Black Panther Appreciation: Wakanda Forever!

[Cville]

Shame this Coates lack luster arc ending is overwhelming discussion about the Rise of the Panther mini.

Far from perfect, but the characterization was excellent all around (Hunter especially, if only because he'd been remembered), some nice setup and exploration of Wakanda and what have you.

Shame his Avengers membership wasn't examined more, but I liked it overall.

Also, that spear ride was bad ass

It was a fun issue.

[XPac]

No, I mean if the goal of Coates is to get her back in good with Wakanda, start with a public apology.

My point is that the way he handled things achieved that PLUS helped defeat the Adversary. Two birds with one stone. So again, the way he handled it ended up working better.

[XPac]

continue to enjoy hudlin's rendition of t'challa like no other.
who would you like to see take over the bp books after the current fellow. is there anyone out there /not necessarily a comic writer/ that has expressed interest in writing this amazing king? in my mind, he is truly the best character that has unexplored potential. he spent decades in the back ground until priest opened every ones eyes to his potential. after the movie, there must be some creative writer out there that wants a crack at the king of the most advance society the world has ever seen.

Though it's not gonna happen, my personal dream writer might be Grant Morrison. I think he could write a pretty cool T'Challa. Plus, it's an A lister, which is always nice.

[MouserGrey]

My point is that the way he handled things achieved that PLUS helped defeat the Adversary. Two birds with one stone. So again, the way he handled it ended up working better.

Like I said, Coates could have achieved the same thing using Storm as the distraction, a heavy duty distraction, while T'Challa set the vibranium shadow physics enhanced steel net to catch Adversary in, then Storm whips up a wind to blow the bundled Adversary into a more solid, durable, specially designed container for the entity. But not all before harvesting a bit of the Adversary, maybe a finger or some such, and putting it it's own shadow physics box and sent off by Eden to some other dimension to hold as ransom or insurance against Adversary attacking again. The end. Storm is in good with Wakandans again, albeit without the deification, and T'Challa is not only the brains, but also a believable solution.

[XPac]

Shame this Coates lack luster arc ending is overwhelming discussion about the Rise of the Panther mini.

Far from perfect, but the characterization was excellent all around (Hunter especially, if only because he'd been remembered), some nice setup and exploration of Wakanda and what have you.

Shame his Avengers membership wasn't examined more, but I liked it overall.

Also, that spear ride was bad ass

Truthfully I thought the Rise ending was a bit lack luster. Not bad … but as finales go it was on the tame side.

Erik seemed more of a threat than he should have been on paper (though I guess that's sort of his things), so I just didn't buy him as being that much of a threat.

And I'll agee that it's a shame they sort of glossed over his Avengers membership. There should have been some pretty interesting conversaions about that decision.

But that aside, overall I enjoyed Rise. Hope we see more from this creative team.

[Ezyo1000]

continue to enjoy hudlin's rendition of t'challa like no other.
who would you like to see take over the bp books after the current fellow. is there anyone out there /not necessarily a comic writer/ that has expressed interest in writing this amazing king? in my mind, he is truly the best character that has unexplored potential. he spent decades in the back ground until priest opened every ones eyes to his potential. after the movie, there must be some creative writer out there that wants a crack at the king of the most advance society the world has ever seen.

Jeffery Thorne, known as Redjack here, wrote mosiac and he also did a mini BP short thing team up with Lexus,it's called Soul of a machine, a free 12 or so Issue mini comic. He did a few issue's and he is a Solid writer. He expressed interest in writing BP the comic and is also working on a BP focused Avengers season. He would be my first choice of people that aren't Priest or Hudlin. Evan narcisse I would like him to be able to continue his Rise series.

[Ezyo1000]

Shame this Coates lack luster arc ending is overwhelming discussion about the Rise of the Panther mini.

Far from perfect, but the characterization was excellent all around (Hunter especially, if only because he'd been remembered), some nice setup and exploration of Wakanda and what have you.

