Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "black-panther"

Essential Black Panther, Vol. 1 by Don McGregor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've always had a warm spot for the Black Panther from his appearances in animated films and TV shows, as well as a guest comic I read from Marvel Team Up. So, I was glad to check this book out from my library.

This book is different from other Essential volumes I've read due to the Panthers inability to enjoy a long run. This collects two separate runs. First from Jungle Action 6-22 and 24 from 1973-76 by Don McGregor and then the first 10 issues of Blank Panther's self-titled series in 1977, written by Jack Kirby.

The McGregor stories take up for the first 60% of the book and were fairly dark for the time. The story of Panther Rage occurs over 13 Issues of Jungle Action (including the Epilogue) as T'Challa fights off a revolution led by Erik Killmonger. MacGregor creates a Wakandan rogues gallery of truly stunning and memorable foes. However, more than that, the story is a somewhat moody meditation on the meaning of life, war, and human tragedy. The art by Billy Graham (no relation to the evangelist) is highly stylized and very different for the time, usually eschewing the use of panels. It's groundbreaking art.

The writing continues into the next story of the Black Panther v. the Clan which ends up unresolved when Jungle Action was cancelled.

Kirby returned to Marvel after having gone to DC and took over the Black Panther title. He took the series in an entirely different direction, abandoning the moodier tone of McGregor as well as all the supporting cast. The stories took on a more retro feel, like a 1940s Adventure Sci-Fi serial as T'Challa meets up with collectors who are collecting some dangerous objects that threaten to destroy the world. Meanwhile, a problem is arising back in Wakunda that leaves the Panther's hapless ruling family to pick up the slack in comic relief.

While Kirby essentially chucked McGregor's continuity, the two seem to agree that all things considered, it may not be a good idea for a head of state to leave the country to play superhero.

Overall, this books offer at two very different approaches to the character by MacGregor and Kirby, and great art by Graham and Kirby. It's a worthwhile artistic effort, but not as fun as many other Marvel Essential books.



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Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 by Christopher J. Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the first seventeen issues of Christopher Priest's epic run on Black Panther and introduces such key concepts as Everett Ross as well as T'Challa's female bodyguards the Dora Milaje.

The book does a great job showing the strength of T'Challa as a character, establishing him as a key, master strategist, and absolute force to be reckoned with. At the same time, Ross' narration makes for fun and humorous reading, even if his disjointed narrative can be hard to follow.

The first twelve issues are the Marvel Knights run and form a single arc centered around an evil that killed a child in America to get T'Challa out of Wakanda to put a madman in his place. The story features loads of political intrigue, a showdown with Mephisto, as well as battles with the Lizard and Kraven the Hunter, and a re-evaluation of T'Challa's relationship with his friends in the Avengers.

The second half of the book is a much more loose freewilling narrative with Ross taking over Wakanda temporarily while T'Challa has to save an airplane from Hydroman in midair and then have an epic team up with Marvel's street level heroes as well as meeting the Hulk and a new bodyguard.

The book is generally good but has it flaws. The number of artists who worked with Priest is astounding and the styles very widely. There are a few elements that don't make sense as well as a few characters such as T'Challa's giant friend Zuri who are introduced but never quiet developed. Ross' cartoonish antics occassional entertain but occassionally annoy.

Still, overall this is a fun book that manages to be entertaing by getting readers to laugh at the story but take the hero far more seriously than they had before.



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Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2 by Christopher J. Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 18-35 of Black Panther plus Deadpool #44 from the 1990s-2000s:

Issues 18-20 features the Panther vs. Killmonger while Ross is serving as Regent. This ends with an unexpected victory for Killmonger that makes him the Black Panther. Issues 21 and 22 has T'Challa fighting for his life in a surreal kingdom of the death (look for Black Panther as Batman and Ross as Robin) while Killmonger assumes the role of Black Panther.

Deadpool #44 and Black Panther #23 features Killmonger trying to join the Avengers while Deadpool is hired by an enemy to T'Challa to kindap Killmonger's pet leopard. This one has some fun concepts but is a bit meh. Issue #24 sees a lot going on, T'Challa continues to be king despite losing leadership of the Panther tribe. They come under attack from his former bodyguard who causes a death of a recurring character. Meanwhile Killmonger's time of Black Panther comes to an end anti-climatically.

Issue 25 is the Maximum Security Crossover. The best part is a long overdue confrontation between Ross and T'Challa over recent events. Ross has been complaining for a while and it's glad to see he and T'Challa finally have it out. There are some nice surprises and that saves the issue from being a dull bit of obligatory continuity.

