroic again and gave him back some of his respect. We can only hope that the next writer will continue that upward trajectory.

[Marvell2100]

let's go, 2024

when the announcements come, and they will come, remember:

Attachment 136639

The announcements are coming!

[BlackClaw]

BP’s in the new Marvel game that leaked.

What kind of a game is it?

[marhawkman]

What kind of a game is it?

I heard "Overwatch-like"

[Ezyo1000]

About the Orishas I hadn't considered that about them. I was looking at it from the perspective of deepening Wakandan religion and mythology.

As a concept they are fine. However execution wise, Coates literally created them to take away Wakanda being advanced by their own ingenuity, and warrior spirit. They got to where they were not because they fiercely protected their bodies and developed technology quickly, but because the Orisha ™ did the work for them. That's why they can go away with the rest of the trash

[Ezyo1000]

Ohhh ! Thanks for the quick reply !
I will check some of those out !

Redjack Aka Geoffrey Thorne is a real one. Someone is fans have been wanting to write BP for a long time who has proven time and time again he not only understands T'Challa and his world, but would elevate him in similar veins to what Christopher Priest and Reginald Hudlin did in their esteemed BP runs

[Emperorjones]

And Marvel let them run with their ideas. Then here comes Ridley, further tarnishing BP's legacy with all the disrespect from just about everyone.

I will say that Eve Ewing at least made T'Challa heroic again and gave him back some of his respect. We can only hope that the next writer will continue that upward trajectory.

Let me change what I said before a bit. I don't know if Gay chose the storyline for World of Wakanda, or if it was given to her. But anyway, she did the writing and she had the characters disrespect T'Challa and the royal family and excused the Dora Milaje's flouting of Wakandan law.

I wonder if going into Ridley's run he was told to kill off T'Challa, but after Wakanda Forever didn't make a billion, then to just to push the mantle over T'Challa, and Ridley sought to do that by ripping T'Challa's character apart, in an attempt to make him so weak, pathetic, and sad sack that no one would supposedly want to see him headline a title anymore.

Dr. Ewing did treat T'Challa more respectfully than Ridley, though her worldbuilding and her own characters often got in the way too. That said, I liked her depiction of T'Challa more than Gay's or Ridley's. I'm iffy on Coates. Sometimes I thought he did not a bad job, but it wasn't consistent. I think Ewing's Black Panther run was stronger than her Photon miniseries, which unraveled to me. Pacing really hurt her BP run. The Kivu'Ma story could've been told in the first 5-6 issues, and then the next six issues could've been T'Challa going back to the Golden City. Even if the book had been cancelled around issue 10, we then might have had him back on the throne, or held in greater regard again by all of Wakanda at the end of it.

[Marvell2100]

Let me change what I said before a bit. I don't know if Gay chose the storyline for World of Wakanda, or if it was given to her. But anyway, she did the writing and she had the characters disrespect T'Challa and the royal family and excused the Dora Milaje's flouting of Wakandan law.

I wonder if going into Ridley's run he was told to kill off T'Challa, but after Wakanda Forever didn't make a billion, then to just to push the mantle over T'Challa, and Ridley sought to do that by ripping T'Challa's character apart, in an attempt to make him so weak, pathetic, and sad sack that no one would supposedly want to see him headline a title anymore.

Dr. Ewing did treat T'Challa more respectfully than Ridley, though her worldbuilding and her own characters often got in the way too. That said, I liked her depiction of T'Challa more than Gay's or Ridley's. I'm iffy on Coates. Sometimes I thought he did not a bad job, but it wasn't consistent. I think Ewing's Black Panther run was stronger than her Photon miniseries, which unraveled to me. Pacing really hurt her BP run. The Kivu'Ma story could've been told in the first 5-6 issues, and then the next six issues could've been T'Challa going back to the Golden City. Even if the book had been cancelled around issue 10, we then might have had him back on the throne, or held in greater regard again by all of Wakanda at the end of it.

I would say that Ewing had a premise similar to Liss, king off the throne, becoming a more street-level hero. But that would be the only similarity. The feeling is entirely different in that Liss still had T'Challa being 10 steps ahead, using his genius and pulling off some feats.

Ewing's BP didn't have the same level of self-confidence bordering on arrogance and came off as underwhelming at times imo.

[4sake Baned]

Ohhh ! Thanks for the quick reply !
I will check some of those out !

He also was Officer Wilson Sweet on “In the Heat of the Night” tv show. A legend he is..

[4sake Baned]

Has T'challa had a romantic interest other than Storm?

Monica Lynne starting - his longest standing love interest off/on from from the late 1960s to late 1990s

Malaika (from Gillis BP mini) - who’s MCU Nakia is mostly based on

Randoms - Princess Zanda, some woman from that awful Black Panther: Long Live The King mini, Nikki Adams, Space Nakia, regular Nakia ( was more of stalker the anything ), 4-6 random women Jason Aaron showed like once & never followed up on ( I think he was just trolling), a hinted past rship with Jeannine Sauvage that’s Al Ewing never got to really explaining & there atleast one more random character I’m forgetting form the current trash era of BP comics .

[mbeezy561]

I would say that Ewing had a premise similar to Liss, king off the throne, becoming a more street-level hero. But that would be the only similarity. The feeling is entirely different in that Liss still had T'Challa being 10 steps ahead, using his genius and pulling off some feats.

Ewing's BP didn't have the same level of self-confidence bordering on arrogance and came off as underwhelming at times imo.

Agreed. Liss did a way better job at the premise than Ewing did. Her run was fairly boring. I think partially because the villians were just dull.

[BlackClaw]

Sounds like James C. Mathis III is voicing T’Challa per usual.