Shame his Avengers membership wasn't examined more, but I liked it overall.

Also, that spear ride was bad ass

Probably my favorite feat from Rise. That was awesome. That why Rise needed to continue past 6 issues. So we could get a updated FF encounter, his avengers stint. Lots of story telling potential that needed to be explored and is good for new reader's to get into BP

[Cville]

Probably my favorite feat from Rise. That was awesome. That why Rise needed to continue past 6 issues. So we could get a updated FF encounter, his avengers stint. Lots of story telling potential that needed to be explored and is good for new reader's to get into BP

That Black Panther Adventures book for kids I posted about earlier has an updated story. It was pretty fun.

[butterflykyss]

I almost admire the stamina to ignore recent canon in favor of decades old canon and then pretend that the decades old canon is the only canon despite staring at the newer canon over and over and over and over again and the acting like the other person is wrong despite posting multiple scans over and over and over again.



1. brought with him a group of Wakanda's brightest minds to New York and monitored Mephisto because they knew Mephisto was a threat

2. Mephisto draws his powers from his dimension, so in comic book science/magic, they cut him off from the source and put a force field around him

3. It gave T'challa eight seconds (or ten or something similar). He needed half that to knock him out and rip out his heart.

4. Ripping out his heart, keeping a part of him in the phyiscal plane, which would eventually weaken and kill Mephisto

5. T'challa threatened him for in)formation. Mephisto dragged him to hell (I believe it was implied T'challa let him. Mesphisto can't drag the unwilling or something he said to Ross)

6. Mephisto offered T'challa a deal... T'challa's soul for all of Wakanda.

7. T'challa agreed with stipulations (leave wakanda forever, never show up agaiin, give up Achebe)

8. Mephisto was teleported by the connection to the Panther God (that Mephisto saiddidn't exist) which connected him to all of the previous Panthers

9. It was too much energy for Mephisto. He gave up the deal and agreed with T'challa's price.


So, notice a few things here:

1. T'challa brought in WAKANDA scientists. Not Thunderball. Not Eden. Not Storm. Wakanda.

2. T'challa physically confronted Mephisto himself to defeat him on the mortal plane.

3. You can't defeat a god/devil like Mephisto like that, he had to take it to his realm and play poker with one of the greatest manipulators in the Marvel universe.

4. He looked Mephisto in the eye, and when mephisto said it woudl destroy not only mephisto but all of the panther spirits... T'challa didn't blink. This is an example of the "master poker face" talked abotu in priest run.

5. Why haven't you read one of the most iconic Black Panther stories of all time?

from what i have read of mephisto he seems to be a demonic god of the earth. his power doesnt go beyond being powered by the mortals on earth. adversary is a universal threat I still don't believe that would work against him

and I still havent read all of the iconic storm stories I'm still catching up on those but after I finish the old xmen I plain on reading the old bp issues.

The issue is that Coates could easily have given it to T'Challa, believably, and still been the brain behind the hive. Used Storm and the others as a distraction while he set up his own coup de gras with little change to his story other than giving Storma HUGE feat and granting him nothing more than something he's done many times, which is, as you said, be the brain behind the plan.

I simply just dont think based upon bp powerset and adversary's thst this approach would work, and seeing adversary considered storm one of the mortal threats he feared back in Claremont run it made since she would ultimately be the one to destroy him.

[MindofShadow]

who would you like to see take over the bp books after the current fellow.

Anyone that does an interview and actually praises the character instead of pointing out all the imaginary flaws and "derp derp this wouldn't work in real life"

Also, actually had experience writing super hero comics.

At this point, the bar is pretty damn low for me.

[MindofShadow]

from what i have read of mephisto he seems to be a demonic god of the earth. his power doesnt go beyond being powered by the mortals on earth. adversary is a universal threat I still don't believe that would work against him

I'd put Mephisto's feats against Adversary any day of the week. Especially based on this pitiful scans posted by various members.

Adversary may talk a good game, but feat wise... I remain unimpressed by what has been posted.