Issues 26-29 is the Sturm Und Drang: A Story of Love and War. When a Wakandan has a child who ishalf Wakandan and half sea-dwelling deviant Lemurian, the Deviant Lemurians asks that T'Challa return the child to be killed and this sets off a global incident. Magneto and Namor appear and this is one of the better uses of political thrillers in comics. A reveal of an old enemy comes in this story.

Issue 30 is a one-shot in which Captain America's first contact with Wakanda is revealed and Ross delivers a spirited defense of the Panther before a Senate subcommittee. Issues 31-33 is Seduction of the Innocent in which his ex-bodyguard Malice returns for another story while Ross deals with Mephisto having switched bodies. The story is okay but feels like treading water as it also sets up the finale, "Gorilla Warfare" in Issues 34 and 35 as Black Panther battles Man-ape and one of T'Challa's allies learns the truth about her family.

Overall, the book is a strong continuation of the previous volume. While T'Challa does some questionale things he remains undoubtedly on the side of the Angels and is easy to cheer for.



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Black Panther by Christopher Priest: The Complete Collection, Vol. 3 by Christopher J. Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book covers a lot of ground with 16 issues of Black Panther, an issue of the Hulk and an Issue of Thor from the 1980s.

The Once and Future (Issues 36 and 37): A story from Black Panther's future where he has kids and one of them is determined to ensure he's the next king. This story's not horrible but there's not really a great context for what type of story this (alternate future, etc.). Probably my least favorite story in the book

Incredible Hulk #33: The Incredible Hulk meets up with Queen Divine Justice, a bit of a pre-cursor to Social Justice Warriors who became part of T'Challa's supporting cast. This one is okay at best, as it focuses on the relationship between Hulk and Queen Divine Justice, and it ends predictably bad.

The Return of the Black Dragon (38-40): A three issue story that finally resolves the Everett Ross turned into Mephisto saga. It's pretty cool with an appearance by Iron Fist.

Enemy of the State (41-45): It's once again T'Challa moving secretively to stop a secret cabal. His actions cause concern for both the Avengers and the US government. This is the type of narrative Christopher Priest excels at. This is driven by T'Challa v. Tony Stark and makes for a solid romp.

Saddleblaze (46 and 47): T'Challa and friends travel back to the Old West where they interact with a story that Priest told several years previously in Thor #370 (reprinted much later in the book.) This is diverting and has some fun moments, but diverts from larger plot points.

The King of the Dead (48 and 49): This brings a lot of plot points to a head and really left me wondering whether this needed another issue or two as this is a bit bewildering.

Masks (from Doubleshot #2): This was a bit of a stretch but was included because it features Doctor Doom, who is another monarch. In the story, a woman who looks like Doom's lost love has worked her way into his inner circle and Doom pegs her as a spy. However, she's actually a reporter who has been disguised and Doom gives her a story. As a character of Doctor Doom, this is darn good. The art work is really superb and the script ends with an appropriately dark ending for the story told.

Coming to America (#57 and #58): The only guest written story in the Black Panther series, this is included here. The troubled royal family from another country visits America and the Panther chooses to serve as their protector. The motive's not great for Panther's involvement, but they do manager to work in an entertaining amount of palace intrigues.

Overall, this book is decent. At times, it was really great, but it never was boring or uninteresting throughout the rest despite its problems. This is a solid set up for the final volume.




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Black Panther: Panther's Quest by Don McGregor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Panther's Quest is a 1980s mini-series written by Don Macgregor who wrote the epic Panther's Rage back in the 1970s. The series was serialized in the weekly marvel premiere magazine which generally featured 8-page installments. The thesis of the story is that T-Challa goes to South Africa in search of his mother, and meets with an informant who has information only to run into militias and deal firsthand with the oppression in South Africa during Apartheid.

There are many legitimate criticisms of the book. It is massively overwritten with lengthy flowery prose serving to tell us about the situation in South Africa and what characters are thinking rather than to show it. It's a decade or more out of date here and it can be very excessive. In addition, much of the story is a diversion. The Panther's Quest is introduced in the first issue and essentially pushed off to the side until the last quarter of the book.

Nevertheless, it's still worth reading. It's a good historical document and has the Marvel Universe dealing with Apartheid head-on. The story is filled with some very real poignant moments. The art by Gene Colan is good, even though he's not at the height of his powers.

The reader should be warned that this is a very difficult book. It deals with a very ugly situation and it portrays the situation and the way people suffer in great detail. The action is often bone-crushing and extreme. There are some dark events in this story involving children, dogs, and a bit of sex slavery. While Marvel gave this book a Teen rating, it really does border on being Mature Readers book.

Overall, if this is the type of story that interests you, it's worth checking out.



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