Mephisto is a dang reality warper whose arch nemeses include Silver Surfer and Ghost Rider(s). Not Forge lol.

[Cville]

from what i have read of mephisto he seems to be a demonic god of the earth. his power doesnt go beyond being powered by the mortals on earth. adversary is a universal threat I still don't believe that would work against him

.

This scan might help put him in perspective.

[MindofShadow]

Black Panther Vol. 1 #13 - What Is and What Should Never Be



Jack Kirby has left the book and we get a brand new team. This was a plot by Jim Shooter (as Editor in Chief) nd a script by Ed Hannigan. Given the fact that Shooter stepped in personally, I wonder how much time they had to take over the story. Immediately, the art seems different, particularly in the way the Black Panther is drawn. But there's still an homage to Kirby with the opening splash followed by a double splash. The double splash is actually quite impressive - T'Challa confronts Kiber and sees he's basically destroyed himself and is now a deformed blob creature. It's a nice sci-fi twist, but I have no idea why it would be revealed on page two.

Anyway, Kiber first seems helpless and T'Challa decides to talk with him telepathically. Then, suddenly, we see that Kiber isn't helpless, so they fight. Then T'Challa escapes for more room. He's confused when Kiber's followers can't phase through the material of the walls to follow, so he uses the material of the walls to beat them up. Then he finds the exit and steps outside to realize they're on a rock in the middle of the ocean. T'Challa promptly annexes the rock as Wakandan territory.

Anyway, T'Challa returns to rescue Khanata. He is the last prisoner not yet fed to the energy converting machine. Then he stalks the halls defeating Kiber's creations. Then he reaches Kiber himself. He finds one energy lightbulb that contains the minds of all the prisoners. Kiber says that he was absorbing them into his consciousness where they would live forever. T'Challa opts instead to leave Kiber to starve to death while he takes the bulb away with the hope of curing them. Then the issue ends.

I'm torn on this issue. I thought the twist with what Kiber was is an interesting one, but I think it somehow made Kiber a less interesting character. As much as I like Kirby as an artist, the more contemporary style made people easier to look at. I liked T'Challa stalking the bad guys and defeating them, but I feel like they were made weaker with no explanation. Even the callback to his premonition of the future was done in a rushed, half-hearted way (he basically just concluded his visions weren't 100% accurate and he won instead of died). On the other hand, I can't entirely blame the creative team - they were thrust into a story they had no idea where it was going and had to finish it as quickly as possible. Maybe next issue will be better.

I still think this was the best Kirby arc but it does end in a bit of a whimper.

I agree about the art. I love some of Kirby's designs but the way he drew tchalla's facial expressions was a bit too cartoony forme.

That isn't really saying much. Kirby's 3 stories were ... garbage. Easily in contention for worst BP writer, although I think Roy has that wrapped up.

I hoped I just dismissed this stories due to reading them long ago when i was "newer" to comics but I really do hate them with all my heart lol.

Black Panther Vol. 1 #14 - The Beasts in the Jungle!



Just because Jack Kirby is gone, doesn't mean Black Panther is done yet. This issue, written by Ed Hannigan and penciled by Jerry Bingham, finds T'Challa in New York. He's inside the Wakandan Consulate. As far as a new status quo goes, this one makes a lot of sense. He's still tied to Wakanda but he has a reason to be in New York City and on the Avengers and all that. In the embassy, he is being questioned by US government officials who are still in shock that (a) Wakanda exists, (b) Wakanda is revealing itself to the world, and (c) Wakanda is really, really important. In many ways, this feels a lot like the final moments of the Black Panther movie. However, since this story was written in the Cold War, the US have a lot of questions related directly to the African politics of the era - particularly whether Wakanda would invite Cuban advisors into the country. I was always impressed when Lee and Kirby created Wakanda that they were willing to create a country that not only didn't choose sides but were shown to be tangibly benefitting from their neutrality. T'Challa made it clear there were important things to learn from working with both east and west. Anyway, T'Challa punts on answering the questions.

After that, the Avengers visit and we are treated to flashbacks to the last two story arcs. In it, they explicitly retcon the telepathic powers to say that he doesn't have telepathy or clairvoyance, just that his instincts were heightened so he can sense crisis points. Frankly, this is nonsense. The last story was explicit that his powers were much more than that. I have no idea why they didn't just say his powers faded over time. That would have been a plausible explanation. Instead, they basically say that his ability to communicate with his cousin telepathically and to sense what was written on cards while blindfolded was just some heightened sense to ability to sense crisis points. Even though I didn't like him having those powers, that's a pretty lame retcon that's pretty insulting to the reader.

T'Challa is out on the streets at night and sees a man he recognizes. As he follows him, the man is atacked by a racially diverse group of muggers. They're the Thunderbolt gang, who can also be seen in Daredevil 69 (a team up with Black Panther I might cover later where Turk was allegedly introduced). Although we can't see it at first, the muggers are shocked when they see the guy's face. One gang member, Herbie (the not robot) is less impressed and shoots the guy, which prompts T'Challa to jump in. He's pissed off at a society that lets children become killers and then promptly beats up the child in question. However, the stranger had a weird arm cannon thing that one of the gang members uses to knock everyone out. I'm burying the lead on what the arm cannon was but, if you're surprised, go look at the cover of this issue because ... the stranger was Ulysses Klaw! Fortunately, he's in a coma. T'Challa decides to take Klaw to Wakanda to analyze his condition and so he can stand trial for his crimes (damn comics, why do you have to keep ripping off the movies?).

First, he needs to retrieve Klaw's sound horn. Meanwhile, we're treated to a reappearance of Monica Lynn and Kevin Trublood, last seen in the Panther v. KKK that ended mid-cliffhanger when Jungle Action was cancelled. My recollection is this story has a terrible ending, but I'll find out in the next few weeks (maybe I'll give a quick summary of the story so far). They're being stalked by a man called Windeagle. Anyway, T'Challa is stalking the Thunderbolts. This is the next generation, which is less political but far more violent. Anyway, they found out a way to harnass the horn to create creatures of solid sound. If this seems convenient, it also seems clear that one of them is now possessed by Klaw. Anyway, T'Challa is over his head but is fortunately rescued in time by Captain America. Greatful for his help, they decide to team up in issue #15.

This issue feels like a jumping on point for people who weren't reading Jack Kirby's Black Panther. It's a new status quo, it has a retelling of T'Challa's origin, and it brings back his oldest villain. If this were a modern comic, it would have a new #1. Then again, if it were a new number one, it wouldn't get cancelled next issue. There's a lot of the modern Black Panther here - particularly in inspiration for Christopher Priest's run. T'Challa's bold path for Wakanda and unwillingness to stay hidden to preserve the status quo scares a lot of people, including Captain America. It seems clear Wakanda has the ability to become a world power if they wanted to and everyone is alarmed that T'Challa seemingly wants to.

Overall, this is an extremely dense issue if my review is any indication. But the new status quo feels better for the Black Panther. I know it all falls apart, but I thought this was a good story overall.

I actually like this issue (for an old comic. I have a hard time reading old comics i'll readily admit). Felt more modern, somehow. I like seeing BP around the other Avengers.

I actually remembered #15 as being a solid action comic but maybe I am miss remembering. We will see tomorrow

[Jabare]

[butterflykyss]

This scan might help put him in perspective.

I dont see bast

I'd put Mephisto's feats against Adversary any day of the week. Especially based on this pitiful scans posted by various members.

Adversary may talk a good game, but feat wise... I remain unimpressed by what has been posted.

Mephisto is a dang reality warper whose arch nemeses include Silver Surfer and Ghost Rider(s). Not Forge lol.

Adversary is a reality warper too and was able to subdue and defeat Roma a multiversal threat and goddess. Silver Surfer and Ghost Rider are cool but they are no Roma lol